Tonks was quiet for a long time. Long enough that Harry was beginning to worry something had happened to the Comm Stone. Finally she said slowly, "You think we are hunting an innocent man? How sure are you?"
"Between 80-90%. It all fits a hell of a lot better, Tonks."
"Merlin's balls…Look I'm not exactly popular here at the moment with how I reacted to Hagrid's arrest plus later proving to be right about it. Not to mention a bunch of other little things." A note of bitterness had leaked into Tonks voice. "I doubt I'll be able to influence anything on the manhunt itself. I should be able to get you copies of the trial records though assuming they aren't sealed. If they are you might have to have Susan ask her aunt to get you a copy. Harry, I need you to write up why you guys suspect this in a letter and send me what you have. This manhunt is being personally pushed by Fudge to a scary degree. That fact alone…well it probably means someone is whispering in his ear. I'm going to need a lot of actual evidence to get the Kiss On Sight order removed from Sirius Black."
"I understand, Tonks. I'll send Hedwig off with what we have by dinner," Harry said. "Tonks…thanks."
"I want to see justice done as much as you do, Harry." She paused. "And I owe you for making me laugh with that letter. Get me that info, and don't go looking for trouble, Harry. Even if my cousin was innocent he's still been in Azkaban for 12 years. He might not be entirely sane at this point."
"We'll be careful, Tonks. Keep some color in your hair, Nymphadora."
"Why you little – "
"Disconnect," Harry said smiling.
As Harry hung up on her Tonks shook her yellow hair in exasperation. "I'm going to have to contact the Weasley twins. That boy is asking for it." She sighed as her shifted from yellow to black and back again. "I'm not sure what's worse. If Harry's right and Sirius was imprisoned over a decade for something he didn't do or if Harry's wrong and the man really was that much of a bastard to betray his surrogate family."
Casting a quick tempus Tonks saw she still had nearly an hour before her shift started again. Steeling herself she headed for the lift down to Records. She didn't think she'd managed to piss anyone off down there yet so she should be able to walk away with the trial data copies assuming they weren't sealed. Unless Norman was there. If that arse was around she'd walk back out and come in again with a different face.
Tonks' hair flashed a quick red than a longer red as she noticed the shift. Her powers were getting even more frustrating lately with the flak her coworkers were heaping on her. Her abilities were always tied with emotions – her hair in particular – but usually she was able to lock it down better than this. Maybe she should take her mother up on those Occlumency lessons. It was supposed to be able to help metamorphs lock in a form without having to keep the concentration going.
She scowled again thinking about her fellow Aurors. It wasn't bad enough that she was a rookie who had been proven right; no, she had to have a mind of her own as well. Something that apparently didn't sit well with current leadership. Scrimgeour was against her from Day 1 thanks to her powers, her attitude and her competence. He took every opportunity to pair her with Dawlish who only saw her as a piece of arse rather than someone who could do the job. Her hair turned darker as she thought about that idiot. She'd been with the Aurors barely more than a year and a half and she did the job better than he had for a decade!
The lift stopped and Tonks walked out stubbing her toe on the garbage can outside the records hall. Biting down on her tongue, Tonks ignored the typical pain and went up to the desk, breathing a sigh of relief at the lack of Norman.
"Wotcher. Auror Tonks. I'm looking for trial records," she smiled at the clerk and made sure to keep a tight leash on her yellow hair.
"Name of the defendant, Auror?" the clerk asked completely uninterested.
"Sirius Black." That got a reaction. The man dropped his quill and turned a wide eyed gaze onto her. Tonks just smiled back. "It's important so the faster the better."
"Right away, Auror. Please wait here. It should only be a moment." The clerk turned to his rolodex and started flipping cards. That never ceased to amuse her. Muggles used it for contacts and phone numbers while wizards had appropriated it to assist in filing. It wasn't too far off, but she pitied the poor fool who tried to explain the difference to a pureblood.
Ten minutes later Tonks was starting to worry she'd have to come back later when the clerk finally looked up at her with an expression of worry on his features. Tonks frowned and had to concentrate hard to prevent her hair from shifting. "Problem?"
"It's the records, Auror…"
"Well yeah, I gathered that, buddy." Tonks rolled her eyes. "Guess they are sealed then, huh?"
"No, Auror…they don't exist…"
Tonks coughed incredulously and just stared at the man. "What do you mean 'they don't exist'?"
"An index for all records, whether sealed or open, for criminal trials are kept here. The spells involved don't allow for misplacement or incorrect filing. If there was a trial conducted, the index is updated. There is no index annotation for a Sirius Black," the man was sweating now.
"Are you sure?" Tonks frowned not at all liking what this was starting to look like. A lack of trial records coupled with Harry's suspicions…she really needed his information as soon as possible. "It would have been 12 years ago. November 1981."
"I know when Sirius Black was caught, ma'am. I'm telling you there is no record of a criminal trial."
"What about a special Wizengamot session or something? Or a tribunal? Or…"
The clerk just kept shaking his head. "They are all considered criminal proceedings and so they'd all be recorded here. There is nothing for Sirius Black at all beyond the arrest record. There isn't even a transfer order."
"Merlin…" Tonks clamped down on her roiling emotions and used her powers to put on a stone cold, iron hard face. "Alright, I'll handle this. Keep this quiet for the moment, understand?" The clerk nodded. "Good. You're not in trouble by the way. Thanks for your assistance."
Turning Tonks strode from the room, her mind running a mile a minute. If her cousin had been delivered straight to Azkaban without a trial or sentencing of any kind…this case just got a whole lot more complicated.
Now the real question was whether to tell Rufus Scrimgeour or jump over him to Amelia Bones.
Thanks to RhysThornbery for the continued beta assistance.
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