part 6

Secrets Revealed

March rolled on and in the flash of some magic that Harry knew little of, he was now one month away from finishing his 3rd year at Hogwarts. So little had Harry paid attention to the comings and goings, rumours and whispers, that he felt a slight sense of dread. This dread simply came from knowing that nothing would happen. There would be no great end, no explosive finish or amazing story to tell his mother when he arrived on the platform in Kings cross station. The only thing he would be able to tell her, was that he had passed all his exams, that he had fought his best during the Duelling competition, and he had learned new magic that was both lovely and useful, instead of dangerous and explosive. Despite the strange feeling of disappointment that came with this revelation of how dull this year had been, he felt quite proud of himself and was happy to continue towards the end.

Easter weekend would be one of excitement, and not due to the giant, caramel filled Easter Eggs that had been delivered on the Friday morning. The Duelling competition was upon them and he had admitted to Hermione, that he was feeling quite nervous about the whole thing.

"You'll do wonderfully," She had told him, laying back against his side, her head hanging slightly because she had finally managed to rest, after a whole year of so many subjects, "I've seen some of the students you'll be facing, it's almost laughable that they were picked,"

Harry wondered if Hermione was only just saying this, but rumour had reached him that the Slytherin picks weren't getting on well, that Ravenclaw were forced to compete with only one 4th year student and Harry himself had witnessed Edward Diggory, fuming at the Hufflepuff Duellists the other night.

"I suppose, I just don't want to let us down, Draco and Neville already managed to help pull in the Quidditch championship," Harry said, feeling a great weight upon his shoulders.

Neville and Draco had both failed to get onto the Quidditch team at the beginning of the year, simply because Oliver Wood had wanted more mature players. The unfortunate thing was that the Slytherin team had played a rather horrible prank on Wood's players. This resulted in Wood needing two fresh players. When all seemed lost, Draco and Neville both conceded to join and with staggering ease, helped to secure a final victory for Gryffindor. Neville and Draco had earned themselves the title of "Cool" and "Good-looking," simply because of their win. Draco was taking it all in his stride, he had always expected to be popular because of his Quidditch abilities. Neville on the other hand, had felt no desire to be popular and chosen a more academic approach to the situation. That is why, while Harry and Hermione cuddled together discussing duelling and Draco simply looked as though he was day-dreaming about his win again, Neville was huddled in his favourite chair in front of the fire, muttering to himself over a book.

"Fascinating, really fascinating," He had mumbled, for the 5th time in a row in less that a few minutes that morning.

"What are you reading Nev?" Hermione asked, her curiosity peeking over anything Neville would read, knowing it would be interesting to her.

"Hm, oh, it's a diary account of the war against Grindelwald," Neville told her, showing her the book and smiling, "It's told from the point of view of someone who followed Grindelwald,"

"And that's fascinating to you?" Draco asked, suddenly finding the conversation interesting.

"Well, I mean, sure he started a war, but there are some really interesting things about him," Neville said defensively, his ears turning slightly red.

"Like what?" Harry asked, not helping to find Neville's interest in dark lords a little odd.

"Like, did you know that he invented a type of magic, that allows you to change appearance at will?" He asked them all, "He never told anyone what the ability was, but he was known to have taught his closest supporters, half the time the Ministry never knew who they were capturing,"

"That's not devious at all," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

"He also, was known for being a pacifist, he never killed unless he had to," Neville said quickly, "And he was an extremely powerful duellist, the book details some of the things he did for our side against Voldemort, I think if the two of them ever came face to face, it would have been a good battle,"

"And the fact that he was known to allow and involve himself in the deaths of 100's of muggles, isn't a black mark on his personality at all?" Hermione asked, making Harry chuckle,

"Well," Neville said, looking at them all, "Did you know that during the war, more casualties came from our side than his? He never killed unless he was forced to, during a rally in Paris, it was the Ministry who started the fight,"

"They were trying to stop a lunatic from taking over the world," Draco said, getting a little worked up.

"Actually, he never bullied or threatened people into joining him," Neville shot back, "His goals were to show our world to the muggles, to lead us into a world where we could stop war and poverty, how many wizards died during the last muggle war?"

"Yes, but Neville, he probably killed more people when he used Fied-Fyre to escape," Harry told him, "A war is a war and no one is innocent in it, but using dark magic to get what you want, that's beyond the realms of right,"

"I know," Neville frowned, feeling quite outnumbered all of a sudden, "But no one can deny how talented a wizard he was and still is, it's said that he made such a strong case to lead us into the muggle world, that people are still loyal to him today, unlike Death-Eaters who deny that they helped You know who,"

"Sounds like you're quite impressed with him," Draco said, smirking when Neville blushed brightly.

"No, it's just, Dumbledore isn't so innocent, I don't see why I can't be impressed with Grindelwald,"

"Wouldn't mind learning that change at will power," Harry said thoughtfully, "Imagine the pranks I could play on Tonks,"

It was with that one thought that the conversation had become light again. Harry didn't want to admit that Neville had a point, simply because of his strong feelings against the cruelty that Grindelwald had been known for. In his mind, the aged dark lord who still resided in Nurmengard prison, rightly deserved to still be there. In Harry's mind, Grindelwald was no better than Voldemort, and even with the help that Grindelwald provided against Voldemort, would remain guilty forever.

Classes had started to wind down and Harry found himself passing Defence against the dark arts with ease. He had his one on one exam with Professor Riff, which involved an assault course, a quick round of questions and finally, a duel. He was to face off against another opponent, for Harry it had been Dean, who did put up a good fight but failed to keep up with the torrent of spells Harry threw at him.

"I'm probably not suppose to have favourites as a teacher," Professor Riff said, once Dean was away and she could speak to Harry alone, "But you really are my best pupil," she told Harry, causing him to blush.

"Thanks Professor," Harry said brightly. A year ago, another teacher had said this to him, and it carried very little weight, but this year he had felt that he truly had learned a lot from Professor Riff.

"Which is a shame, because I'll be leaving once the year ends," She said, smiling when Harry looked as though he was about to protest, "I only ever agreed to do this for a year, my brother has been barking at me for days that we should go travelling again, so I've agreed,"

"Oh," was all Harry could say, "But you're the best teacher we've had for this subject,"

"That's very kind of you Harry," Riff said, placing her hand on his cheek.

The moment her hand touched him, and he felt the warmth of her skin caressing his, he had the strangest feeling pass through him. His eyes connected with hers for the longest moment and he almost felt, that for one moment, someone else was touching him. As inappropriate as it was for a teacher to act this way, Harry heard something in her voice that made his spine tingle. There was a familiar softness there that he couldn't quite explain, and the closer he stared at her, the more he noticed the change.

"Funny, I always thought your eyes were dark brown, but they're blue," He said, feeling slightly embarrassed when she gave a small gasp, "Sorry, I notice things," He chuckled nervously.

"The mark of a good Auror," Riff said, quickly pulling her hand away from his cheek and turning to face her desk, "You best be off Harry, I've got a few galleons on you winning the junior category, don't let me down,"

Harry got the feeling that he had upset her in some way but didn't push the matter and decided to bid her farewell and leave. Once free of the awkwardness of the moment, he felt glad that she wasn't going to be there anymore. He knew it was only because he felt embarrassed for having said something about her eyes, he would miss Professor Riff.

O

When Saturday morning came, Harry woke with a serious case of the nerves. The Duelling competition was upon him, and he had taken a few moments to get out bed, hoping that the tingle in his stomach was a sign that he might be ill. Upon realising that it was just a simple case of butterflies, he noticed that Neville and Draco were already up and gone and had decided to dress quickly and find them. He knew that it wasn't as big a deal as he was making it out to be, there was no need for extra pressure. Harry was quite content in the knowledge that he could make it to the first leg of the competition, in complete control of his nerves. That thought disappearing the moment he reached the common room and found near enough the whole of Gryffindor house waiting for him.

"WOO HARRY!" Dean called out, which then caused the rest of the students to cheer and yell for him. They had large banners with Harry and Parvati's name on them, some were wearing their best Gryffindor clothes, holding up pictures of Harry and Parvati standing back to back against the rest of the school. He felt a deep sense of fear grip him, and when he saw Parvati sitting in the corner, he was only slightly pleased to see that she looked just as nervous as he did.

"I told them not to do this," Hermione told him. She had been at the front of the crowd with a warm smile on her face, and though she meant well, the second she stepped forward and kissed his cheek, Harry felt a strange kind of strength flow through him.

"You ready, Harry?" Neville asked brightly, not giving him a kiss, but instead a light punch on the arm.

"I think so," Harry chuckled, watching Draco step forward with a huge grin on his face.

"Not that he'll see it," Draco teased, making Neville blush, "How he got a fail in muggle-studies is beyond me,"

"It's just not that interesting, I don't find muggles all that useful," Neville defended.

"Doesn't like Muggles, is a pure-blood, a big fan of Grindelwald," Draco said, listing off the things he was saying, "We better watch out Harry, the dark lord of plants won't be far behind,"

"Shut-it Draco!"

Harry laughed and felt so at ease, that he could easily ignore the crowd that followed him, Hermione and Draco down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He knew that with his friends and especially Hermione, he could face anything that was going to happen today.

During breakfast, Hermione had allowed Parvati to sit on Harry's other side but made sure that Parvati knew she wasn't allowed to touch Harry or make eye-contact with him in any way. The conversations around the table had been loud and joyful, with Draco taking on bets on who would win. It wasn't long before they were all stood outside the Great Hall, while the teachers and Duelling captains worked to set the hall up for the competition. Eventually, Harry found himself standing alone, while everyone else was ushered inside. The rules of the competition were simple. Each duellist would step into the Great Hall one at a time, unaware of who their opponent was, they would then do battle until one of them was defeated, the matches would continue until there were only two duellists left, if Harry and Parvati defeated all their opponents and were the only ones left, Gryffindor would win automatically. It all started when Professor Flitwick appeared at the door with a bright smile on his face.

"Gather in duellist's," He said in a squeaky voice, "You know the rules, you know that any breaking of the rules will you points, no unforgiveable curses or dark magic allowed, any cheating will be result in disqualification, Patil and Chang first,"

Harry had stood quite alone, ignoring the glare of Blaze Zabini and the two Hufflepuff duellists, Pansy Parkinson had given him a kind smile, and Harry had found it hard to believe that he would be facing her. He didn't really want to duel a girl, let alone one that had in some ways become his friend over the last year. But when Parvati appeared a few moments later with marked face and a sad look, Harry knew that he was the only Gryffindor left.

"What happened?" Harry asked quickly, only to be ignored when Parvati passed with Professor Mcgonagall who said, "No information giving Potter, You're next with Jones,"

Harry gulped and prepared himself, allowing Jones to head in first. She was a Hufflepuff third year, who was tall, thin and looked quite ready to kill Harry. When he stepped through the door, the large duelling platform that stretched the length of the hall was in place. The crowd on one side of the room, which was filled with Gryffindors, cheered for Harry and the Hufflepuff's cheered for Jones.

Harry was used to having Angelina referee his matches, which made it all the stranger, when he saw that Dumbledore was the one taking that position on stage.

"Welcome competitors," Dumbledore said, his excitement seeming to radiate with the rest of the room, "Now, you are aware of the rules, should I see anything out of the ordinary, I shall top it at once, am I understood?"

"Yes Professor," Jones said, her voice deeper than Harry expected it to be.

"Yes Professor," Harry nodded, feeling his nerves taking hold of him.

Harry turned and walked to his spot, looking out to the crowd and seeing Hermione smiling up at him brightly. He felt that strength fill him again and for a moment, he felt as though he could do anything, he was so lost in her smiling face, that he barely heard Dumbledore calling out.

"And, begin!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry saw the spell flying towards his hand, instinct took over him and he took a dive towards the ground, the crowd roared when he rolled and leapt to his feet. A second spell that he hadn't heard came flying at his chest, Harry dodged it, and a second, Jones was firing them off at rapid speed with a mad look in her eye.

"Just take the hit!" Jones screamed.

Harry couldn't explain her anger, but he continued to dodge back and forth. The crowd cheered and booed, and Harry found himself raging inside, his eyes focused on the next spell that Jones threw at him, instinct kicked in when he realised, she was all over the place. He smirked when the confidence reached him, and with ease he blocked and deflected, sending the spell back at her, he twirled his wand quickly and launched 3 stunning spells one after the other, the crowd cheered, Harry ran forward, he dropped to the ground and slid, purposely dodging Jones' last spell, he sent the body-binding curse at her, it connect, she fell, he had won his first match.

"Goodness Potter," Jones said, her voice very girlish now, "You're unreal,"

They were back outside the great hall while Pansy was duelling a boy named Wayne Hopkins, having a quick discussion about their match.

"You weren't bad yourself, I lost focus in the beginning, nice job on taking advantage," Harry said, feeling exceptionally modest.

"I'll remember that Granger is your weakness for next year," She giggled, then went off when Pans appeared, looking thoroughly upset.

Harry stood quietly while Blaze had left to fight Cho Chang. The match lasted longer but eventually, Blaze appeared having lost the match. Harry knew that this Chang was a year older than him and knew that she was going to have more skill. Part of wished he had a better heads up other than Blaze giving him a sneer, but he didn't have much time to think about it, when he and Hopkins were called back into the great hall.

Much the same as the last match, Harry noticed one slight change in the platform. There were now high barriers in the shape of rocks, Harry knew he could utilize these if he needed to, and when the match began, he watched in surprise when Hopkins instantly leapt behind one.

"HARRY LOOK OUT!"

He wasn't sure who had called out, but he looked to the corner of a rock and noticed Hopkins taking aim with something that wasn't a wand. The dart shot out and Harry leapt, it missed him by inches and reacting only on instinct, fired his spell.

"REDUCTO!"

The rock smashed and in shock, Hopkins fell over, Harry landed and took aim, he fired the spell in hope, and it collided with Hopkins back. Dumbledore stepped forward and to the roar of the crowd, announced Harry the very quick winner. Instead of being asked to leave this time, Dumbledore drew out his wand, cleared the platform and called for Chang to join them. The crowd were growing more tense by the second, it was the final match and Harry felt his nerves grip him again.

"Final match," Dumbledore told them, "this year we're bending the rules a little, so long as you do not use dark magic of any kind, you are free to win by whatever means you think are necessary,"

"Shame," Chang said, giving Harry a cute smile, "I'd hate to hurt someone so handsome," Then she turned and sauntered towards her starting position, Harry noticing the alluring way she walked, looked up at Dumbledore.

"Dangerous creatures are the opposite sex," Albus whispered, making Harry chuckle and head towards his starting point.

"Take positions," Albus called out.

Harry prepared himself for winning, he could admit that Cho was attractive, but she wasn't Hermione, he realised that Parvati would have lost because of her nerves and Blaze would have done so, because he was distracted. He knew he could win this by the awkward way in which Cho stood, her footing wasn't right, and he could see that she was nervous. It was going to be an easy win, so he braced himself.

"3, 2 and,"

Dumbledore never got to reach the count of 3, the doors to the great hall burst open and through its Colin Creevey rushed towards the platform. The whole crowd including Harry noticed the panic in the young boys' eyes, when he looked up to the Head Master and said a sentence that sent a wave of dread through Harry.

"Sirius Black!" Creevey shouted, "He, he's kidnapped Neville!"

O

"Head master, we've scanned the grounds and most of the school, we've found nothing,"

Harry, Draco and Hermione were all forced to follow Dumbledore to his office. They had been stopped from running to the common room to discover what had happened to Neville. The rest of the school were confined to the Great Hall, all of them chatting and trying to guess how Black had gotten into the castle again. Something that Harry would like to have known as well. For some time, they were left with only Professor Mcgonagall watching over them, who refused to let Harry speak to Draco and Hermione. It wasn't until Dumbledore, Severus and Riff had come back to the office, that the silence was broken.

"I've investigated the common room, looks like Black took advantage of the tournament, the portrait of the fat-lady is completely destroyed," Riff had added, after Severus was done speaking, her gaze glancing for a moment at Harry, who noticed that in the light of Dumbledore's office, that her eyes were brown again.

"The Dementors are out for blood," Severus said, his voice cold, "They're angry that he managed to slip passed them again,"

"I will not have them on the school grounds," Dumbledore said, "And Cornelius will be told as such when he arrives, has Augusta been informed?"

"Yes, I took the liberty of sending word to Lily, she'll make sure Augusta knows," Severus assured him.

"Professor," Harry said, his patience growing thin.

"Harry, I promise, we are doing all we can to find Neville," Albus said dismissively, "but for now we must try to figure out where he could have been taken,"

"Professor, with all due respect," Hermione tried to say, only to be interrupted again.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore interrupted again, "There is nothing, no help at all that you, Harry or Draco can provide that will save Neville any quicker,"

"But," Draco tried to argue.

"Professor Riff, would you kindly escort them to their common room," Dumbledore said, completely ignoring Draco.

"Do you think that wise Head Master?" Severus asked, looking at Harry with a stern gaze.

"Having them with the other students may prove to be a problem, I wish to keep them somewhere safe, if Black has targeted children of the Order, I fear they may also be in danger,"

"I'll get them there Professor and come right back?" Riff asked curiously.

"No, please stay with them, it is probably best to keep them in their rooms," He said.

Harry felt nothing but annoyance at the idea that they were to be sent to their rooms without another word. He would have voiced this opinion had it not been for the curious smile that Dumbledore had given him, when Professor Riff turned her back to him. Harry watched while Draco and Hermione were ushered out of the room, both giving protest. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he stepped forward and looked directly at Dumbledore.

"So, we're just to go and behave now?!" Harry almost yelled, wondering how convincing his performance was.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, clearly trying to contain his amusement, "Behaving, for the moment is all you can do Harry, I understand it is a change for you, but change," He said, glancing briefly at Professor Riff, "Can sometimes be a burden, it tends to reveal the strangest of secrets in ourselves,"

Harry knew that only he and Dumbledore would have understood what had just transpired between them, so he could understand the level of shock Draco and Hermione felt when they returned to the Gryffindor Common room.

The first thing they noticed was the absence of the fat lady, her portrait was repaired but Harry could still see the evidence of the explosion, that had caused the lady to flee from her painting. Inside there were signs of Neville having tried to defend himself. Crookshanks was standing dutifully next to Trevor, who looked surprisingly shook up for a toad. Furniture had been tossed all over the place, there were several burn marks from spells, and most worrying, was the trail of blood on the floor, that led towards the portrait hole itself.

"We have to go and find him," Draco said urgently, "Points be damned, we can't leave Neville,"

"Agreed, Harry, I think we should,"

"Children, children, calm yourself," Professor Riff said, stepping forward and shaking her head, "All you 3 are going to do, is head up to your rooms and try to find time to relax, we will."

"STUPEFY!"

A few moments later, with the help of Draco. Harry was tying Professor Riff to the only armchair that hadn't been damaged. Hermione was sitting on the sofa shaking with anxiety, watching this odd scene take place. Admittedly Harry felt that he should bring some context to what was going on but knew that would happen in a few minutes.

"You know, I'm all for saving Neville," Draco said casually, "but, don't you think this is a little extreme?" He asked, making sure that the rope that Harry conjured, was tied tightly enough.

"You might not think so in a minute," Harry told him, turning to Hermione and smiling softly, "I need you to focus,"

"Harry you attacked a teacher!" She burst out.

Harry knew there wasn't much time to spare, but he was counting on Hermione losing her mind just a little, it was understandable, so he let her rant.

"We'll be expelled, you'll go to jail, Neville will die, what if she is permanently injured, I know I didn't like her, but…"

Thinking it was the only rational thing to do in the moment, and despite it being in the full view of Draco, Harry grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and pulled her in for a long, deep kiss. He released her only moments after he felt that she was calm enough to be spoken to. Smiling at the dreamy look in her eyes, when he cleared his throat.

"Give me a second, then I promise you'll not worry so much,"

"Ok," She breathed, flopping backwards onto the sofa again, as if she had suddenly had too many glasses of fire-whiskey.

"This better be worth having to watch that," Draco said, his face disgusted when Harry turned around.

"I think it will be," He said, drawing out his wand, pointing it to Professor Riff and saying, "Revelio,"

Both Draco and Hermione gasped when the change happened. Professor Riffs hair turned black, her skin paler, when Harry pushed her up and cast the spell that would rejuvenate her, her eyes fluttered open as they turned from brown to sparkling blue. Her nose and lips changed shape, if it were possible, he had become far more beautiful and, in an instant, had become someone else entirely. Both Draco and Hermione knew who they were seeing, they could see the family resemblance, the mysterious edge to her eyes and most of all, they could sense the power emitting from her. Hermione stood and moved in closer with Draco, standing on either side of Harry as they took in the entirely new woman that replaced Professor Riff.

"Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger," Harry said in a cold voice, "Meet Erica Black,"

"This whole time?" Hermione demanded, "This whole time she's been here in the castle?"

"I'd say it makes sense," Draco frowned, "But it really doesn't,"

"I think it does," Harry said, his mind suddenly racing with all different memories and information, things he had ignored for far too long, came flooding back to him the second his eyes met Erica's.

"You," Hermione hissed, taking a step forward as if to attack, Harry and Draco grabbing and dragging her back, "Traitor, coward, you would let him take Neville, why?!"

"Hermione!" Harry shouted, helping Draco to drag her back across the room, "She can pay after we find out where Neville is, but right now we need her unharmed, think of Neville,"

"Yeah, he'll have peed on Sirius like four or five times by now," Draco said with an easy smile, even his best being kidnapped not affecting his mood.

"How long have you known it was her?" Hermione demanded of Harry.

"That's a good question, how did you even know it was her?" Draco asked, looking at Harry curiously.

"Her eyes, they kept changing colour,"

"That's it?" The sultry and alluring voice asked, Harry turned to see Erica aware and focusing her eyes upon the trio, "I've hid in this castle for over a year now, and one little blunder with my eyes sets off your detective skills? I admit Harry, I am very disappointed,"

"Actually, that wasn't the only thing," Harry told her, stepping away from his friends to focus all his attention on Erica, "You see, I've been a little ignorant this year, I admit that it's now coming back to haunt me, but you're not as clever as the stories say,"

"Hm, well, since I plan to escape in a few minutes, why don't you enlighten me?" She asked, her voice sending strange chills down Harry's back, chills that he now knew quite a lot about.

"It should have been obvious the second I met you," Harry told her, "The Scottish accent was good, but no one could mistake the way your voice was trying to blind me, that was the first test wasn't it? To see if I would notice, because you've known, you always knew it was me that night when Mr Weasley held his meeting beneath the lake,"

"Very good, keep going," Eric said, acting as though they were back in class.

"The second give away should have been that first day in class," Harry said, looking at Hermione and Draco, "All year she's been making sure that the students would think she was the greatest, Neville, Dean, Seamus, all of them, couldn't resist her,"

"They thought she was the greatest thing that ever walked the earth," Draco said, rolling his eyes and glancing at Erica, "Didn't get me though,"

"Or me," Hermione frowned, "Why is that?"

"Because it doesn't work on girls," Harry said, then looked at Draco, who was suddenly very nervous, "I think it doesn't work on you because honestly mate, you don't love anyone else more than you love yourself,"

"Vanity?" Hermione asked, her expression disbelieving, "you really think vanity is the reason for,"

"Yup, so self-obsessed," Draco admitted, "Saved me though, right?"

"Yup," Harry smiled brightly, "She also couldn't get the other girls on her side, but the arguments everyone had about her, distracted everyone from the truth, am I right?" He asked, looking to Erica again.

"Yes, I needed all of you to fight over me, hence why Riff worked out so well, she's quite attractive, most would think that the boys were suffering from a crush," She replied, once again looking pleased that Harry was on the right path.

"Alright Mr Smarty Robes, how come you weren't effected?" Draco asked him.

"Actually, I don't know," Harry frowned, "It wasn't from her lack of trying, the reason she's been playing favourites, is because she knew her little spell wasn't work on me, I was always in two minds about her, she was either the best or the most annoying,"

"Hard to break the spell that Hermione has over you," Eric said with a warm smile, "Men who are in love are harder to control," She then looked at Hermione, "Congratulations, he literally can't live without you,"

Hermione launched herself forward and slapped Eric hard across the cheek, Harry and Draco pulled her back while Eric laughed at Hermione's reaction.

"All this time you've been trying to get him under your thumb, why?!" Hermione demanded, "Why would you try to take him away from me?!"

"This reminds me of Ginny," Draco snickered, "Ow," Then received a punch to the gut, winding him, while Harry pulled Hermione back.

"Because she wanted to keep Sirius safe," Harry told Hermione, her anger subsiding, "She knew that if she could distract me enough, I wouldn't be able to focus, I assume Severus told you about points game?" Harry asked, turning to Erica again, when he was sure Hermione wouldn't attack.

"Naturally, he is just a man after all and he was so forthcoming about the boy he considers to be his son," Erica grinned, "The pride he has in you, you'd think he was actually your father,"

"I'd be proud if he was," Harry smirked, "Just a shame he couldn't bloke you, I think the love for my mother changed a long time ago, if not, it changed shortly after she realised, she's gay,"

"Such mature themes for such a little boy," Erica giggled, "But you were being all clever,"

"Yeah, but thanks to you I feel stupid," Harry said, trying to hide the bitterness, "It was you that helped Sirius into the castle that night, that's why you came up to the Hospital wing, to make sure I wasn't planning on going after him, but you weren't sure, not until we had our first one on one, it confused me when you were asking those questions, only now do I realise that the reason you were happy, is because I wasn't going to lead Hermione, Draco and Neville on a manhunt,"

"You truly are wonderful," Erica said, laying back in the chair and admiring Harry, "Is there anything else you're missing out?"

"Yes, Dumbledore realised it was you only a few minutes ago, He wasn't sure, and he couldn't really point it out in front of the other teachers, because both Severus and Mcgonagall will probably try to kill anyone who tries to stop you, and he doesn't want to hurt them,"

"Not kill," Erica said, "Her tone more serious, I don't spill wizard blood unless I have to,"

"No, because this whole time you haven't been working for the death-eaters," Harry said knowingly, "you were just using them to get inside Azkaban, you needed an alibi, you needed the Order to think you were with them,"

"Fat lot of good that did, I was far too strong in my beliefs, they knew I was only using them, that's why I had to take on Riff's life and make sure they weren't trying to find me,"

"Speaking of," Draco said once he was finally upright again, "Where is the real Professor Riff?"

"Trapped in her house, she only lives a few miles from the school, I took the train because I wanted to meet Harry," Eric replied, her smile honest, "I've been so eager to meet you, to know who you are sweet boy," She said, her piercing gaze on Harry, "To meet the boy who would challenge Tom Riddle,"

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me where Neville is?" Harry asked her, "even if I promise not to kill Sirius?"

"Sadly not, I truly don't know, so you may as well let me go," Erica said brightly, pulling at the rope around her arms.

"Silencio," Draco quickly said, instantly silencing Erica, "Alright, where do we start?"

"I think I know," Harry said, having a sudden thought, "Keep an eye on her,"

Harry hurried from Hermione and Draco who both looked confused, he ran to his trunk in the boy's dormitory and fished to the bottom, grabbing the piece of parchment. When he came back down, he gave them a brief explanation of how he attained the map, both accepting their argument that he should have told them to begin with, but both realised now wasn't the time to blame Harry for hiding it from them.

"It shows everyone, everywhere, all the time," Harry said, once he had revealed the map to them and placed it on the table.

"I wonder who made it?" Hermione said, joining Draco and Harry in scanning the map for Sirius and Neville, only to sigh when it showed no signs of them.

"Great, so they're not in Hogwarts anymore?" Draco sighed, falling into a seat, "He has to be somewhere, the Dementors are watching he entire boarder, there is no way he got passed them with Neville,"

"There has to be some clue," Harry growled, feeling the urge to rip the map up.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, "Harry we know where he is!"

"We do?" Draco and Harry said.

"Yes, don't remember, all those rumours that someone was living in the Shrieking Shack, no one in their right mind would go near that thing," She said, ignoring the way Harry and Draco exchanged nervous glances, "they kept saying that someone was sneaking back and forth in the middle of the night, what if it was Black trying to get into the castle, but couldn't because of the Dementors?"

"She has a point, but all we saw was a stray dog," Draco frowned, then something occurred to him, "You don't think Black is a,"

"Animagus," Harry whispered, "A black, hound," He suddenly glanced at Hermione who shared the same look of Horror.

"No, impossible, that can't have been him," She whispered, "If he was Snuffles, then,"

"Then he would know everything about us, all because I told him,"

"That would explain how he was able to survive Azkaban," Draco said, bypassing the argument to prevent Harry from blaming himself, "Dementors don't read animals the same way they read people, a dog would have been able to live quite peacefully in there,"

"You know there is something that bugs me," Hermione frowned, "Erica used the death-eaters to get Sirius out of jail, how did she get out?"

"That's easy, you've seen how she can pass through solid objects, she probably just,"

"Walked right out without them ever noticing?" Erica suddenly asked, causing all three of them to jump and look right at her. She was standing in the middle of the room, able to speak and with her wand in hand, twirling it in her fingers, her seductive smile caressed her lips, amused by the looks on their faces, "You really need to learn to pay attention to your surroundings, but yes, that is exactly how I escaped,"

"A little trick learned by her Master," Harry smirked, "Grindelwald only ever passed his secrets onto the most loyal, right?"

"He never called himself someone's master," Erica said, her voice more dangerous, "But he will be free again and when he is, I will come to his side, and we will destroy the enemies of our world,"

"Here comes the fanatic rant," Draco sighed.

Erica moved around the room to stand at the entrance, her eyes fixed on all three of them. Harry shifted and moved with Draco and Hermione, all of them gripping their wands tightly.

"I don't get it, your brother is a death-eater, why get him out?" Harry asked, trying to determine what it was going to take to stop her.

"Because family is everything, and since we're the last of our family, I need him to be free, to know what the air tastes like to,"

"Boring!" Draco shouted.

All at once they attacked, but Erica turned on the spot and disappeared through the floor. Harry stepped forward, but felt something catch his foot, he hit the ground and rolled, looking up to see Erica appear behind Draco, she hit Hermione and sent her to the ground, a dark glint in her eyes when she grabbed Draco and disappeared through the floor.

"NO!" Harry yelled.

He scrambled to his feet and went straight to the map, he could see Eric and Draco moving towards the edge of the school boundaries, from the way the names on the map struggled to move, it looked like Draco was putting up a good fight, until the two names stopped just near the Whomping willow. Harry watched, waiting only a few seconds when he saw Sirius Black's name appear and right next to it, a name he had not expected.

"Peter?" Hermione asked, "But, how?"

"I don't know, but we're going to get Draco and Neville back," Harry said between clenched teeth, "Go to Dumbledore, tell him there is a passage beneath the Whomping Willow," He said urgently, grabbing the map up and heading towards the boy's dorm again.

"You can't go alone!" She protested, "They're too powerful!"

"Hermione," He said seriously, turning to grab her waist and pull her close, "Not this time, I won't risk you for anything, besides, they're not even going to see me coming,"

O

It had taken more convincing to send Hermione off on her own to find Dumbledore. Harry knew he didn't have a lot of time, Erica by now would have told Sirius that there were people coming, and so he knew it was only a matter of time before Draco and Neville were either dead or gone for good. It was with ease that he had made it out of the castle. With the help of the map he had managed to escape the castle quickly, and was already heading towards the Whomping Willow, aware that he was possibly risking too much going near the tree itself. When he approached it, he cast a spell that froze the tree in place, then crawled his way towards it. With annoyance, he couldn't find any way of opening it, that was until he heard the familiar mewing.

"What, did Hermione send you to keep me safe?" Harry whispered to Crookshanks, when the cat trundled up to the tree and pressed his paws to a knot, which then opened the passage, "Erm, how did you know about that?"

"Mew" Crookshanks responded.

"Right, explains everything," Harry grinned.

When he climbed through the tunnel and found himself in a narrow passageway, he pulled the invisibility cloak from inside his hoodie and flung it around himself. He could hear the voices coming from upstairs, so it was too late to stop Crookshanks from going on ahead. He knew that if he tried to grab the cat it would have meant a fight, so instead he just followed, realising that Crookshanks was heading towards the voices. It was only when Harry reached the top of a staircase was standing beyond the door of a bedroom, could he see Erica talking to Sirius.

"He'll come here Sirius, he has that map," He Erica saying.

"Good," A rough voice responded, "I want him to come,"

"He's coming to kill you!" Eric hissed, "He doesn't…"

"Let him!" Sirius shouted.

"Look, in all honesty Mr Black, we never really liked Harry," Harry heard Draco say, "Untie us and we'll help you kill him,"

"No!" Harry heard Neville shout, clearly unable to hear the sarcasm in Draco's voice, "We'll all die before we let you hurt Harry!"

"Only one person will die tonight,"

"And it will be you!" Harry yelled.

He kicked the rickety old door open and fired a stunning spell at Erica, it flew and hit her dead in the chest, and for the second time that evening, he had knocked her unconscious. Confused for a moment, Sirius didn't see how quickly Harry cast his disarming spell, removing the wand from Sirius' hand. The cloak flew back and before Sirius could respond, Harry flicked his wand and sent ropes flying around him. With rage in his heart, he focused on Sirius who struggled to break free, he took one step forward before he froze in place, feeling a wand tip at the side of his head.

"Drop your wand Harry,"

Harry in his moment of anger, forgot that Peter was here, he had been so focused on getting to Black that he didn't care what happened. Defeated, Harry dropped his wand and turned to face the man who was pointing his wand at Harry, instantly feeling as though a rug had been pulled out from beneath his feet. For standing before him, was Remus Lupin.