Chapter Text
The next day on the train, I napped comfortably on Hermione’s lap before being gently prodded awake by Harry. He had a slightly concerned look on his face that had me rolling over to face him fully.
“You’re still going to come visit over the summer, right?” Harry shyly asked.
“Of course, I’m still coming over!” I reach over to gently punch his shoulder.
“What?! How come she gets to visit you over the summer?” Ron shouted. I wince at his volume and stand up with a stretch.
“I’m going to get something from the trolley. Does anyone want anything?” I ask as I gather Yukina from where she had curled up on Luna’s lap. I note what they all call out and exit the compartment. I find the Slytherin compartment before I find the trolley and pop my head in to see Pansy sleeping against Draco’s shoulder. I grin when my magic identifies Draco and ask if anyone wants anything from the trolley. Cedric offered his help when everyone had ridiculous orders of large proportions.
“Here,” Draco hands me a couple of galleons to help cover everyone's order.
“Thanks!” I pocket the money, “We’ll be right back.”
I find the trolley and get everyone's orders including some things for Pansy that I know she likes. Draco’s money covered everything so I pocket my money and put my haul for the Gryffindors into my expanded pocket that Yukina usually uses. I help Cedric hand everything out in the Slytherin compartment once we get back.
“You’re an angel,” Cassius proclaimed with a big grin as I handed him his fifteen pumpkin pastries and ten sugar quills.
“And I can’t believe you eat this much sugar and still have your figure,” Daphne scrunched her nose up in distaste as she handed half her order to a smaller Daphne who had appeared while we were gone.
“I’m Daphne’s sister, Astoria. You must be Eva, the only one who can control Pansy,” Astoria introduced herself before the two could get into a fight and I blinked in shock at what she had just said.
“Uh-” I stutter, not knowing what to say.
“Don’t mind her, she has no filter.” Daphne waved her off and I smiled in confusion.
"Well . . . I need to get back to the others." I exit the compartment and find Ron offering for Harry to stay with him to go see the Quidditch World Cup with his family.
“Yeah . . . I bet the Dursleys’d be pleased to let me come . . . especially after what I did to Aunt Marge. . . .” Harry rubbed the back of his head with a light blush on his cheeks.
“I wish you didn’t have to go back there at all,” I groaned as I passed out the treats from my pocket. I had one of the bags I would give Harry every week last year and filled it with the extra snack I had gotten. I hand it to the boy who smiles at me and puts it in his trunk.
“Harry? What’s that?” Hermione asked a while later and I looked up from my sketch to see a small spot coming toward our window. It turned out to be an owl who was having trouble with the train’s slipstream. Harry pulled the window down and I was quick to reach out and grab the poor creature and bring it into the compartment. The owl dropped its letter onto Harry’s lap and started flying around the compartment until I clicked my tongue and it landed on my outstretched arm.
“It’s from Sirius!” Harry exclaimed. I looked from the owl to him to see he was already reading.
“What?” Ron said, leaning to read over Harry’s shoulder. “Read it aloud!” I look at the others in the compartment. Ron seemed to have forgotten that they were here. He didn’t even check to see if they knew about Sirius. Harry cleared his throat and started reading
Dear Harry,
I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don’t know whether they’re used to owl post.
Buckbeak and I are in hiding. I won’t tell you where, in case this falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubts about the owl’s reliability, but he is the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job.
The owl deflated a bit at his reliability being questioned and I quietly praised his good work while Harry continued reading.
I believe the dementors are still searching for me, but they haven’t a hope of finding me here. I am planning to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way from Hogwarts, so that the security on the castle will be lifted.
There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt -
“Ha!” Hermione said triumphantly. “See! I told you it was from him!”
“Yes, but he hadn’t jinxed it, had he?” Ron snapped back and I let the owl nibble one of my fingers. Hermione brought a hand up to her chest to rub lightly and I took the hint and gently explained to the owl not to nibble so hard.
Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from Gringotts vault number seven hundred and eleven - my own. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays’ worth of presents from your godfather.
I would also like to apologize for the fight I think I gave you that night last year when you left your uncle’s house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of you before starting my journey north, but I think the sight of me alarmed you.
I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable.
If you ever need me, send word. Your owl will find me.
I’ll write again soon.
Sirius
Harry eagerly looked inside the envelope and tears sprang to his eyes.
“He gave me permission to visit Hogsmeade next year,” He had to clear his throat to tell us.
“That’ll be good enough for Dumbledore!” Ron cheered.
“Hang on, there’s a P.S. . . . The owl is for you, Ron.”
Ron’s eyes widened as he took in the excitedly hooting owl sitting on my arm. He snatched the owl into his hands and started examining him. I feel my eye twitch at his handling of the animal.
“Don’t be so rough with it, Ron,” Ginny pried the owl from his hands, making him aware of everyone else’s presence.
“Harry!” Ron turned to his friend but stopped at my light scoff.
“I told them about what happened,” I shrug at his incredulous look. “Did you expect me to keep things from my friends?”
He sulked the rest of the way to King’s Cross station, trying to keep his new pet from flying around or biting him. Harry reread the letter multiple times over as I talked to Luna and Ginny about plans for the summer. Dora was once again there to pick me up with a slight frown on her face. My magic identifies her as family and I skip up to hug her. I say goodbye to everyone and we apparate to her flat where she folds her arms as I place my trunk in my room.
“What does Madam Bones want to meet you for?” Dora asked and I rolled my eyes at her. I fish the rat out of my pocket and grow it back to normal size as I set it on the table. Her expression clouds in confusion and I explain everything that happened this year.
“You kept a man in a jar?!” Dora yelled, startling Little Sev from his spot on the back of the couch.
“For good reason!” I defend myself. “He framed Sirius Black for the murder of Lily and James Potter as well as twelve muggles!”
"What?" Dora paled as she sat on the couch.
"This is Peter Pettigrew," I gesture to the jar.
"Merlin, Pipsqueak." Dora sighed. A cheeky grin grew on her face and I grew suspicious. "So my training came in handy?"
"Like you wouldn't believe!" I flop on the couch next to her. "I never would've thought running eight miles every morning would help me outrun a werewolf."
"Werewolf! You must be yanking me on," Dora turned so she was facing me, legs pulled up on the couch. We spend the rest of the night talking, Rory and Yukina getting reacquainted with Little Sev. I spent the next day looking up the animagus registry just to make sure we could get Pettigrew for the charge of being an unregistered animagus. I roll my eyes when I find what I’m looking for. Minnie knew what they were doing and had registered the three boys on the list. How they never knew about Sirius being an animagus is beyond me.
Saturday morning, Dora had me run ten miles instead of my normal eight. She also had me put a backpack of weights on to do my pushups.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I pant, flopping on the floor after the last round of push-ups.
“You’re the one who wanted to do this,” Dora defended herself. “Do you want to keep getting stronger, or are you content with where you’re at now?”
“Fine,” I grunt as I push myself up. “I’ll allow the torture.”
She trains me for the next hour before sending me to get ready to meet with Madam Bones. I dress in jeans and one of my nicer sweaters for the meeting. I grab my satchel and place Pettigrew inside as I wait for Dora to be ready to go.
“Can Yukina come with me, or should I leave her here with Rory?” I ask once the older woman enters the room.
“Leave her here,” Dora waved her wand and my leather jacket flew into her hand, followed by her badge. “I think Rory would terrorize Little Sev.”
“You better tell me everything,” Yukina warned as she curled up on the couch.
“You know I will,” I reassure her. Dora grabbed my arm and apparated us to an empty alleyway near central London. One trip in the phonebooth later and I was holding the edge of her coat to keep from getting separated in the flow of people. Flying paper airplanes enter the lift with us and Dora flicks the tip of one with her finger, making it wobble.
“They used to use owls, can you imagine the mess that’ll make?” Dora snickered as others entered the lift with us. I heard Dora’s warning to hold on and almost got launched off my feet when the lift sprung backward. This is what I would imagine a rollercoaster felt like. I was giggling by the time we stepped off. A spell was flung at the side of my head and I dropped to the ground to roll away, wand out, and pointed at the man who cast the spell.
“Moody! Cast all the spells you want at me, but refrain from attacking my little sister!” Dora cast a spell back at him as she held her hand out to help me up.
“She did well,” Moody limped over to us, “Looks like you’ve been training her.”
“I don’t like feeling helpless,” I look him up and down, taking in his wooden leg and magical eye. He was missing a chunk from his nose and scars covered his face. “You’re Dora’s training officer.”
“Indeed I am. You’ve got the makings of a great auror. . . . But always remember . . . Constant Vigilance!” He shouted before limping away.
“He’s . . . sure something,” I whisper once he was far enough away.
“You get used to him after a while. . . . Now come on, Madam Bones’ office is this way.” I follow her through the cubicles and watch as she trips over every little thing as she greets many different people. She knocked on a door and we waited for permission to enter before stepping into the office.
“Susan said you had evidence for the Black case.” Madam Bones cuts straight to the case and I nod as I sit.
“I do. You’ve most likely heard about my encounter with Sirius Black at the end of term,” I wait for her to nod before telling her word for word what happened in the shack.
“You’re telling me Peter Pettigrew is not only alive but framed Black for his crimes?” Madam Bones had her fingers steepled in front of her face as she regarded me with a critical gaze. I go to pull Pettigrew from my satchel but hesitate when I think of her reaction to keeping him in a jar. Dora placed a hand on my shoulder and I took a deep breath as I pulled him out.
“He’s a registered animagus, ma’am. Professor Minerva McGonagall registered him in his fifth year of Hogwarts.” I informed her. She eyes me with suspicion.
“Auror Tonks, get me the mentioned registration.” Madam Bones ordered. Dora gave my shoulder another squeeze before leaving to follow orders. I was left in an uncomfortable silence with the head of the DMLE.
“If you’re correct about this . . . you do realize that you’ve kept a man in a jar for several days?” Madam Bones sat back in her chair as she summoned a pensive.
“I know, but I didn’t trust anyone other than you with this information,” I look down at my hands, ready for whatever punishment she came up with.
“I never understood why Black didn’t get a trial,” Madam Bones motioned for me to come closer as she stood. When she lifted her wand in question I nodded consent and closed my eyes to focus on the memories from that night. I feel magic seep into my mind and extract those memories. I managed to make it look like I had gone back for the rat at a later time instead of going back in time.
Madam Bones goes into the memory and I wait in my chair, not wanting to influence her opinion of it in any way. Sirius was slightly unhinged, but twelve years in Azkaban would do that to anyone. Dora came back in with the requested registrations while she was still in the pensive, so we both silently waited for her to come out.
“Auror Tonks, the registration?” Madam Bones asked as she saw that Dora was back. The papers exchanged hands, and I saw her eyebrow raise when she saw that there were two. She dumps the rat onto the floor and hits him with a spell before he can even think about running, reverting him into Pettigrew.
“Miss McGonagall, I assume you have a way of getting in contact with Lord Black?” Madam Bones cuffed Pettigrew as I nodded. “If he can get here within the week, we can give the man a proper trial.”
“Thank you, Madam Bones.” I bow my head in a sign of respect. She dismissed us and I instructed Dora to apparate us to Harry’s house. I had prepared a dress for this and we changed in the bathrooms before leaving.
“Cheers on that working, by the way,” Dora whispered before knocking on the Dursley's door.
“Dorothy, Evangeline! What a surprise! Do come in,” Petunia opened the door wider for us and I skipped into the house with a wide grin at Harry’s aunt.
“Dudley’s upstairs, you can go up if you would like.” Petunia nodded up the stairs and I thanked her before running up to the second floor. Harry poked his head out of his room but I was quick to shove him back in and close the door behind us.
“I need some paper and a pen!” I hiss, rummaging through the drawers of his desk.
“Here,” Harry handed me the requested items, “What do you need them for?”
“I need to write Sirius . . . the owl he gave Ron will take too long to reach him,” I scribble down a fast note explaining everything to my uncle and open the window to let Hedwig out with clear instructions to take this to Sirius.
“What happened?” Harry was about to work himself up into a panic and I rest my hands on his shoulders while taking exaggerated deep breaths for him to follow.
“I got him a trial. . . . He’s going to be a free man, Harry.” I whisper. Many expressions flit across his face before it settled on gratitude. I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug by the boy.
“Thank you,” He whispered into my shoulder.
“He’s family . . . and so are you.” I hug him tighter before suggesting we go find Dudley so his aunt and uncle don’t get suspicious. Dudley seemed to have mellowed out a bit since the last time I saw him and he was being a bit nicer to Harry.
I didn’t hear back about the trial until Wednesday morning when the Daily Prophet arrived and there on the front page was a picture of Pettigrew being arrested while Sirius was set free.
“Mamaidh!” I shout, sprinting up the stairs only to run into Minnie about halfway up.
“Eva! Careful, my wee star,” Minnie gently scolded as I stopped us from falling down the stairs.
“Mamaidh, Sirius is free!” I gasp, shoving the paper into her hands as I tremble with excitement.
“What? How did that happen?” Minnie scanned the article as we went down the stairs to the kitchen. “New evidence has been discovered attesting to the innocence of Sirius Black . . . Peter Pettigrew was the actual culprit - Eva, how did they find Peter?”
I was hopping around the kitchen in my happiness but stopped as soon as the question left her mouth. Yukina winced at my predicament and I slowly turned toward Minnie.
“I may have found him and kept him in a jar?” I rub the back of my neck. Yukina starts laughing her head off and I turn to glare at the snake. I was saved from Minnie’s scolding by the doorbell. I dash off while saying I’ll get it. Dobby had already let the guests in and I was surprised to see Sirius, Lupin, and Harry sitting and talking with the house elf.
“Misses Eva, Harry Potter and Dogfathers have come to visit!” Dobby hopped back to his feet and I smiled at the house elf.
“You can sit and visit with him, Dobby,” I tell him only to stumble back as Harry barreled into me.
“Thank you,” He whispered as I held him close.
“I couldn’t leave you with those horrible people,” I look over his shoulder to see Sirius looking better already. He was clean and his beard had been groomed. “What are you three doing here?”
“Hush, they’re always welcome in our home,” Minnie breezed past Harry and me to pull her cousins in for a hug.
“It's good to see you again Min,” Sirius held her tighter as they took in the other's presence.
“Aye, and you look good,” Minnie pulled away to examine the younger man from head to toe.
“She’s hanging in there, Min. She was thrilled when you told her you adopted a child. . . . I think she would like to know it was little Evangeline you adopted,” Sirius said and I felt my throat close up with emotions.
“I miss her, Sirius,” Minnie leaned her head on his shoulder as he held her closer to him. Harry grabbed my hand as we watched the adults grieve together.
“Now,” Minnie pulled away and composed herself to eye the men in front of her. “I assume this isn’t a social visit?”
“I need to ask a favor, Min.” Sirius sighed. He suddenly looked ten years older, his shoulders sagging and face drooping.
“Would you be willing to look after Harry for the summer?” Lupin wrapped his arm around Sirius.
“Of course,” Minnie immediately responded and I squeezed Harry’s hand as I turned to look at him. He was worried for his godfather. They must have talked about this before coming.
“I’m not right in the head after being in that place for so long . . . I don’t want to put Harry in that kind of situation. . . . You just need to watch him until I get better,” Sirius explained and I felt a surge of admiration for the man. He put Harry’s well-being as one of his top priorities even as he’s taking steps to get better himself.
“Take as long as you need - Harry’s always welcome . . . as are you, Sirius Black. Come visit any time,” Minnie pulled the two of them into a hug and I smiled as Yukina climbed up to my shoulders.
“What did I miss?”
“Harry’s going to be staying with us for a while,” I run my fingers over her scales.
“What am I going to do all day? You go to the farm and menagerie,” Harry asked as we followed Minnie who was herding the two men into the kitchen for breakfast.
“You can come with me if you want . . . or you could stay here. You can do whatever you want,” I tell him as we sit back and watch the adults cook. Minnie was trying to keep the other two on task, but they kept getting distracted and pulled Minnie into their antics like I’d seen Fred and George do to Percy. Yeah, I did the right thing. A family looks out for one another, and I’m glad mine keeps growing.