A/N: *Looks around innocently.* I have nothing to say. Imagine.

Well, actually, I had something to tell you. But do you REALLY want to hear about poor P.A.R. killing a little bird as she was driving down the road at 7:15AM on a Sunday Morning? Folks, it was fairly traumatic, trust me.

So, just enjoy, all right.

Tried And Convicted

CHAPTER THREE: MAYBE

Remus pulled his cloak a little tighter around him as he walked towards the ministry offices. It had been raining steadily all afternoon and he was desperately trying to stay dry.

Harry had been left behind, again in the care of the witch next door with her own children, who adequately seemed to take Harry's attention off the fact that he was no longer with either of his regular caretakers.

Although Remus had apparated to the general area of the offices, anti-apparation fields forced him to walk the last few blocks in the rain. But his reason for being there hurried him along. He was impatient to see Sirius. To hear from him what had gone on in the court room the day before.

There was some sort of explanation. Remus was sure of it. A spell of some sort. A threat. A promise. Even the use of an imposter didn't skip Remus' realm of possibilities.

He stood patiently as the guards to the jail subjected him to a variety of spells and checks. Remus had a high amount of suspicion that the extra time involved had something to do with the last time that Sirius had been in the jail. That just prior to his escape, Remus had visited him. That he had, in fact, likely been Sirius' only visitor. But this time he had no plans for a jail break.

At least not yet.

Finally satisfied that he wasn't carrying anything he shouldn't be, Remus was taken into the back of the building where the prisoners were kept. It was now early afternoon, and very soon Sirius could well be on his way to Azkaban and the Dementors Kiss.

Led down the corridor, Remus noted that he was being led to the same cell Sirius had been kept in before. At the far end of the corridor, as though he was the most dangerous of criminals and had to be kept absolutely isolated. Not that that would have been difficult. There wasn't another prisoner in even one of the cells in that area.

Remus' sense of deja vu continued as he stepped up to the cell his friend was in. Inside the small cell, Sirius was seated on the floor rather than the bench in back, staring blankly at the wall opposite him.

The guard gave Remus a few instructions before leaving. But as Remus watched, he noted that the man only walked to the end of the corridor, then stopped and stood waiting.

Shrugging inwardly, Remus turned his attention back to Sirius as he stepped up to the bars.

"Sirius?" Remus called softly. "How are you?"

The man in the cell acted as though he hadn't even heard him.

"We're not going to go through this again are we?" Remus asked in a lighter tone as he tried to get Sirius' attention. "You know from experience I won't go away. I'll just keep bothering you until you talk to me."

At first Sirius seemed as though he was set on ignoring Remus completely. But just as Remus was getting ready to start on a new angle, Sirius turned his face to him.

"What is there to say, Remus?" He asked.

Remus had never seen such a look in his friend's eyes. It was beyond hopelessness. Beyond pain. Beyond fear. It was the look of a man facing his worst fear, knowing it was true, and that there was nothing in the world he could do to change it or escape its memory.

Remus crouched down outside the bars. "Sirius, what happened in that courtroom?" He asked.

Sirius gave a short, derisive laugh. "I confessed." He said abruptly.

"Sirius, you did not betray James and Lily to Voldemort. And certainly not Harry."

"Veritaserum doesn't lie, Remus." Sirius replied dully. "That's the whole point of it."

"Sirius, you didn't have anything to do with it." Remus stated firmly. "I'd stake my life on that."

"That's a poor bet to make, Remus." Sirius replied quietly. "I confessed to it, under Veritaserum. Therefore, I must have done it."

"So, what? You were lying all those times you told me....swore to me you had nothing to do with James and Lily's murders? Lied about it as you were bouncing their infant son in your lap? As Harry was sitting there happily giggling and laughing at his godfather?"

"Veritaserum doesn't lie, Remus." Sirius replied in the same dull tone. "Even if I don't remember doing it, I must have. I couldn't have lied about it under the effects of the potion. And if I am responsible, then I'm only getting what I deserve."

Remus stood for a moment outside the bars, watching Sirius shutting down before his eyes. Slipping slowly into the near catatonic state he was in before. He had to do something to snap the man out of it and get him to at least fight for his life.

"All right." Remus said. "Maybe you're right, Sirius. Maybe it was you, and for whatever reason you've been lying to me for all these months. But explain something to me. Tell me one thing and I'll believe every word you said in that courtroom. Just one thing."

Sirius turned slowly to him.

"Tell me 'Why'."

Sirius paused for a very long time, his stare never leaving Remus. But finally he closed his eyes as he turned back to the wall before him, shaking his head.

"I don't know." He practically moaned the answer. "I honestly don't know, Remus. I loved James. He was like a brother to me. And Lily....pretty, sweet Lily. She was the closest thing to a sister I've ever known. And I was so excited the day Harry was born. I think I was more wound up that day than James. I was so happy for them. They had everything they wanted." Sirius paused for a moment. "Maybe that was the reason." He said in a distant sounding voice. "Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I was just jealous of everything they had and I didn't."

"Jealous!" Remus stated abruptly. "Of what? Sirius, all you ever said about James, Lily, and Harry was how happy you were to have them in your life because they were your surrogate family. That you could get all the 'home life' experience you wanted through them and never have to bother with any of the reality of it on your own. Just trade out your freedom once and a while by babysitting Harry, safe in the knowledge it was there waiting for you when James and Lily got home."

"Maybe I just didn't realize how much I really wanted it, Remus."

"You never told me anything different. And you're honestly telling me that subconsciously you came up with the stupid idea that killing your best friend, his wife, and their son was somehow going to get you what you didn't know you wanted all along?"

Sirius briefly thought over Remus' logic, but finally shook his head. "The fact remains that I confessed to it, Remus." He replied. "And that I couldn't have lied."

Remus thought over his strategy again . If Sirius was sinking into the same depression he was in before, maybe a similar tactic would bring him out of it.

"Well," he said finally, "I can't argue that, Sirius. You're right. You confessed to it under Veritaserum and you couldn't have lied under those circumstances. So, I guess the role of 'godfather' for Harry will be open in few days."

"You take it, Remus." Sirius suggested half-heartedly. "Harry always liked you."

"Actually," Remus replied, eyeing his friend carefully, "I was thinking of offering the position to Peter."

If the mention of Pettigrew had gotten a reaction out of Sirius before when he was sick, it was nothing compared to what the mention of the name got now. Sirius flew at the bars, one hand reaching out at Remus as he attempted to grab the man by the collar.

"No!" Sirius cried. "Remus, no! You can't do that!"

The guard started down the hallway, attracted by the sudden outburst, but Remus quickly waved him off, showing him everything was all right as he stepped away from the bars. But it had only been his better-than-average reflexes that had kept him out of Sirius' grasp as he dodged the hand reaching for him.

"Well, who else?" He asked his friend calmly, with a completely serious expression. "I can't take the role for obvious reasons. The person appointed will, in fact, become Harry's legal guardian. He'll probably end up living with them. Peter is the only one I can think of. He's perfect."

"He's a murderer!" Sirius nearly yelled at him through the bars.

Remus froze where he was. The calm, pleasant facade draining from his face as he stared in stunned silence at the man in the cell.

"He's what?" Remus asked after a few moments.

"He's a murderer!" Sirius repeated with the same determination in his voice.

"Peter?"

"He was their secretkeeper, Remus." Sirius cried. "It wasn't me. Don't you understand. It was Peter."

Remus stared back at Sirius through the bars for a few more moments in silence.

"Why didn't you ever say anything about this before?" He asked quietly, for the moment to shocked to remember Sirius' testimony in the courtroom.

Sirius shook his head as he clung to the bars. "You wouldn't have believed me." He stated dismally. "Why should you believe me now? I have no proof of it. But....," Sirius turned a pleading expression to his friend. "......please, Remus. If you believe nothing else in all of this, believe this one thing. Believe this one thing I am telling you. Peter was James and Lily's secretkeeper. Not me."

Remus stared at the man for a few minutes. "You want me to believe this, Sirius? Just like you asked me to believe you all those months that you swore you had nothing to do with James and Lily's murders. And yet under Veritaserum you contradicted yourself. Why should I believe this?"

Remus was hoping Sirius would follow his trail of logical deduction and reason out that if he was so sure about what he was saying about Peter, he would apply the same solid feeling of assurance to what he had always held was the truth about his involvement in James and Lily's murders.

But what Remus wasn't prepared for was the path of logic Sirius actually ended up on instead.

The man in the cell's face suddenly shifted back to its previous blank expression, taking on a look Remus knew was characteristically not good.

"You're right." Sirius said in an almost mystic tone as he stared at the wall past the bars of his cell. "If I was lying about James and Lily's murders, and I didn't even know it, how do I know anymore that this is the truth? Maybe this is just one more lie I've convinced myself of. Maybe it was me. And I just...convinced myself it was Peter. I accused him because I couldn't face my own guilt."

"Oh, for the love of....." Remus crossed the border of frustration. "Sirius! Will you listen to yourself!" He demanded. "You have honestly stepped off the deep end now."

"But it fits, Remus." Sirius replied in the same mystic sounding voice.

"If you twist it around enough, any insane tale will fit, Sirius."

But Sirius didn't seem to even be listening to him anymore. Instead he returned to his former position in the cell. Seated on the floor, facing the side wall.

Remus slowly shook his head as he listened to the man muttering to himself as he continued to work his logic over the facts. Things had certainly gone from bad to worst. And now it was time to seek reinforcements elsewhere.

Leaving the jail, Remus high-tailed it for Hogwarts. Once he arrived he repeated everything that had happened in the jail to Dumbledore. To his amazement, Snape was already in the Headmaster's office when he arrived, and elected to stay to hear what Remus had to say. At the end of his report, whereas Dumbledore looked worried, Snape looked utterly amused.

"So," he stated, giving Lupin an extremely bored look, "not only are you trying to help free a possible murderer, now you're trying to free a possibly insane one as well?"

"Sirius is no murderer, Severus." Remus spoke up, coming quickly to his friend's defense. "And after all that Sirius has been through, I wouldn't blame him one bit if his sanity did take a little vacation."

Snape sighed and shook his head as he turned to staring at the opposite wall with great interest.

"I hardly think we need worry about Sirius sanity, Remus." Dumbledore spoke up as he cast a quick glance at his potions master before turning his attention back to Remus. "But you can hardly deny the man the right to be very confused. And a little bit frightened. It can be a very un-nerving thing to think you can't trust you're own memories. After all, the last time, Sirius was working on speculation. This time, he, like everyone else, heard the words from his own mouth. That's a bit harder to deny."

"But he's giving up again, Albus." Remus put in. "And I'm not sure how to deal with him this time."

"Well, perhaps whatever you did before to snap him out of it might work again." Dumbledore suggested.

"I already tried that." Remus replied dismally. "It just made things worse this time."

"Well, if we're going to help Sirius we'll need his cooperation, Remus." Dumbledore told him firmly. "And we can't help a man who is starting to believe he's as guilty as everyone else believes he is."

Remus sighed to himself as he left the headmaster's office. He wasn't sure what else to do to try and snap Sirius out of his state. Outside the gates of the castle, he finally apparated home, glad to be back with Harry and to know that at least on that front everything seemed all right.

That night Remus tucked Harry into his bed and sat down on the edge of it for a few minutes to make sure Harry was all right. The child had hardly said two words since Sirius had been taken from the courtroom and Remus was sure he had to be confused, but either didn't know how to express it, or was just to frightened to say anything.

"So," Remus said as he brushed a patch of the unruly black hair back over the child's forehead, "you ready to go to sleep, Harry?"

The two wide green eyes stared up at Remus, then looked quickly about the room, finally settling with a questioning look back on Remus again.

"What is it, Harry?" Remus asked, noting the child's stare.

Harry stared up at his surrogate uncle with an almost apologetic look.

"Pafoot?" He asked in barely a whisper.

Somehow Harry had never quite gotten the 'D' in the name. A point that Remus had found endless humor in while Sirius insisted that Remus had taught the name to him wrong all along as some joke. But to hear the name now, spoken like a pleading whisper from the lips of the child, nearly broke Remus' heart. He had no idea how to explain things to Harry, or give him any comfort or reassurance. Sirius was always there at bedtime. To tuck Harry in, read him a story, or just to give him a reassuring cuddle before Harry settled off to sleep. And Harry absolutely seemed to live for bedtime. He just seemed to want more than anything in the world to spend time with his godfather. As long as Sirius was there, everything was all right.

But now Sirius wasn't there. And Harry knew everything wasn't all right.

"Pafoot isn't here right now, Harry." Remus tried to answer the child's questioning look. "But he'll be back soon. You'll see. Everything will be all right again."

Harry hugged the stuffed toy he had with him tightly as Remus got up and, giving him a kiss on the forehead, left the room. But his keen hearing didn't miss the soft, nearly inaudible sob as he headed down the hallway.

Downstairs, Remus sighed softly to himself as he leaned against the mantle over the fire. How could he possibly make a promise like that to Harry? How could he fix any of this?

Slowly Remus lifted his head, his eyes immediately falling on the picture of he and Sirius, Peter, and James as they stood together at their graduation from Hogwarts. The four, happy, excited smiling boys waved enthusiastically at him. In front of the group was a very pretty, equally happy looking Lily. Remus watched them with melancholy smile when his gaze slowly fixed on one person in the picture.

James!

What had Sirius said the last time he was like this? That he had seen James. And his whole outlook had suddenly changed over night. The night he claimed James had come and cured him. Told him he had to fight to get better. That he had to be there for Harry.

Remus took the picture down and stepped back from the mantle. His gaze slowly shifted from the picture as he looked about the room. The fire gave the room a warm, friendly glow. And the sound of the logs popping in the fire was somehow comforting to him.

"Well, James," he spoke to the dimly lit room, trying to keep his voice as normal sounding as possible, "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I could really use your help. Sirius needs your help."

Remus stood in the warm glow of the fire, watching flickering shadows dance about on the walls, hoping one would step out of its two-dimensional existence and materialize as the friend he still missed so very much in his life.

But the shadow only continued in their dance.

"Sirius really needs you, James." Remus told the room again. "I don't know what to tell him. How to snap him out of it this time. I didn't know how to do it last time. Sirius says you did that for him. That you talked to him." Remus looked about at the shadows again. Hoping still. "Couldn't you go to him? Tell him he's wrong. He didn't murder you. He didn't murder Lily. I know he didn't. And....and if we don't do something........he's going to be worse than dead, James. Please." Remus begged the silent shadows. "Can't you help him just this once more?"

But the only answer Remus got to his question was the merry popping of the fire.

Sighing to himself, Remus walked over to the sofa and plopped heavily down on it.

He still had the picture in his hand, and was staring at it several minutes later when a tugging at his pants leg nearly caused him to jump to the ceiling.

Calming down quickly, Remus looked around the small frame to see Harry standing next to him in front of the sofa. In one hand he carried a small, flower print blanket. The other he had the thumb of stuck in his mouth, sucking on it like mad. A sure sign of distress for the small child.

Remus sighed, giving the small boy a tired smile as he leaned over and lifted him up and settled him in his lap.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Remus asked as the child rested his head against Remus' chest. "Couldn't you sleep?"

The child shook his head slightly, his gaze drifting to the picture Remus held in his hand. Remus watched as Harry carefully studied the people in the picture, saddened at the thought that the two people in it who were the most important in his life, he didn't even remember. But to Remus' surprise, Harry's expression suddenly brightened as he continued studying all the faces.

"Ma!" He cried happily, pointing at the picture.

Remus looked over at the picture, somewhat amazed to see that of all the people in the picture, Harry was pointing directly at Lily.

Well, maybe not so amazing. She was the only female in the picture.

"Ma!" Harry cried again with a happy smile, tapping Lily's image with his finger.

"Yes. That's your mama." Remus replied, surprised that after nearly a year, the child would recognize his mother so quickly.

"Da!" Came the next statement, and Harry again began tapping the picture with his finger.

Remus looked around the child's head. But he stopped short of saying anything when he realized that Harry was clearly pointing, not to James, but to Sirius.

Well, that would certainly have started some interesting conversations had James been in the room, Remus thought.

With a small chuckle, Remus redirected the child's finger until it pointed to James.

"No." He admonished gently, moving the finger to its new location. "This is your 'Da'." Remus explained. He then moved the finger back over to Sirius. "Pafoot." He said.

The child seemed to take great interest in what Remus was showing him. He stared at the picture with renewed interest. Remus took Harry finger again and pointed at Lily.

"Who's that?" He asked the child.

"Ma!" Harry cried happily.

Remus moved the finger to Sirius. "Who's that?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Pafoot."

Remus rewarded him with adequate praise as he moved the little finger to James' image. "And that?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Da." He said. Though to Remus he didn't sound completely convinced.

"Yes." He confirmed for the child. "Da."

Harry, however, seemed thoroughly impressed with himself as he turned his attention to a corner of the room. Suddenly Harry began to bounce happily in Remus' lap, chanting 'Da' several times as he clapped his hands at an unseen audience.

"All right." Remus said after a few moments. "It's way past your bedtime, young man."

But Harry had definite other ideas on the matter. "Ma!" He cried, reaching out to the same corner he had been clapping at earlier. "Ma, ma, ma!"

"No." Remus replied. "Bedtime. Bed, bed, bed."

"Da!" Harry answered, staring at the corner. "Da!"

Remus shook his head as he set the picture back on the mantle. "Boy, once you learn something......" He mumbled, resting Harry over his shoulder.

Remus started for the door when a noise behind him caused him to turn about again abruptly. He looked about for where the noise had come from.

It didn't take very long.

Lying on the floor before the fireplace was the picture he had just set on the mantle. Shaking his head with a quiet sigh, Remus went back over to the picture and picked it up.

"You nearly scared me out of a few good years, you know that?" Remus stated to the five people in the picture, none of whom seemed to take the slightest notice.

Remus placed the picture on the mantle again and headed for the door. But once again a sound caused him to turn around. Except this time it was much softer.

Looking back at the fireplace, Remus saw that indeed, the picture had fallen off the mantle again. But this time it had landed a good three feet away from the mantle, managing to cushion the fall as it landed on the rug in the livingroom instead of the stone floor just in front of the fireplace. Pausing, Remus stared at the fallen photo, then finally walked slowly back over to it and, leaning down cautiously, picked it up and set it back on the mantle.

But this time something in the photo caught his eye. Something he would have sworn he had never noticed before. All five of the people in the foreground remained as they had been. All happily waving at him. But this time, in the background was another shape. One that, with it's long, shining black hair, and perfectly tailored black robes that he had worn at their graduation, was unmistakable to Remus.

Snape.

Q&A

Nagini: Ya' have a talent for being first. What can I say?

Ummmm, Dear........maybe a Littttttttttttttle less caffeine, O.K.?

I don't know what else you expected out of Snape. He's....well.....Snape.

How was that for Harry? All cute and cuddly. Ya' just gotta love him as a baby.

Sailor Sol: Deflate my ego? Why? It might take a while anyway after reading your review. Heavens! I hope you come back for Enemies. See a lot of reviewer support needed for that one.

And to be nice in return, I'll save you some time looking for the story to be posted. I only post between 6P.M. and 10P.M. EST.

And please don't hate me! I try to be a good author. I try not to kill you with suspense and brutalize my characters or anything else nasty. I'll try to make the stories less interesting if it would help!

Elizabeth Bathory: I told you you would. Unicorn Whisperer is very good.

True enough, Dear. He does tend to be a bit rough about the edges, but he does have a good heart. But lets face some facts. HE CONFESSED!

Honestly!

Peacockgirl: I hope the Disney World trip makes it all worth it, Dear.

Sorry I wasn't clearer about when this was coming up, but I honestly didn't know. I have tried to stay within my deadlines, but due to certain events, that hasn't happened at all and I am to the point I not longer give dates. And honestly one of the biggest things that off-sets when I plan to post stories is the length of the story I'm presently working on. Tried And Convicted was suppose to be four chapters or so, making it a two week post. Then Enemies. Well, Tried And Convicted ended up being ten chapters, making it a ten week post. Therefore, the next story, Enemies, is now eight weeks off schedule. And I'm not even going to discuss Family Relations at this point.

But to check if I've posted, check my author's page. That's your best bet. And currently I only post on Sundays and Wednesdays, between 6P.M. and 10P.M. EST.

Mr. Happy Java Man: I was recently scanning the posted stories and saw you have a new one up as well. Way to go! A reviewer and a writer!

Can't understand people who drink coffee. Never could stand the stuff myself. I'm strictly a tea drinker. Give me Celestial Seasons over Folgers any day.

Still won't answer that first part, by the way.

Don't judge poor Severus just yet. As Remus pointed out, he was having an 'afternoon tea' sort of day.

Essence of Magic: *P.A.R. sniffs.* You weren't going to read my story? Well, I guess you're right out for Enemies then, huh?

School here started the first week in August. I have no idea what time the little bugge......children got out.

Do all my reviewers got to Band Camp? And what is this horrible place? No one seems to like it but everyone seems to go there.

Oh, Dear, please hang with me for Family Relations. I swear you won't regret it and the story is very good. Even I like it!

For now hang onto the story. Give me a little more time. Or, if you want, the best thing to really do is e-mail it to me at par@fanfiction.net one chapter at a time and let me look it over that way. Otherwise I'll get bogged down with it and I can tell you straight out it'll take me well over a year to read the whole thing. But if I have little bits to work on at a time, I'll get it done much sooner. I don't know why things work that way with me, but they do. I have a lot of people who send me stories to critique for them. I have no idea why. But I'm seriously starting to think about doing this for money. So get in now while I'm still cheap (free).

RavenLady: Thank you. I do try to stay true to my characters as much as possible.

Silverfox: Ah, another European attempting to understand the Americans. My sympathies, Dear. And your analysis is very difficult to argue. True, if you only post one thing, it is a story in itself and the chapter thing doesn't come in until there are multiple entries. I bow to your logic.

If you liked the Remus/Severus interaction, you are going to love this story. Actually, almost any of my stories. I too, love the interaction that is possible between these two very dynamically opposing characters. They are total opposites that definitely attract. (In a non-slashy sort of way here. Remember, P.A.R. doesn't write the slashy stories. Yet.) There is simply way too much potential whenever they are in a room together to just let it go untapped. I love these characters!

Sirius could answer some of the questions, remember. He only had trouble with certain ones. And there was a reason for that. And I will say that he was not told what to say in advance. The answers are perfectly candid. And in that light, all of the questions are unexpected. He has no idea what they are going to ask him. But there was a reason he stumbled over the questions he did. And it is explained later.

purple water: Goodness! You people are putting some serious time into trying to outthink old P.A.R. this time.

Let me see if I can handle that first one. That's a bit tough. Granted, you haven't seen twisted logic yet, but give the story some time.

O.K., first off, you say Sirius only answered two questions untruthfully. One; are you a lying (basically), and two; are you a Deatheater. My question is, why are you so sure he answered those questions untruthfully?

Next, I'd like to point out that not all Elite do not have the Dark Mark. Katlin (Remember her from The Bonds That Tie?) is an Elite. But she also carries the Dark Mark on her arm just like a Deatheater.

Ummmm, I'll give you the secretkeeper one. He very well could have looked at it that way and I think in the books, by canon, he did.

I can't comment on the next part about the Imperious Curse and the Veritaserum because it's a large part of the story, obviously.

'When did you stop beating your wife?'. I always liked that one.

What can I say about the next part? The way the questions were asked is very important. But I had to dedicate a large part of a chapter to explaining 'why'. So, be patient and wait for the chapter.

I'm sure theories will change as time (and chapters) go on.

sweets: Good point!

Well, since this is AU and taking place when Harry is a baby, it isn't exactly canon.

I'm afraid without Padfoot, Harry is most definitely going to get more and more fiddgety. And who gets to be the wonderful recipient of all that? *Remus looks up innocently from the book he's reading.*

=8'O: I know that's not your sign in. But I have nothing else to call you.

Ohhhh, I wish you had found a place to start. P.A.R. has ego issues and needs it stroked regularly. Usually until it purrs.

Thank you for the review.

Fire Spirit: Harry was living with the Dursley's in the first installment of this story arc called The Bonds That Tie. Sirius took him from them and that's sort of where the whole thing started that brought us to where we are now. Currently he is living with Sirius, who is currently living with Remus because of issues brought up in the first story. Although having read the other story is not essential right now to understanding Tried And Convicted, you will become one lost little reader very soon as that issues from that story will be coming up.

Nicky: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Nice try!

But no.

That was Sirius, not an imposter.

Dumbledore and Remus most likely could have addressed the situation better to Snape to get him to listen. But eventually they would have had to mention either Sirius' name or Snape could have figured it out just from the situation what they were talking about. After all, it was in all the papers.

Noodlejelly: *P.A.R. raises her hand high in the air.* Oh! Oh! Oh! Me! I'll stuff envelopes for that campaign! Free Sirius!

Aside from that, what is the ministry ever playing at? Find the easiest or the stupidest thing to do and go for that.

Karla: Sorry I can't tell you what the star was for yet. Give me a few chapters though. Actually, I don't think you'll find out till near the end, or close to it. And believe me, it kills me to not to be able to jump up and down and wave a flag and tell everyone why you're getting that gold star. It was SOOOOOOO good!

Snape fascinates me as a character. There's no doubt. And Bored Beyond Belief has this man down to a science. I'll have to add a little something about that story in the author's notes next time since not everyone reads the Q&A. But really, go read that story, Never Alone, Never Again I think is the title. You WILL NOT be disappointed! Especially in Snape's POV. I do not agree with Bored Beyond Belief's switching to Snape's POV mid-way through the story. But this author does an outstanding job with him. It's almost scary how well done that character is in this story.

Dumbledore will convince Snape to give their theory a try? I think I can answer that one.

No he won't.

I sympathize with the bad week, Dear. Go read the author's notes.

Dad is doing great. Thanks for the well wishes.

Indiana jones: Yes, Sirius/Remus torture. And Snape hasn't even begun to whine yet. Look for a good Lupin slap coming up. Honestly. You can only listen to the man whine for so long before you just have to slap him.

Zimmy! Hi, Zim!

Zim, you and I have to have a little talk about the Jolt cola thing. You read the news, right? Well, I think I have the store right, I haven't actually checked, but I believe that the store where I thought they sold it was the store where that clerk was shot and killed a few weeks ago. So, you can imagine P.A.R. isn't exactly heading over there any time soon. Sorry.

Something fishy is definitely going on.

I always liked that quote. It ran along the same lines with me as 'There's always a choice', which I am well known for using in my stories.

No! You can not slap Snape! (Remus gets to do that later.)

Yeah, yeah, today's Sunday and it's getting ready to rain.

*P.A.R. smiles.* I like the rain.

Reviews are as of 08182002.

Remember;

growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

See you Wednesday, barring the whole unforeseen circumstances thing.