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Sirius Trouble
By: Bethany and Fleur
Rated: PG
Chapter 3 - No unpunished good deeds
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	"Do you reckon," Ron began, giving Harry and Hermione a sideways 
glance, "Mum will let us go to Diagon Alley this year?"
	The three were sitting on a brick wall that separated the garden 
from the rest of the yard surrounding the Burrow. The sky was overcast, 
threatening rain at any moment. It had been a week since his birthday, 
and still Harry couldn't quite get the image of his mother out of his 
head. He idly swung his feet, glancing out over the rolling fields of 
green grass and shrugged. "Why shouldn't she?"
	Ron raised an eyebrow, much in the same fashion Hermione did when 
she thought the answer should be practically dancing in front of them. 
"Well, with You-Know-Who back to power and everything, and Sirius' 
warning about sticking close to Mum, I figured..."
	"Ron's right, Harry," Hermione said, though she looked as 
disappointed as Harry felt. It seemed a little too early to be getting 
cabin fever, but all three of them longed to get away from the Burrow, 
even for one day. Harry found himself wanting to be back at the school, 
even though he loved Ron's family. He needed that feeling of having his 
own mind and he lacked that here, when every time he turned around one 
of the Weasleys were checking up on him.
	Harry opened his mouth to say something when a movement caught 
his eye. Glancing up, he saw Hedwig soaring towards the three. 
Gracefully she landed next to Harry, a disgruntled look on her face. 
She poked her leg out, indicating for Harry to take the letter from 
her. "Must be from Sirius," Harry said as he undid the parchment. The 
handwriting on the parchment told a different story, though.
	He unrolled it, and sure enough, it was the same letter that he 
had sent to with Hedwig just after his birthday. He flipped it over 
several times, looking for anything Sirius wrote back, but there was 
nothing. "Couldn't you find him?" he asked Hedwig. The owl only stared 
back at him indignantly.
	"What's the matter?" Hermione asked, leaning over to get a better 
view of the parchment. Upon realizing that it was the same letter Harry 
had sent out, she raised her eyebrows. "But Hedwig has never failed to 
deliver a letter, has she?"
	"No," Harry mumbled, his eyes darkened in worry. Something wasn't 
right. Sirius always, no matter how short the letter, wrote him back. 
Harry jumped down off the wall, Hermione and Ron following suite. The 
three practically ran back into the house and up the stairs to Ron's 
room, ignoring Ginny as they passed.
	"Well, isn't that nice?" she said sarcastically.
	"Sorry Gin!" Hermione called back down the stairs.
	Harry slung open his trunk and shuffled around for parchment and 
a quill. Finding some, he wrote a hasty note to Remus Lupin, asking the 
whereabouts of Sirius. "Hedwig, are you up for another journey?" he 
asked his owl who had flown to the open bedroom window.
	Instead of sticking her leg out, she went over to the water bowl 
to take a drink. Harry waited patiently for her to finish. When she 
settled herself on the perch, Harry raised his eyebrow. "I guess I 
could send Pig..."
	Almost instantly Hedwig stuck her leg out, and Harry could have 
swore she was giving Ron's owl a dirty look. Harry tied the parchment 
to her leg and ran his hand down her back. "Thanks Hedwig." Hedwig 
snipped his finger affectionately and took off out the open window once 
again.
	Even though Hedwig was once again heading towards where Sirius 
should be, Harry didn't feel better. In fact, since he had opened the 
parchment minutes before, he felt like someone had dropped a load of 
iron in his stomach. His mind was abuzz with thoughts of bad things, 
such as Sirius getting caught, taken back to Azkaban, or given the 
Kiss.
	"Hey!" Ron said with forced brightness, giving a go at 
distraction. "I think Mum said something about cooking some cakes, 
wanna go see if we can snatch some before super?"
	Harry nodded, though he really didn't feel like eating. However, 
he could tell that Ron and Hermione were as nervous as he was. He 
prodded down the stairs behind them and into the kitchen where Mr. 
Weasley was sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet and Mrs. 
Weasley was flipping through a cook book with one hand while aiming her 
wand at the mixing bowl beside her.
	"Hey Mum, could we have som-" Ron stopped short, his eyes growing 
wide. Hermione, who was standing just beside him, followed his gaze to 
land on the paper Arthur Weasley was reading.
	Mr. Weasley slammed the paper face down on the table as Harry 
came around, giving a curious glance at Ron and Hermione. "Hey kids," 
he said with forced brightness, trying his best to hide the paper from 
Harry's searching gaze. 
	"Did that just say what I think it said?" Ron walked over to his 
father, an odd look in his gaze.
	"Ron, I think it best you don't read this." Mr. Weasley looked 
torn. On the one hand he knew his son and his friends deserved the 
information he, as well as the rest of the wizarding world, now knew. 
The other hand was that of a parent who didn't want to see any of his 
children--and indeed, Harry and Hermione were just as much a part of 
his flock as any other--get hurt.
	It was Harry who made him hand over the paper. The boy just 
stared at Mr. Weasley with a knowing look in his eye, and ever so 
slowly, Arthur handed him the paper. Hermione took the paper from 
Harry, and in a shaky voice began to read:


			Sirius Black: Murderer Once More
				 By Lucinda Kent

		It was with a sad heart that this reporter witnessed
		first hand horrible destruction wrought by none other
		than the infamous Sirius Black. Yesterday evening, at
		nine o'clock in the evening, the Dark Mark hovered over
		a small country cottage, surrounded by marigolds and 
		lilies. However, inside what should have been a safe 
		haven, the body of Richard Marsley (34), and his wife 
		Abigail (30) lay dead beside the body of their four year 
		old, Emily Marsley. The crime was linked to Black when an 
		eyewitness spotted him at the Godric's Hollow Cemetery, 
		where the bodies of none other than James and Lily Potter 
		lay buried, only forty-five minutes beforehand. "I heard a 
		horrible scream, and then a figure ran into the house. I 
		tried to go there myself, but it was too late. By the time 
		I got there…they were…" Winifred Lakely, a neighbor of the 
		victims, reports.
		
		The cemetery, which was only half of a mile from the crime 
		scene, was not harmed by Black, but this brings no comfort 
		to the grieving friends and family of the Marsleys. Prime 
		Minister Fudge has promised to do all in his power to 
		apprehend the criminal, however, the people of Britain can 
		only hope that he makes better on this promise than he did 
		two years ago. Rumors have arisen that, in fact, the murder 
		was not by the hand of Black, but by You-Know-Who himself, 
		a prospect that has stricken fear into the hearts of many. 
		
		Services will be held at…
	
	Harry let out a breath he'd been holding, realizing that he had 
stopped breathing some time ago. "Oh my God..." Hermione had her hand 
to her mouth and was looking horror stricken, whether because of the 
accusations placed upon Sirius or the awful story she had read, Harry 
did not know.
	"Sirius didn't do this!" Harry said, defending his godfather.
	"We know that, you git. Nobody ever doubted that, it's 
just... well, this is the first child he's killed all summer." Ron kept 
staring at the picture of the Dark Mark that was hovering in the 
picturesque night sky.
	Nobody realized Ginny was in the room until her voice broke 
through silence, commenting, "It seems the Death Eaters have abandoned 
any humanity they gained in You-Kn- Voldemort's," Ginny corrected, 
"absence."
	"Don't say his name!"
	Arthur Weasley sighed and stood up. "Don't correct your sister, 
Ron. If she's brave enough to say it, nobody should stop her." Ron 
nodded, resigned.
	"But what about Sirius... if they catch him he's worse than 
dead." Hermione put her hand on Harry's shoulder, who hadn't said 
anything since his original outburst.
	"He was at their graves... he must have seen the Dark Mark and 
ran in to fight them," Harry whispered. "What if they captured him, 
what if-"
	"Stop it, Harry! Don't even talk like that, Sirius if fine
." Ginny had taken over stirring the bowl for her mother, who was 
sitting down on a spare chair, hands massaging her temples.
	"Ginny's right, Harry. Just because you didn't get a letter back, 
that doesn't make anything for certain. Perhaps Sirius is hiding, and 
he just didn't want anybody to intercept Hedwig's flight." Hermione 
tried to comfort her friend.
	"Or perhaps he's captured, and we are sitting around doing 
nothing," Harry retorted, his eyes wide in exclamation.
	"There's nothing you can do, Harry," Mr. Weasley suddenly said in 
a stern voice that Harry had never heard him use before. "I know what 
you're thinking, and it won't happen. Sirius is a fully grown wizard 
and can take care of himself. He brought you here so you would be safe, 
and I intend to keep you that way."
	Harry opened his mouth to reply but Ron jabbed him in his side. 
The words died on his lips, but they weren't cast from his head as 
quickly. Harry nodded and walked out of the room, climbing the 
staircase two at a time. Ron, throwing a helpless look towards 
Hermione, followed at his heels.

	Harry got off his Firebolt and sat down on the ground, resting 
his arms on his bent knees. He had taken off out Ron's window, letting 
no one know where he was headed; One rule broken. He was at least a 
mile away from the Burrow; Two rules broken. And he had snapped at 
Ginny, and while he wasn't sure about his feelings towards her, he 
couldn't help but notice the flash of pain that crossed her features. 
It just wasn't his day.
	"Why is my life such a bloody mess?" he mumbled to himself.
	When one is sitting in the middle of a dense patch of trees, 
presumably alone, you hardly expect an answer. So when a voice said, 
"Tell me about it," Harry started almost violently.
	"How'd you know where I was?" Harry asked, looking up at Ron as 
he made his way through the bushes that surrounded the little area 
Harry sat in. Ron had to literally crouch down to get past a couple of 
low branches.
	He shrugged, sitting next to Harry. "I know you."
	"You'd be safer if you didn't."
	"You make my life interesting."
	"And possibly shorter," Harry pointed out angrily.
	"We're all going to die one day." Harry doubted Ron would be this 
smooth if he wasn't sitting in the sunshine, in no present danger. Had 
they been in the forbidden forest, chasing (or running from, whatever 
the case may be)giant spiders, Ron may have had something different to 
say.
	"Whatever," Harry mumbled in response, picking up a twig and 
breaking it in half. "Look what it's done to Sirius. He would be on 
some tropical island right now..."
	Ron gave him a stern side-ways glance. "Right. I can't see him 
not fighting You-Know-Who, Harry. Didn't he fight him to begin with?"
	"And Cedric--" Harry pushed the name from his lips, though it 
hurt badly. "Look what knowing me got him. Can't you see? That's what 
is going to happen to you and Hermione..."
	"It could happen anyways, Harry," another voice injected into the 
conversation. Hermione had obviously followed the broken twigs though 
the brush to get to them, for she came out exactly where Ron had. "I'm 
certainly not going to sit around doing nothing while he takes over. 
And I know Ron isn't, so that makes us his enemies." She flopped down 
on the grass on Harry's other side.
	"You can't tell me that you haven't been in more danger--" Harry 
began, but Ron cut him off short.
	"Stop being dense, Harry."
	Hermione nodded. "We're not going anywhere. Friends don't do 
that."
	Silence followed her statement, since Harry really didn't know 
what to say to that. He felt warm inside, knowing he had such good 
friends, but that warmth was sitting right alongside fear. Fear that 
their very lives were in danger. Like Sirius... that thought wasn't any 
better than the last. "I hope he's ok."
	Neither Ron or Hermione asked who he was talking about, both 
already knew. They also knew that it was his worry for his Godfather 
that was making Harry so irritable. "I got an idea," Hermione suddenly 
said, throwing down the twig she had in her hand.
	"Well, tell us already," Ron urged.
	"We could write to Dumbledore, I'm sure he knows where Sirius 
is!"
	"Hermione," Harry said in an exasperated tone. "We can't just go 
running to the Headmaster of Hogwarts every time we have a little 
problem. I'm sure he's plenty busy with Voldemort coming back."
	"Don't say his name," Ron said automatically.
	"Voldemort! Voldemort! Voldemort!" Harry repeated, jumping to his 
feet. "I've meet him and I'm going to call him by his proper name! All 
this 'You-Know-Who' stuff, it's stupid!"
	"Yeah?" Ron said, also rising to his feet. Hermione's eyes were 
wide. "Well, some of us grew up scared of him! Are still scared of 
him!"
	"Me too!" Harry said, equally as loud as Ron. "But you hear me 
saying his name!"
	"Big deal!" Ron replied hotly.
	"If you're going to be my friend, you'll probably meet him face 
to face! How can you have the courage to do that when you don't even 
have the courage to say his name properly?!"
	All the while Hermione stood aside, saying nothing, but watching 
with nervous eyes. Every time one of them spoke, the other grew louder. 
Any minute she expected one of them to hex the other, underage wizard 
or not.
	"REALLY?" Ron screamed, his fists clinched at his sides, his face 
in Harry's.
	"REALLY!" Harry screamed back.
	"VOLDEMORT! THERE! SEE?!"
	Ron suddenly stepped back, his eyes wide and the tips of his ears 
as red as his hair. Harry's mouth was open, and moving, but no sound 
was coming out. Hermione stared.
	And then suddenly both Ron and Harry burst out laughing. They 
laughed so hard that they were nearly doubled over, clutching their 
sides. "You... bloody... git..." Harry gasped, wiping a tear from his 
eye.
	"You... too..." Ron replied, trying to compose himself. He 
slapped Harry on the back, jerking his head towards the house. "I'm 
hungry, you want something to eat?"
	"Sure," Harry replied, grabbing his Firebolt and putting it over 
his shoulder. 
	They started through the woods, Hermione following them. "Sure 
glad we got that cleared up," she mumbled, shaking her head.


	Remus Lupin slowly descended the stairs to his small two story 
cottage and headed for the kitchen. It was a pointless task, but as it 
was habit, he opened the door to the fridge. Just like every other time 
he had opened it this week, it was empty save for half a bottle of 
soured milk, a bowl of dried potatoes that had started shrinking in 
proportion and mustard. Remus closed the door, opened it again, and 
noted with a strange smile that the contents had not changed.
	He ran his hand through his graying brown hair and sighed, 
looking around. Sirius didn't tend to leave much in the way of food 
around. He also wasn't much for cleaning, Remus noted, flicking his 
wand in the direction of the sink and causing the dishes to start 
cleaning themselves.
	Speaking of Sirius, Remus noted that the giant black dog wasn't 
sprawled in front of the fireplace as per normal. The door that lead 
from the kitchen to the yard in back was unlocked, and Remus assumed he 
was feeding Buckbeak. What, he wasn't sure, as Remus himself sure 
couldn't find anything edible.
	A large brown owl pecked on the door window, his talons around a 
copy of the Daily Prophet. Remus opened the door, giving a glance 
around outside as the owl came in to deposit the paper. Remus put the 
proper amount of bronze knuts in the sack attached to it's leg and 
watched it fly off again, noting that the backyard seemed empty. How 
strange.
	Again, brushing it off, Remus made himself a cup of tea and sat 
down in one of the worn kitchen chairs. He brought the cup up to his 
lips as he opened the Daily Prophet, but never got the first sip. 
Instead there was a tinkling of breaking china as he stared at the 
headline.
	"Sirius Black: Murder Once More," Remus read aloud, just to be 
sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Plastered across the front 
page was a picture of the dark mark hanging in the sky. There was a 
trickle of dread that shot down Remus' spine as he stood up abruptly. 
Where the *hell* was Sirius, anyway?
	Remus hurried to the back of the house, looking in the shed he 
used once a month to transform. Buckbeak was there, and alone. Remus 
felt his normally calm state leave him. He hurried back in the house, 
glancing in the living room once more. It was then his acute hearing 
caught a creak of a floorboard coming from upstairs. Wand drawn, he 
softly ascended the steps.
	There was no one in the hall, but Remus was sure he had heard 
something, and used caution when entering his bedroom. Indeed there was 
someone there, and Remus nearly breathed a sigh of relief from it. 
"Sirius, where the hell have you been?"
	His tall friend no longer wore the same robes he had upon leaving 
Azkaban, but a slightly worn set that Remus had picked up in a second 
hand shop just a week earlier. His dark eyes were wild looking as they 
turned to Remus and his hair looked as if he had ran his fingers threw 
it in frustration more than once. "We have to get out of here," Sirius 
said darkly, fingering the wand that Dumbledore had given him for 
emergencies only. "Now."
	"What?" Remus replied, confused as Sirius went past him and down 
the steps. "Sirius, what happened? Did you see the Daily Prophet?"
	"Unfortunately. It goes to show that no good deed goes 
unpunished," Sirius mumbled, gathering together the letters he had 
received from Harry and other belongings that he really didn't need 
found at Remus' house. "I may have been followed, there's no time to 
discuss this in dept. Arabella is expecting you."
	"Arabella?" Remus repeated, going slightly pale. "Arabella Figg?"
	Sirius, satisfied that he had gathered everything that may be 
linked back to him, started for the door. "Yes, Arabella Figg. You can 
Floo to her house. She knows to cut off her house from the network as 
soon as you arrive. She can explain more when you get there."
	"Followed?" Remus repeated, ignoring all Sirius said about 
Arabella Figg. "What are you going on about?"
	"Just do as I say, please Moony," Sirius said, a little more 
loudly than he had intended and reverting back to the childhood name. 
"I've caused you enough problems in the past, I'm trying to stop this 
one before it starts."
	"Siru--" Remus stopped, seeing the graveness set in his friends 
face. "If you need.."
	"I know." Sirius suddenly pulled Remus into a short hug and then 
fled out the backdoor towards the shed where Buckbeak was. When he 
returned Remus had gone, a lingering green fire was still ignited. 
Sirius pointed his wand at the fireplace, muttered something and there 
was a loud spark as it was disconnected from the Floo Network.

	Remus nearly fell out of the fireplace at Arabella Figg's house. 
He caught his footing, ducked to miss his head connecting with the 
brick wall and climbed out. There was a distinct smell of boiled 
cabbage and cats that hit his nose and Remus couldn't ward off the 
smile that threatened his lips before he caught it. Some memories were 
better left in the past, he thought as a woman stepped out of the 
kitchen and into the living room.
	Like Remus, she appeared slightly older than he knew her to be. 
In fact, he knew she was only thirty-seven years old. She had a few 
scattered grays in otherwise blonde hair, but was as beautiful as Remus 
remembered her. Shaking his head slightly to shake away soot from the 
fire, as well as where his last thought might take him, Remus gave a 
small smile. "Bella," he greeted.
	"Remus," she replied, studying him like one might an insect under 
a magnifying glass. She gave him a strained smile. "You look good."
	"You look beautiful," he replied automatically before catching 
himself. He tried to laugh it off. "I guess some things never change?" 
It was a rhetorical question at best, he hardly had hopes they could 
carry on a conversation without awkward and emotional tension. After 
all, they had been engaged.
	And he had left her.
	A point that had made it to the top of things in his life he 
regretted. Right up there with Lily and James. He repressed a shutter, 
removing his gaze from Arabella to the living room in which he stood. 
When he found nothing more interesting than muggle photographs of her 
various cats, his gaze fell once more on her. "Any idea as to what I'm 
doing here?" he asked.
	"Not because you wanted to see me, I can assure you," she replied 
and turned heel. Remus visibly winced. That hurt, bad. In a way it was 
nice to see she still had retained the same fiery temper she had as a 
teenager. 
	Remus followed her into the kitchen. Arabella was standing at the 
sink, pointing her wand at a pile of dishes as she fished through her 
refrigerator. Good to know that she had more in hers than Remus had in 
his. Without turning around, she nodded to a table to his left. "Sit 
down. I'll make you something to eat. Merlin knows you look like you 
could use it."
	Remus smiled slightly, and sat as commanded. In three years of 
dating her and nine years of knowing her, Remus knew better than to 
open his mouth when she had that commanding tone. A wise man chose his 
battles carefully, and Remus considered himself somewhat wise. As 
though why he never came crawling back to her so many years ago--well, 
we can't all be perfect.
	In less time that it would have taken for him and Sirius to burn 
together what resembled food, Arabella had sat a plate of meatloaf, 
mashed potatoes, corn and a roll before Remus. He picked up the fork 
and started to take a bite when he noticed his hand slightly burning.
	It was a silver fork.
	He dropped it, instinct fully pulling his hand back and cradling 
it. It took all he had not to mumble a good "ouch" at the least, and a 
mild string of profanity for his stupidity, at the most. Arabella 
snapped her head around, her eyes huge. "Oh Remus, I'm sorry," she 
mumbled, reaching for the silver fork to throw it in the sink. "I 
forgot."
	"It's ok," Remus lied, feeling his heart begin pumping at an 
abnormal pace as she drew nearer. "I'm fine."
	She reached for his hand despite his protests and stomped an 
angry foot when he held his hand from her reach. "Let me see!" she 
insisted, reaching once more for his injured hand. Reluctantly he 
allowed her to see. With a flash of her wand, it was healed on the 
surface and only burned slightly beneath.
	"Thank you," he mumbled when she didn't let go of his hand. She 
dropped it, turning on her heel. A second later she returned with a 
plastic fork and handed it to him.
	The door bell rang, causing Arabella to look up in alarm. Remus 
followed her curiously as she went into the living room and looked out 
the peek hole. Her face lost it's color. "Remus--" she began, but he 
was a step ahead of her.
	"Don't worry."
	He watched as she took a gulp of some potion in a glass near the 
sink. In seconds he realized it to be Polyjuice potion, the effects now 
adding about fifty muggle years to her. Surely that would explain the 
boiled cabbage smell as he entered her house. She grabbed a cane that 
was leaning against the wall and opened the door slowly, peeking out 
without fully opening it. "Petunia?" she mumbled.
	Remus felt his mouth fall open as he stood just on the other side 
of the wall, listening. Petunia? As in, Petunia Evans, or rather 
Dursley? Lily's sister? What was she doing here?
	"Yes, Mrs. Figg. I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but I 
wondered if I could have a moment?"
	Arabella seemed lightly agitated by this, but allowed her into 
the living room anyway. Remus sneaked a peek around the corner and saw 
indeed it was Lily's sister. She looked as horse faced and bony has she 
had the last time he had saw her. Arabella followed Petunia in the 
living room, giving a nervous look around as if looking for Remus. 
Satisfied when she didn't spot him, she sat across from Petunia.
	"What brings you here? Do you need me to watch Harry for 
something?"
	"Eh-no, actually," Petunia replied, looking more nervous by the 
moment. "But I did come to talk to you about Harry. He's--he's gone 
missing," she said, trying to come off as upset. She wasn't making a 
good show of it. "I wondered if you had seen him?"
	"Missing?" Arabella repeated, sounding older than he knew her to 
be. "How long he been gone that you're just now asking about him?"
	Petunia looked paler still. "A-a day or so." She looked at her 
clasped hands, swallowing. Remus could practically smell the fear from 
her. "Actually, Mrs. Figg, it's not exactly like that."
	"I imagined as much," Arabella replied shortly.
	"He--he--" And suddenly, and very unexplainably, Petunia burst 
into tears. She wept for a long while, her hands buried in her face, 
before looking up at Arabella again. "I'm sorry. But I don't know what 
to do. If anyone were to ask of him, what can I say? That forsaken 
godfather of his took him and..."
	"I doubt very much that Sirius had to force Harry to go, as you 
suggest, Petunia," Arabella said seriously, her voice sounding much more 
like her normal self rather than the elderly lady she had fashioned 
herself to be. "And you can stop worrying about what will happen to 
you, since I know you're too selfish to care what happens to Harry. I 
can assure you he is in good hands and no one need come to you about 
it."
	Petunia looked like she had just watched someone being sick. Her 
face had an odd sort of look on it as she stared at Arabella. Remus, no 
longer believing his presence needed to be hidden, stepped into the 
living room. He thought the other woman just might faint.
	"You!" she seethed, getting up abruptly.
	"It's so nice to see you, too, Petunia," Remus replied, his arms 
crossed casually over his chest. "It's been what, fourteen years now 
since Lily's funeral? I had so hoped to never lay eyes on you again."
	"Wh--What are you doing here?" she asked, looking to Arabella. 
Remus gave her a second glance as well, for her Polyjuice potion seemed 
to be wearing off a little prematurely. When her own face stared back 
at Petunia, the latter screeched like a dying animal. "And... oh my 
God!" she shrieked, jumping to her feet. "You! I know you!"
	"You certainly do, love," Arabella said sarcastically. "You 
should, I spent nearly an entire summer at your house with Lily. Pity 
some of my more intelligent pranks were so lost on you that you thought 
I was trying to kill you." She smirked. "Had I wanted to cause you 
harm, I wouldn't have been so subtle."
	Remus couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips. "She's right 
about that."
	Petunia sank back into the chair, looking no better than having 
just been hexed. "All these years, we sent Harry over here... and you 
were friends with..." She stopped, tilting her head and looking 
curious. "Why didn't you tell him? You had plenty of opportunity."
	"Tell him what, Petunia? How his parents died? How Voldemort 
killed them, and then tried to kill him? How he was a wizard? Exactly 
what would you be referring to?"
	Remus had the urge to put his arm around Arabella to restrain 
her, but felt she really needed to get this off her chest. He couldn't 
imagine what it had been like, seeing her best friend's son for eleven 
years, and yet not being able to comfort him in the least. Let him know 
anything about who he was, or what wonderful people his parents had 
been. It had been hard enough for him just while teaching at Hogwarts 
for a year.
	"Everything," Petunia replied. "You knew Lily and whatever it was 
she done at that place she went to. You knew all about those... bloody 
mad people!" she spat, standing again. Remus had half a mind to tell 
Petunia that Arabella, or at least the one he knew, wasn't exactly 
someone you wanted to get in the face of.
	Then he thought better of it.
	Instead he leaned against the wall, watching the scene before him 
with something akin to amusement. Arabella seemed to swell with anger. 
"Get out of my house," she whispered, which was nearly as bad as if her 
voice had shook the walls. Petunia glanced down at the wand in 
Arabella's hand and fled towards the door. "I hear one more word from 
your lips, Petunia, about Lily, James, or her son, and I swear to lay 
the nastiest curse I know on your home."
	Panic ridden, Petunia took one last look at Remus, then to 
Arabella, before fleeing down the sidewalk. Remus quietly went to the 
door, shutting it and placing a locking charm on it before turning 
around.
	Arabella was slouched in her chair, her eyes filled to the brim 
with tears. When she noticed Remus watching her, she tried to smile, 
but only managed a weak one before her tears spilled forth. "Does it 
still hurt?" she mumbled, wiping her face. "When you think of them? 
Like a knife stabbing in your heart?"
	"Yes," Remus replied quietly, still standing next to the door.
	Arabella wiped her face, looking at the floor. "I miss Lily 
everyday. She was the only true friend I ever had. I lost her, and then 
you, all in the course of a week."
	Remus flinched noticeably, going over to sit on the couch and 
stare hard at his hands. She had lost so much, but so had he. He had 
lost James, Peter and Sirius to Voldemort in one way or another in one 
fatal night, Lily and then Harry -- he lost a bit of his sanity that 
week when he watched his best friend lowered into the ground. Never to 
laugh again, to play pranks, to be the loving husband, perfect father 
and best friend.
	He lost Arabella when he lost touch with reality. He fled from 
her, as he fled from the memories of the life he had and lost so 
quickly.
	Only to come full circle, it seemed.
	"Why Remus?" Arabella suddenly whispered, looking at him through 
a haze of tear filled red eyes. "Why did you leave?"
	Remus was saved from answering by the sound of a beak tapping on 
glass. Both of them looked to the living room window to find a snowy 
white owl tapping incessantly on the pane. "Hedwig?" Remus mumbled, 
getting to his feet.
	"Who?" Arabella asked, also following him as he let the owl in 
the front door.
	"Harry's owl," he replied, taking the parchment from Hedwig's 
leg. She hooted gratefully, landing on the back of the couch and 
looking exhausted. He unrolled the parchment and read aloud:

Remus-

Do you know where Sirius is? I sent a letter to him by Hedwig just 
after my birthday, and she returned it to me a week later. Sirius 
always writes back, no matter what. I'm afraid something bad as 
happened. Please tell me he is with you, or at least safe.

-Harry

	Remus re-read the letter to himself, and then glanced at Arabella 
expectantly. Her hands twisted in a nervous fashion before her as she 
made her way back to the chair by the fire, sitting down softly.
	"Bella, what's going on?" Remus asked urgently, but in a soft 
voice. 
	She shook her head, another tear falling down her face that she 
wiped at in vain. "It's happening all over again, Remus. All of it. 
He's... he's getting stronger. There has been killings, muggle 
disappearances..."
	"Who followed Sirius?" Remus pressed on.
	"They did," she whispered, her pale blue eyes finding and holding 
Remus' gaze. "The Death Eaters, at the Marsley's. He was at Godric 
Hollow Cemetery and seen the dark mark. I don't know what possessed him 
to go in, armed with only a wand that doesn't even suite him properly. 
Merlin, who ever knows what gets into Sirius when he does stupid 
things? He went in and dueled... barely escaped alive. But he heard 
them talking before they left, that they knew he'd be at your house." 
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly. "He Flooed in, told 
me what happened, and to expect you shortly. That's all I know."
	Remus sat back, cursing slightly under his breath. What had 
Sirius been thinking? Does he think? To walk into a house full of Death 
Eaters and duel? It was stupid ness like that that could get him 
killed.
	It was stupid ness like that that had also made him one of the 
best Aurors the Ministry had fifteen years ago.
	"What do I tell Harry?" Remus mumbled, more to himself than to 
Arabella.
	He watched Arabella stand up, returning to the kitchen where they 
could still hear the gentle clicking of the dishes in the sink. "It's 
up to you, Remus. But Harry is fifteen years old now and he's fought 
Voldemort more than once. I think he deserves the truth."
	"And if he runs off looking for Sirius?" Remus retorted.
	"Wouldn't he anyway?"
	That wasn't exactly the answer Remus had in mind.

--End Chapter 3.

*takes a vote of how many people have forgotten we are even writing 
this story and notes that only two people are in the room* Incidently, 
that is probably Fleur and myself, huh? 

We are VERY sorry about how long it took to get this chapter out. 
Really, really! I promise that the next chapter will not take no where 
near this long. I really hope that maybe more than four people will 
read it---though we love our four reviews to death! Yes we do! :D (even 
though that first review was kinda odd...) But none the less ^-^

So what do you all think about the Arabella thing? I had ran across a 
story that had Remus and Arabella together and I LOVE that story so 
much! (it's called Pensieve, btw, by Oy Angelina -- very excellant 
reading!)And then I ran across the theory of the polyjuice potion on 
Mugglenet.com because they had connected that Arabella's house always 
spelled like boiled cabbages and then later said that the polyjuice 
potion spelled like boiled cabbages. Their theory was that Arabella was 
taking polyjuice potion, and I liked that idea and ran with it. Note, 
though, that I just told you where I got the idea, and gave 
Mugglenet.com credit, so don't email me cussing me out. I don't claim 
rights to it, I just borrowed it.

By the way, same thing with Harry Potter and all related characters: 
Fleur and I do not own, but we borrow, and put a disclaimer here so 
that we don't get in trouble ^^;;

If you read, please direct all thoughts, suggestions and such to the 
review section for this story by clicking on the drop down box below. 
The deadline for complicants, flames, gripes or other such musings was 
yesterday.