What happens when H. J. Potter learns that James is not his father? Or when an adult Sirius accidently reveals his deepest secret to Ron? And what do you get when you send Hermione into the past with knowledge that could Change the future? If James finds something he shouldn't- will it destroy him or will it teach him to value friendship above all else? And last of all will Remus learn to trust those closest to him or will he be shunned by those He thought were his friends? Read this to find out the answers to these Questions and more.
Prologue
Drip… drip…
Ping.
Drip… drip……
Ping….
Patches of ooze spotted the floor of the cave, looking-glass surfaces concealing mottled green sludge. Only the occasional splash of a droplet off the cave's ceiling disturbed the illusion, shattering the mirror's surface and making mossy swirls flow in odd patterns through a puddle. The slime smelled so atrocious that many a visitor left without ever looking into the eerie shouts and cries emanating from the cave.
The moon, a bright half, was low and watery in the sky, filling a good portion of the cavern with light. Its light reflected orange on the puddles of goop. Perilous looking stalactites and stalagmites randomly set throughout the cavern cast the rest of the cavern in dark shadow.
In the moonlight a spider spun its web. Beads of dew reflected light from the moon.
The glow that the web emitted was only rivaled by the slime glowing orange. The spider sat watching and waiting, its web now complete.
The silence in the air was broken by the awakening animals of night.
A chorus of crickets started up, followed by the rustling of rats, mice and shrews. In the entrance of the cavern sat a small pile of bones under which something lurked.
Screeching filled the air, followed by the whooshing of wings. The pile of bones moved, clattering to the floor as what had hidden there rocketed out and jumped, catching a wing in its jaws.
Briefly there were crunching sounds and then, as suddenly as the sounds started, they stopped.
Drip... drip...
Ping.
Drip...
Ping.
Now a boy sat in the cave, which for the last thousand or so years had been situated above the village of
Hogsmeade. The stone and dirt that made up the floor chilled him as he sat on it. Icy water dripped from stalactites, drenching him to the bone. The cold wind from the mouth of the cave whooshed around him, almost knocking him into the enchanted fire
He glared at the fire as if it was the source of all his problems. He had spent months in this cave; barely eating, sleeping even less. The boy, with his gaunt face and sunken eyes, closely resembled a skeleton. He had powerful eyes, though; far from handsome, admittedly, but what they lacked in beauty they held in a certain reserve of fear. Fear and anger. The metallic blue eyes of this self-imposed outsider hid something that few understood. They hid the story behind all his problems, all his fear.
Immersed in his thoughts, the boy didn't notice as someone approached him. Nor did he notice when the man with straggly brown-black hair crouched down to look at him. His mind failed to register when shortly thereafter he was given something to eat.
Eventually the red-headed boy curled up by the fire and fell asleep. For the first time in a very long time he did not dream. But that was all right. For the moment, he was friends with peace.
Sirius Black sat in the cave, watching the red-headed boy. I wish he would talk to me, he thought. I can't say blame him, after what happened. Still, it's not my fault that I remember something new while he forgets something old. Every day Sirius remembered something from his Hogwarts years; yesterday it had been James and Harry making everyone think they were the other. That was a funny one. The only one who didn't fall for it was Lily, she– His thoughts were interrupted. Sirius Black stood up in the cave of ghastly smells and whispering dead. His eyes were worried. His thoughts had been interrupted when he heard the boy coughing up what sounded to be his lungs. "Are you all right?" Sirius asked genially, though he was concerned.
"I'm fine," the boy wheezed, breaking his vow of silence.
Sirius did not believe him for a second. "Are you sure?"
"Sirius, I said, I was fine!" Ron snapped.
"Ron, I think it's time for you to go back to your parents, your family. Stop dwelling on the past. Dumbledore agrees with me, you know. He wants you to return," Sirius said in what he hoped was a soothing voice.
"No, Sirius!" So, the little traitor had been talking to Dumbledore after all! Ron thought venomously.
"Ron, listen to me. Your parents are looking for you. The whole wizarding world is looking for you! You need to go back, Ron, and talk to people. Do you truly think that everyone forgot about you? Do you actually believe that you are alone? Ron, you think that everyone abandoned you, but you are the one abandoning everyone else!" Sirius was fed up with the boys wallowing ways.
"I never abandoned anybody!" Ron protested.
"Really? How about your sister?" Sirius was getting nasty but he didn't care.
"But don't you see, Sirius, I can't go back. Not after I almost killed Ginny! Besides my mum, is probably the only one who thinks I'm still alive!"
"You're wrong, Ron. I believed you to be alive." Her voice made him freeze. He hadn't heard that voice in a long time... A very long time. The sound of footsteps followed the voce.
Ron couldn't bear seeing her face. Not after what he had done. Closing his eyes, he looked away, but he felt her hand pulling his face towards hers. She murmured to him, "Ron, open your eyes. I do not care what you almost did. It's no more your fault than I am a warthog."
Ron looked into her eyes. "Oh, Ginny, I am sorry! I shouldn't have let you come along."
"I would have come no matter what you had said."
"Still–."
Ginny's eyes glistened with tears. Her nose was stuffy as she looked at what her brother had become. No longer looking like himself, Ron seemed to have aged in the past five months. He looked frail. His red hair, once bright and laughing, now looked dull and miserable. Her brother's eyes were full of longing and despair. She resented the need to tell him why she had come, the news that he should hear. He did not look up to hearing it. Ron barely looked half of what he used to.
Sirius, unaware of Ginny's thoughts, nudged her and said, "Ginny, it's time to tell him." She nodded in agreement.
"Ron," she said whispering so low it was almost impossible to hear her, "I… I… I don't know how to tell you this, but Hagrid... he's… he's- Ron, Hagrid is going to die." She was so quiet in saying this that at first Ron thought he must have misunderstood.
"It's true; I saw it for myself," Sirius added, knowing there was doubt in the young man's mind.
"No! It's not true– he can't– he won't– I don't believe you!" Ron's outburst ended in a hacking cough that was worse than earlier. "NO," he repeated one last time, then promptly blacked out.