April 10th, 1994
Minerva kept her letter in her pocket for the entire week. She still couldn’t believe it. It seemed like yesterday her boy was sitting in her office for their weekly tea smiling so wide as he spoke of Remus. He would talk about his friend for hours, he would share every accomplishment the other boy made, how big his last tutoring group was, he was Remus’s biggest fan. Minerva had known that her boy had loved Remus Lupin, then in their sixth year it became clear that the other felt the same. She remembers seeing the two together after their school days the happiest she had ever seen them.
It felt like seconds later she found Remus drunk out of his mind because all of his friends either died or became a traitor.
Minerva cared about each of her Gryffindors as if they were her own. She loved watching them succeed and she hated seeing them too hard on themselves. It was torture to see them fail. Minerva had never said this out loud, but of all of her students, she cared for the so-called ‘Marauders’ the most. She didn’t know how it happened, but Sirius had become her favourite. He needed it the most. In the years of her knowing him, the boy had snuck his way into her heart and she wasn’t letting him leave it. To the outside world, Sirius was charming and loud and mischievous. He always acted like he had it all together, as if his life was perfect. But she could see the signs. Sirius would flinch so slightly, you wouldn’t see it unless you were looking for it. He was loud yes, but he put all of the attention onto him to protect his friends. He was awfully shy when it came to anything close to feelings or his personal life. He was terribly talented that way. You could spend weeks with the boy and never learn anything about him.
She should have fought for him. In her heart, she knew he was innocent. He had to be. Sirius Black was loyal to a fault, but the world misjudged where that loyalty lied.
She had read that letter until she could see when she closed her eyes. Specifically the line Do not worry, I understand not wanting to visit while I was away. He was joking, playing it cool. His natural defense was to pretend that everything was ok. She had never felt more guilty.
****
Sirius was right outside the phone booth entrance of the ministry sitting on a bench. He wore an all black suit with gold accents and a black outer robe. He looked healthier than when he broke into the great hall, but not by much. Minerva sat next to him on the bench, the boy was never a one to talk openly about what was bothering him so she didn’t ask. As wise and sophisticated as he looked, he had his head hanging back with his eyes starring at the sun.
“It’s wonderful isn’t it?” Sirius’s voice used to be smooth and playful. Now it was rough and scratchy, it broke Minerva’s heart.
“What is?” She looked at her boy, he didn’t look back at her.
“The sun.”
Of course. The boy was deprived of any natural light for twelve years, even this past year he couldn’t be seen in daylight or the ministry would find him. Although, she supposes, he could not be seen as a human, but that does not mean he had no way of going out in public. Which reminds her,
“Mr. Pettigrew confessed to the ministry for being a rat.” Minerva is going to take this conversation slowly. Even as a boy, it took Sirius weeks to share anything with meaning.
“Coincidentally his animagus form is also a rat.” Sirius smiled, not his normal half smirk though. He didn’t even show his teeth.
“A number of students interested in divination had reported seeing the grim on campus. Very curious wouldn’t you say so?” She got what she was looking for. He moved his focus from the sun to her. His gray eyes were so dim without light.
“There is no thing as death omens. If there was, I would have transformed just stand in front of my mother. Did you hear she died?” He smiled a real smile this time, and Minerva didn’t blame him. That woman was the worst wizard Minerva had ever met. She broke both of her sons.
“I did hear that and I am very glad for you. But I am mostly proud and impressed for what you and your friends did for your friend.” She eyed him, all he did was look away and hummed in agreement. “What year did you succeed an impossible feat?”
“Fifth. Well, technically the summer right before fifth year, but we didn’t transform until we got to school. We wanted the first time to be together.”
The four were inseparable, it made sense they wanted to transform for the first time as a group.
“I surprised Mr. Lupin let you all try this. Becoming an animagus is very dangerous. It could have left all three of you deformed or dead.”
“We didn’t tell Remus. He would never let us try. We sort of.. well we sort of just joined him on the first full we could. It was the first full of his life that he didn’t get a scar. He let us stay after that.” Sirius explained. Minerva remembers that. Her and Poppy used to spend hours wondering how little Remus Lupin stopped getting hurt during full moons. It was an overnight change. He no longer needed a full day of rest to recover, he had few to no scars. They came up with a lot of theories, but never once would they imagine the lengths to which his friends would go to.
“And Mr. Potter?”
“He was a stag. Peter was small enough to get to the tunnel without the tree noticing. James and I were big enough to fight the wolf if we had to.”
“Did you ever have to?” Minerva didn’t know why she was asking, she didn’t want to know the answer.
“Sometimes.” His voice was small, just like when he was young. His life had always been so hard. Right from the start until this very date. Minerva failed this boy. Her boy.
“I’m sorry Sirius-“ She tried, but he stopped her.
“Don’t. That’s not why we’re here.” He looked so defeated. So broken. She wanted to say more, to make him be mad at her for leaving him. But she knew he hated to be pitied, so she said no more.
“I did not inform Mr. Lupin of our days activity, but he misses you. If he were not a professor, he would be looking for you.”
“Yes, he probably would. I will see him. Eventually. But not now.”
Good, he is not planning to leave his friend after all. Minerva left it at that. She let her boy sit in the sun and live peacefully for the small moments he can. They sat in silence for a while, it reminded Minerva of Sirius in his early school years. Before he trusted her, he would sit in his office during detention. It was only the start of his third year that he started sharing with her. Still she didn’t mind the silence. It still felt like a dream that he was here.
“This is nice.” The boy spoke after almost twenty minutes. “Sitting here, with you again.”
Sirius Black was not one to share how he was feeling, but Minerva knew what he meant.
“I missed you too, Sirius.”
He looked at her, his eyes big just like he was only eleven years old. So much could be said for just one gaze.
“We should get going.” He said, averting his gaze. He stood up then helped her stand. She thought they would start walking into the ministry, but of course, Sirius Black surprised her. In a heartbeat he was hugging her. She instantly wrapped him in her arms. He was too skinny, too thin. So much hurt happened to this boy. It seemed like the world was constantly against him. As quickly as he hugged her, he let go. Minerva started to miss it, which was silly because the boy- the man, really- was still right there in front of him.
He lead her to a secret entrance that he said was meant only for the Black family. She should have known even the ministry adjusted to the Black family.
“Ignore how I’m about to act.” Sirius suddenly whispered to her. What did he mean by this? She was going to ask a follow up question when the Minister approached them. Minerva had never been a fan of Fudge. His entire career he only ever cared about becoming the Minister and once he got his wish, he never seemed to ever do anything. His entire personality seemed to only be about the Minister position.
“Lord Black! What an honor it is to finally have you join us here. I can not begin to express my most deepest apologies regarding your imprisonment.” Fudge was almost stuttering in his apologies, it was embarrassing.
“I do hope you have everything we spoke about. I would hate for your intolerable actions against my family to continue.” Sirius’s face was blank and icy. She had never heard Sirius speak so emotionless. It was disturbing.
“Of course! Of course! Let’s go to my office right away.” The minister lead them the way while promising nothing short of the gold in Gringotts. He had his employees bring them tea and biscuits. Sirius did not say a word the entire time.
“Now of course I understand a man at your talent and skill level would be tempted to try such a dangerous task. I assume you had also guided Mr. Pettigrew seeing as your own magical skills would be the better of you two. Once you register, this shall all go under the rug as nothing more than childhood fun!” The minster smiled at Sirius. Minerva had seen this smile before in her students. He looked like a child waiting for approval.
“Then let’s not waste time, shall we?” Sirius himself looked bored at this ordeal. Minerva realized with horror how much he truly looked like his mother. Minerva had many meetings with Lady Black, a lot of them she spent looking just as uninterested.
“Of course not! Here are the animagus registry papers, the two of you just need to sign and initial.” Fudge presented them with the papers. As sponsor, it was Minervas job to look over his progress as an animagus and to be there in case any issues arise. Minerva’s own sponsor had checked in with her weekly during her first year as an animagus, then monthly for the rest of her life. While she would not be helping in the process of his becoming an animagus, she would still check in. She signed her name on every line.
“Wonderful!” Fudge pathetically cheered them on, when they had finished. He must truly love his job to be brown nosing this much.
“And the rest?” Sirius questioned. Minerva had no idea what he was talking about.
“Yes! Your seat on the school board and Wizengamot are set and ready for you to join, and you are on the owl-list for the times of the meetings. The galleons have already been transferred to your personal vault as per your request, and lastly” He brought out a file from behind his desk, “the last standing will of the Potters.”
It seemed like it took Sirius some great restraint to not snatch the file out of the ministers hands. Minerva wondered what his goal was. Even as a child, Sirius never did anything without an end result. Every prank had a goal, every conversation had a purpose. He was never a fan of small talk, he thought it was useless and took too much time from doing the things he truly loved.
****
Outside the ministry was a lot better than inside. The fresh air was far greater than that snobby building. She saw Sirius visibly relax once they were back outside.
“I am curious to what you plan to do with the rest of your items.” She stated. She wasn’t asking him, for she knew he would never answer flat out.
“Does Harry like living with the muggles?”
Minerva was taken aback for a second, but then she brought herself back to speed. Sirius is the boys godfather, he could be the boys guardian. Oh and how Harry needed a new guardian. Harry was a lot like Sirius. He came to Hogwarts new to the love of his friends. He needed people to understand him and who love his parents. Sirius would be a great guardian.
“If you are planning to take over as his parent, I greatly recommend it. The two of you will be good for each other.”
“You think so?” Now her boy started to sound like himself. He trusted Minerva’s opinion like it was pure gold. She took pride in that trust. That out of all the people in the world, Sirius came to her for advice. She couldn’t be happier to get that trust back.
“Harry’s a smart boy. He finds trouble frequently but he gets that from his father. Have you seen him play? He’s a prodigy.”
“I saw a few matches. He would’ve flown circles around James.” Sirius laughed, a real true Sirius Black laugh. “I sent him a broom you know. This cat befriended me and got the gold for me.”
Minerva smiled. When Hermione Granger came to her, suspicious of the gift Harry was given, Minerva knew it was from Sirius. He was always known for his extravagant and perfect gifts. She should’ve known he would never hurt his godson.
“An interesting story.”
“I’m full of interesting stories.”
Oh Minerva is sure he is. Like, for instance, how he escaped. Or how he kept getting into the castle. Or how he even knew where Pettigrew was in the first place.
“Maybe we could have tea again and you can share a few.”
Sirius smiled his cocky half-smile. Oh how she missed her boy.
“Please.”