Part 6 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 the pets and the words Cargen and Copin. Happy? Oh yes, and I also own this **** painting... "Hey, call yourself that!" The word Puffskein belongs to J.K. Rowling too; it's in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them which was released in the UK for Comic Relief. I don't know about other countries, sorry.

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 6; Prongs and Flowerpot
"Hiya, James! Long time no see!" James Potter jumped almost three feet in the air.
"Wha? Remus!"
"Yep, it's me. Please don't curse me..." James lowered his wand.
"What the... heck are you doing here?"
"Looking for you. Dumbledore sent me. James, have you been reading the paper recently?"
"I haven't read the paper since we set up our Copins and hid."
"I thought not. So, you don't know that Harry's alive?"
"Oh, ha ha. Just rub it in, why don't you. How did you get in here without me noticing, anyway?"
"Invisibility Cloak. And I'm not rubbing it in, I'm serious. Harry, now..." Harry took the Cloak off. His father stared at him.
"Any claims that he's not your son will be seen to by Dumbledore," Remus warned. James, however, didn't seem about to say anything of the sort.
"Harry?" he whispered, staring as though he'd been blind all his life, "Is-is that really you?" Harry nodded dumbly, and found himself enveloped in the biggest hug he'd ever received in his entire life; so hard that he couldn't breathe at all and his glasses were knocked askew. He could, however, just make out a smirk on Remus' face.
"James, I think you're suffocating him," Remus said after a while. James blushed and released his son.
"But... how? I don't understand..."
"None of us does; ask Dumbledore. You do want to come back with us, I assume?"
"Well..." Remus decided to play the trump card.
"James, we came here to find you for a reason, and it wasn't just Harry. Sirius is fatally ill, we need Lily badly."
"What? Sirius has never been ill in his life!"
"This is a curse, we think. Hey! An owl!" Remus opened the letter. "Holy... Azkaban's been broken open!" A/n; yes, this is the owl that Otto sent a week ago. Remus and Harry were going faster than it, so it only caught up when they stopped.> "And Sirius said it is a curse, because he keeps seeing Voldemort in visions. And Otto's mad because he's just found out that Sirius' parents are alive. And... is that owl dead?"
"No, he's breathing," Harry said. "I know this owl; he's called Errol and he's really old." He carried Errol over to where his father's owl was sitting on a perch and attempted to balance him, but Errol kept falling off so eventually Harry just plonked him on the table.
"Let me get this straight," James said, sitting down again and conjuring up another couple of chairs. "Harry is alive. Sirius is fatally ill. Sirius has been cursed by Voldemort. Azkaban has been broken open. And Milton is here. Wait a second, what's Milton doing here if Sirius is ill?"
"He wanted to come and help us," Remus said. "Well, we asked him and he sort of nodded, and he's been following us so we're assuming he wanted to come." He paused. "You haven't mentioned Peter yet."
"Do I need to? He was in Azkaban, wasn't he?"
"Ah. No."
"WHAT?" Remus sighed.
"You know you didn't tell anyone about the swap?" James nodded, then realized.
"You don't mean...?"
"I do mean. Plus, when Sirius lost his temper and went to kill Peter, Peter faked his own death. So Sirius Black ended up on a charge of.. um... betrayal, supporting of Voldemort, and killing thirteen people because Peter blew the street up. And Peter Pettigrew got the Order of Merlin, First Class, and a cushy place as somebody's pet. Well, until Sirius escaped a couple of years ago, anyway."
"Didn't Sirius get a trial? Or was it Barty Crouch again?"
"Barty Crouch. Who else? But Sirius got a trial a week ago, got his name cleared... and got this b-y curse put on him. And that's about all that's happened. Oh, apart from Harry's living with Petunia."
"WHAT?"
"James, please stop doing that. You're giving my poor canine-strength ears a bashing."
"They didn't hurt you, did they, Harry?"
"Um... I lived in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years. Does that count?"
"Yes!"
"And Dumbledore had to send Hagrid to give him his letter," Remus added. "They wouldn't let him read it..."
"Hagrid's still around?"
"Yeah... and from what I've heard he's still crazy. Remember the Chimaera?" James rolled his eyes.
"Do I ever! Cutesie, what a wonderful name for a giant, bloodthirsty monster..."
"He had a dragon in my first year," Harry volunteered. The men groaned.
"What did he call it?"
"Norbert. And it bit my friend Ron."
"Who dragged you down there every day?"
"What? Nobody."
"Really? With us it was Sirius. Every day, every night, every opportunity..."
"Yeah, speaking of Sirius..." Remus made an attempt to get back on track, "he is ill, and we do need Lily... and she only tried to kill you because she thought Harry was dead, James, so..." James sighed.
"Oh, OK. I've been trying every six months as it is, but she always starts again..."

/\/\/\
"One more time," James sighed as he looked down at his wife and drew his wand. Then he paused. "Remus..."
"Yeah?"
"Can I hide behind you?"
"No."
"Oh. All right then... Renaiss!" Lily's eyes flew open.
"YoubastardyoubastardI'mgonnakillyouyoubastard..." James dived behind Remus as his enraged wife attempted to strangle him.
"Lily," Remus said loudly, "Stop trying to kill James and listen to me for a second, will you?" He grabbed Harry. "This is Harry. He's your son, and he's alive." She stopped, blinked, and stared at him.
"Remus? What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find the best doctor ever. But Lily... say hello to Harry, and reassure him that you're not always this homicidal..." Once more, Harry found himself suddenly being hugged so hard he nearly suffocated.
"Can I come out now?" His father asked from behind Remus.
"I think so... she's stopped trying to kill you, anyway." Lily stopped hugging Harry and headed over to James, who ducked out.
"Just don't start trying to kill me, that's all I ask... do you want your wand back?"
"Of course I do... and I won't kill you, I swear. Now, why do you need a doctor?" Remus explained.
"Oh, goody, a curse. We'd better get moving..."
"Uh-huh." James had packed everything up before they went to wake Lily up, and he now tossed her a broom. "So get flying..."
"Oh no. No way. I'll Apparate, thanks..."
"We're going to Hogwarts," Remus pointed out. Lily groaned.
"Face it, dear, you're not going anywhere without using a broom," James told her, smirking.
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"Nope."
"What's going on?" Harry asked in some confusion.
"Your mother's scared of heights," Remus explained.
"Ah."
/\/\/
A/n; Well, they've found Lily and James... but Sirius has less than a week to live... and it'll take three days to get back...
Incidentally, the flowerpot in the title is Lily. Lily Potter... Flower Pot... get it? *groans all round*
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