CHAPTER 12:

A SIRIUS MEETING IN HOGSMEADE

After all the excitement of Peter Pettigrew being caught and interrogated (which made, a few days later, the headlines in The Daily Prophet), things went back to a routine for Harry and his friends. In a way, it felt like a burden had been taken off their shoulders. Of course, poor Ron got teased mercilessly by Fred and George for sleeping in the same bed as a grown man, although Percy, who had also had Scabbers as a pet, got even worse treatment.

But Malfoy's taunts had become a little less frequent at date, and more directed towards Ron than Harry or Hermione. Snape, although still mostly in a foul mood, seemed to have an occasional moment when he'd smirk without saying anything. Ron had told Harry that Snape had been present at the initial capture and interrogation of Pettigrew, and seemed to have it in for the rat Animagus. Harry guessed that this was because Pettigrew was one of the Marauders, and Snape delighted in revenge on him. But there was another thing that bothered him about Snape.

Lupin had begun to open up to Harry, and the two swapped tales on weekends. Lupin was somewhat horrified about the events of the past couple of years, not to mention the Dursleys, but Harry was able to calm the man down. He alluded to a condition he had that would probably prevent him from having custody of Harry anyway, and he accepted that the blood wards would help. He also told Harry about the Marauders. The man seemed a little ashamed about the worst of the pranks he had pulled, though. "We were young then," he had said wistfully. "And foolish. And brilliant."

The upshot was, Harry learned that although Snape and his father (not to mention the other Marauders) had been the bitterest of enemies, the surprising thing was that, until their fifth year, Snape and his mother had been friends. Harry could scarcely believe it, but then again, Lupin was unlikely to lie to him, and Snape would probably hex him if he asked for confirmation. He did ask McGonagall, who confirmed this, albeit reluctantly. And Harry…wasn't sure what to make of it.

If Pettigrew had been the one to betray his parents to Voldemort, did that mean Snape was enjoying revenge of another kind? Had he liked his mother enough that he wanted revenge on her betrayer?

It meant little, in the end. Snape was a foul git, as Ron so often put it, and if he treated Harry more as the son of James Potter than of Lily, then Harry would not bother trying to reach the man.

Another he often spoke to was Hercule Delacour. The man stayed at Hogwarts Castle because he had a notion that Sirius Black may not see the news coverage of Pettigrew's capture, and so might still be making his way to Hogwarts. Hermione and Ron often accompanied him. Hermione, because she wanted to ask the French detective about his ancestors and the detectives they inspired in fiction. And Ron, because Hercule Delacour agreed to play chess with him. Ron won more often than not, and it helped salve his ego and self-esteem in the wake of Scabbers being taken from him. Ron was also receiving mail from one of Fleur's friends, and playing postal chess.

Of course, there was Wood's intense training for Quidditch. He was determined to get the Quidditch Cup in the bag at long last, and this year was his last year. Of course, his training was exhaustive and exhausting, to say the very least.

One thing that Harry was worried about was the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. Vernon Dursley had claimed he would sign the Hogsmeade permission form if Harry would tolerate Marge and not show what he was capable of. Harry began to wonder whether Vernon had made that promise, believing that Harry would mess up, or else would renege on the promise even if Harry kept up his end of the bargain. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Vernon Dursley was fond of saying his word was as good as a bond, but in truth, he was fond of saying a lot of things he didn't bother living up to.

While discussing this with Lupin, Lupin eventually resolved to talk with Professor McGonagall. While it was true the rules stated that Harry needed to have a permission form signed by a guardian, there was a provision with extenuating circumstances: if the guardian had refused to sign the slip and a teacher was willing to escort the student at all times, then said student could go(1). And with the possibility of Sirius Black attacking now far less of a possibility (though in his post-Azkaban state, his mental health was still understandably in question), there was less of a need to keep Harry in the castle for his safety.

Apparently it took some persuasion for McGonagall to accede. Not because she was worried about Sirius attacking Harry, as that was now very much a moot point, but because she did have something of a love for the rules. Most of the time, anyway, given how she allowed the Marauders some leeway, as well as her allowing Harry to become a Seeker on the Quidditch team.

McGonagall eventually acceded. She at least knew what the Dursleys were like, at least to some degree. But she also warned Lupin that he must take responsibility. "She's worried," Lupin had said when they met afterwards, "that I'll be taking you to Zonko's. A true Marauder uses his own ingenuity and daring."

Harry, nonetheless, resolved to go there, as well as Honeydukes', and the Three Broomsticks. Lupin would be accompanying him, Ron, and Hermione. Hopefully, they wouldn't get into trouble. Then again, trouble had a bad habit of finding them.

Lupin, as it turned out, was a source of anecdotes about the Marauders and what they did in Hogsmeade. He shared stories with Ron, Hermione, and Harry as they explored Hogsmeade.

Harry could tell that Ron was chafing a little at having a teacher nearby. But on the other hand, he did like hearing some of the amusing stories Lupin talked about. Hermione, as was her wont, asked questions about the various buildings and stores: for all her love of book learning, she also liked to have some knowledgeable people around.

Then, Lupin froze, just as they were passing a rather mangy-looking large black dog. A dog that, to Harry, looked familiar. Lupin seemed to sniff, before he turned. The dog had retreated, but Lupin frowned. Then, out loud, he said, "We found the rat. He's under guard. If you want to talk, we'll do it at the Shrieking Shack."

The dog walked from the bushes. Ron's eyes were wide, and he began muttering about the Grim. Harry realised, with a start, that this may very well have been that same creature he had glimpsed during his flight from the Dursleys…so how could it listen? Of course, far from being the frightening figure it had been that dark and grim night, it looked actually a little pitiful.

"Come on. I think someone wants to talk," Lupin said.

The Shrieking Shack. Supposedly the most haunted place in Britain, on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. No doors or windows, or at least none that were unbarred or unobstructed in any way. The dog waited impatiently for them there, out of sight from anyone passing by, looking very haggard and very tired.

Lupin looked around, before waving his wand. "I've erected privacy seals," he said. "Try not to scare them too much."

The dog nodded…and then changed.

The three children's eyes widened. "Bloody hell, it's Sirius Black!" Ron yelped.

"He's an Animagus!" Hermione exclaimed.

The man standing before them was haggard, bearded, with grey eyes that danced with near-madness. He looked like a corpse freshly revived, just without all the rotting flesh attendant to such things. "Remus…please tell me it's true. Please tell me they've got Peter."

"I was there, they got him all right!" Ron yelled. "Your manky little friend was sleeping in my bed all these years!"

Sirius looked at Ron, before chuckling grimly. "We knew he didn't have many standards, eh, Remus?"

"It's not a laughing matter, Sirius. A Death Eater in the home of the Weasleys. But yes, we've caught him. The DMLE have him locked up. And yes, they know about his Animagus form. I hadn't even thought about that, though. It wasn't until Delacour showed me that newspaper…"

"Wait, Delacour? Hercule Delacour? That old Poirot rip-off? Did he figure it out about Peter?"

"No, but he had a hunch about the newspaper you saw Peter in. He showed me the photo, which was of Ron and his family…and I recognised Peter. One thing led to another, and, well…"

Sirius gave a barking laugh. "Oh, what I would have given to see the look on that rat's face when he got caught! Please tell me you were there, that I can watch it in a pensieve or something!"

"I wasn't there, but I'm sure Professor McGonagall would be willing to lend a memory or two." Remus smirked impishly, knowing what he was going to say would make Sirius astonished. "Of course, we couldn't have done it without Severus. He had some Veritaserum on hand to give to Peter."

"Wait, what? Snivellous? He helped catch Peter? Oh, Merlin, tell me you're not serious!"

"No, you're Sirius." The three children and Sirius groaned at the bad pun, Sirius especially so as he was fond of making those jokes, and he had walked right into that one. "But even if I was joking around, it'd be worth it to see the look on your face!" Remus chortled. "But really, Severus did help."

Sirius gaped, doing a bad impression of a goldfish. His brain, deciding it wanted nothing to do with the impossibility of Severus Snape helping to catch Peter Pettigrew, decided to focus on something else. His grey eyes flickered over to Harry. "Harry…" he muttered hoarsely. "Merlin, but you've grown…"

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "Mr Delacour told me that you knew my father, and Professor Lupin. He was also the one to get me thinking about what happened."

Sirius chuckled. "Figures that one of the few people to believe in my innocence doesn't live in Britain."

"He doubted your guilt," Lupin said. "He wasn't certain of your innocence."

"Better than anyone else here," Sirius said, in a quiet, bitter voice. Seeing Lupin's wince of self-reproach, Sirius said, "It's okay, Remus. We suspected you of being the spy, remember? We were all jumping at shadows and suspecting friends and enemies. Dark times."

"True."

For a time, they were silent, until Hermione spoke up. "Mr Black, sir…"

"Just call me Sirius, Miss…?"

"Hermione Granger. How did you escape Azkaban? I mean, it's meant to be inescapable, isn't it?"

The escaped convict gave a painful grin. "Until my name is completely cleared, I'll have to keep that a secret. Sorry. Don't want to give them any ideas on how to keep me locked up. Is Dumbledore willing to listen?"

"Thanks to Delacour, and our capture of Peter, yes," Lupin said.

Sirius looked at Lupin, as if trying to discern any signs of deceit in his old friend, before nodding. "Okay, I'll go with you. But as Padfoot. I was planning on entering the castle tonight, trying to grab Peter, try to kill him. But…if you're telling the truth, I don't need to. Okay, lead the way." And with that, Sirius changed back into the dog.

"But the Dementors…they may still be after him," Ron pointed out.

"Yes, but he's now disguised." Hermione frowned. "Maybe that's how he escaped Azkaban in the first place. Maybe the Dementors didn't recognise him as Sirius Black when he's a dog."

The dog barked happily, and gave a smug grin. "Well, looks like you found that out, Hermione," Harry said with a smile of his own.

The trip back to Hogwarts was relatively uneventful (Harry still hated passing the Dementors, and Sirius, in his dog form, whined in fear), but Harry knew that this was merely the calm before the storm. Lupin sent a Patronus ahead, sending a message to McGonagall to meet him at the castle gates regarding an urgent matter.

McGonagall was present when they got there. When she saw the dog, she raised an eyebrow, but made little comment, save for bring home a stray. They went through into the castle, until they found an empty classroom. Once they were secure, Sirius changed back. McGonagall was a little startled, but had been expecting this, knowing that Pettigrew had been an Animagus. She archly asked, "When was the last time you had a bath, Mr Black?"

"Umm…when I swam ashore from Azkaban?" Sirius said rather tentatively.

"I see. I will go and fetch Albus, as well as Mr Delacour. Please wait here."

They didn't have long to wait. Dumbledore and Delacour soon came back with McGonagall, and a reunion of sorts commenced. Dumbledore apologised profusely for not believing in Sirius as much as he should have. Harry noted that Sirius didn't quite accept the apology. He seemed warmer towards Delacour, though this was understandable, given that Delacour was the man who was behind getting Pettigrew.

"I think we all have some catching up to do," Dumbledore said.

"Indeed we do," Sirius said, shooting a look at Harry. "It's about time I got to know my godson."

"Your what?" Harry asked. This was definitely news to him!

"Didn't you tell him?" Sirius demanded of Dumbledore, his eyes wide and wild. He then turned to Lupin. "Didn't you tell Harry that I'm his godfather?"

"Damn," Lupin muttered, abashed. "I knew there was something…"

CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:

And there you have it, Sirius finally making a proper appearance.

God, it was hard getting this chapter out. Not so sure how long the next chapter will take either.

Over 68K views! Ironically, for being one of my less-updated works, this is the most popular so far. I think that a week after this chapter is posted (assuming I don't write and post any more in the meantime, which is unlikely, but still possible), it might hit the 75K mark.

Review-answering time! Klaw117: I'm still deciding how to deal with that. Come hell or highwater, Harry is still going to end up in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, assuming I manage to get that far.

Wizardmon0073: My portrayal of Dumbledore is in this work of a deeply flawed man, and his treatment of Sirius at the time of Sirius' so-called crime is a reflection of this. As for him having no power to rescind the Kiss on Sight order, I imagine it's because Dumbledore is afraid of losing what power he has if he throws his weight around too much. His power was reduced badly in The Order of the Phoenix thanks to Fudge. My view of Dumbledore when I try to portray him heroically (as well as the canon Dumbledore) is that he's trying to maintain his power so that he can try to protect Harry, along with his charges. He may not do the best job at it, but he tries.

Dovahkiin1503: I'm sure that's fanon, not canon.

jgkitarel: Thanks. That's exactly what I was going for: a more realistic, slow-burn romance rather than love at first sight. I sneer at love at first sight: there's infatuation and lust at first sight, but rarely love.

matt (a guest): If by 'hruna', you mean 'Harry/Luna', I like it, and I think more should be done, albeit in the right way. Out of the non-canonical ships, I prefer Harry/Hermione and Harry/Luna, though I won't say no to a well-handled Harry/Fleur ship (which is why I'm attempting this with this story). I'm actually intending a Harry/Luna ship in two of my other Harry Potter stories. If I write later stories in the Cetra Heritage Saga (my crossover series with Final Fantasy VII), it will definitely end up as a Harry/Luna ship, and should I reach that point in Sins of the Father (my crossover with Naruto), it will be Harry/Luna too.

1. I made that up. Obviously. I just wanted a plausible reason for Harry to go to Hogsmeade and encounter Sirius, without the whole Marauder's Map thing, though the Map WILL make an appearance.