Chapter 15

"What do you want?" The surly man who answered the knock on the gate snarled at the rare visitors as he looked through the portal set at head height in the gate.

"I am here representing my client's family, and have been sent to check on the treatment that you are providing Bellatrix Lestrange ne Black, a woman of impeccable birth and blood status. I assure you that you and all of your fellow guards will be held responsible if she has been mistreated in any way." Andi Tonks may have married a man that her family did not approve of, but as the eldest Black daughter, she had been trained to play the part of a pureblood matriarch to perfection. "You will bring me and my guards to inspect her in her cell, and then you will provide a room for privacy and family matters to be discussed."

In a much less confrontational tone, the guard of Azkaban addressed her. "I will have to check with the warden ma'am, to make sure that you are allowed to visit her. In all the years I have been here, there has only been one prisoner who had a visitor, and since it was Sirius Black, the visit was denied since he was sentenced to solitary for life. Please wait out there and I will find out if you have permission." He closed the portal, and Andi and her two companions heard him running away from the gate as quick as he could.

Once she was sure that he was away from the gate and out of hearing range, she turned to her two companions and looked at the one she was surprised was accompanying herself and Ted. "Alastor, how did you know that Sirius was not allowed to have any visitors? I have not been able to find any documentation in regards to his trial, conviction, or sentence in seven years of searching."

"It would be because I was that visitor girl. I trained them all and I wanted to confront him and get a little bit of revenge on him for his betrayal. Most people forget that without the Marauders, we would have lost the war to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his death eaters. Albus had his Order, but it was ineffective, and seemed to get as many people killed as it saved. The marauders were a constant source of irritation to Albus because he had no control of them and he wasn't sure who they were. He was sure that he knew who they were, and accused James and his friends of being them, and then found out that while he was with them, the marauders were busy foiling an attack that was happening on a muggle women's college. It frustrated him to no end that the marauders didn't leave prisoners for the Ministry to slap on the wrist and then release to participate in their boyish hijinks once again. After all, it wasn't purebloods for the most part that they were harming, and who cares about muggles and their muggle and magical spawn. When I heard that it was Sirius who betrayed James and Lily, I went ballistic and headed over to see Frank and Alice to get their take on the situation. When I arrived, it was to find the Lestrange brothers setting up a ritual with the baby, Neville being held by Bellatrix, and Barty Crouch Jr. Practicing his cruciatus curse on Frank and Alice."

"I stunned Barty first, since he was away from the others, and then moved myself into position to take the rest of them before they could complete whatever dark ritual they were planning on doing. What was really strange, was that I was spotted by Bellatrix, and instead of raising the alarm, she turned and set Neville on the floor and then met my gaze before going for her wand. I stunned her and turned to engage Rodolphus and Rabastan and was met by a hail of curses. They were both well deserving of their fierce reputation, but I was slowly getting the best of them. When Rodolphus went down to a bone breaker curse and then banished the chalice they were using for the ritual, Rabastan changed his target to the baby, and I had to change my tactics. I shielded Neville with my body, and got hit with a curse that was meant to make me lose my eyes, but I was able to shield one of them. We battled for what seemed like eternity as Neville screamed and Alice tried to crawl across the floor to us, providing me the distraction I needed to take Rabastan down though that allowed Rodolphus to slip a blasting hex through that shattered my peg. I hit him and then sat there bleeding and trying to stay conscious as Neville cried in fear and pain."

"Finally, Augusta came in the room and I let myself collapse into oblivion and woke at St. Mungo's with an eye patch and a new peg leg. In all the time since, I have had questions that I have never been able to satisfactorily answer for myself. Why did Bellatrix Lestrange ne Black not fight me, and why did she so carefully put Neville down. What was the ritual that they were going to do with the chalice and Neville, and how did Sirius Black break his oaths as Harry's godfather. I was the one chosen to bind him and Alice in their oaths as Harry's godparents, and not once in the last seven years have I ever been pushed by the bonding to seek revenge for Sirius's betrayal, and that does not match up with the story that has been bandied around the ministry. I am here with you because I want to get the truth from Bellatrix, and if I can, Sirius as well if we are allowed to talk to him."

"Alastor," Andi interjected, "Sirius is innocent, and we have proof, though I can't tell you where that proof came from right now. Be assured that is from an impeccable source and has been checked by us multiple ways."

"What! He is innocent?" Alastor shouted. "Why have you not come forward and gotten him free? If he is innocent, then he should not be here. He is your cousin woman, how can you stand by and allow him to suffer in this Merlin forsaken hell."

"Not so loud Alastor. If it is suspected that we are here to see Sirius, then people will get involved that we can ill afford to face at this time." Ted was looking around to make sure they were not overheard while Andi continued. "The orders for Sirius's incarceration came directly from the desk of Barty Crouch, and was signed and enforced by the office of the Minister and by Albus Dumbledore. When we questioned Albus about the trial, he assured us that he personally knew that Sirius was guilty, and that his trial had been in the same emergency session as the sealing of the Potter wills and the granting of guardianship of Harry Potter to Albus Dumbledore. We checked, and there are notes in the archives about everything decided in that meeting, but there is no mention of Sirius having a trial and only a comment about how effective the DMLE was under Barty Crouch and how Sirius had been sent to Azkaban to pay for his betrayal and crimes. At first, we thought that Dumbledore was just as broken up as us about the loss of James and Lily as we were, but new information has come to light that has led us to believe that he may have been behind it all like some demented puppet master hiding behind the curtains and manipulating the puppets that the public can see dancing to his tune."

"Andi, the guard is coming back, get back into character." Ted whispered urgently and once again the pureblood princess mask descended on her face.

"I have been instructed to lead you to your sister Ms. Black, but your guards will need to stay behind as you will be perfectly safe inside these walls." The guard said at which point he learned that there was truth in the old axiom, 'Never get between a Lady Black and her goal, it will only end in pain for you.'

"I think that you will not be denying me my escorts as I am entitled to them under the Pureblood Accords of 1687, which states that the Matriarch of a Most Noble and Ancient House, which the Blacks most certainly are, is allowed a honor guard of no less than two and no more than twenty able bodied defenders in times of peace. If you would like to go to a war footing by denying me my escort, then by all means do so as I can assure you that I can have the five hundred wizards and witches that I am allowed in war here in less than an hour. Please let me know your choice, as well as your family name so that if we go to war on your direction, than I know what family will need to be wiped out or subjugated since you are not from a major family since you are stationed here." Andi's gaze could have made a basilisk back away, whimpering like a kicked puppy.

Doing what was perhaps the most intelligent thing he had done in his entire life, guardsman Dillock Carter waved the scary lady and her escorts through. He knew that the warden would probably chew him out later, but between the warden, the dementors, and the Lady Black, he knew who he feared the most. Guardsman Carter decided that he would be the one to escort the Lady around so that no one could report him for anything he did wrong. He also thought he might be able to get the Lady to focus her wrath on his boss instead of himself. He knew how the prisoners on the secure floor were treated by the guards who were in charge, and had heard them brag about the actions they made the prisoners do for their food. The day before, he would have said that his ambition was to be transferred from the gate to being a guard on one of the secure floors that had life sentence prisoners; now he thanked his lucky stars that he was low enough in seniority to have been kept on the gate.

"My Lady, let me call a replacement and then I will personally escort you and your companions to where you want to go. I am just a gate sentry, but I do know my way to your sister's cell and will make sure you see everything that you need to." Andi gave a brief nod to him and Guardsman Carter scurried away, shortly to return with his replacement. "Please follow me and I will take you down to the lifers' wing where your sister is held."

Following a path that twisted and turned as it descended, and that the guardsman explained to them as designed to allow the guards to have as little interaction with the dementors as possible; they finally arrived at the entrance to the secure wing where the lifers were kept. The guards at the door had a heated argument with their guide, but it soon quieted when the words Black and Blood Feud were mentioned. Suddenly the guards couldn't wait to help them with any of their needs, and the medallions that kept the dementors at bay were offered to the guests without the usual push for extra fees or favors owed at a later time. When their group arrived at the cell of Bellatrix Lestrange ne Black, it was to the chorus of taunts that were coming from the occupants of the cells around her, except for the noticeable silence from the cell containing the infamous Sirius Black.

"You," Andi imperiously pointed at one of her guards, who happened to be her husband. "Erect a silencing barrier so that I need not hear these uncouth individuals and their lack of social graces. It is a shame that pure bloods such as these have forgotten their upbringing, even in their current circumstances. Guardsman, I would like for you to erect obscuring wards on these nearby cells so that I may examine my client in her entirety to verify her treatment in this disgusting place."

"Yes my Lady, at once."

"Once that is done and you have placed magic inhibitors on her, you and my escorts will move down the hall so that you cannot see into her cell, so that I may have Bellatrix strip and be cleaned." Even though Andi's orders were definitely outside of normal regulations, Mrs. Carter had not raised a fool, and Guardsman Carter knew that regulations only applied to purebloods of an Ancient and Noble House if they allowed them too. He nodded to the woman that he believed could stand face to face with Morgana and spit in her eye without fear of retaliation, acknowledging that her commands would be followed. If he were more observant, he would have noticed that he was maneuvered subtly to the end of the corridor that was away from Sirius Black's cell that Senior Auror Moody wearing the livery of a Black House protector had placed himself outside of, casting his spells at the cells not occupied by a Black. It was with a certain note of surprise that he was offered a flask of Fire Whiskey laced tea by the Lady's guard that he had overheard her call Theodis. He came to the conclusion that this particular guard wasn't so bad as the two of them talked about the prison, and the conditions that the guards had to endure while watching over the filth of the wizarding world. Guardsman Carter never notice the ward that went up between them and the other two in their party that made sure the conversation taking place behind them would not be overheard or observed by anyone without the need to know.

It was Bellatrix Lestrange ne Black's cell which was entered first, and the shock of seeing her sister lying on her cot with a vapid look on her face nearly brought Andromeda Tonks ne Black to tears. "Bella! Bella! Can you hear me baby? Alastor, quickly give me the flushing potions that we brought for her. Her vitals are low, and she appears to have been given a dis-associative potion causing her to view reality as a dream, and make her more likely to have a psychotic break." Once the potion had been administered, the only thing they could do was wait for the effects to override the ones already in her system and help her to purge them from her system.

"Let's visit your cousin next door and see if he is any better. We might be able to get answers from him while we wait for Bellatrix to respond." Moody said to Andi, who reluctantly agreed to leave her sister behind for the moment. Andi was about to approach the guard to see if she could get his keys, when Alastor steered her to the door of Sirius's cell and with a flourish, pulled the guards keys from his own pocket. The look on her face made him chuckle as he fit the key in the door and then opened the cell of Sirius Black, innocent man.

"Andi, is that you?" A raspy, unused voice grated out in disbelief. "Are you really here or is this another delusion caused by the potions they lace the food with? No matter really, I will tell you the same as I always do. Harry is in danger from Dumbledore, and you have to save him. Peter was the secret keeper, and it was Albus who cast the Fidelus charm and made Peter their secret keeper. It was only after I woke up here in this cell that my eyes were opened and my mind became clear. We had broken away from Peter after Harry was born because none of our inner animals trusted him, and Harry hated him from the moment he first laid eyes on him." It was at that moment that Sirius took notice of the person standing behind his cousin.

"Oh, Moody is here too. Well I guess that this is another hallucination. Man, I wish this was real," Sirius let out a labored sigh of utter despair. "I don't understand how you cannot know that I am innocent Moody, since it was you who oversaw the godparent bonding of Alice and me. There is no way that my bond with Harry would ever let me betray my blood brother James and his family, and especially his son since I made him my heir." With that statement, Sirius burst into tears and Andi could hold back no longer, rushing over to Sirius and engulfing him in a hug while whispering to him that everything would be alright. When Sirius realized that he could actually feel her arms around him and the puffs of breath on his ear as she tried to reassure him, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he knew no more as his world faded to black.

Moody chuckled and said, "The unflappable Sirius Black just fainted. I will make sure to remind him of this moment long into the future."

Andi was about to chastise him, when the sound of someone being sick in the next cell alerted them to the fact that Bellatrix had woken up. Laying Sirius back on his bed, she rushed past Moody and into the cell of her sister, only to see her sister's form hunched over in the corner, emptying what seemed like half her body weight out of her mouth. The only thing she could do for Bella at the moment was to hold her hair back out of her way since Bella's hands were shackled in front of her with magical suppression manacles. In between heaves, Bella turned her head and smiled at her older sister, and the tender look she saw on Andi's face warmed her heart. It took about fifteen minutes for the stomach spasms to stop and for her system to settle enough for Andi to give her a counter potion and a restorative drought to help her recover. Her sigh, followed by a small, ladylike burp let Andi and Alastor know that the potions had worked, and it was time to get some answers.

"Bella, we have come to ask you some questions, and as the oldest living Black daughter, I am the family Matriarch until such time as Sirius takes a wife or the mantel of The Black is passed to the next Lord. As such, I call upon your blood and oaths as a member of the Most Ancient and Noble Family Black, to answer the questions I put to you in total truth, with no evasion of the truth, so mote it be." Andi said with all the formality that was required by their family magics.

"I can feel the magic compelling me to obey, but I have one question for you before I give my oath. I was told that you and Sirius had been cast out of the family by Orion and Walburga and so I am reluctant to pledge my family loyalty to you if you are not truly the Black Matriarch, for it would be my death as you well know."

"While it is true that aunt Walburga blasted us both off the family tapestry, Grandpa Arcturus was still The Black and he believed that with the war, blood was becoming too rare just to throw it away. He and Grandma Melania were the ones who made sure that our brother Rigel was placed with a good muggle family, and even left him a trust to help him with his goals in the muggle world. If it had been up to our parents, they would have drowned him to hide the shame of him being a squib and not having the magic to enter Hogwarts. Now that aunt Walburga has finally passed on from her miserable existence, as the oldest living Black sister, I have now been tasked with the defense of the family name, so once again I call on you to renew your loyalty under the oaths of familia supra omnes."

"I, Bellatrix Lestrange of the Family Black, do hereby swear upon my life and magic the oath of Familia Supra Omnes, letting no other loyalty or pledge come between myself and the honor of The Black, so mote it be." Bellatrix instantly fell to the floor while clutching her arm and screaming as if her life was being ripped from her body. Andi was on her knees in a flash, cradling her sister to her while crying out at the pain her baby sister was in. She rolled Bella over, and instead of a face filled with torment, there was a smile that stretched as wide as it could be as the scream cut off.

"Boy oh boy sis, you should see your face right now." Bella said before she broke into giggles.

"That was a good prank Bella; I couldn't have done better myself if I had planned it." Said an unexpected voice from behind her, making Andi spin around while reaching for her wand, only to find herself looking at the prone body of Alastor Moody laid out with Sirius Black standing over him, Moody's wand in his hand. "Andi, I am grateful that you are here to find out the truth, but are you sure this is Alastor Moody? I remember it being much harder to sneak up on him, and that was before he got that spy stone for an eye. He always told us to practice constant vigilance, and here I was able to take him down with a little tap to the back of the head."

Whatever else Sirius was about to say got cut off as he found himself in a full body bind, hanging from the ceiling of the cell. "Arrogant pup, always wanted to talk more than commit to action. That was why the leaders of your group were Frank and James." With a flick of his wrist, a wand appeared in Moody's hand and he lowered Sirius to the floor. "Go ahead and try that wand you are so proud of taking from me, I think you will be surprised." Said the battle hardened veteran with a grin. Sirius tried to cast a basic lumos spell, and found himself coated with a quickly hardening substance that had covered him when the wand exploded.

"You got our instant cement exploding wand spell to work!" Sirius exclaimed with excitement. "We were working on it when James and Lily went into hiding, and I never gave it much thought after that. How did you do it and what was the final Arithmantic formula for the cement?"

"I didn't do it, Lily did and she sent me her notes shortly before she died. The holster on my arm is rune charmed to perform a switching spell if I lose my wand, replacing it with a blank that has that spell runically crafted in its core as well as a compulsion rune to make the perp use it. This makes it feel like the perfect wand for any who takes it, and it will detonate on command or on the first attempt at a spell, and it has been a great help getting me out of tight spots over the last few years. Unfortunately, I am one of the very few who use it as anything created by a muggleborn, even Lily Potter ne Evans, is not of worth to magical society as a whole. I turned over the notes she sent me to Remus Lupin, and I pay him what I can to make them for me."

"How is Remus?" Sirius asked.

"He is doing okay, but he has virtually left the magic world because of the anti-werewolf laws that have been passed. Enough about him, we are here to get answers from you and Bellatrix, and if they are the answers that we expect, then we will proceed from there. Go ahead and ask your questions Andi, we don't have a lot of time before someone comes to check on us."

"Okay, I will start with you Bella; you screaming from your dark mark was expected after the Familia Supra Omnes was cast, but it seems that you don't need me to release you from the pain it is supposed to cause if you have sworn loyalty to an enemy of the Black family; please tell me why."

"It is simple really; I do not carry the dark mark and never have." Bella could have told them she was a squid and it would have not stunned them as much as her statement did.

"If that is true, then why did you join the dark lord's ranks and become known as one of his most devoted followers?" Andi asked in disbelief.

"You know how mother and aunt Walburga felt about the dark lord; they both believed that he was the savior of our world, and that he would cleanse our world of the filth that polluted it. I am pretty sure that they both were in love with him while they were in school, and they may have both had affairs with him at one time or another during their younger years. When first Sirius, and then you escaped from the path that they wanted you to follow, mother and aunt Walburga put a geas on Cissy, Regulus, and me to ensure that we followed the proper pureblood path. Regulus was practically gifted to the dark lord as his slave, though he fought it up until the day he died. I was married off to the Lestrange family as a reward for their faithful service to him, and Cissy was gifted to the Malfoy heir."

"Grandpa Arcturus saw that our parents were putting the dark lord above the interests of house Black, and decided to step in and release us from our geas, but our mother and aunt Walburga lured him into a trap that allowed him to be killed by the dark lord and his inner circle. Cissy gave in and became the perfect pureblood wife to Lucius Malfoy, since she felt that there was no hope. I fought them and the geas I had been placed under, and it took a series of dark spells and bindings to make me obey my supposed husband. It amused them greatly to make me go on raids without a mask and force me to see what they were doing to the innocents they attacked. It became common knowledge among the purebloods not in the dark lord's inner circle that I was the most devoted of his followers, and the most vicious."

"I slowly began to overcome the compulsions and spells keeping me in line, but there was no one I could turn to for help. I tried to approach Albus Dumbledore in secret, but his order had instructions to kill me on sight. It always baffled me that when I was dragged along on raids, it seemed like Dumbledore's people would put themselves in the sights of other Death Eaters just to get a shot off at me, and their spells were lethal when aimed at me versus the stunners they cast at other Death Eaters. The Prewitt brothers died because they stood out in the open, firing blasting and cutting curses at me while ignoring the nine other Death Eaters who were there."

"It was on 31 October, 1981 that my wish came true and I broke free of the spells that had been controlling me. I later found out that Harry Potter had vanquished the Dark Lord, and I was determined to escape my husband and his brother. In my preparations to rescue Cissy and escape, I overheard Rodolphus and Rabastan talking about the ritual that they needed to complete to bring back the Dark Lord. I wanted to leave right then, but I knew that if he came back, I would once again be trapped by the spells he had placed upon me. When they said that they would use Harry Potter for the ritual, I knew that I needed to stick around and save the infant son of my former school friend Lily Potter. We arrived at Longbottom manor, and Rabastan had a key that allowed us to enter through the wards, which caused his brother and him to snicker at the trust the old fool put in Snape."

"When we reached the house, we quickly realized that no one was home which suited the men just fine. We entered the manor and they began to set up an ambush, while Barty was sent to the front as a lookout, and I was sent to the back. I went out the back and set up a redirect ward that would send any portkeys or apparition to right outside the back door so that I could warn the Longbottoms that Harry and they were in danger. It worked, as soon after that I was facing the wands of both Frank and Alice, and what saved me was the fact that I was sitting there with my hands behind my head and my wand on the ground in front of me. Once Frank had my wand in his hand, they allowed me to speak and I told them of the danger they were in. Frank pulled out a small mirror and called out Moody, who quickly answered and when told of the situation, said he would be right there; appearing less than thirty seconds later."

"Moody pulled out some charmed spectacles, and verified everything I had told them, including that Barty Crouch Jr. was a Death Eater and was stationed at the front near their normal apparition point. They didn't trust me at first, and who could blame them for that, but then Harry reached out and demanded that I hold him, and that seemed to settle everyone down. After Moody and Frank had secured the other three, I asked them why they had put their trust in me. It was Alice who told me that Harry seemed to be highly empathetic, and if he acted like you were a friend, then that meant that you more than likely were. They told me about his reaction to Peter Pettigrew who was his parent's supposed friend, and I confirmed that Peter was a Death Eater and a spy on Dumbledore's order. I suggested that they secure me before they called the Aurors, so there would not be any accidental curses shot at me when they arrived and moody agreed. Almost as soon as I was bound, Albus Dumbledore walked in and demanded that they give him Harry. When Alice refused, he seemed to capitulate, and then stunned Moody and Frank, followed quickly by Alice. I pretended to be stunned like Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Barty, and got to hear him interrogate them about their aims. He then moved us and the furniture around to simulate a battle, and then one by one obliviated and reprogramed our memories. At my trial, I was compelled to scream like a demented idiot about how the Dark Lord would rise again, to purge the world of blood traitors and filth. It took almost four years for the effects of the dementors to destroy the blocks on my memory, allowing me to remember what really happened. I know that in my trial, I admitted to torturing Alice and Frank to insanity with the cruciatus curse, but it was a spell cast by Albus Dumbledore that did that to them, though I do not know what it was that was cast."

It was Moody who was the first to react, and his shouted curses forced Andi to silence him so that they would not draw attention, since he was loud enough to cause the notice-me-not wards to strain. Andi looked at him rather pointedly, and when he finally seemed to have calmed down, she lifted her spell from him before turning to Sirius and asking him for his story. If anything, it was even more upsetting then Bella's story had been.

"I arrived at the cottage that Albus had put the Potter's in, having been uneasy about Peter being the secret keeper all day. I was able to convince James and Lily to take Harry to Potter manor, since it had wards that were even more legendary than those at Hogwarts. We had packed their belongings, since they didn't plan to come back, and we were at the door when Dumbledore showed up and told us he had some bad news. We sat around the sitting room, while he told us that Voldemort had discovered Potter manor and had laid siege to it, determined to destroy the family seat of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter. When James said that he had not been alerted by the wards, and he was tied into them, Albus told him that Voldemort had taken control of the wards that would have alerted him, and was setting a trap for the last of the Potters. He even went so far as to suggest that I had been compelled to come and lead them to their doom. James and I insisted on going to check it out, and told Lily to go to our safe house. Lily ran upstairs to grab Harry, and Albus sighed, and asked us why we couldn't just do what we were told."