A/N: Without a doubt the cutest chapter, barring the second half. But I greatly enjoyed writing the first half of it.
For those of you who jumped on the whole 'Lupin slapping Snape' bandwagon, you do understand P.A.R. was speaking metaphorically. No physical slapping going on here. And it is in this chapter, by the way. Second half.
And I am just tickled silly to announce that as of Monday, 08192002, I have well over 12,000 hits to my stories. Thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so very honored that so many people have read and enjoyed these stories.
And Lotesse, P.A.R. is STILL waiting to hear where those pictures are. Come on, girl! Be nice to P.A.R.. Point P.A.R. to the nice URL.
Also, P.A.R. would like to make a story recommendation. Never Alone, Never Again by Bored Beyond Belief. All you Snape lovers out there will love what this person has done with our dear Potions Master. A wonderful rendition of him. Really. Right on the mark, I think.
But, on with this story for now.
Enjoy.
Tried And Convicted
Chapter Four: Does the Child Know Any Other Words?
Remus spent most of the night thinking about what had happened. The first time he probably had just not set the picture up on the mantle right and it had become unbalanced and fell. But the second time the picture had landed much too far away from the mantle to have just fallen. It was more as though someone had forcibly shoved it off the ledge.
And what about the appearance of Snape in the background? There had always been images wandering about behind the five in the foreground. But never anything distinct or recognizable that Remus remembered. Maybe he had just never paid much attention to the figures in the background before. Maybe the picture's odd behavior had caused him to study it a bit more carefully as he looked for clues as to what had happened.
Or maybe it was a message, Remus told himself over and over that night. Maybe it was James. Maybe that had been his way of telling Remus what he had to do. Or at least what direction to head in.
And so at the crack of dawn, Remus had Harry up and headed for Hogwarts. Even though the judges decision in Sirius' case wasn't set to be delivered until later that day, Remus didn't want to take any risks in their not being there for the verdict.
Having known Snape since his first year at Hogwarts, Remus knew well what he was in for. Snape was never what one would call a 'morning person'. Or even much of an 'afternoon person' for that matter. Your best chance of catching him in even a moderately good mood was early in the evening. Or even better, late at night, when he was too tired to bother throwing anything at whoever was foolish enough to come to his door.
But Remus was betting on an age-old friendship, no matter how shaky at times, to save him any of Snape's fury. That, and the fact that he had Harry with him.
And so with Harry positioned behind him out of harms way, Remus knocked loudly on Snape's door at about eight in the morning.
The door snapped open to reveal a very irritated looking Severus Snape, hastily pulling his black bath robe about him still as he scowled at the man before him.
"Good morning, Severus." Remus stated with the type of cheerfulness in his voice that made most people want to slap anyone that happy at that hour of the morning.
Snape glared at the man before him, turned to the clock on the wall behind him, then turned an even deeper scowl back to Remus.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" He growled.
Remus quickly held Harry up before him. "Did I mention I have a child with me?" He stated, just as quickly getting Harry out of harms way again as he dropped him carefully back to the floor.
Snape's glare followed the child. "That's the Potter boy."
"Yes. So lets be careful what we might say in the presence of a child, Severus."
Snape gave Remus a sneering sort of smile. "Having lived with Black for more than a week, what could I possibly say that that child hasn't already heard...and probably learned?"
Right on cue, Harry piped up with a fairly interesting denotation of an opinion of Snape's linage.
Remus looked as though he wanted to disapparate on the spot while Snape simply let his lips curl into a small, terse smile.
"I rest my case." He stated.
"Ummm, 'case' is sort of what I wanted to talk to you about, Severus." Remus stated quickly before Snape could close the door.
Snape yanked the door back open. "Case of what? 'Soap' for that child's mouth?" He asked, turning and walking back into the room. "You might well save a few bars for Black while you're at it."
Since Snape didn't close the door after him, Remus took that as an invitation to come in.
Halfway across the room, Snape stopped and turned back to him. "Honestly, Remus! What are you doing letting the child learn words like that?"
Harry quickly piped up with another fairly interesting addition to his vocabulary.
"And that." Snape added.
Remus hastily clamped a hand over Harry's mouth before he could say anything more. "Well, Severus, he is around Sirius an awful lot. And you know what his vocabulary can be like sometimes."
Harry latched onto Remus' hand and gave it a sharp yank, managing to get the hand down just long enough to voice out an extremely offensive word. Snape's eyebrows rose in surprise, but quickly snapped down again in a frown as he stared back at the child, who once again had Remus' hand clamped over his mouth.
"If not," Snape stated in a slow drawl, "I certainly am being treated to a most interesting repertoire via the child he's raising."
"That's just it, Severus." Remus replied, fighting Harry, who was trying to remove the hand over his mouth. "Sirius has never raised a child before."
"Well, you're there!" Snape stated. "Haven't you any say at all? Or are you just providing food and shelter until one...or both of them...reaches the emotional age of 18?"
"Of course I have a say, Severus. And I have managed to curtail some of Harry's more.....interesting language acquisitions."
Harry gave a good solid yank on Remus' hand and managed another word that left very little open to interpretation.
"That one for instance." Remus said, not even breaking stride this time.
"He just used it." Snape replied dryly.
"First time in....," Remus checked his watch, "three days."
"How proud you must be." Snape said in the same dry tone.
"Tickled silly. It was one of his favorites."
Harry quickly piped up with another word which would likely have caused a barfight if the setting had been different.
"Well, he seems to have acquired a new one." Snape noted. With a sigh he turned to Remus, who was admonishing Harry for his last addition to the conversation. "Do me a favor, Remus, as well as the rest of society. Do try teaching the boy some proper language skills before he gets to my class."
"How do you know he doesn't already have them?"
Snape's expression slowly transformed into a small smile. "In that case," he stated, "I can see Slytherin winning the house cup seven years in a row after the next ten years. All thanks to Potter's rather unique communication skills."
"I think I can manage a few new words by then, Severus." Remus assured him.
"Pity." Snape stated sullenly. "Well, aside from showing me what your newly acquired pride and joy can do, why else are you here, Remus?"
Remus put Harry down. "I need to discuss something with you, Severus. And before I start, I need you to promise to hear me out."
But Snape's attention quickly centered on following Harry as he headed for the door to the room.
"You are watching him, aren't you, Remus?" Snape inquired.
"I can see first I have to get your attention." Remus mumbled.
Snape turned back to him. "These are the rooms of a potions master, Lupin." He stated firmly. "And I do tend to leave things lying around. If you choose not to watch your charge, please do not come to me when the child gets into something he shouldn't have."
"Harry." Remus called.
Harry stopped short of the doorway.
"Be a good boy for Uncle Remus and stay in this room. All right?"
Harry looked up at Remus, then nodded quickly and went over to climb up on Snape's plush, red velvet sofa.
Snape watched the child settle himself in before turning back to Remus. "Now," he stated, "what is it exactly you want, Remus?"
Remus sighed quietly. He knew pretty much how the conversation was likely to go. "I want to talk to you about Sirius."
"The door, you'll remember, is behind you." Snape stated, almost verbatim as Remus had imagined it. "And take that," he said a bit firmer, pointing at Harry, "with you."
Harry looked up from where he was contentedly playing with a pillow to see the tall man in black approaching him. Snape reached down and snatched the pillow away from the child.
"Give me that." Snape snapped at the child.
Harry stared up at the man in black as he pulled his new toy from his grasp. The man stared down at him in what Harry could only perceive as a dangerous manner. And he had only one answer for what to do when he was scared. Instantly the child broke out in an ear-piercing wail.
"Give it back to him, Severus." Remus stated in a level tone.
"He's your charge. Do something."
"I can't. Sirius is the only one who can deal with him when he gets like this."
"This?"
"He scared. So he's calling for Sirius. It's what he learned works very well. He cries. Sirius comes running."
Snape gave the crying child a sneering smile. "It might take a little longer this time."
"And you are going to have an awful lot of people at your door very shortly wondering what you did that entitled you to a crying child sitting on your sofa."
Snape seemed to consider the situation, then finally dropped the pillow back on Harry. The child stopped crying almost immediately and happily pulled the pillow into his lap and hugged it tightly to him.
Snape turned back to Remus. "Now that the child is engaged once again in his stimulating past-time, maybe we can get back to what you want?"
"I need your help, Severus."
"By helping Black."
"By proving his innocence."
Snape gave a short laugh. "Why bother coming to me? I'm quite sure Sirius Black hasn't seen his innocence in the past ten years."
"Severus, somehow I think that you are the key to proving Sirius innocent."
"Me? How should I know anything that would help Black?"
"I'm not sure." Remus admitted sheepishly.
Snape stared back at the man for a moment with a very quizzical expression. "And so you came to me because.....?"
Remus paused for a few seconds. "James told me to."
Snape stared at Remus for a good full thirty seconds in stunned silence. "James?" He asked slowly, his eyes narrowing in a puzzled manner. "James Potter?"
Remus stood for a moment in silence, then nodded.
Snape's expression shifted to one of outright skepticism. "Recently?"
"Last night."
Snape stared for a moment at the man before him in silence again. "Remus," He said carefully, "James Potter is dead."
"I know that, Severus." Remus answered, trying to sound as sane as anyone could.
"And yet he told you to come to me for help proving Black innocent?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"And what manner was it exactly he used?"
Remus reached into his robes and pulled out the picture from the night before and handed it to Snape.
Snape looked it over with a growing expression of disgust, then handed it quickly back to Remus.
"And?"
"Look at it closer, Severus." Remus stated, shoving the picture back at Snape.
Snape practically pulled back from the offered picture. But he leaned over a bit and looked over the photo again. "So?"
"You weren't in this picture before, Severus. Not even a corner of your robes. But last night this picture fell off the mantle at my house. Or better, it flew off the mantle and landed on the rug several feet away. When I picked it up, your image was in the background suddenly."
"It's a picture, Remus. Figures come and go all the time. It's not a bloody muggle snapshot."
"Severus, I have had this picture for years. Why, when I picked it up from the rug last night, was your image there?"
Snape looked over the picture again, then pulled back, turning his stare to Remus again. "Coincidence." He stated confidently.
"I think not."
"You're making mountains out of molehills, Remus."
"I don't think so."
"Remus," Snape replied, walking over to a chair next to the sofa and falling into it, "I simply don't see what help I can be. Now if James Potter told you I was the key to helping Black, I wish he would have blasted well told you how."
"I wish he would have too, Severus." Remus stated in a defeated tone. "Because right now Sirius needs all the help he can get."
Snape got suddenly back to his feet. "You'll excuse my abruptness, Remus." He said, heading for the door. "But if there was nothing else?"
Remus quickly followed him, leaving Harry still happily playing on the sofa with the pillow.
As Snape reached the door, he turned back to Remus, giving him a smile that crawled to his lips and curled itself like a snake. "Aren't you forgetting something, Remus?" He asked as the man approached him.
"We're not done." Remus replied in a level tone.
"I think we are."
"Then think again." Remus' tone was verging on desperate. And desperate times called for desperate measures. Remus reached out and grabbed Snape by his robe and pulled him to him until they were practically nose to nose. "Dammit, Snape! A man's life is a stake here! For once in this whole, petty feud, put your hurt and your anger and your stupid pride aside and listen to me. Now, I don't know how, and I don't know why, but somehow you are crucial to us proving Sirius is innocent."
Snape's face remained unreadable.
"Look," Remus pressed on, loosening his grip slightly, but not entirely, "what Sirius did that night was.......stupid. Stupid and careless and thoughtless. And if I had attacked you....if I had bitten you that night, I would never have forgiven him and I could never have forgiven myself.
And Sirius knew how bad it was....what he had done. He realized how bad it could have been. And despite how he acted......despite what the other who knew about it read into his reaction to it as the days went by, he was mortified about the whole thing. He couldn't even believe he had done it. That he hadn't thought of how badly things could have turned out if not for James.
He talked about it endlessly to James and Peter and me. He had nightmares about it for weeks. He was even going to Madam Pomfrey for a while for Dreamless Sleep potions because he couldn't face the dreams he was having. You wanted him to suffer for it, Severus? He did. More than you knew. More than anyone did. And I'll tell you a little secret. I don't think he ever got over it. After that night Sirius took a backseat in all our pranks. He was usually the planner. The plotter of everything. The instigator in most cases. But after that he just sort of followed along. He lost a part of himself that night, Severus. A part he never got back. You say Sirius hasn't seen his innocence in years? I think you're right. I think that night was the last time he saw it.
Now, you can't forgive the man? Fine. Don't. I'm not asking you to. All I'm asking you to do is try to help prove a man innocent.
And if you can't do this for him, Severus. If you can't do one thing in your whole life for Sirius. Then do it for me. Do it because once, a very long time ago, we were friends. Do it for the friend you use to sit under the tree with by the lake all those years ago and talk about curses and counter-spells. For the person you did open yourself up to. Who never betrayed you. To the person you helped make life a little bit more bearable. Reach down into whatever there is left of a heart in you, and do this one, last thing for me.
And if you can't even do it for me," Remus added, softening his tone slightly, "then do it for yourself. Because if you think you've suffered over that night all these years, Severus, tell me, how will you handle thinking you had the chance to save a man's life and instead stood by your petty hate and hurt and did nothing?" Remus finished as he gave Snape a small shove backwards, releasing his hold on the man.
Snape regained his balance quickly as he turned back to the man before him. His look was one of utter astonishment. But it was quickly masked by the same, seemingly ever present scowl.
"All right, Remus." Snape said in a low, even tone. "I will help you. And I'll even tell you why I'm doing it. Not for any wondrous speeches, or guilty feeling, or altruistic intentions. I'm doing it for one reason and one reason only."
"And that is?"
"Because Black is no Deatheater. And I won't have the man dieing accused of something he isn't. He'll die a fool or nothing at all. But he won't die with anyone thinking him a follower of Voldemort." Snape turned back to Remus, his expression now completely neutral. "I need you to tell me everything that happened from the moment you got to the courtroom."
Remus paused for a moment, still somewhat surprised by Snape's change of heart. But finally he furrowed his brow as he thought back to the morning before. "When we arrived they took Sirius off to a separate room. I didn't see him again until they brought him into the courtroom a good while later."
"Do go on." Snape said in a voice as neutral of his expression.
Remus paused again, thinking, then continued.
"A ministry member questioned Sirius about James and Lily's murders, if he was a Deatheater, if he betrayed them to the dark lord. All of which Sirius admitted to."
"Which is all what the paper reported." Snape stated in a slightly frustrated tone. "Remus, the man admitted to all of it. Under Veritaserum. What is the problem?"
"He was lying."
"A person under Veritaserum can not lie." Snape stated flatly.
"He did just the same."
"And you know this for a fact because.......?"
"Because I know Sirius."
Snape drew in a sharp breath. To Remus it seemed very much he was stopping himself not just from saying something, but from even thinking it.
"That's you're sound reasoning in proving the man innocent?" He asked in an even voice.
"That wasn't all there was." Remus replied.
"Well, what else happened then?"
Snape stood silently staring at Lupin as the man recanted what happened after the ministry official continued questioning Sirius. When he mentioned Sirius' apparent hesitency to answer certain questions, Snape's interest suddenly peaked as he asked Remus several questions about the incidents. From Sirius' mood to his tone of voice, Snape seemed to break the scene down into it's most minute parts. Finally Remus finished with what happened prior to his leaving the courtroom. Which Snape listened to, but didn't seem nearly as interested in.
When Remus stopped talking, Snape stood for a very long time in silence, staring in front of him with an utterly blank expression.
"You're sure of what you've told me?" He finally asked Lupin as he focused back on him.
"I was there, Severus." Remus replied. "And I doubt I'll ever forget one detail of this day as long as I live."
Snape turned his attention to the fire place, staring at it for some time before he spoke again.
"The symptoms are wrong." He said finally in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're not far off. But they're wrong. In fact, everything is wrong."
"In what ways?" Remus asked.
"Everything. From the way Black acted, to the questions he was asked, to how the whole thing was handled."
"Meaning?"
"The first question the man asked Black. What was it again?"
"He asked him if he was James and Lily's secretkeeper?"
Snape shook his head. "That's not right. When someone is being questioned under Veritaserum in a courtroom, the court first has to show they are under the effects. They first asked the person their name. Something everyone is sure of. Then they place a spell on the person. A common one to make the person lie. Then ask them to state something common. The day of the week that day. The date. Something easily known to be the truth. According to the spell they are under, they should lie and everyone is aware of it. They can't normally fake telling the truth under the spell. But the Veritaserum will counteract the spell and the person will be forced to tell the truth regardless. Then the person is asked to state something else that is the truth, and then the questioning begins. It can't be done any other way."
"Why not?"
"It's like a muggle polygraph. You need a standard to measure against. Something that shows the Veritaserum is working. Black was never asked to lie. That would invalidate his whole testimony. And if the rest of your account is accurate, Black simply wasn't acting like a man under Veritaserum at all. But to those only casually associated with potions, as is most of the general wizarding public, everything would likely have looked normal. As well as do few people bother with courtroom procedures. Those questioned under Veritaserum are also given the antidote before they leave the courtroom. That part of the trail is never excluded. It gives the defense the chance to ask the accused questions now that the truth is revealed and allows for the accused to offer any explanations for their actions. For instance, a man may have stolen something from another, but did so because he was being forced to steal it by someone else. A fact that would, of course have to be verified under another dose of Veritaserum. But mitigating circumstances have to be accounted for." Snape explained. "This whole trial, from your account, was very......."
"Rehearsed?" Remus offered.
"'Staged' is more the word I would use." Snape replied. "It was simply to 'cut and dry'. It seemed more that the ministry was simply giving the public a show. One with very little attention paid to details."
"So what do we do now? Even if we had proof the trail was just some act, we can't very well go to the ministry and tell them our suspicions."
Snape thought for a moment. "I think the best thing for now is for us to pay Black a visit. I need to hear what went on in that back room before they brought him out to the courtroom. It could be very important."
"Us?" Remus asked.
"You have no idea what your looking for, Remus. I do."
Remus gave Snape a small, grateful smile. "I appreciate your help, Severus. It's right decent of you."
"'Decent' has nothing to do with it." Snape replied in a curt manner. "I simply have no desire to have Potter haunting me for the rest of my life because I didn't help his friend. And I'll have enough trouble out of his son for seven years as it is."
Remus turned to Harry. "Are you going to cause Severus nothing but trouble, Harry?" He asked the child.
Harry looked up with a smile, still playing with the pillow. He shot off one of his more colorful words with a happy grin.
Remus returned it. "Good boy, Harry."
"Don't encourage him." Snape stated drolly.
"They're going to read the verdict in a few hours. We'll have to hurry if we're going to see Sirius before that."
"I just need to get dressed." Snape answered, heading for his bedroom. "But in this, I want you to answer a question for me." He added, turning back to Remus as he reached the door to his bedroom.
"If I can."
"You profess how horrible Black felt about what happened in the tunnel. Why did he even do it? You say he talked endlessly about it for days. Surely in all that time at some point he must have said 'why'."
Remus stood silent for a few moments. "Yes." He said finally in a low voice. "He told us why he did it."
"And?"
"He said it was because he didn't think I would really hurt you. You and I were friends. Sirius knew that. And he said he didn't believe I would hurt my friend." Remus paused as his expression hardened a little bit. "So you see, Severus, you really can't blame him entirely. He just didn't understand."
"Understand what?"
"The wolf has no friends." Remus said flatly.
"You're wrong." Snape replied in an equally flat tone, "Because standing there before you that night, I didn't believe you would have done it either." Snape stopped for a moment as he studied the man before him. "You were my friend then," he added in a confidential tone, "and I fought for that friendship after that, and I remained your friend until I made the worst mistake of my life. So, I guess I can't blame Black entirely, since I apparently made the same mistake he did."
Snape stepped through the door, closing it after him.
Remus stood staring at the door for a very long time before he turned to the floor, shaking his head. "The worst mistake of your life, Severus, was thinking I stopped being your friend that day." He said quietly.
Q&A
Tried And Convicted
Nagini: (Who else?) Yes! Support Services is a good thing, and well worth the pennies it costs.
Sirius seems pathetic? Ha! You haven't seen pathetic yet!
P.A.R. is sorry she made Nagini cry. Would Nagini maybe like bad P.A.R. to be making the stories a little less sad? (Somehow I don't think Wolf Of Solitude would go for that, though.)
No. No. Bad Nagini. No be poking Sirius! Leave him to sulk!
How can I answer that last question? That's the whole point of the story, Dear?
*Grabs Harry away from Nagini.* Not while I'm writing about him, Dear.
Mayleesa: Thank you. But please, not to be slapping Sirius. The poor man has enough troubles. What with Nagini poking him and all.
Whisp! Course I missed ya', Whisp!
Even if Harry gets his Pafoot back soon, poor Remus will likely still be suffering hair loss. Then he goes from having one child to two.
No! No killing Snape. I so need him in Family Relations. And I don't think Bored Beyond Belief is done with him either yet in their story. Ohhhhhhhh, you really need to check that one out, Whisp! It's great. (Never Alone, Never Again I think is the title.).
Ohhhhh! I like that. 'Obviously tampered with'. PROOF, Dear. I want PROOF!
Can't comment on the second part.
*Hugs Whisp back.* Thank you! P.A.R. feels very bad about the poor little bird. Cried like a three year old.
purple water: *P.A.R. sits looking very stunned.*
What are you? Some sort of a lawyer? (Ummmm, if you are, P.A.R. is in need of a lawyer.).
Anyway, MAN! Did you ever pull one over on old P.A.R.. You found something even I didn't notice. (And I wrote this thing.).
You're absolutely right. The question was indeed, 'Do you have a reason to lie'. And that was some seriously deep reasoning you got into. P.A.R. had to read that one a few times! SO, *slaps a gold star on purple water's forehead.*, wear it proudly, Dear. You earned it!
The whole Deatheater question reasons out much like you said. And if you reason it out the way you did it simply shows that the question was not properly phrased. That was part of the reasoning behind the 'Are you lying' question.
Ohhhhh, thank you for jumping OFF the 'Imperious' bandwagon. The story is far enough along that I feel I can at least say, 'No, folks. Sirius was not under an Imperious Curse. So just get off that bandwagon. Everybody.....off!'
You know, I like theories and I hate them. I like them because, lets face it, they're fun. I hate them because they usually have a lot better story plots than what I came up with. And all I can say here is, Good Heavens! Why are you sitting here reading my stuff? Go write your own! Geez! Those are some outstanding theories! The 'Deatheater' one really covers those bases.
Oh! And P.A.R. did not mean for you to run out and read The Bonds That Tie. I mean, I'm glad you did. Thank you! But it wasn't completely necessary. You could have gotten something out of Tried And Convicted without it, just not as much.
And no, I'm sorry, the Elite were not mentioned in The Bonds That Tie directly.
Of course the James thing was fluffy. It was suppose to be. Cliche? Maybe.
Katlin wasn't implying anything, Dear. She was a Deatheater and proud of it! In fact, the only implication by Katlin was where your Elite came into the story. Katlin is sort of a running OC. She's in a lot of stories due to her relationship with another character. Katlin is, in fact, an Elite. And she's not just any Elite, she's THE Elite. She is the head of that select group and where Voldemort is concerned, she's definitely 'daddy's little girl'. Now, that is not to imply Katlin is Voldemort's daughter. She's not. She is, in fact, an orphan. But when it comes to getting things done the Voldemort Way, no one does it quite like good old Katlin. Katlin sort of views most people she meets as 'killing you would solve 97% of the problems I have with you right now, and the other 3% won't matter after that'.
Yes, Katlin does have the dark mark. But that's because she couldn't be prouder of what she is if you tattooed it across her forehead. The 'Elite thing' came into the story because it explains how Sirius can claim he's a Deatheater but not have the dark mark. It's a plot device, you see, Dear.
I'm glad you appreciate my attempts at humor. Personally, my favorite will always be from Family Life, where Arabella is sitting in front of Harry and states, 'I'm really more of a dog person'. So few people caught that one. I applaud those of you that did. (That's grossly out of context, by the way.)
I'm sorry if you didn't get as much out of The Bonds That Tie as you were looking for, but I do appreciate the review. Again, thank you.
I found reading your review an interesting challenge. I enjoyed it.
Your laptop wouldn't be a Dell by any chance, would it, Dear? I worked for Dell for a time in 2000-2001, and we had a very common keyboard problem much like the one you are describing in Dell Latitudes. And there is a fix for it.
Dear, what is Verdana?
Nicky: Well, who doesn't love Sirius/Remus confrontations? Unless, like in this chapter, its a good Remus/Snape confrontation.
All I'm saying about the whole picture thing was that was the answer to Remus' request for help from James and Lily. The first part of this chapter took it a little more in depth, but not much. On things like that I am sort of purposefully a little vague because I'm for letting the reader get out of it what they will. So, go where the spirit moves you, Dear.
vmr: Thank you.
Silverfox: Wait a minute! You don't love Sirius!? But.....but..........EVERYBODY loves Sirius!
O.K., let me try and cover this a little about James. You see, the fact of the matter is that when I wrote The Bonds That Tie, I had no intention of sequeling the story. It was suppose to be a one-shot. The sequel evolved solely out of reader request. So you see, I never intended to revisit the 'James' issue for this story. However, lingering somewhere in the back of my mind was the idea to bring James back in a different story as a spirit for another one-shot story. I just haven't got there yet. So, did James mean help him with his illness only once or help him at all only once? Believe it or not, I think I probably meant the ladder when I wrote the story originally. But honestly, do you really think if Harry were in danger or Sirius needed help that James would refuse to help in some way? Just look at this story.
Oh, Dear, don't go back and try and get anything more out of those questions. Just keep going forward and that will all get sort of sorted out later. You don't have enough information yet to get everything out of the questions you could have. There was a reason for everything to happen the way it did. Just give it time.
What went on between Severus and Dumbledore while Remus was visiting Sirius? Nothing, Dear. Sorry. Severus isn't dedicating a lot of time to Sirius right now. It's sort of a 'good riddance' thing on Snape's part right then.
UnrepentantReader: Oh dear! Been there, done that, have the tee-shirt. I can not tell you how many times I have sat at the keyboard for a good thirty-minutes and typed my little fingers off only to have the whole thing blown away for any one of a hundred stupid little reasons. Yes. Very frustrating! Anyway, I'm glad you're having fun, Dear.
Sailor Sol: OHHHHHHHHHH! *P.A.R. looks very happy.* I already have a reader for Enemies! Yeah! But I think you'll find the writing style somewhat different. Enemies is, after all, with the exception of the world it is being written in, an original story and I think totally OC.
All right, Dear. I won't make them less interesting. But remember, you ask for it. So, no more complaining about the cliffhangers, all right?
Zimmy Russell: No, Zim, I can't answer that.
Ummmm, about the 'slapping' thing, you did read the Author's Notes, right?
You live around Orlando, right? Yeah, it pretty much rains there everyday. Ya'll (perfectly good word) got that whole sea breeze thing going on. In the middle of the state, we're more hit or miss with the rain. Currently I'm sitting here typing this, watching it rain like crazy across the lake, while it's barely got the ground wet on our side.
It is pretty though.
Doom Song: Nope. Sorry. Snape doesn't know Peter was a Deatheater. The reason he is being singled out by James comes up later in the story.
sweets: Snape's just not letting a grudge go.
O.K., I'll give ya' Brownie Points for realizing James and Lily were there. But Harry coming down with what basket, Dear? All I remember him carrying was his blanket.
Karla: What am I up too? Why, no good, Dear, of course!
If Sirius is loosing it, can you really blame him? But for now he's tied a knot in the end of his sanity rope and is holding on for dear life.
Dear, your whole first paragraph I can't comment on directly because it's a rather large part of the story. Hope you understand. However, I can say just that Sirius' confusion is coming out of that he 'knows' he was given Veritaserum, and he heard himself answer the questions just like everyone else. But he feels he knows he didn't betray James and Lily, and yet he said, under Veritaserum, that he did. That's kind of an interesting paradox for anyone to work with. It's like saying you know you didn't rob the store, but you're the one on the surveillance tape. In the wizarding world, I would think Veritaserum is pretty cut and dry evidence.
O.K., I can't outright give you a gold star this week, because purple water already got it. But I am slipping you one under the counter because you realized (and mentioned) that Harry was seeing his parents in the corner of the room and that was who he was responding to. (Thank heavens SOMEONE got that!).
Ummmmm, your a little too close to the bulls-eye for my liking this early in the story with the whole Severus thing over all, Dear.
And Remus never noticed Severus in the picture before because people move about and come and go in pictures. James just sort of 'dragged' Severus a bit more to the forefront.
The question about 'if Dumbledore wasn't going to get Severus to cooperate, was Remus?', was answered in this chapter.
Your line of thought was incredibly well laid out, Dear, and very easy to follow. But good heavens! English isn't your native tongue!!!!? I'd have absolutely never guessed that! Have you mentioned that before and poor old P.A.R. forgot?
Siriusly Bored
~*~Dark Luna Angel~*~: Thank you.
Family Life
nessie: I am working very hard on the Sequel to Family Life. Look for it in the Fall. Thanks for the review.
The Bonds That Tie
Mistress Cresacre: Oh, dear! I think I missed you last time! So sorry!
The answers to most of, if not all, your questions is in The Bonds That Tie sequel, Tried And Convicted.
All reviews are as of 08212002. Please let me know if I missed you.
Remember,
we have enough youth. How about a Fountain of Smart?
See you Sunday, barring....well, you know.