Part 3 Live Free or Die
By Admiral Albia

A/n; Well, I know that this idea's been done before, but the main part isn't Sirius getting freed here.. it's what happens afterwards... and I can practically guarantee that that bit's original. As you may have guessed, Sirius has a choice between living free... or dying. But Harry and co. have to make it for him...

Disclaimer; I own nothing except Sirius' pets and the word Cargen. Happy? Oh yes, and I also own this **** painting... "Muahahahaha! You don't know the password, you don't know the password..."

WARNING! The second over-used plotline is about to come into play here. But don't worry, I altered the first one, didn't I? Trust me...

Changing;
[][][] means the POV is changing; probably from Sirius in the first person to third person or vice-versa.
/\/\/\ means the scene or time is changing...

Chapter 3; This is no normal illness....
"I don't get it! I just don't get it!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked for the twentieth time.
"What's the matter, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.
"All my charms, potions, even a Coolness Curse - anything that could help him just bounces off or makes him throw up! I can't even get a Dreamless Sleep potion to stay down!" She hurled the empty bottle onto the floor, where it broke. "This is no ordinary illness! Even Dragonpox accepts a Pepper-Up Potion!"
"You mean it's not natural?" Remus asked from the bedside.
"You show me one natural disease which repels all magical cures and I'll show you a flying pig!"
"Ah. So... a magical illness?"
"They still accept the potions! This is ridiculous!"
"All right, Poppy, we hear your point," Dumbledore said quietly. "We'll just have to try the Muggle way, that's all."
"I've tried Muggle cures! What do you think these are?" There was silence for a moment. Then;
"It won't accept any cure?" Otto said quietly.
"No!"
"Then it is a curse," Dumbledore said softly. "And we only have limited time. Meanwhile, we shall have to use the old methods; warmth, quietness and bed rest." It was at that point that Sirius screamed; and continued to scream for almost a whole minute.
"Um, did you say quietness?" Remus asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh, very funny, Remus." Otto said crossly.
"Everyone get down to the library," Dumbledore said briskly. "Minerva, will you give the students permission to use the Restricted section?" Professor McGonagall nodded. "Harry, Remus, come with me please." Curious, they followed him as everyone else headed down to the library - even Fred and George were taking this seriously.

/\/\/\
Dumbledore sat down at the desk in the Transfiguration classroom and sighed. "I need you two to go on a mission for me. It must be you who go. And please, sit down. Prepare yourselves for a shock." Obediently, they sat. "As I'm sure you are aware, any curse as powerful as this should be attributed to Voldemort, and most likely will not be found in our library. However -" he sighed again, and Harry was once more struck by how old and tired he looked, "- we must try. Also, it will almost certainly take more than just words and a wand to break the curse." Harry and Remus looked at each other.
"Uh, we're a little lost here in the classroom," Remus said.
"Oh - I'm sorry. Perhaps I should explain. We will almost certainly need a special, non-material ingredient... not to mention a very good doctor." Remus gasped.
"Dumbledore - we can't - it's not possible..."
"It is possible."
"But... if we're talking about Lily here... I mean, she's dead..."
"No. I have been wondering for years if I should tell you, but now..." Dumbledore sighed.
"Are we talking about my mum?" Harry asked, feeling a little behind the conversation. The two men nodded.
"And she's dead," Remus said firmly, gazing at Dumbledore. "Isn't she?" He sounded almost pleading now.
"No. She is, however, in a coma, and James has unfortunately vanished. He is alive, one presumes, but I have not heard from him since the night their Copins - magical copies - were killed." Dumbledore looked at Harry. "I wish I could have told you earlier, Harry, but without proof I could not have possibly made you believe me. You do not believe me now."
"It's impossible," Harry whispered.
"They used Copins?" Remus stuttered.
"Yes. Lily was not wholly sure about using Peter rather than Sirius, quite wisely it seems, so they made magical copies of themselves and Harry. I was the only person who was told. Unfortunately, in their haste to get out of the area they took the wrong copy of Harry." Dumbledore seemed to be looking, not at Harry, but through him. "When they learned that their household was dead, they assumed this meant Harry as well."
"Why on Earth didn't anyone tell them Harry was alive?" Remus asked.
"Because nobody knew what had happened until three months later, when the copy of Harry crumbled into dust. By the time anyone thought to owl me and tell me, Lily had attempted to murder James out of grief - I understand that he was the one who picked up the wrong baby - and he'd been forced to put her under a coma curse. From what I understood after that, he then also broke down and had just enough sense to get her somewhere safe before he ran away and tried to hide from himself."
"So that was why you left me with the Dursleys!" Harry said, suddenly realising. A lot of other things were also beginning to nudge at him, but his mind seemed to have gone numb.
"So, what do we have to do then? Find James, get him to reverse the curse, then what?"
"Get them both back here before Sirius dies. I don't think James intended him to end up in Azkaban; in fact, I think he rather assumed that you would believe Sirius earlier, Remus." Remus blushed.
"It was full moon."
"As bad luck would have it, yes. But do you see why it must be you who go?" They nodded.
"Because I know him better than Harry, and we need Harry to convince him that he's got a life to come back to... oh, and also to calm Lily down a bit."
"Exactly." Dumbledore stood. "A word of warning; James is not very sociable any more. I think you will find that he hexes anyone who comes near him. In fact, I understand that a witch near where he was last seen made quite a tidy sum out of counter-curses."
"Plus, a great big stag like that is dangerous," Remus added.
"Very true. Oh; and take Fawkes with you."
"Actually, I'd rather take Milton, no offence meant. If we can tear him away from Sirius... Milton is Sirius' phoenix," Remus explained for Harry's benefit. Dumbledore sighed.
"You may have a point. Milton is, after all, a much more intelligent creature thanks to Sirius' influence. And he knows James. If he refuses to leave, though, don't make him." They nodded and left, both occupied with much the same thoughts.
/\/\/\
"Well, Harry, get your things. I want to leave as soon as possible. And don't look so sad... even if we don't get back in time..." Remus didn't seem to be able to continue. He started again. "You'll still have a family, won't you?"
"I'd rather have Sirius," Harry muttered, throwing his socks into his trunk.
"Harry, that's a terrible thing to say! Why on Earth..?"
"Well, he knew Sirius would get blamed, didn't he? And then he put my mum under some curse..."
"Harry." Remus sat down on Harry's bed, and invited him to do the same. "James never did anything without a good reason. Lily tried to kill him, remember?"
"What about Sirius, then?" Harry insisted, picking up his Sneakoscope and squeezing it so hard it began to whistle. Remus sighed.
"I don't know. Maybe they planned to tell Sirius later, I wouldn't be surprised. You know, once they'd `died`."
"But he knew Sirius would get the blame! He knew they didn't tell anyone they'd switched!"
"Good point." Remus rubbed his nose thoughtfully. "On the other hand, though - did you know that Sirius never had a trial first time round?"
"Oh - yeah. Thanks to Crouch..."
"Exactly. And most trials back then were performed using a Truth Serum. They still are today, in fact. Except that some people are resilient to the things."
"So... if Sirius had had a trial none of this would have happened..."
"Not necessarily. Probably, but not necessarily. Remember, everyone thought you were the copy until three months later. Harry, I honestly doubt that James meant for any of this to happen. Can you stop squeezing that thing now? It's giving me a headache." Harry put the Sneakoscope down. "But leave it on top, we can use it to find James without having to call every stag we meet by his name. Last time this happened I had to try and find my nephew, and boy was that embarrassing... calling every dog-shaped creature I met `Paul`..." He shook his head. "This is supposed to be Sirius' job, not mine. I'm meant to play `father` for my niece and nephew..." He noticed Harry's surprise. "My sister was a werewolf too, married a werewolf hunter. He found out soon afterwards and killed her, but he couldn't bring himself to do the twins so he just dumped them on my doorstep. They're both werewolves too... we're an unlucky family."
"That's horrible!"
"I know. Don't pack all your robes or your broom, we'll be flying out..."
/\/\/
A/n; Right, yes, cliched and overused plotline, so sue me, I now have two in one story. Oooh, a record! Don't worry, I won't forget about poor Sirius ;-) Pleeeease revieeeewwww! Flames will be used to light Remus and Harry's camp-fire.
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