Book I: Sirius Returns
Contains:
Chapter 8 The Next Best Thing
Chapter 9 Moony's Visit and Wormtail's Suprise
Chapter 10 Melissa's Plan
Chapter 11 The Mystery Voice
Chapter 12 Peter Pettigrew, Evil Doer
Chapter 13 Melissa and Padfoot
Chapter 14 Cassie, Karen, and Morgan
Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat down in an empty compartment near the back of the train. They chatted nervously until their compartment door slid open.
"Father says the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is a girl. Yuck!" came the drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.
"What are you doing here, Draco?" Hermione asked crossly.
"Just came to see our three favorite people," he said sarcastically, "Potty, Weasel, and Mudblood."
"Yeah," Crabbe and Goyle said. Draco glanced at Ron's owl, which was sitting next to him.
"So your folks finally got you an owl, eh, Weasley? Must have cost them three months worth of food." Ron jumped to his feet, as did Harry and Hermione.
"Is there any trouble back here?" came a calm voice. Draco whirled around.
"Uh, no ma'am," he said, then motioned to Crabbe and Goyle to leave.
"Hello, kids. My, my, that's a nasty boy. I used to hate being teased by people like him. They teased me because my best friend was a muggle born, but I didn't really care. I suppose that must be Lucius Malfoy's son," the young woman said.
"Uh, yeah," Harry replied. If this was their new professr, he liked her already. It was kind of like the instant liking he had taken to Professor Lupin two years before.
"Thank you," Ron said, "I hate it when he does that."
"I'll inform Professor McGonagall," she said.
"Thank you, um........." Harry was at a loss for words.
"Professor Gumtree," she said.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione offered her hand to the professor.
"Always top in everything," Ron and Harry said.
"Nice to meet you, Hermione. Are you really top in everything? Remind me of my old friends........"
"Well, almost everything. Not Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"That's my subject," Harry said with a laugh.
"Of course it's your subject, Harry!" Hermione said.
"Harry? Are you by any chance Harry Potter?" Harry nodded.
"I should have known," she said, "why, how many times I saw those green eyes of Lily's, and that black hair of James'?"
"You knew my parents?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"Did you know Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew?" Harry asked without thinking.
"Yes. I was particularly close to Sirius. Never really was close to Peter. I always will hate him for all he's done..................." the professor said quietly.
"What did he do?"
"Oh, it's nothing. By the way, I never did get your name." She looked at Ron.
"I'm Ron Weasley."
"Nice to meet you, Ron." Harry was wondering what she meant about Pettigrew. Did she know?
~~~
As the train pulled into the station, all Harry could think about was what Gumtree had said. That was all he could think about as he rode in the carriage led by invisible horses toward the school. He was thinking about it as he walked up the steps toward the castle........
"Professor Lupin! What a surprise!" Hermione exclaimed. And a surprise it was. Remus Lupin had resigned from his teaching position two years befre, and Harry had not expected to see him back on campus.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"Meeting," Remus replied.
"Ah, of course. With who?" Ron asked.
"Oh, no one in particular." Remus seemed to be looking around anxiously.
"Ah, Melissa!" Remus called out when he spotted the new professor.
"Remus, you're here! I didn't expect you to come on the first day of school!" Professor Gumtree said.
"Ah, well, I need to speak to you. Ministry imagines they've spotted him," he said.
"Blast! I always knew he was stupid!" she answered.
"Who? What?" Hermione asked. Harry figured the adults had forgotten they were even there.
"I suppose it's best they know, then? Or at least him?" Melissa said. She nodded towards Harry.
"They know," Remus said, "and I suppose we should fill them in."
"Alright."
"Meet us after the feast, and we'll explain."
"Great," Hermione replied.
"I wonder what that was all about?" Ron said, thinking aloud.
"I don't know," Harry said. Hermione shivered.
"It's cold," she murmured.
And then the candles blew out.
"Harry!" a voice yelled. In all the confusion, Harry couldn't tell whether Hermione or Ron had yelled his name.
What came next scared Harry nearly to death. A low, raspy voice rang from inside the darkness.
"I'm watching you." Hermione screamed. Harry felt nails dig into his arm.
"I'm warning you, if you turn me in, you'll be sorry." Ron was gasping desperately for air. Then, just as suddenly as they had been blown out, the candles came back on. Harry turned to see Hermione still clinging to him. Though the darkness had lasted only a few minutes, it had seemed like hours.
"Um, Hermione?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"You can let go now."
"Oh. Sorry." Hermione released Harry's arm. There were little red blotches where her nails had been.
"That was so scary!" Ron said.
"I know," Hermione agreed. The three hurried to the feast, where the Sorting Hat was being taken away.
"We've missed it again!" Hermione moaned. Harry took a seat in between Fred Weasley and Hermione, and Ron slid into a seat across from him, next to Ginny and Seamus. As they talked and giggled, Ron scowled.
The feast was delicious, but Harry's appetitie had disappeared with the candle light. He ate very little and stared mostly at the ceiling filled with beautiful shining stars.
~~~
First thing after dinner, Harry, Hermione and Ron went to see Professors Lupin and Gumtree.
"Wormtail!" Melissa exclaimed when the three told of the voice in the hall.
"This is the first time, isn't it?" Remus asked.
"Yes."
"Liss, this is bad. If Wormtail was at Hogwarts that means Voldemort must be nearby." Remus' face was white.
"I don't know. Voldemort couldn't easily be this close to Hogwarts without Dumbledore knowing." Hermione was shaking, and Ron looked paler than Lupin.
"I wish Sirius were here, he'd know what to do," Melissa said quietly.
"So the Ministry thinks they've spotted him, Melissa?"
"Yes. Over in Little Whinging. Spotted him today, actually."
"Who?"
"Someone named Polkiss, a kid your age, I reckon," Melissa said.
"Funny they're worried about Sirius with Voldemort on his way back to power," Remus said.
"Yes, it is a bit strange. But then again, they're still convinced Sirius was working for Voldemort, aren't they?" Melissa looked angry.
"Damn Pettigrew," she muttered.
"Are you all right?" Remus asked.
"That rat ruined my life! Fudge thinks I was working for Voldemort, too, because I tried to convince him Sirius was innocent, and I haven't been able to speak to my twin in fourteen years!"
"What did Morgan ever see in that rat, anyway?" Remus asked bitterly.
"I'll never know," Melissa said.
"Whatever happened to Cassie and Karen?"
"Actually, they went to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts."
"Beauxbatons? Why?"
"I don't think Morg wanted them around here, for some reason. Maybe she thought there would be too many things to remind them of their dad and the man who "killed" him," she muttered sarcastically.
"It's not her fault, really. She doesn't know the truth, and love blinds people, Liss. You know that. If Sirius were guilty, you wouldn't want to believe it, would you?"
"I suppose not. But I always knew he was innocent. Lily told me about the switch from the start!"
"But you never genuinely knew for sure he didn't blow up that street, did you?"
"Well............. No."
Harry was listening intently to the whole conversation, as were Ron and Hermione. He knew they were taking in as much of it as they could. But now a silence had formed.
"Did you bring us here for a reason?" Ron asked, breaking the silence.
"We need your help," Melissa said.
"Huh? Us? Why?" Ron asked.
"We need you to help us clear Sirius' name. I'm positive I have a way to do it, and it'll be even easier since tonight showed us Wormtail must be nearby."
"What do you need us for?"
"Well, Remus tells me that you are top of the grade, Hermione. That could be of help. And Harry's his godson, he deserves to be in on it. As for you, Ron, Remus told me that you kept Pettigrew as a pet unsuspectingly. I think you should help catch the rat."
"How do we do it?"
"Well........................"
~~~
"First, we're going to need to find Pettigrew."
"How are we going to do that?"
"A tracking charm. I'll need help with that, though."
"I can help," Hermione volunteered.
"Of course you can. I need all the help I can get. The more help I have, the stronger the charm is and the farther it will stretch, so we'll be more likely to find Pettigrew sooner."
"I'll help, too, if you need it," Harry said.
"And me," Ron offered.
"I would if I could, Melissa, and you know that. I'm sorry," Remus said.
"I understand," Melissa said.
"Why can't you, Professor Lupin?" Ron asked.
"You see, the charm has to be performed on the full moon to be able to work properly."
"On the full moon? Why?"
"It has something to do with the arrangement of the stars. On the full moon, the stars are alligned perfectly so that the charm will be able to take effect."
"So we have to perform it on the full moon for it to work? I get it, I guess."
"Are there any other things we need to know?" Harry asked.
"Well, if this works............."
"You sure seem confident, Liss," Remus said.
"Remus, I've been trying this for fourteen years. I haven't found Pettigrew yet!"
"So you mean you've been doing this for that long and it still hasn't worked? What makes this any different than then?" Ron asked.
"I would have thought you had figured it out," Melissa said.
"I understand. The more people, the more power. With all four of us, we should be able to perform a charm strong enough to cover all of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and a little beyond. And after tonight, we know Pettigrew can't be that far away."
"But who knows how far he'll be by the full moon?"
"This is a chance we'll have to take, Ron. Just give it a try!"
"It's hopeless."
"Ron, do it for me, please! You know what it would do for me," Harry said.
"Oh, fine! When's the next full moon?"
"Next Saturday. Meet me here. I'm just hoping this works."
"You know what? We could get Dumbledore to help!" Hermione said, "He knows the truth."
"Of course! The stronger, the better! Anyone else who would help?"
"Dumbledore might be able to get McGonagall, and I'm sure Fred, George, and Ginny would help."
"This is great! That's nearly ten of us!"
"You've forgotten me," said a voice from the shadows. Harry knew that voice........ It was.............
~~~
"Sirius!" Melissa, Harry, Remus, and Hermione shrieked in unison. His merry laugh rang through the room.
"Hush, now, or you'll let the whole castle know I'm here. No need to be so excited. Although I must say, I'm glad to hear you're making an effort to get me out of this mess," he said.
"You always had a knack for trouble," Melissa said.
"Well, you were no angel, m'dear," he replied.
"At least I wasn't in trouble every other night. I didn't go as often, because I had to work solo. You had James and Remus. Lily and Morgan wouldn't dream of breaking any rules, so I was on my own," she said.
"You forgot Peter," Ron said. The light tone in the room was forgotten at his words.
"Rat."
"Traitor."
"Murderer."
"Evil doer," Ron suggested.
"What kind of a name is that?" Hermione asked, but Melissa and Sirius had a different idea.
"Evil doer?"
"I like it." Ron shrugged and Hermione sighed.
"Honestly," she whispered to Harry, "They almost act more like kids than us."
"Can you blame them. They haven't seen each other in nearly fourteen years! If you hadn't seen me in that long, and let's say it was Ron's fault, would you be calling him names like they are, like seven year olds?"
"I suppose I understand......." Hermione said.
"Hey, um, I'm kinda tired," Ron said, "and the other's are probably wondering where we are."
"What others, Ron?"
"Um...... I suppose I forgot to mention it to you over the summer......" Ron had turned scarlet.
"Forgot to mention what, Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Well, um, see, I....... Well, I have a ....... A girlfriend."
Hermione laughed.
"Who? Who would want to date you?" Ron went, if possible, a deeper shade of red.
"Lavender," he said quietly.
"Lavender? Well, that's not bad, R-man," Harry said.
"Yeah, but the twins teased me something dreadful, and Hermione here," he jerked his thumb at her, "is laughing her heart out at me!"
"Yeah, well, I don't see how it's fair that you don't approve of Ginny and Seamus."
"Please, Harry, not this again."
"Okay."
"Let's just go up to bed," Ron said.
"You guys go ahead, I want to talk to Sirius, Remus and Melissa a second."
"Okay. The password's 'Auror', 'kay? See ya later," Hermione said.
~~~
After Ron and Hermione were safely gone, and Sirius and Melissa had settled down, there was finally time to talk.
"Harry, you know what Pettigrew did to your parents? Or, rather, let Voldemort do to you parents? Those were bad times, and I know you understand that. But things are getting worse. Soon, if Voldemort's not stopped, he'll have more power than even in the darkest of times. And you'll be one of the first he'll come after. And, I don't care what Dumbledore thinks, if Voldemort can get to the Dursley's, you certainly won't be safe there in the summers. You're lucky that you survived the summer. And this is the first thing I want to talk to you about. I'm sure you already know this, but Melissa here was your mom's best friend. And since I can't take care of you yet, over this coming up summer I want you to stay with her. Your parents would have wanted that, if you couldn't be with me. I know you're safe with her, she was one of the best witches in our year," Sirius said.
"But what makes you think we aren't going to clear you before this summer?" Harry asked.
"Well, that's just in case things don't work out. But if I am cleared, and things go according to plan, well, let's just say it'll be the next best thing to having your parents back."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Harry............."
"I'll explain," Remus offered.
"Thank you, Remus," Melissa said.
"Harry, your parents were very close. Er, Sirius and Melissa were always very close also. In fact, they became engaged the day after your parents were married, and their wedding was scheduled for Thanksgiving. But, of course, your parents died, and Sirius went to Azkaban, so it was, er, very much postponed."
"Fourteen plus years," Sirius said.
"And I never was told any of this. Man!" Harry said.
"It's not your fault that you had those damn Muggles raise you! There's so much you've only just learned, and so much you still don't know! All because of me!" Sirius said.
"Sirius, it's not your fault!" Melissa said.
"I suggested Peter!"
"Sirius, it wasn't just you. Lily got the same suggestion from me."
"You never told me that, Liss."
"It slipped my mind. I never got the chance. I mean, you went after Pete. I never exactly got a chance to talk to you."
"Of course."
"I'm kind of tired," Harry said, "You all don't mind me going up to the tower, do you?"
"No, we don't mind. I'll see you in the morning, Harry."
"Yes, see you then," Remus said.
"And you still need to write to me every time something weird happens. And I'll see you soon, that's a promise," Sirius said.
"Okay, Sirius. G'night." So Harry walked up to Gryffindor Tower, his mind filled with confused thoughts. Sirius and Melissa? In love? Wait 'till Ron and Hermione heard this!
~~~
"Auror," Harry said that morning as he and Hermione reentered the Common Room after a very early breakfast. They had gone so early that Ron was still asleep, as was the rest of the House. Harry sat down, ready to tell Hermione about the conversation from last night. They hadn't dared speak to each other on the subject at breakfats; even though it had been very early, several students from other houses had been there, including Cho Chang, Justin Finch-Fletchey, and Draco Malfoy. Hermione wouldn't have been able to get a human word out of Harry anyway, he had been too busy staring at Cho.
"Harry, quit dreaming about Cho and snap back into reality," Hermione had said, but it hadn't really done any good, Harry had continued to gawk at her all of breakfast. Hermione had even smacked him upside the head, but he still couldn't be brought out of a fantasy. Finally, she had sighed, and took out a book, which she had been buried in all of breakfast.
"So, what happened last night?"
"Well, I found out I pretty much have a godmother."
"Melissa's your godmother? So you don't have to go back to the Dursley's anymore, even if Sirius isn't cleared?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"But what if Sirius is cleared?"
"Well, that's the other thing I found out. Guess what?"
"What?" Hermione said, exasperated.
"Sirius and Melissa are in love. As in they were engaged before he got sent to Azkaban."
"No way! Sirius never seemed like the type to fall in love to me."
"He didn't seem like that to me, either."
"Harry, do you remember what Melissa was saying last night?"
"Herm, she said a lot of things last night. Be a little more specific."
"About not talking to her twin in fourteen years because of Pettigrew. And what Lupin said. Something like, 'What did she ever see in that rat, anyway?' And then they started talking about Cassie and Karen. What do you reckon that was all about?"
"I dunno, but we can ask her. We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first, and that's what she's teaching, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Harry and Hermione sat through an interesting lesson that morning. It would have been a lot of fun, had they not been squirming in their seats the whole time, anxious to talk to the new professor whom everyone seemed to like. Finally, the neverending lesson ended.
"Professor," Hermione said, "Could we talk to you for a few minutes?"
"Of course, Harry, Hermione."
"Well, we were wondering about something you and Remus were saying last night."
"What something would that be?"
"Well, you started saying something about your twin, and Cassie and Karen, and what she saw in the rat....."
"Ah, that. I suppose I should tell you about Morgan, then. I do have a twin, named Morgan. She and I were pretty close throughout our lives, but not as close once we went to Hogwarts. Sure, she was part of our little group, but she was kind of shy. Of course, after falling for James, Sirius, Remus, and Chris, who our stepsister ended up marrying, she settled on Peter. After Hogwarts they got married, and they had twin daughters your age. The twins, Cassie and Karen, now attend Beauxbatons. But when Sirius 'killed' Peter, Morg came straight to me. She asked me if I realized what Sirius had done, and I said, 'Yes, nothing.' She said that he had killed her husband, and handed the Potter's over to Voldemort. I tried to explain to her that Peter had turned the Potter's over to Voldemort, and that he had faked his own death. You see, I was working in the Ministry at the time, in the Department of Magical Catastrophes, and I was on the scene when it happened. Of course, Lily had told me about the Secret Keeper switch already, but I did get a chance to talk to Sirius after the explosion, but before he was sent to Azkaban, so I knew the truth. I tried to get Morgan to listen to me, but she said I was a liar and we haven't spoken since. Of course, Liz, my stepsister that I mentioned earlier, took Morgan's side, and I haven't spoken to her in ages, either."
"That's awful!" Hermione said.
"You grow used to it," she replied.
"I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. Now get to your next class, I believe it's Potions. Snape won't excuse you being late, now hurry along!"