Trial
“I need you to be finished before I get back,” He instructed, watching the flames. “With Potter out of the way, I can claim the Ministry of Magic without opposition.” Audra had joined Him on the hearth before He added, “don’t get caught.”
Audra laughed. “No worries about that. Would you like me to make it look natural, or intentional?”
“Whichever,” Voldemort replied. He pulled her into another embrace and she accepted His passionate kiss. A knock on the door interrupted the moment. “Go. Now,” He said as He gently pushed her away.
Audra crossed the room to the opened door. “Move,” she growled at the hooded man standing on the other side.
The man did not move, but instead lowered his hood and Audra was staring at a face she hadn’t seen in years: the face of her husband.
“Sirius,” she hissed, “What are you doing here?”
“What was that?” he responded, nodding his head towards the hearth; apparently he had been watching.
“What are you doing here?” Audra repeated.
Sirius ignored her question. He grabbed her by her upper arm and snarled, “I don’t believe it; you little slut!”
“Sirius, I had to,” she growled, breaking his grasp. Sirius roughly shoved past her and into the room. Audra followed, shouting, “Wait, Sirius, don’t!!!”
But it was too late. Black was kneeling at Voldemort’s feet. “My Lord, she’s the spy!” he exclaimed, pointing at Audra with a look of pure hatred.
Audra froze in her tracks. The look on Voldemort’s face was enough to make her want to run. She turned for the door, but Black blocked her path; he pushed her and she stumbled backwards, landing at Voldemort’s feet. He looked down on her like she was filth. The fire behind Him died suddenly, and the room was filled with a misty chill.
“My Lord, I-” but He didn’t care what she had to say. Thick bands of silver flew from the tip of His wand and bound her tightly: her elbows touched behind her back; her wrists were pressed together; her knees and ankles were tied tight enough she began losing feeling, and a cleft gag kept her from pleading. She lay there on her side, unable to move or say anything. Black had returned to Voldemort’s side, his sneer matching his Master’s. Black nudged her with his foot…
“Wake up, Mutt,” Black said. But the voice was too high to be his, but it was his foot nudging her…
Audra opened her eyes. The person standing over her looked nothing like Black. In fact this person was female. It took Audra a long moment to place the face, until the person repeated herself. “Get up, Mutt, come on.”
“Piss off, Mendez,” Audra growled, rolling over so her back was to the vampire.
“Not the answer I wanted,” Gina replied, snapping her fingers.
Two Dementors glided past Gina and grabbed Audra by the upper arms. The contact instantly made Audra sick to her stomach. The last shred of happiness she still had vanished and was replaced by her worst memories. Visions of her cell, the chains, and the whip came rushing at her like a rip tide, threatening to take her under and her knees buckled from the weight. Audra broke out into a cold sweat as all her strength left her; she couldn’t even move her feet as the Dementors carried her out of her cell.
“Let her go!” Trappe yelled at Gina. “Can’t ye see they’re affecting her worse than normal?!?!”
“Quite you,” Gina snapped. “We’ll be back for you next,” she threatened. Josh glared at the vampire.
Gina led Audra and her two escorts down the hall and through a door. On the other side was a single elevator door: the private elevator leading to the courtrooms where the trials were held. The doors slid open, revealing a small carriage with shackles on the back wall. All four beings stepped in the carriage and the doors slid shut.
“Let her go,” Gina commanded. Rather reluctantly, the Dementors complied, and Audra fell to the floor gasping for air. Gina kneeled next to her sister, picking Audra up and hugging her close to her chest. “Audra I’m so sorry,” she whispered as tears formed in the corner of her eyes.
“It’s ok Gina. You’ve got your job to do, it’s alright,” Audra replied, also embracing her sister.
The two of them stood, and Gina pulled a bar of Honeyduke’s chocolate out of her pocket. “Here,” she said, handing it to Audra.
“Thanks,” Audra took the bar and gratefully ate it. Warmth spread back to her fingers and toes, and she could feel her strength returning.
Wiping her eyes, Gina straightened up and got down to business. “I showed the memory to Lindsey and Amber, so they’ll be able to testify. Also Dumbledore is here with your paperwork, showing you’re an auror.”
“I don’t suppose you have a Pensieve with our meetings?” Audra questioned, still munching on the chocolate.
“No, just in case we were betrayed. Speaking of which…”
“It wasn’t Sirius,” Audra said before Gina; Gina sighed. “Look, I would have known if Sirius was anywhere nearby at the manor. I know his scent and the fact of the matter it wasn’t him.”
“Audra…” Gina looked as if she didn’t want to be the one to break it to Audra. “He was arrested. Two days ago.”
“Wait… what? Why?”
“Peter cornered him. He was shouting about how Sirius had betrayed Lily and James. And then Sirius killed him, along with twelve muggles; blew up half the street. Audra I’m sorry,” she added, seeing her sister’s face.
Just then, the elevator doors opened to a hallway made of dark gray stone. More torches provided a dim light, illuminating the mist rolling over the floor. Taking Audra’s hand, the two made their way down the hall with the Dementors following in their wake. The source of the mist became clear as they walked past Dementor after Dementor that guarded every door. “This place is competing against Disney World for ‘happiest place on Earth’ isn’t it?” Audra joked.
Gina smiled. “It’s been absolutely miserable here. Lindsey got the lucky end of the deal protecting the Minister. Amber and I have been alternating between arrests and trials.” She stopped next to a door. “This is ours,” she said. Audra waited for her to tell the Dementors to move, but Gina instead turned towards her sister. “There is one more thing I wanted to ask you…” she began; it sounded as if she really didn’t want to ask. “But in the memory… you and Voldemort…”
Audra immediately knew what she was talking about. “That is none of your business,” Audra snapped.
Gina looked concerned, sensing that there was more than what she had seen. “Audra… did you ever… I mean we’ve been wondering if maybe there was a reason why…”
“Why what?” Audra spat. “Why I was made a Death Eater? Why I wasn’t killed?” Gina immediately stepped back, knowing that she had gone too far. Audra sighed. “Look, the conditions of my relationship with the Dark Lord are something I do not wish to discuss. I went thru hell at His hands and I have no wish to relive those days. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to proceed with the trial.” Gina had never heard Audra speak with such authority before; it must be from her time as Second.
Gina motioned for the Dementors to step aside. They did as they were told, and the door creaked open.
They were standing on the threshold of one of the smaller courtrooms, with only a single set of stands on the opposite end of the room. There was a high back chair that sat in the center of the room facing the benches. Barely a dozen people sat in the stands, eagerly looking at the opened door.
Audra took two steps into the room and was immediately attacked. Lindsey and Amber had been waiting by the door, and the moment she stepped through both hugged her from either side. Audra buried her face into their warm skin, taking in the scent she had almost forgotten. Gina joined, and the four sisters stood there holding each other after five long years of being apart.
A deep voice cleared his throat from somewhere in the distance. “I’d hate to ruin this reunion,” the monotone voice of Bartemius Crouch carried over to the group, “but we have to try this criminal.”
Audra glanced over at the man; his demeanor said he wasn’t going to wait much longer. She gave her sisters one last squeeze, then broke apart walking towards the Wizengamont. Though only a dozen or so years her senior, Mr. Crouch looked well beyond his years. Deep lines set into a stern and taught face, gray wisps of hair standing out against the dark black. His moustache twitched – a further indication of his impatience.
Audra stopped beside the chair, her sisters standing behind her for support. “Sir,” Audra said, slightly inclining her head; she never took her eyes off the man.
He motioned for her to sit. She glanced at the wooden chair, chains crawling up the arms. The sight made her skin crawl and she had no desire to sit in it.
Fortunately Amber spoke for her defense. “She’s not a threat, Sir,” she said to Crouch.
“She broke into my house in the middle of the night to assassinate me,” the Minister said from her seat next to Crouch.
Amber opened her mouth to argue, but Audra touched her arm. “It’s ok, I’ll be fine.” Amber nodded and held Audra’s hand as she sat. Instantly the chains sprung to life and wrapped around her arms and legs, securing her in place. Audra involuntarily twitched, her body reacting to the situation and trying to free itself. The gentle squeeze of Amber’s hand brought her back to reality and she stopped struggling.
<At least it’s not silver,> she mind-flashed to Amber. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amber smile.
Crouch cleared his throat and began reading from a sheet of parchment. “Audra…” he looked confused at the lack of a last name listed.
“Black,” Audra supplied.
He gave her a strange look but continued anyways. “Audra Black, today you stand trial under the accusation of being a Death Eater, fifteen counts of murder in the first degree, including the murder of auror Robert Davies, one count of attempted assassination of the Minister of Magic, involvement in the Dark Arts, and usage of the Unforgivable Curses. How do you plea?”
“Guilty to all counts,” Audra plainly stated. “There’s no reason to beat around the bush on it.”
“She pleads innocent,” a voice from behind corrected.
“The court recognizes Albus Dumbledore,” Crouch stated.
“Thank you, Mr. Crouch; Minister, witches and wizards of the Wizengamot, I am here to speak on behalf of Audra Black, auror and spy for the Order of the Phoenix.”
There was an increase of noise at this announcement, people turning around in their seats to state their disbelief at this news. Crouch turned to his young intern, whispered something and the young man began ruffling through stacks of documents at his feet. Done with his search, he muttered something to Crouch, who turned back to Dumbledore.
“There is no record of an Audra Black as an auror,” Crouch stated.
“Try ‘Aubry Schaefer,” Audra prompted.
The intern once again leafed through the files and withdrew one. “We have one for Aubry Schaefer,” he said, holding up the file.
Crouch flipped open the file and began peering into its contents. “It says here at you were trained by auror Robert Davies.”
“That is correct.”
“But you just said that you killed him,” a witch in the third row said.
“Also correct; well actually, no,” Audra corrected. “It was technically a seppuku.”
“A what?” Crouch spat furiously.
“A seppuku is a ritualistic suicide,” chimed Lindsey, “performed by the Japanese samurai class. It’s a way for a warrior to die with his honor.”
“Davies was captured,” Audra said, “and was being tortured by the Dark Lord for information. Davies begged me to help him. If I hadn’t, he could have cracked and revealed I was the spy.”
“Everything Audra did was under my order to maintain her cover by whatever means necessary,” Dumbledore told the court. “As an auror, she was authorized by the Ministry to commit the heinous crimes she is being convicted of. Without her, hordes of valuable information would never have reached the ministry’s ears.”
“There is no record of the ministry ever receiving information from her,” Crouch said.
“We didn’t want the Dark Lord to find out,” Audra stated plainly. “He had spies within the ministry.”
The audience suddenly grew tense. “What are the names of these spies?” asked Crouch.
Audra smiled. “I can give you more than just names,” she said, her voice growing oily with deceit. “I can give you the Death Eaters.”
“Explain.”
“When I was made a Death Eater, I was appointed as the Dark Lord’s Second-in-Command. When He fell, I assumed His command,” Audra smiled. “Cut me a deal, and I will hand every single one of them to you on a silver platter.”
Crouch sat back in his chair, thinking. It was obvious that he was not the kind who normally cut deals with scum, but she had all the cards he wanted. Slowly, he said, “what would you like?”
“First, get me out of this fucking chair; I have an itch.”