This chapter is dedicaded to SkyeElf, who unknowningly gave me the idea for this chapter and who gives great reviews.

Chapter 11: Wake-up

Lupin opened his door, which promptly fell off the hinges once more. Instead of fighting a losing battle with it, he simply repaired it and went to his couch. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep.

Alfred Braxton was going through his things that he had bought in Hogsmeade that day. He came across an odd book. It was odd because Braxton doesn't like books and didn't buy it. He figured it was Lupin's and vowed to return it in the morning. He glanced at the clock, and was alarmed at how late it was - half past midnight. Running up the dusty stairs and flopping into bed, Braxton couldn't help but think about the first time he had had an enjoyable time in twelve years.

Morning came quickly, and Braxton was up shortly after dawn. His charms hadn't gone away, but faded. His hair was many shades darker, almost completely brown, and his eyes were the sharpest silver. He hands were smaller than they were last night, his face a little more sallow, and his skin a little more pale. "I need to get some more furniture," he resolved to himself. His house was still bare, but with more bits and pieces. He opened his cupboard for some breakfast, found it bare and dusty, and sighed. "I guess I'll need to do some shopping."

Lupin was in the middle of a very good dream.

James, Lily, and Peter were there. They were at Hogwarts, playing on the edge of the lake. James and Lily were fighting over something, but holding hands. Peter was skipping stones on the surface of the lake. A person was walking up to them. He had black hair and wore Hogwarts robes. As he was walking up, Lupin saw that the robes weren't plain black, but brightly colored and very ornate. How could he have missed that? And the man's hair wasn't black, but dirty blonde. Lupin was sure it was black just a minute ago. Lily waved to him and shouted, "Over here, Sirius!" James laughed and waved him over also.

"Lily, that's not Sirius, that's Alfred Braxton," Lupin said. He was confused. They didn't know Al, and he certainly didn't look like Sirius.

James gave him a weird look. "No, it's Sirius," James insisted.

"No, it's not!" Lupin said forcefully.

"Moony, are you ok?" Braxton asked, concerned.

"Surely you would recognize one of your best friends, Moony," Peter said.

The dream faded away, and Lupin fell into deep oblivion.

Braxton was rummaging through backyard, hoping for some plant that wasn't there before. Like wild strawberries or tomatoes. But there was nothing. He reluctantly went inside to get some money. Oh, how he hated grocery shopping! He spent his entire life having everything done for him, but once he was on his own shortly after his eighteenth birthday, he had to start shopping. It was a horrible idea. On his way out of the door, he spied Lupin's book. "Well, I'll stop by his house and give it to him," Braxton muttered. Apparating all the way to Fisher's Cove, he landed right in front the entrance to the forest. Perfect, he thought. He just strolled right into the woods like he's done it a million times.

Lupin's deep, dreamless sleep was soon replaced with a collection of memories. Some memories he had never remembered, memories that no one ever brought up at get-togethers, memories that just blended in with his friends' and his lives. But after each memory, there was Alfred Braxton saying something remarkably similar. One stuck out a lot to Lupin.

James and Sirius were messing around in Hogsmeade one weekend, where James spotted Lily walking with one of her friends far away. James stopped walking, and Sirius groaned loudly. Remus looked at him with amusement, and Peter was absentmindedly playing with his wand.

"Moony, come on, leave Prongs to gaze at his flower," Sirius said sarcastically. Remus shrugged his shoulders and went a long with it. Sirius began ranting about James, then began ranting about his parents, and soon they were both talking, very somberly, about the brewing war. Soon Sirius was saying something very deep, when his ankle twisted, and Sirius took a tumble down a very muddy hill. Remus was laughing so hard that he was doubled over, laughing silently, and crying. When he calmed down a little bit, he saw Sirius at the bottom of the hill covered head to toe in mud. This kid was completely brown, with only his eyes uncovered. This just set Remus off again.

This doubled with a very familiar scene. Braxton and Lupin were talking together in Hogsmeade about how one cannot remain unaffected in war. In the middle of his sentence, Braxton's ankle twisted and he fell down a muddy hill. Lupin started laughing hysterically. He couldn't remember the spell to clean Braxton off as Braxton stumbled up the hill. It took a while before either remembered.

A door creaked in the background, and Lupin rolled over. He heard a coarse voice in the background whispering something that sounding vaguely like "lemurs". Then there was a calamitous noise, like wood hitting the ground. Lupin jumped up and grabbed his wand and pointed it at the person in his house. "Who are you?" he asked.

"It's Al!" the guy shouted. Lupin lowered his wand.

"How'd you know where my house is?" Lupin asked. Only a few select people knew where he lived. Then it dawned on him. The dreams, the memories, they made a lot more sense now. And Braxton's face, it was different than last night, but yet more familiar. And especially those eyes. He has seen enough of them. "Get out of my house, Black," he demanded coldly.

"Remus, wh- what are you talking about? I'm not…" Braxton stammered. Lupin muttered a quick spell that removed all charms.

"Cut the crap, Black. It's one thing to betray our best friends, but it's another to show up and pretend to be my friend again! Merlin, we trusted you! James and Lily trusted you! I trusted you! Peter trusted you!" Lupin was shouting now, his wand against Braxton's neck. "What now, have many more lives have you come to ruin? Because you left a damn big mess behind!"

"Remus, listen to me, please listen to me," Braxton begged, grabbing onto the collar of Lupin's shirt. "It's not what it looks like. Peter was the Secret Keeper, not me. We switched without telling anyone. It was safer that way! No one would go for the weak, little Peter. They would go for me. I thought it was safe! But Peter was the snitch! He told Voldemort where Lily and James were! He faked his own death!"

"What are you saying? He couldn't murder twelve people! You and I both know the magic he is capable of," Lupin said, not wanting to believe it. Sweet, innocent Peter. The Peter that told Lupin in first year that Lupin was his best friend. He couldn't believe it.

"He was with Voldemort; don't you think he picked up a few tricks? He cut off his finger, transformed into a rat. He lives with the Weasleys' now, as a pet. I saw in the paper, standing on the shoulder of one of the boys. He's missing a toe. Peter is coming to Hogwarts, and I'm going to commit the murder I was framed for!"

"Sirius! Sirius stop! Think rationally! I can't fully believe you until I see proof," Remus said.

"I'll show you the news article! I have it, right here!" Sirius said, pulling out a folded piece of paper taken from the Daily Prophet back in June. "See, look, a missing toe!"

Sure enough, the rat on the smallest boy's shoulder had a missing toe. "It can't be…" Remus said in wonderment. "Sirius, give me one more reason I should believe you."

Sirius pulled up his the sleeve of his left arm, revealing it to be blank. "When we were nineteen, Peter stopped wearing short sleeves. Look at all the pictures and wrack your mind for times he did. Never. He was hiding the Dark Mark."

"That's not good enough," Remus said.

"Find the Map when school starts. If Peter isn't on there, you can turn me in. Or kill me," Black said with cold finality.

Remus lowered his wand, "Alright."