𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 ⟶ Harry Potter AU

Chapter Eleven

When the two were alone, McGonagall gathered her robes in hand and knelt down beside Charlus, bringing him to finally peer up at her.

"How did everything go so wrong, Professor?" he asked. "One night, I was reassuring James that everything was going to be okay. The next thing I know, I wake up and I'm six years too late. I failed them, all of them."

"You stop that kind of talk right now," McGonagall ordered him and Charlus watched as her hands moved in sync. It was clear that she still remembered some sign language from her time of teaching him. " I will not sit here and allow you to blame yourself for what happened."

"Harry is with the Dursleys, Sirius is in Azkaban....my brother is dead, along with Lily. Alice and Frank are in St Mungo's."

"You may not be able to right everything that has gone wrong, but this is not the time to accept defeat either."

Charlus' eyes dropped from her lips, looking to the ground once more before a question popped into his head.

"Do you believe Sirius is guilty?"

The question certainly managed to catch her off guard, which was never an easy task to do. But then again, there weren't many people that still questioned Sirius Black's conviction.

In the beginning, McGonagall didn't believe a word of it. Simply because she knew how much Sirius meant to the Potter family and how much the Potter family meant to Sirius. She had witnessed it over the years when the boys were all in Hogwarts. Whether it was James telling Sirius to move in with them when the Black family came to disown Sirius. Or whether it was Sirius getting into every fight when someone dared to insult Charlus behind his back. She would have never painted such an ending for all of them.

But with Peter Pettigrew dead and witnesses claiming they had seen Sirius go completely mad. McGonagall felt herself questioning if Sirius had just been overtaken by the darkness of the war. Enough that he betrayed his best friend, led to the near-death of Charlus, and actually killed Peter Pettigrew.

"I wish he wasn't," she answered, only to watch as Charlus shook his head.

"He isn't, Professor. I know he isn't. You know Sirius, you watched him grow up on these grounds. Why would he ever think to betray James and Lily?"

"The war brought out the worst in people-"

"And even at his worst, he would never hurt his family. He would rather hurt himself."

She didn't wish to argue with him, especially in his fragile state. McGonagall had to imagine that it was no easy task as Charlus was reintroduced to the wizarding world after such a long time. Not to mention, being reintroduced to such a foreign world where loved ones were dead, imprisoned, or no place good.

"Professor, please," he begged, " you need to help me. I just need someone who's going to listen to me. Sirius is innocent. I-I know it sounds mental and I know I wasn't there. But I was there before it all happened. I know of the switch."

McGonagall raised a brow at Charlus mentioning "the switch" and she had to admit, it piqued her interest. Enough that she stood up and motioned for Charlus to do the same. She was inviting him inside the castle into her office where they could speak in private.

Charlus could remember the numerous times he had found himself in McGonagall's office. Usually, it was with James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius at his side after they had been caught doing something stupid. There were so many instances where Charlus would refuse to partake in any of James' wild ideas, only to find himself involved just minutes later. And it normally ended with success or getting caught by McGonagall. And even with such memories, Charlus found comfort in her office.