With a motion to Rhiannon to back up, Minerva raised her wand and charmed the door, which swung in with a grating screech to reveal two humans standing in the passageway beyond. One Rhiannon plainly didn’t recognise, the other took a moment to place given that the last time she’d encountered him she’d been blind, and the only other time she’d been eavesdropping in a bush with more ordinary colour vision. But the bowler hat and the pin on his robe lapel were familiar enough that she could recognise him as the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

“Ah – Minerva,” Fudge spluttered, gesturing to Rhiannon behind her. Rhiannon could smell the spike of fear that flooded through him on seeing her, and privately she enjoyed it – at least a little. The man was obnoxious. A little fear might be good for him.

Minerva smiled, though it was more of a patronising expression than a reassuring one. “That’s one of my students, involved in discovering young Master Black’s whereabouts,” she explained briskly. “After hearing his story and putting the pieces together, they don’t quite trust you to treat him fairly given the lack of trial the first time around, and they’ll be sticking around to ensure due process is followed.”

Fudge gulped, and his eyes darted from side to side. “They?” he asked tentatively, as if another werewolf might spring from the woodwork.

Rhiannon flattened her ears and Minerva sighed gustily. “The term ‘they’ for singular use is older than the use of ‘you’,” she informed him tersely, with the air of someone who’d had that discussion far too many times already. “But yes, although I was not referring to them, there are two other werewolves present, they do better together over the full moon and were preparing for moonrise together when they encountered Sirius.”

Fudge scowled. “You let your werewolves roam freely?” he asked her sharply, with the air of someone making notes for a future grievance. Rhiannon, her ears already flat, let her hackles spike up just enough that he might notice as she glared at him fiercely. “And I really must know who they are, due process and all that – terms of the Lycaeus Doctrine.” Fudge added to Minerva, trying to regain some measure of his dignity as he avoided Rhiannon’s disapproving gaze.

At that, Minerva drew herself up to her full height – a good four or five inches taller than Fudge – and her expression flattened as she looked for all the world like a profoundly offended cat. “With all due respect, Minister, you are here to fairly investigate new evidence in the pressing case of a man who may very well have been wrongly convicted – not question how I run my school,” she told him stiffly. “If you insist on invoking the Lycaeus Doctrine... well, you already know of Professor Remus Lupin, given that several previous employers have filed for his termination under the terms of said doctrine. He will be accompanying Sirius Black, Rubeus is upstairs with them now. As for the others – the Lycaeus Doctrine does not apply to children. As such, you may refer to them as Nyx and, ah, Dodger. And for their privacy and safety, I must insist you leave before sunrise” she informed him with a wry expression as she gestured to Rhiannon, making up a name on the spot for Dudley before continuing firmly.

Rhiannon snickered, which came out as a sort of whuffling snort, at the name Minerva chose. The unfamiliar wizard turned away, Rhiannon suspected to hide a smirk; while Cornelius Fudge’s face turned an ugly sort of green colour which spread down his neck into the collar of his robes, but he had no response – Rhiannon knew perfectly well that Minerva had read up on the Ministry’s laws on werewolves when she and her brother had agreed to come to Hogwarts after the attack. There was nothing Fudge could do – that was the law, to the letter, Minerva was being polite in offering him something to refer to them by at all.

“Th-their safety?” Fudge spluttered furiously, but at Minerva’s unmoving glare he subsided. “Well, I suppose... very well then, let’s see the man. Dawlish, the door,” he added, gesturing to his companion to close the door as they stepped into the room. Rhiannon struggled to restrain a growl, but luckily Minerva had Fudge well in hand.

“You are welcome to close the door if it makes you more comfortable, but I must make this clear. If you attempt to capture Sirius Black without due process and considering the new evidence, I will remove him from the premises myself and do all in my power to stop you.” Minerva McGonagall told the Minister and his companion, Dawlish, grimly. “You will hold to the law, regardless of your personal biases or desire to see this case closed quickly.”

Fudge spluttered and his green flush darkened, while Rhiannon got the distinct impression that his companion, Dawlish – a name Rhiannon now recalled to belong to an Auror who had accompanied Fudge to Hogwarts during the Chamber of Secrets debacle – was amused by Minerva’s uncompromisingly brusque treatment of the Minister. “Yes, yes, the law is the law,” he muttered, and gestured reluctantly for Dawlish to leave the door slightly ajar. Rhiannon breathed a sigh of relief – the building felt too close with the door closed and the window boarded. She guessed there was probably another door that led out more ordinarily, but it must have been boarded given that Fudge and Dawlish entered through the passageway – and if she didn’t know where it was, she couldn’t use it in a rush.

At Fudge’s reluctant gesture to go ahead, Minerva took the lead up the staircase. Rhiannon hung back and brought up the rear. Her opinion of Dawlish improved immensely as he held out his hand to her in a fist for her inspection. She touched her nose to his hand and whuffed softly, and couldn’t quite repress her wagging tail as he ruffled her ears briefly before following on behind Fudge and Minerva. Once upstairs, Rhiannon turned automatically toward the bedroom they had used before but the door was closed and her tail drooped as she turned away and padded down the hallway to the other room. When they arrived, Hagrid stood up from where he’d been seated on the floor beside Sirius, a very anxious-looking Moony and a fluffed-up Dudley facing the caged Peter Pettigrew, nodded a greeting to them and headed for the door. “Now you’re here you can take over guard duty, I’ll go check on W- on the injured one,” he said gruffly, as he squeezed awkwardly past the Minister and shuffled off down the hallway to where they’d left Ron and the rest of their human friends.

Sirius Black stood, Remus crouched beside him. While he did not growl or move to attack, there was no doubt that Remus had placed himself as Sirius’ protector. “Hello, Minerva. Minister, Dawlish,” Sirius greeted them. He tried for a nonchalant tone, but it was hard to miss the quiver in his voice as he looked on the Minister and the Auror.

“Black,” Fudge replied grimly. “And- is that...” he trailed off, the green tone draining from his face as he took in the pudgy man in the cage.

Minerva took a deep breath and smiled, a real, relieved smile like fifty pounds of weight had fallen from her shoulders. “Indeed. Peter Pettigrew – Order of Merlin, First Class, awarded posthumously. I suppose that’s called into question, given he is in fact still living?” she suggested drily.

Peter Pettigrew lunged to his feet and reached through the bars of the cage, begging. “I was afraid for my life!” he implored them, casting a fearful glance at Sirius whose hands twitched and curled into fists at his side, his lip curling in disgust. “He c-c-c-c-came after me, killed all those people, he-”

Minerva held up her hand, and as if he was still a student Peter Pettigrew fell silent. “With all due respect, both your wands were salvaged following the explosion and remain in Ministry custody for evidence, it’s a simple spell to check who cast that awful curse. Even if you were innocent of betraying the Potters, guilt of that attack alone would be enough to put you in Azkaban alongside Master Black. And as for guilt in the matter of the Potters... Well, I do believe there is an updated copy of the Potters’ will, the new record-from-home system was instated not long before their death. And each of your memories will be required in addition, I believe Charles - Dawlish here brought the equipment for such a collection. You must understand, we have to investigate this with full seriousness given your presence – this crime affected not just the Potters but their daughter. Whichever of you committed these acts, you condemned Rhiannon to a decade of abuse, and your trial will reflect this.” she told them both, encompassing Sirius and Peter alike with a gesture.

Truly afraid now, Peter began to thrash and howl in his cage, but the charmed metal was unmoving. “No! No, I’m innocent, you have to believe me – he’s the monster! It’s him, it’s him!” he shrieked, his voice rising to a fever pitch as he babbled incoherently. Losing patience, Minerva drew her wand and flicked a small glowing-violet bubble towards him from its tip, when it struck he was immediately silenced.

“If you are innocent, you have nothing to fear from due process.” Minerva told him coldly, before turning her attention to Cornelius Fudge. “Minister, for his health and safety I would like to formally move for custody of Sirius Black – with no remaining family members, I believe I and Remus Lupin are the nearest possible thing and as you know, I am legally qualified to act as his lawyer and guardian. He will be restrained to a set of rooms and held under an Unbreakable Vow until the case is closed one way or another. If it turns out he is guilty – and while I do not believe that is the case, I will take all precautions to that end – then I will turn him over to Ministry custody.” she continued briskly, encompassing Fudge and Dawlish with a gesture.

Dawlish grimaced. “Minister, with a case like this... It won’t look good if Black turns out to be innocent after all this time. It might help to mitigate the media nightmare if you agree to her request,” he suggested.

Fudge scowled at the tall, shaggy-haired Auror, then deflated. “I suppose you’re right... with the election next year I can’t afford a smear like this. In fact... overturning a past wrongful conviction would gain me popularity... Bagnold ruffled a lot of feathers...” he agreed with a sigh, turning to musing about the possibilities. Rhiannon wrinkled her nose, irritated that it took self-interest to motivate the Minister when justice could’ve served just as well. “Very well, administer the Unbreakable Vow, I’ll send someone over to restrict an area for his use while Dawlish and I take the evidence back,” Fudge finished wearily, with a wave of his hand to Sirius Black and Minerva that said very clearly – I give up.

Minerva bowed slightly as an acknowledgement of the Minister’s begrudging grace, and crossed the room to stand before Sirius, with a brief nod to Remus as a recognition of wolfish courtesy before she addressed Sirius himself. “Dawlish, would you cast the Oath? As the one he will be bound to, I can’t do it myself,” she asked politely. “Sirius, I will need you to consent to remaining within the warded area set aside for you until you are released. You may not cause harm to any person by word or deed until you are released. You may not attempt to escape or accept aid from anyone to escape until you are released. And you will cooperate fully with the Ministry in the investigation, though you will never have to meet with them alone. Do I have your consent?” she asked him, her words formal – Rhiannon had read a little about Unbreakable Vows, she guessed that Minerva was laying out the formal terms of the Vow for Dawlish to repeat as he cast the spell.

Sirius took a shuddering breath, grimy eyelids fluttering closed over his hollow eyes as he considered this. Finally, he nodded. “Yes, I consent,” he replied wearily. “Anything but Azkaban.”

_____________________________________________________________________

Once the Vow was completed and evidence gathered, Minerva hurried the Minister and Dawlish from the grounds along with Pettigrew in chains. By now the night had worn well on, and Rhiannon was itchy and irritable having been cooped up all night. After the Minister and Dawlish had left, Minerva took Rhiannon and her friends back out through the passageway and out onto the hillside. There, Minerva, Sirius and Remus wandered at a more sedate pace while Rhiannon, Dudley and their two-legged friends gambolled happily across the grass around them. Hagrid carried Ron back to the castle for better treatment after he’d rudimentarily splinted their leg, and Rhiannon had enough confidence in Madam Pomfrey’s skills that she could set aside her worries and wander freely with Dudley and their three remaining friends.

It took only a week and change for Sirius Black’s name to be cleared. The records from the wands, combined with the memories presented and the record of the Potters’ will, were thoroughly damning and Sirius was released from his oath, as the Ministry formally charged Peter Pettigrew with the crimes previously attributed to Sirius himself and planned to transfer him from a more local facility to Azkaban at a later date. During this time Sirius stayed sequestered in Remus’ rooms, the edge of the restrictive ward fell just short of the door so that he could not interrupt classes.
Hogwarts came alive with gossip once the official story aired in the Prophet, and Rhiannon started to seriously consider attending classes under the Invisibility Cloak just so that she could avoid everyone hounding her for her opinions on his innocence – the official story didn’t mention her presence given that Minerva had concealed it, but Rhiannon was still the Girl Who Lived to too many people and Sirius’ story was intrinsically tied to hers. She couldn’t avoid public speaking forever, so she formed a scripted excuse in her head and repeated it at everyone who bothered her – she would make a statement if her foster-father consented when she returned home. And that seemed to shut them up. It bothered Rhiannon that they’d accept ‘I’m taking time to make my response’ but not a simple ‘no, go away’, but she set aside her irritable pride if only to get some peace.

Rhiannon had visited Sirius sporadically throughout the brief period of investigation but she had received the overall impression that the man was weary and it took a great deal of energy for him to socialise. As such, she was more than a little surprised when, a few days after his conviction was formally overturned, she received a note from Sirius asking to meet one afternoon. Curious, with no real idea of Sirius might want, Rhiannon struggled to pay attention through her classes until that afternoon came and she made her way to Remus’ rooms to meet him.

To her further surprise, Rhiannon was not the only one in the Defence classroom when she reached it. Dudley also was perched on the edge of a desk, knotting his fingers together and chewing on his lip anxiously when she arrived, and though he did his best to hide his nerves when he saw her, Rhiannon wasn’t fooled and she took his hand to comfort him while they waited.

Eventually, the door to Professor Lupin’s rooms opened and Remus himself strode out, smiling broadly. “Ah, Rhiannon, Dudley, thankyou for coming with so little information on what to expect. I promise it’s nothing bad, but it is also between you and Sirius with little to do with me, so I will remain out here and busy myself with grading papers if that’s alright.” he said with a wry grin, and gestured for them to go in while he took a seat at his desk.

More bewildered than ever now, Rhiannon and Dudley stood and headed into the office and suite of rooms behind the classroom. Sirius, looking much better than he had when they first met but still decidedly haggard and ill, was perched on Remus’ bed and he gestured for the two teenagers to seat themselves as they entered. “Rhiannon, Dudley – it’s wonderful to see you both,” he greeted them. A shadow of weariness still coloured his thin voice but he did genuinely sound better – there was a hope in his tone that had been absent at their first meeting. “I’m sorry for all the subterfuge – I wanted to make sure it could work before I said anything.”

Rhiannon cocked her head curiously, unsure exactly what he meant. Evidently Sirius had some big news to share with them, but she couldn’t for the life of her guess what. Sirius, seeing her and Dudley’s confused expressions, shook his head and laughed. “Sorry, I’m doing it again,” he said with a rueful chuckle. “In short, as Rhiannon’s godfather, I am legally obligated to care for her in case of her parents’ death – and it’s more than obligation, I’d like to. And Dudley, as her cousin and foster-brother... I would like to extend that offer to you also. You’re good kids and I see how you care for eachother, I don’t want to split you up. It’ll take some time and work, but if you agree and your foster-father is willing to help me with the transition... I would like to formally offer to adopt you both.”

Rhiannon and Dudley stared at him, then at eachother as hope swelled up in Rhiannon’s chest. They already had a home, yes, but with Rhiannon’s growing feelings for Luna... perhaps it would be better if they had some space. And adoption – that meant they would be siblings by law as well as by heart. But it was sudden, very sudden – she barely knew Sirius, she wasn’t quite sure she’d be comfortable moving in with a near stranger and almost unconsciously, she began to shake her head. Sirius’ face fell, and Rhiannon winced – that wasn’t what she’d meant. “No, I- I like the idea, it’s just... I don’t know you ye-e-e-e-et. You- you just got pardoned, th-there’s got to be so m-m-m-much you need to do, and I- I c-c-c-c-can’t just, drop everything for s-s-omething new. I- I want to say yes, but...” she stammered, trailing off as she struggled to explain herself.

Dudley coughed, and squeezed Rhiannon’s hand. “I think what Rhiannon means is, we want to say yes but it’s a lot all at once, and we need to get to know you better first. So, on the table – at face value, we like the idea but we’ve got to, I don’t know, work on it first. Maybe we could spend a weekend with you helping get a house set up when you get up, go out for lunch – normal stuff just, try and get a feel for eachother,” he suggested with a shrug. Then his expression turned wicked, and he jerked his head back at the door that led through to the office and then the classroom. “I don’t suppose this arrangement includes Professor Lupin as well?”

Sirius spluttered a bit at that and he hugged himself around his chest. “I... perhaps... Remus and I did discuss it – we were living together before everything at the end of the last war, but there’d be some adjustments. So I completely understand that there’s adjustments on your side of things too. Perhaps we table it as something to work toward and just, do the work first?” he agreed, almost shyly, and Rhiannon was reminded that it had only been a scant handful of years after finishing school that he had been wrongfully convicted – he’d not really had the chance to grow up.

Both Rhiannon and Dudley nodded their agreement, and Sirius smiled a tired but honest smile. “That’s... wonderful. I think I need to rest now, Madam Pomfrey has me on an apothecary’s worth of medications but... if the two of you would talk to your foster-father about it all and get him to contact me? We can work out some kind of loose plan for visits and that,” he said and yawned widely, cutting off anything else he might have wanted to say.

Rhiannon shook her head, a small smile spreading over her face despite her uncertainty. “I- I think we’ll g-go-o check on Ron, let you rest,” she suggested with an awkward look at Dudley. “But – we’ll do that, definitely.”

And with a sleepy wave from Sirius, Rhiannon and Dudley left the small bedroom, then slipped back into the classroom through the office that separated the suite of rooms from the classroom itself. Remus raised his head and smiled as they entered. “Things go well?” he asked knowingly.

Rhiannon flushed, and nudged Dudley so that he might answer for her. “It’s – it’s a big offer,” he replied. “We want to agree but we have to, kinda work up to that, if that makes sense? Like, it feels like the right step but we’re not ready to take it yet. So, we’re gonna talk to our foster-dad and work things out with him, kind of – get to know you better. Like, we know you well enough, but as our teacher – not really family, yet. Sirius? We don’t know him at all.”

Remus nodded understandingly. “Of course. I think that’s roughly what Sirius expected, to be honest. He just wants to get it all out in the open so there’s no ulterior motives to surprise you with later. We’ve both got our own learning and healing to do, cleaning up the house, that kind of thing, but in time... Maybe.” he replied, with an uncertain shrug and a wry smile.

Rhiannon felt that bubbling surge of hope rise again in her chest at the thought, and shared a look with Dudley. There was no doubt that he felt it too, even if he too agreed it was much too soon to agree in full. And perhaps, in their own home, she would have the space to explore her feelings toward Luna better. Remus, seeing her begin to bob anxiously from foot to foot, shook his head and gestured to the door out of the classroom. “No, don’t feel pressured, please. Go on, spend time with your friends, talk to your foster-family about it. We’ve still got another month until the holidays.” he told them both firmly. And with that, he shooed them both out of the classroom, each swimming in a mix of hopes and worries and things to consider as they made their way through the halls, Rhiannon to visit Ron and Dudley to speak with the Headmaster about arranging a Floo visit with their foster-father. Sirius’ offer threw a wrench into their ideas for the future but in the best way possible – with the Lovegoods they felt welcome, but like they were borrowing a family rather than truly belonging. Now, for the first time in a long time they had a chance at something Rhiannon had never thought possible – loving parents and a home of their own. Perhaps they, Remus and Sirius would all be good for eachother.