A/N: Again, I hope you all like the new and improved third chapter!

What Happened?

Chapter 3.

Hermione was starting to feel the extra weight of her bag of books, plus the basket of food on her arm as they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, and ended up handing the basket over to Ron as they started the climb up the cliff side, who took it with an annoyed face, though didn't complain too much. After many minutes of tripping and scraping, and climbing, and almost tumbling over the side of the cliff, they reached the entrance to the cave, which was just as cramped as it was the first time they'd been there.

Harry pushed the invisibility cloak in ahead of them, then sucked in his stomach and squeezed through the small cleft in the rock, before tumbling to the dirty floor in a heap. He stood and looked around, and gasped to see the form of a black, half starved dog lying in the corner farthest from them. He reached over to pulled Ron through the entrance, as he was having a tough time with the basket, then he turned his attention back to the dog. "Sirius, is that you?" He inquired this in a tone loud enough for the sleeping animal to hear, though he looked like he might bubble over with happiness.

The dog's head shot up and then the body with it. It bounded across the cave, and jumped, transforming into a man with shaggy black hair, and a scruffy looking bear and moustache, before glomping the now dust covered figure that was Harry. Hermione pulled herself through the cleft just in time to watch the happy reunion, then she dropped her book bag and join in the hug, just as Ron did the same, only with the basket of food. After they had all settled down and backed away from each other, and Hermione had commented subtly that Sirius should get a hair cut, Sirius looked around and sniffed happily.

"Is that food I smell?" He looked around then stopped moving when he saw the basket at Ron's feet. Hermione laughed and snatched it up from the ground, opened the top, then handed it over to the terribly hungry Sirius. "Thank goodness for Hogwarts kitchen." Sirius sighed and sat down with the basket in his lap, a loaf of fresh bread already in hand. Ron stared at the food hungrily as well, but didn't say anything. Hermione realized he was unusually silent after a few minutes of listening to Harry and Sirius talk.

"It's wonderful that you're alive Sirius." Hermione said simply, with a warm smile on her face as she watched him eat gleefully. The man obviously hadn't had a decent bite to eat in days, though from the look of him, it was hard to tell it hadn't been weeks.

"It's wonderful to be alive, Hermione. I don't believe I'd like it too well if I weren't." Sirius said this with a grin as he pulled a piece of chicken from the basket and started pulling the tender meat off the bone and masticating it with full force.

"So, what happened when you fell through those bloody curtains, anyhow." Ron finally spoke up, and Harry nodded, watching Sirius with a questioning look. "We couldn't contact you in any way, and believe me, Harry tried." He reached up to scratch his red hair with a waiting look on his face, and all three of them leaned a bit closer to Sirius.

"Well, I'm not quite sure what happened exactly. I remember falling, and that I was very scared, and then I landed on something soft. I thought that I must have been dead, and gone to Heaven or something, so I just kept my eyes closed and eventually fell asleep. However, when I woke, I was in a field outside a small town, about 200 miles or so from here. I lived there with a family who took me in as my animagus self, after I got kicked out a of one of those...Motels because I didn't pay my room fee. I finally thought it was safe to leave about a week and a half ago, so I've been making my way here ever since. I just got here last night."

Hermione, Ron, and Harry all stared in disbelief at Sirius as the shaggy man finished up the last of the chicken and bread, and started on a butterbeer. "You..you..Eh..so.. Why did you wait so long to contact me then? You could have easily sent an owl or something!" Harry was starting to look irritated, so Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look over at her. She widened her eyes warningly and then let out a slow steady breath, which he followed her in doing so, which caused him to calm down a bit as he turned back Sirius.

"Well, Harry, the problem, was there were no owls to be found in the muggle town I was staying in, and I haven't had a chance to go to a post since I got here. Hedwig was the one who spotted me while I was out this morning looking for a legible newspaper." At this Harry looked a bit guilty for being so rude and murmured a simple 'oh' before crossing his arms, while looking to his side instead of directly at his godfather.

"Sirius, I'm guessing we should tell Professor, er Headmistress McGonagall that you're back, so might as well get a move on so you might have a better place to stay that this old place." Hermione stood and brushed the dust off her skirt, then picked up the now empty basket, and her book bag. "Maybe you could wait outside of the cave, just in case we come back with good news later." Ron and Harry stood as well, then they all exchanged one last hug with Sirius before making their way back out of the cave, and down the side of the cliff.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

They all looked a mess when they walked through 'The Three Broomsticks', and used the fireplace in the back to floo back to Hogwarts. Or rather, right into the Headmistress' office, though Hermione had to use a special spell to get through, which caused Professor McGonagall to look up with an alarmed look on her face, from a stack of papers on her desk. She stood and walked around her desk to study them as they brushed soot off their clothing. "If you three would care to explain yourselves, I would be most obliged." Professor McGonagall said in a harsh tone, looking at them scrupulously.

"Professor McGonagall you need to come with us, please." Hermione spluttered out, not being able to control her calm anymore. "You won't guess who has just contacted us!" McGonagall stared with one eyebrow raised as if waiting for who it was. "Sirius Black!"

They took the elder woman's arms and just about shoved her into the fireplace, while Ron grabbed a handful of floo powder and sent them right back to 'The Three Broomsticks.' When they reached the outskirts of town, Sirius was already at the bottom of the cliff, waiting for them, and he yelped happily, licking McGonagall's hands.

"Sirius..Heaven have mercy, what in the world are you doing here? We thought you were.." She stopped talking as the dog transformed to his original human form. "You must come with me to my office and explain immediately." Which was just about how the talking went as they went back through the floo network once more and to Professor McGonagall's office, where she then sent the three students away, because they needed a bit of rest. It was already Twilight, amazingly enough. It didn't seem like it to them.

Later that evening, after Hermione came back to the Head's dormitory, and after eating supper, she felt a jubilant as a young child at Christmas time, though she got many snide comments, and cold looks from Malfoy as she fluttered around the common room, sitting every now and then, while reading her Charms lesson book. Classes started tomorrow, so she might as well be prepared. She didn't mind anything that came from Malfoy though. At the moment, she felt as if she might hug every person in Hogwarts, even Malfoy, though she'd probably be hexed by him if she did.

After an hour or so of reading, she snapped her book shut, stood from the cushy chair next to the fire, and told Draco good night before waltzing up the stairs and into her bedroom. She heard the blonde boy muttering about her being irritating, and grinned to herself as she changed into her pajamas and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She slept very well that night, and woke up refreshed the next morning.

A/N: There's chapter three rewritten! As always, I hope the oldbies enjoyed the newer chapter better than the old one, and I hope the Newbies enjoyed the new chapter all the same.