A/N: I apologize to my dear readers that this chapter was so long in the making. This story has been sort of my pride and joy and I didn't want to post anything less than perfect. I'm still not even sure that I've gotten it completely right or worked out all the kinks, but I suppose trial and error is an important lesson to learn. The next update might take even a bit longer, as I'm headed back to the dorms in ten days, but don't give up on me, loyal readers! Read, REVIEW, and enjoy.

Harry felt as though he were seeing everything through a very thick fog. Everything around him was a blur, and everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion. As the dizzying feeling threatened to overpower him, Harry struggled to comprehend the scene that was unfolding before him. Like a serpent, Tom Riddle's outstretched arm slithered across Sirius' shoulders and pulled him closer, smiling at him almost lovingly.

Sirius looked at each one of the Death Eaters in turn, his handsome face stretched into an ecstatic smile. His gaze finally settled on a figure Harry couldn't see. As if in a dream, Harry craned his neck to see the person Sirius was treating to his luminous grin.

Bellatrix stepped away from the throng of Death Eaters in which she had stood and took the hand that her cousin had now offered to her. The three of them stood together for several minutes, a silent, immovable wall. Harry quivered with fear and confusion as he felt moisture begin to gather in the corners of his eyes. Sirius had lied to him all along. He really had been a Death Eater.

A young woman next to him was muttering something to one of her colleagues, and Harry couldn't help eavesdropping.

"Bellatrix thinks she's SO wonderful. She always was the favorite. We all knew that Sirius would come to his senses eventually and that Tom would find the formula for immortality. So why does everyone think she's so great? It's not like it was HER fault."

Harry was strongly reminded of his Aunt Petunia.

"Now now, Narcissa. Bellatrix worships Tom, and she did the research he requested of her, just like the rest of us have been doing. There's no reason for you to be jealous. Just because she's smart and beautiful and loyal…"

"Thank you, Lucius, but I'm NOT jealous of that little twit," the voice huffed angrily.

Harry's eyes widened. The Malfoys! Were ALL of the Death Eaters here?

Looking around, Harry realized that no, not all of the Death Eaters were present. Wormtail, of course, was absent. Harry was yanked back to the action as Sirius began to speak.

"Well, Tom, I'm honored that you have sought my attendance so diligently," Sirius laughed, slapping Tom heartily on the back. Harry was stunned. He would never have treated Lord Voldemort as though he were a fellow member of some bizarre fraternity, but that was apparently how Sirius saw him. Tom laughed along jovially and motioned for Sirius to continue.

"I'd also like to thank my dear cousin, Bellatrix, for helping me to finally see the light," Sirius continued, smiling at Bellatrix. "I had always resisted the urges I felt inside me to join you, Tom, but Bellatrix showed me that resistance was futile. I have come to serve you at last."

The Death Eaters cheered, and Harry snuck a glance at Snape. His potions teacher was looking murderous, his eyes narrowed. What could he possibly be so angry about it? It seemed out of character for the young version of Snape to get visibly upset in the presence of others. Could it be that Bellatrix had rattled him that much?

As Harry was pondering this, a cheer erupted from the crowd around him. Harry stood on tiptoe to see what had triggered such a reaction from the Death Eaters, and his breath caught as his eyes focused on the horrifying scene before him.

Tom Riddle, wielding a dagger, was holding Sirius' wrist steady as he pressed the blade into the soft flesh of Harry's godfather's arm. Sirius gazed downward calmly, as though he could not feel the pressure of the blade or even see the dark, shimmering blood escaping from the wound.

Tom flung the dagger aside, his eyes shining maniacally, and produced his wand from somewhere inside his robes. Harry stared at it, imagining that he could see inside it, right down to the phoenix feather core. He willed it to stop working, to not produce the spell that Tom was about to utter. These thoughts, of course, were a waste of his energy, and he was forced to witness the sinister jet of blue sparks that issued from the wand as it anticipated the task at hand.

The handsome young man muttered something that Harry couldn't hear and gently probed the tip of his overactive wand beneath Sirius' broken skin. As Harry and the Death Eaters looked on with a mixture of horror and fascination, Sirius' arm was consumed with foul dancing black and blue flames. Harry ran forward, knowing it would do no good, knowing it was pointless to try anything. He stopped a foot or two in front of his godfather and his parents' killer, examining their faces intently.

Harry had never been this close to Lord Voldemort without experiencing either acute pain in his scar or an intense fear for his life. He had never been this close to Lord Voldemort, ever. A look of deep concentration contorted Tom's handsome features, and his cold eyes were still fixed on Sirius. Sirius' formerly calm expression had vanished and his face was twisted into a look of inexplicable torment. Harry yearned to comfort him, but he knew it was futile.

After a few moments, the dark flames subsided and the deep gash on Sirius' arm began to heal itself, growing slowly smaller before Harry's eyes. The skin had sealed completely before Sirius gazed upward, looking incredulous.

Without a word, Tom seized Sirius' wrist and held it aloft, displaying the smooth forearm for all of their peers to see. Harry himself craned his neck to gaze upward, and was thoroughly unsurprised by what he saw.

The dark mark burned black beneath Sirius' skin. Harry swallowed hard as the deatheaters applauded frantically. He rubbed his eyes hard, hoping against hope that when he opened them again, what he was seeing would have changed. Sirius had lied to him. Sirius, who had been like a father to him and whom he missed so intensely, had not been honest with him, had never been honest with him. It was as if Sirius were dying all over again. Only this time, it was Harry's memory of him that was decaying.

The crowd around Sirius suddenly began to disperse; it seemed that the gathering had ended as quickly as it had begun. After a moment only Sirius, Tom, and Bellatrix remained, huddled together in a tight circle. At that moment, Harry remembered Snape and whipped wildly around. As much as he wanted to stay, he had no desire to be dragged along on his stomach behind the Potions master for the second time in one day. Upon further inspection, he located Snape, half-hidden in the brush at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. No one else appeared to have noticed him lurking there, and Harry's curiosity was piqued.

Harry was thoroughly enjoying being able to stand in full view of his most hated enemies without fear, and he moved closer to the trio of deatheaters. As he drew closer, however, he was again frustrated by the fact that he could not hear the exchange. They appeared to be speaking in a whisper, and Snape was too far away to catch what was being said. Harry didn't understand. If Snape had not stayed behind to eavesdrop, what was his purpose for concealing himself from the others?

The circle broke just then, and Sirius was abruptly expelled from the private meeting. He looked slightly hurt as Tom and Bellatrix turned away from him, Tom pulling Bellatrix close to him as they glided together toward the forest to continue their conversation. The newest member of their fellowship was apparently not invited. Sirius turned in the opposite direction, again facing the castle. He began to trudge slowly away from his fellow deatheaters, heading back toward the castle.

Suddenly, something hurled itself at Sirius, pinning him to a nearby tree. Snape had revealed himself. One hand covered Sirius' mouth, and the other hand held Snape's wand inches from Sirius' face.

"Not a sound, comrade."

Sirius nodded fearfully, and Snape removed his hand from the other wizard's mouth. To Harry's great surprise, he found himself completely terrified by the look on his teacher's face. Even during Snape's attack on Sirius in the Shrieking Shack during Harry's third year, he had never seen such malice on Severus Snape's face in all the time he'd known him. It was a frightening thing, and Harry did not understand how his godfather had managed to twist his expression into the cocky sneer he knew so well.

"What is it you want from me, Severus?"

"I want nothing from you Sirius, but to warn you. Do not get involved with Tom Riddle, or even with Bellatrix. You'll regret it, I promise you that."

"Don't let my dear cousin catch you saying that, Severus. She'd report it to Tom faster than you can say 'Voldemort'."

Snape lowered his voice to a hiss that gave Harry goosebumps. "I don't care what that vapid, slimy little bitch says. I'm risking everything, Sirius. I'm telling you. Do. Not. Get. Involved. For your sake, and for James'."

"What are you talking about? What does James have to do with this? This is my decision, Severus, and I'm responsible for the consequences."

"Consequences that leave your best friend dead? Sirius, listen to me. I'm not the biggest Potter fan. In fact, I hate the man more than I've ever hated anyone in my life, even you. But in spite of all that, I don't want to see anything happen to him. I don't want someone to be dead because I was too cowardly to take action."

Sirius was beginning to look nervous now. "And what do you suggest I do, Severus? Taking that oath is serious business. I'm a Death Eater now."

"And am I not? Look at this! Look at MY arm!" Snape tore the sleeve of his shirt roughly, revealing his acidic dark mark in the light of the moonlight. "I'm just as much a Death Eater as you are, Sirius. But this is no longer child's play. Tom is growing stronger. He has the key to immortality now. I know he does, Sirius. I worked out the spell today. I've seen that book Bellatrix gave him countless times, studied it. But I never gave it to him, Sirius, because I don't want people to end up dead. I was an impressionable CHILD when I signed on to join Tom and his followers. I know better now. I know that Tom isn't playing games, he isn't joking about this war. There is only one thing that can stop him, and if you join him, you're signing James' death warrant and you know it."

Harry's head was spinning. Could this have been what Sirius had meant the time he had confessed to Harry in the Shrieking Shack that he had killed James, even if his role had been indirect? And now Harry knew for certain what Snape had been scribbling when they'd been alone in his bedchamber. He wished he'd paid more attention. Voldemort's immortality rested on the genius of one young boy. Snape always had had a knack for Potions. Was that why Dumbledore refused to allow him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?

All of Harry's questions would for now have to remain unanswered, and more than a few of them were beginning to consume his consciousness. Why had Sirius become a Death Eater in the first place? Why had he lied to Harry? And most importantly of all, what did Sirius know about his father's death?

Sirius was breathing hard, and the fear was finally evident in his eyes. Snape had gotten to him, but damned if he was going to show it. He tried to scoff, but it came out more like a squeak. "That's ridiculous, Severus. You know I'm not a conventional wizard. How can I be, with a family and friends like mine? Power, Severus, is the ultimate weapon against injustice. I have been judged according to the Black name for my entire life, and I'm tired of hearing Remus cry in the night because of the torment he feels and the prejudice he would face if anyone ever found out about his condition. It's time for a shift in power in this world, Severus, and Tom will bring that about in the best way he knows how."

"You can not fight evil with evil Sirius! Two wrongs do not make a right. Power is a means, not an end. In the end, when all of Voldemort's power has caused devastation and chaos, you will be left with nothing. You will change nothing, Sirius, and this little act of rebellion could cost you something much dearer to you than you know. And you understand this, I know you do. James knows that his life rests in your hands. Yours. Not Remus' or Peter's. And you know too, not because I just told you, but because James already has. You are the most important person in his life because you are his protector. I know about his dreams, Sirius."

"How?" Sirius shrieked, his eyes wide. "How do you know about them? He didn't even want to tell me, he was afraid that it would scare me away!" Sirius' shoulders drooped in defeat and his voice softened. "How do you know about them, if he didn't tell you?"

Snape's cold eyes glittered. "It is evident, Sirius, that I am not the only one around here who has already learned how to activate a pensieve. Embarrassing little incident you had last week with Lily Evans. You care for her a great deal, don't you?"

Without a word, Sirius slung his fist back and brought it crashing into Snape's skull. With a sickening thud and a grunt, Snape slid to the ground, unconscious.

Sirius turned and began to move slowly back toward the castle beneath the starry sky, leaving Snape to the headache that would greet him when he awoke. Harry was no longer paying attention to either his godfather or his Potions teacher. He was frantically running through his mental index of spells, concentrating only on finding one that would aid him in escaping Snape's pensieve. He could focus on only one thing in the entire world at that moment. Sirius owned a pensieve, and he was going to find it.