It was two days later when the owl came; Sirius was not a wanted man. Mr. Greenway said that since he had the Potter will and the memory, it was easy to prove that Sirius was not the Secret Keeper and to watch for the Prophet headline. Those two days were spent in a flurry of letter writing.
Sirius wrote to his grandfather, Arcturus, to ask about his place in the family; Narcissa, to warn her to keep the Malfoy money out of other people's pockets; and Marius, to let him know what was going on. He didn't want to write to his grandfather, but Hydrus insisted.
Hydrus wrote three letters with his laptop, one was to the Longbottoms warning them to keep watch for vengeful Death Eaters; he signed it 'a friend'. He also sent a letter to the Dursleys warning them to move if they didn't want freaks watching their house; this one unsigned. The last letter was to Frostwell, telling him he had heard about his inventions and asking him if he wanted to combine their efforts. He gave the address to the shop and told the man he could leave an answer for him there.
That evening the paper was delivered as a special addition. The first headline read:
Peter Pettigrew Wanted for Questioning in the Potter Murders
The article that followed described what might have happened on Halloween and the details of Sirius's memory of the switch. It also told that Pettigrew was a rat Animagus and might be in hiding and to consider him dangerous.
The second headline was:
Many Purebloods Missing; Presumed Death Eaters
This article said that many prominent members of society were missing and after the Aurors found many Dark items in their houses while searching for clues the absent Purebloods were thought to be in league with He Who Must Not Be Named. Lucius, Bellatrix and the others that Hydrus rendered useless were listed as Dark (except Crouch Jr. who in a smaller article was only listed as missing and it was also mentioned his father would give a hefty reward for any viable information on him).
The last headline said:
Lestrange Brothers Caught Attempting to Assassinate Longbottoms
This one said that the two brothers tried to break into Longbottom manor. When they were caught trying to take down the wards by Mad-eye Moody, Frank and Alice Longbottom. It was Alastor that dragged them to a cell. When the brothers were questioned under Veritaserum they stated that they were looking for Bellatrix and their Master's whereabouts. They thought since Neville was on the Dark Lord's hit list that the Longbottoms would know. Frank made sure to thank the anonymous informant for the warning, had it not been for that missive they would have not been as vigilant.
Hydrus was quite content with the stories. Now that the Ministry didn't have Sirius as a scapegoat they had to actually do their job and hunt down the remaining Death Eaters. Hydrus made a promise to himself to keep an eye on each future article to make sure no innocent was charged.
"Sirius," Hydrus said as they were finishing up their breakfast the next morning, "we need to get you to the Ministry, so you can sign custody papers for Harry."
"Right," Sirius agreed, looking more like himself. He had slept better and now the bags under his grey eyes weren't as pronounced and without the glamor watch on his goatee and mustache were neatly trimmed, and his long black hair was loosely curled. All in all, he looked well rested and closer to the aristocrat he was supposed to be. "Then can we find Moony?" he asked almost childlike. He had wanted to write him the last couple of days, but Hydrus suggested he wait until his name was cleared, because in the last timeline, Moony thought him guilty. There would be apologies between both men, but they were all that was left of the Marauders.
Hydrus's eyes softened at the near pleading request. The last couple of days had been cathartic for the other man. With his grieving at night, reading some self-help books, playing with Harry and his talent for violent video games, he seemed to have vented a lot of emotion; however, he was feeling keenly alone without his friends. "Yeah, with that Prophet headline about Pettigrew, it should be safe. You should write him now; let him know we can meet him tonight, and maybe there'll be an answer when we get back?"
"Right, I'll pop off a quick letter. Where should we meet him?" he asked. Some more life came back into that face. Being around Harry helped, but he needed someone to talk to and as much as Hydrus came through for him, he was not yet close enough to the man.
....
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