Ron woke up feeling blissfully numb which he was happy to say was an improvement considering the hellish pain he was in before. Harry sat beside him in a chair doing homework "Harry" he said and he looked up.

"Ron," He looked terrible with bags under his eyes, did he sleep? Harry set his book down "how do you feel?" he asked.

"I don't feel anything, did they give me something for- for" his head was a bit foggy.

"Some strong potion for the pain, yeah. Well, I guess now you know why vampires can't do sunlight," Harry said.

"How do I look? Like a zombie? Bunch of boiled skin?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head then picked up a mirror on the desk held it out to him, Ron sat up and took it. His face looked a bit grey in places and his right side was nearly black like he was truly burnt alive. He looked like a spotted leopard.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?"

"She's just in her office, let us be so long as we were quiet. What happened out there? Your clothes were torn and your amulet was broken" Harry demanded.

"Oh yes, keep this very quiet. A black dog leaped at me out of nowhere and was trying to rip my cloak" he responded while lowering his voice.

"A dog?" he whispered as his eyes widened. "You've seen it too."

"Maybe" Harry allowed, he was never very good at lying. A good thing, too, since Hermione and he needed to look after him so much.

"Harry," Ron pressed "c'mon."

"I saw one at Privet Drive, a big black dog. I thought I must have imagined it and then we had Divination and-"

"And you thought it was the Grimm," Ron said "well I definitely encountered a real dog, it tore off my amulet. It didn't mean to though because I'm pretty sure it dragged me back into the shade as soon as it realized I was in pain."

"Ron, do you think the black dog is…?" Harry asked.

They heard a gasp and they turned to find Hermione holding a plate piled with crackers, biscuits, and other goods probably from the great hall. Her eyes with wide "of course," Hermione said. They all looked at Madam Pomfrey's office and Harry took the plate before everything slid off.

"What?" Ron asked in a whisper once again.

"Dementors hunt people don't they?" Hermione said and Ron nodded "so an animal would slip right under their radar, wouldn't it?" she suggested.

Ron and Harry followed "you think Sirius Black is an animagus," Harry said what they'd all connected.

"It's why he's been able to evade every search for him and how he escaped from Azkaban in the first place," Hermione said.

"Something's not right though, say Black is an animagus and all that. Why wouldn't he go find Harry? That was what everyone is thinking, right? He's after him. As soon as he saw me, though, he bolted towards me and tried to rip into my cloak but why?" Ron said.

"Maybe he was looking for something," Harry said.

"Okay, if he was looking for something, why would he think that Ron would have it?" Hermione asked.

Harry held up a hand to get their attention "Peter Pettigrew" he said. "I saw Peter Pettigrew's name on the map a few weeks ago, I thought it was a mistake because well I was standing right in the hallway and it blew right past me. It disappeared off the map."

"Where's the map?" Ron asked.

"Snape caught me and Lupin confiscated it so Snape wouldn't,"

"Why?" Hermione asked, "what do you know?"

"The room of requirement isn't on the map, right? If Black was trying to get at my robe then he was probably looking for a rat," Ron felt his heart pounding.

"Another unregistered animagus. You think Scabber's was Peter Pettigrew?" Hermione asked.

"Is that too crazy? I'd love to be wrong," Ron said.

Hermione was pale as she shook her head "no it makes perfect sense actually, from the story Harry heard all that was left was a finger. And Scabber's is missing one of his toes." she said.

Harry sat on Ron's bed "why would an innocent person hide?" Harry asked.

"Because they aren't innocent. Harry, if I'm wrong I'm sorry and we'll do everything we can to make sure Black stays in Azkaban but what if Black was framed? What if Pettigrew was really the one to-" Hermione didn't finish.

"We have to find both of them then and find out," Harry said, his eyes blazed as they stared at the ground. Ron squeezed his shoulder as reassurance.

"We need to tell a teacher," Hermione said and immediately Ron and Harry looked up.

"No."

"If we tell someone our thoughts there's a chance they won't believe us or they do and they find Black and they lock him up. They have no reason to believe Pettigrew to be alive too" Ron said.

"If Black really killed my parents then I have no complaints but Hermione, I'm not sure yet so…"

"What about Don, he's different isn't he? He's not just a teacher, he's your mentor, you have a different relationship so he might believe you" Hermione said.

"I don't know," Ron hesitated, he would most likely believe him but he wasn't positive he would keep it to himself. "Hey, stop talking. I hear someone coming," he said hearing footsteps.

Part of his training with Don had been gauging distance with loudness and he'd begun getting the hang of it. He suspected they had to be about 500 yards down the hallway.

"I don't hear anything?" Harry said and Ron glanced at him then pointed at his own ears "oh right, I forgot, you only ever complain about smell" he said.

"Maybe if you'd shower after Quidditch practice, I wouldn't be complaining" just about everything would hit his nose, chocolate, sweat, perfume; thank goodness Hermione didn't wear any. He started to wonder if it'd be dangerous around particular nauseating scents even for normal wizards.

He was starting to realize being a vampire had a lot more downsides than he thought. He turned his head as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office then "your awake, good, any pain?" she prompted taking a cloth and bottle from her shelf.

"Uh, a little" he admitted, it was a bit like an extreme sunburn. He felt a slow pulse of pain.

"This should help" she dabbed his face with the potion she'd put on the cloth and he felt his face become cooler, it was quite nice. "I don't know what happened to have your amulet come off but I'd be careful from now on. Professor Grey has assured me they'll heal in about a week or two" she said.

"A week?" he asked, a little stunned, considering anything else had healed in an hour. Don had chosen that moment to walk in, so that's who had been walking down the hallway.

"Your lucky a week is all you need. A little longer and you'd have been dealt with Sun sickness and some serious scars that not even vampires can't help," Don sighed.

"Sun sickness?" Harry asked.

"It's also called a not so nice name called the Blood Plague" Don replied.

"Is that because it's like the Black Plague?" Hermione asked and Don nodded.

"Frighteningly similar but also opposite. Rather than a fever we get colder and begin to reject the blood we need. Few survive it if they are unfortunate to be exposed. That is why it's so important to hide from the sun" Don said.

Ron had known how important it was to keep protection under the sun. He knew how it was dangerous for vampires that it could kill him. But the Blood Plague was new but he understood why Don wouldn't want to talk about it so soon. He sounded like he knew people who'd had it happen to them.

Hermione sat next to Ron and gripped his wrist "we're never letting this happen again" she said to him and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Of course not, which is why I've decided to buy two new Moon chrystals as bracelets as well," Don said "since you are more accident-prone than any other mentee I've ever had," he said.

He held up the pale blue stones that were embedded in silver metal. They looked more like cuffs than actual bracelets, now that he thought about Don had said that Vampires were fond of jewelry. It was no wonder considering it was their protection from the sun.

Hermione took one of the bracelets and snapped it on Ron's wrist. The metal molded so it connected itself so there was no seam. Harry and Hermione leaned in "it moved" Harry said.

Ron nodded "er" he held up his wrist.

"Goblin made, very expensive but it was worthy investment considering they are nearly unbreakable. They form fit. And I'll hear no arguments about cost, money is hardly an object in my standpoint."

"But is two really necessary?" Ron asked flushing, the amulet he wore was already a bit gaudy for him but this was rich and looked a bit too good for him. It would clash with his threadbare clothes.

"Yes," Hermione and Harry responded resolutely.

"Well I would say one is enough but I hardly think you want to argue with them plus I think two cuffs are aesthetically pleasing," he said as he placed the other bracelet on Ron's other wrist.

It was a simple plain silver with the exception of a crest of a wolf "ah, that is my family's crest, it's customary that any new vampire takes the crest of their mentor. Therefore you take the Crest of the Silver Wolf" he explained.

"Wow, uh then I um I'll wear it proudly," he said, flushing. He couldn't explain it well but representing someone like Donavan Grey felt like an honor.

"I'm glad, well please get some rest. You should be released tomorrow to continue your sessions and training," Don said and Ron flopped back onto the pillow, exhausted.

Xxx

The very next day, Hagrid visited him and Ron remembered he'd completely forgot to mention his run-in with Lucius Malfoy and the ministry people. "Hagrid, I'm so sorry," he said.

Hagrid took a seat with a shake of his head "not your fault, Ron. That Malfoy's had ya pinned from the beginning. I couldn't ask yeh to lie fer me. He was righ I shoulda insisted you go to the infirmary" he said.

Ron shook his head "I was fine, it healed almost the moment I got it. Is Buckbeak?"

Hagrid shook his head "I'm needin to go to the Wizarding court to plead fer Buckbeak but I don't have much hope."

"Maybe there's something we can do. Hermione will help too" Ron said.

"Thank you but right now let's talk about you. If yeh don't mind me sayin, you look awful" Hagrid sighed.

"I don't feel great but I think most of its just superficial. I'll heal just fine in a week" he said.

"That's good," he said.

Xxx

Ron was released later that day and returned to classes and his sessions with Don. "You are distracted," Don said albeit in Romanian after sipping his tea.

"I am?" Ron responded, also in Romanian, he was improving enough that he could hold a decent conversation without too much forethought. He wondered if he should practice with Hermione.

Don nodded waiting patiently and Ron sighed "Buckbeak, Hagrid's hippogriff might be sentenced to death if we can't come up with a reason he's not at fault," he said reverting back to English.

Don nodded "hm, I see," he said.

"Could you teach me how to debate?" Ron asked.

"Like in a setting with a court?" Don asked and Ron nodded. "I was wondering when you'd ask me about that. We'll work on it next time I see you."

Ron nodded then considered if he should tell him about they'd discovered.

Ron hesitated, would Don believed him? Would he listen and not act right away? "Do you trust me?" he asked.

Don's eyebrow rose "I believe we have known each other long enough that I do trust you. You are honest to a near-fault and your judgment is sound most of the time" he said.

"Okay, we believe the strange dog that attacked me is Sirius Black," he said and Don was quiet for a moment.

"An animagus" he said "that is quite the statement" he started.

"Yes but think about it. Sirius Black is the only one who's escaped Azkaban and no one knows how he did it. If he was able to transform he could have evaded the Dementor's attempts to suck out his soul. Dementors sense humans not animals. And his timing is weird, it was like he escaped right after he saw my family's picture in the paper with Scabbers on my shoulder. Scabber's escaped the night we heard Sirius Black had been seen in the castle, we think… Harry saw on this map of sorts that shows everyone in the castle. He saw the name Peter Pettigrew and we think that Scabber's is him because all that left of him was finger and Scabber's is missing a toe" he rambled.

"...You've convinced me. What do you intend I do with this information?" Don asked.

"Nothing" Ron responded "just keep your eyes and ears open, if you see a black dog or a rat, of course, catch it but don't tell anyone. Please trust me, if anyone were to find Black it'd be chaos and we'd miss our chance to catch Pettigrew if it's really him."

"You could be proving a man's innocence" Don agreed "fine, I will keep this to myself."

"Really?" Ron asked.

"You are a child, but I believe you have a point if I disagreed I would tell you to rethink your decision. For now, perhaps it is best to wait," Don agreed then uncorked a bottle and poured glasses for them.

"Thank you," Ron said.

"Of course," Don said.

The next chapter is the hearing with Buckbeak. I ended up splitting the two chapters considering it was 22 pages and I usually limit my chapters to about 10-13. If I get enough demand I might release earlier.