A/N: This is a little longer. For a little while, Alice, Sirius and Dumbledore stopped talking to me. I think they're mad at me-- Dumbledore for showing him that he's human and Alice and Sirius for not letting them find Harry. Sorry that there's not more Harry/Ginny interaction, but I promise there is more to come in the next chapter!

Chapter 24-- Confrontations

August 15, 1986- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Albus Dumbledore heaved a huge sigh as he faced the last two people he wanted to see right now in the world. He would even prefer to see his old friend Gellert before seeing them at the moment. His eyes narrowed as he realized that Sirius Black was standing in front of him.

"Well, this is a surprise. Mr. Black, how did you manage to escape Azkaban and make it here to Hogwarts?" Albus questioned. He watched as Sirius calmly looked him right in the eye and pointed to Alice. Seeing anger in the younger wizard's eyes, Albus tried to understand what he was being told as he was still trying to process what he had learned at Privet Drive.

Alice crossed her arms before replying, "He didn't escape. He was released finally with no help from you. Sirius is innocent of the charges that he was imprisoned for, but still you let him go to that horrible place. You know, you are the head of the Wizengamot. Surely you could have done something about giving him a trial."

Sirius finally spoke up at this. His voice, so flat and monotone, scared Albus more than if he had been fully enraged. "I find it hard to imagine that the professor I knew would just allow someone innocent or not to be imprisoned without a trial. I thought he always believed in giving people the benefit of the doubt and allowing our justice system to work. Otherwise, why would he agree to be the head of the Wizengamot?" His eyes hardened. "Instead, I found out the hard way that apparently this was a façade. Just a face presented to the world to hide the true beliefs of their "hero". A man who was willing to look away while someone he should have known would never betray his best friend was incarcerated. You know there really is no excuse that you can come up with for that one." Sirius turned and walked away from him.

As Albus pondered how to try to bridge the gap that seemed insurmountable with one of his former students, Sirius turned back with his eyes flashing. "But besides that, as I can't get back my years that were spent in Azkaban, on to the reason we came. Where's our godson? You can't keep him from us anymore. It's no longer in your hands. If I have to, I will use all of the Black power, influence and money to see that he is placed in our custody. Now where is Harry Potter?" Sirius exuded magical power, but Dumbledore did not survive to be as old as he was to be intimidated by the young upstart as Sirius Black was. Still, he hated telling them the news that he had to impart.

Harper Place, London

Mena Frayne was overjoyed to see her aunt and uncle. Forgetting about everyone else, she raced to them desperate to feel their arms around her.

"Aunt Honey, oh, I didn't think I would ever see you again." Mena's voice was muffled in the long hair of her aunt. As she greeted her uncle, she felt her aunt stiffen behind her. Still in her uncle's arms, she turned around to see her aunt with tears streaming down her face.

"Please, don't leave me. I don't think I could handle it if you left," Honey pleaded. Mena's heart melted at the despair on her aunt's face. She quickly left her uncle to comfort her aunt. The moment she touched her aunt, Honey calmed down and wiped her tears. Mena heard a small growl behind her and turned to see her uncle looking ready to tear her away from Honey. Startled, she let go of her aunt, who immediately rushed over to Brian. Honey pulled her hand back and slapped him.

"How dare you think that you can just waltz in here and find someone else! Let me tell you something, Doctor Brian Belden. No one could ever love you like I do," Honey said forcefully.

Brian, in turn, pulled her into his arms and clung to her. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what I did, but please don't leave me."

Mena looked from one adult to the other. When had she seen emotional displays like this before? She thought about this before looking around the room. She noticed Miss Stephens trying to deal with the other children, but she didn't see the one she was looking for. Spotting him standing in the corner with glazed over eyes, she crossed the room.

"Harry! Harry, snap out of it." Mena grew frustrated with him as he wasn't responding at all to anything she said. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, which caused a flicker. Yet, it wasn't until she let out a sharp whistle that Harry's eyes refocused and a calm came over the room.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Albus Dumbledore looked downcast even while looking Sirius in the eye as he quietly said, "I regret to inform you that Harry is no longer where I placed him." Sirius was stunned and looking at Alice, he was not surprised to see her with her mouth wide open. He couldn't quite decide what to make of this news. Dumbledore continued, "It seems that Petunia took him somewhere last November. I don't know where."

Sirius was still trying to think through what Dumbledore was saying, but it seemed that Alice had no problems figuring out what to say. "Well, why didn't you ask the stupid woman where she took Harry?"

"She died today, Alice," was Dumbledore's response.

Sirius paused at this before remarking, "There's no way to get her memories now, right?" Seeing Dumbledore nod, he continued. "She didn't tell anyone where she took him, did she?" Again, Dumbledore nodded. "I assume you checked her husband's memory in case she did tell him." Another small nod. "Well, then, it seems that Alice was right. You should have never placed our godson with that miscreant. It's obvious she planned this. Why would you put him there with that… that …?" He sputtered until Alice supplied the words for him.

"Horse-faced bitch?" Alice smiled sweetly at him.

"What she said." Sirius then turned contemplative. "How do you propose we find Harry then? Petunia, presumably the last one to see him, is dead. Alice has tried to trace his magical signature, but to no avail. Wait, how did you know there was something wrong? Did they send you a death announcement or something?"

Sirius could tell that Dumbledore was uncomfortable by the way his eyes flickered around the room. "Actually I had one of my instruments keeping tabs on the wards at the Dursleys' house. I noticed that its movement had stopped when I entered the room earlier today. I Flooed to the person's house that I had watching Harry and visited with Vernon, Petunia's husband, who could tell me nothing about Harry's whereabouts."

Emotions that had been tucked away during his imprisonment came bubbling to the surface while Sirius was listening to Dumbledore. When Dumbledore got to the part about Flooing to the person who was watching Harry, Sirius just snapped. He spluttered, "Incompetent idiot." He stormed around the room. Feelings of anger, disappointment, and fear were swirling through his body and mind. His magic, unused for so long, broke out from the confinements placed upon it at the prison. Objects levitated into the air, only to fall to the floor and shatter. The occupants of the portraits vacated their frames as they rattled against the walls.

Knowing she had to stop him from hurting any of them, Alice pulled out her wand and shot a quick stunner at Sirius. Making sure to slow his fall with a charm, Alice placed Sirius' body on the sofa before turning to Dumbledore to find out what was going on.

"What was that? Sirius doesn't even have a wand yet. So how did that just happen?" Alice questioned the professor.

"I believe that would be Mr. Black's magic being released from its bindings," he replied.

"Bindings? What bindings?" Alice was thoroughly confused.

"All high level security prisoners in Azkaban have their magic bound in order to help the dementors keep them under control." Alice's eyes widened at this news. "Oh, it doesn't hurt the prisoners or affect their magic, really. It only allows a small portion to be used and that's only if the wizard or witch can do wandless magic. Apparently Mr. Black can."

Not wanting to give away Sirius' secret about his Animagus form, she turned to Sirius and performed the counter charm to wake him up. Watching him as he sat up looking dazed, Alice asked Dumbledore with her back to him, "So where was Harry? And who was supposedly watching him?" She turned around to watch him give his response.

"He was at Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Arabella Figg was the one who was watching him. You should remember her. She was a Squib in the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore replied, sinking into his chair and looking very tired. She stopped to tuck her wand in her pocket before looking at him fully. Seeing his tired demeanor, Alice really considered for the first time what Dumbledore dealt with every day, having the entire Wizarding World looking to him for answers about everything. While he was obviously a very powerful wizard, he was not infallible like most thought he was or wished he was and that included her. She realized with a start that she had expected him to grasp all the consequences of leaving Harry with Petunia without the benefit of the knowledge and dealings that she herself had had with the awful female. It was a little humbling to realize that she was just as guilty of thinking Dumbledore would understand the necessity of Harry being with her family as Dumbledore was for expecting Petunia to understand why Dumbledore had placed Harry with her. She knew she ought to apologize for her behavior toward him the past few years, but she couldn't seem to get it past her lips. Nodding towards the professor, she walked toward Sirius, who was still trying to get his bearings from the stunner. She placed her hand on his shoulder and pointed with her head toward the door. Sirius gave her a puzzled look, but nodded.

"Professor, we'll be back. You have a lot more explaining to do; but for now, we have a godson to find." Sirius said as Alice essentially dragged him out the door.