Ok, I'm not planning to do any romance. Anymore. I've decided it'd be too much, and I'm going to start another story, that one about romance, when I'm close to being finished with this. I always get details like eye colours screwed up; forgive me. And Hermione being in Divination: she's there because of those temporary timetable things. Remember? The school's a bit disorganized right now (they've never even seen the DADA teacher YET) so they have temporary schedules for the week that may not agree with their course selections and all. Sorry for the confusion (I kinda made up the timetables last chapter to have an excuse for making such mistakes in the future lol). Another thing, from last chapter, I don't remember if anyone ever told Hagrid that Sirius was innocent in the books. Since in the last chapter of my story, Hagrid knows, then let's say someone along the way told him if in the books no one did. Thanks to all the wonderful people who've reviewed! So much people reviewed, I'm in shock. Please R&R.
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Sirius enjoyed lunch. It took all his self-control not to leap onto the table and just devour everything in sight, but it was worth it. The food there was amazing, better than Sirius had remembered it to be. Harry continuously put down plates of food beside him for the dog and had to replace them with new ones almost instantly. Well, Sirius was really hungry.
Finally, after everyone was full and the lunch break began, Sirius and Harry headed to the headmaster's office.
"Marauder's Map." Harry said to the stone gargoyle. Sirius was still amused by the password, apparently, because he ran into the room, barking happily.
But once he'd transformed back into a human, Sirius barely had time to breathe. People came at him from different directions, hugging him, greeting him, telling him off, and whatever else they were saying was lost in the noise. Remus Lupin, Allen Krived, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter stood at the side, watching, as the Order members greeted Sirius. It must've been hard to breathe for him in the mess, because a few minutes later, Snuffles wiggled out from between a few people, running over to the five and hiding behind Harry. It took the crows another moment to realize he was gone and they turned back to him as he whimpered. Luckily, this time they were more civilized.
"Sirius! You're back!" Nymphadora Tonks (whose hair was now long, curly and strawberry blonde) exclaimed. Slowly and cautiously, Sirius transformed back again. "I thought Remus was joking or something but no, you're back, you're here!" She continued. "I'm so sorry! They told me what happened, I should have finished Bella off, that–!"
"Are you all right, dear? All this and being brought back to life… you must be really tired! And hungry!" Molly Weasley worried.
"How was it down there? That Veil is just about the biggest mystery of the Ministry. What was it like?" Alastor Moody questioned.
Everyone was talking at the same time and it was hard to make out everything. Sighing, Sirius sat down on an armchair beside him. This was going to take a while. At the side, Dumbledore told Harry to get on to his classes, which were to begin in five minutes.
"Sirius might be in here for a long time." Dumbledore chuckled, watching everyone fuss over Sirius.
Harry waved to Sirius, who looked at him pleadingly before being obstructed from view by Fred and George Weasley (they were now in the Order as well). Ever since the twins found out that Sirius and Remus were two of the four people behind the Marauder's Map, they became absolutely fascinated with the two.
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"So what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" Ron asked as soon as Harry joined him and Hermione on their way to Potions.
"Nothing, he just wanted to give the Order members time to welcome Sirius back." Harry replied.
"Well we've got triple Potions. Too bad Sirius isn't here, I would pay so much to see the expression on Professor Snape's face when he first sees him." Hermione giggled, and Harry and Ron looked at her proudly.
"Look, Dumbledore said that um, Snuffles could stay here…" Harry began.
"Oh that's great!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Yeah, but I don't know if it is… I mean I agreed and I'd love for him to stay here but I don't know if it's the best idea. First of all, it's full of people; he could always get caught. Second of all, we have the mirrors now anyway and we can always communicate if anything happens." Harry said.
"Mirrors?" Ron asked confused.
"Oh yeah, the mirror that Hermione helped me fix; Sirius gave me that… before… and I'd only opened it after we came back from the Ministry… anyway he has another one; if I just say his name to my mirror and he has his with him, we could talk to each other through them." When he finished, Harry caught their accusatory stares, "I didn't tell you before because you'd think I was still hung up on the whole… thing."
"But you were." Hermione pointed out. "And it's a good thing you were too, because otherwise he would never have gotten out."
"What is this here? Shouldn't you be heading to class instead of standing here and discussing… matters?" A cold, suspicious voice said from behind them. The trio turned around to meet the constantly apprehensive pale face of Severus Snape.
"Yes, Professor Snape." They chorused glumly.
"You three have detention tonight with me. Maybe that'll teach you to linger in the halls when you should be walking to class." And with a nasty smirk, he went off ahead of them to his classroom.
"So, Harry, you'd be allowed to bring Snuffles to detention right? Just for today?" Hermione asked, smiling. Maybe this particular detention won't be too bad.
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In Potions class, they were to make a Revealing Potion in groups of three, so, naturally, the trio worked together. Hermione was doing most of the potion making, with Harry and Ron mostly following her instructions. Meanwhile, they were continuing their conversation from the hall.
"Look, Harry, if Snuffles staying here was such a bad idea, then why would Dumbledore suggest it?" Ron asked a perfectly reasonable question.
"Well, that's the thing. Dumbledore was so relieved to see Siri—Snuffles. And he felt guilty for locking him up in that hideous place for so long… he didn't want to do that again, so I think that's why he offered him to stay here." Harry said thoughtfully.
"Look, I think you should talk to Snuffles about this." Hermione said. "It would be best. Even if he still has to stay in Grimmauld, but they let him do something more than clean the house, it won't be so bad. Besides, they're working on clearing his name and all, and once that's over, he wouldn't have to hide anymore at all."
"You're right but I still don't know. I want him to stay here…" Harry said. He was so confused, torn between the part of him that was sensible and the part that was jumping at the opportunity to have Sirius stay with them.
"Look, Harry, you have to do what's best for everyone. I know you want him to stay; I do too but it really is not that good an idea." Then another idea struck Hermione. "Wait, maybe he can stay in the Shrieking Shack again." She whispered in excitement.
"NO TALKING!" Snape suddenly yelled from across the room. "Weasley, Granger, Potter. I believe you three already have detention with me tonight, would you like to make that a daily activity?"
"No sir." They replied, quite annoyed. From then on, the three worked really hard and by the end of the third class (the potion was really hard to make and took a long time to cool down), they were the first people to get it right.
"And what is this potion made for?" Snape asked grumpily.
"It reveals one's true intentions and/or identity." Ron answered, earning himself a look from Hermione. She loved answering questions but he wanted to make sure Snape didn't find anything wrong so that he was forced to give them points (he would have found something insulting to say if Hermione had answered).
"Three points to Gryffindor." Snape grumbled unhappily. It was almost a necessity that teachers give the students who finish tasks first house points. Snape walked to the other side of the room, looking for someone to yell at after failing to do so with his favourite targets.
"Well, from him, three points is an honour." Ron stated. And, to further Snape's disappointment, the three went on talking the rest of the period.
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After dinner, the trio came up to their common rooms to leave their things before heading to detention. There they were met by Sirius, in his dog form, and Lupin.
"You're early." Remus stated after they greeted each other.
"We have detention." Sirius looked at Harry accusingly. "With Snape." Harry cleared up.
"Everyone else is still down there, I think it's safe if Sirius transforms now." Hermione noted. Sirius didn't need asking twice; he turned into a human instantly.
"Ok, Sirius, I think I need to talk to you about something." Harry said when Hermione gave him a look.
"Ok, what?" He asked.
"Well, I don't think it's a great idea if you stay here, even as Snuffles. It's too risky right now…" Harry averted his godfather's eyes.
"You want me to go back to Grimmauld?" Sirius asked, almost disbelievingly.
"No!" Harry said quickly.
"You could stay at the Shrieking Shack again." Hermione said.
"At least until you're cleared and everything." Ron added. "We'd come by to visit you and all…"
"I think that would be a better idea too, Padfoot." Remus turned to Sirius, who was thinking.
"Fine. I'll stay there. Harry, do you still have that mirror I gave you?" Harry took it out of his pocket; he'd kept it in there ever since Hermione repaired it. "Ok, well I guess we can always communicate with that…" Sirius said.
"That's what I said." Harry grinned.
"We'd better get going. Dinner will be over soon." Hermione said.
"Ok, but one more thing," Remus began, "well we're going to get a hearing on the matter of Sirius's innocence in next Saturday. Just thought you'd want to know."
"Can we help out?" Harry asked, instantly interested. He was determined to prove that Sirius was innocent.
"Probably. I think we need all the help we can get. One of us will tell you if you can do anything… well you better go." Remus said. "And so should I. Oh, Harry, that mirror, I have one too. If you ever need to talk to me or anything…" Harry nodded. "Well, I better be off too. Bye."
"Bye." The trio said almost simultaneously.
"See ya, Moony." Sirius waved. He turned back to Harry, Hermione and Ron once Remus left. "So… how would you feel about me paying a visit to dear old Snivelly along with you three?" And he transformed back into the dog, joining the trio on their way back to the Potions classroom.
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When the door opened and Harry, Hermione, Ron and Snuffles came in, Snape didn't bother to look up.
"I need you three to clean up the mess over at Longbottom's table." Neville's potion had backfired again. The cauldron had broken into tiny shreds and the sticky potion was spread all over that part of the classroom. One of the ingredients of the potion, if used incorrectly, stuck to surfaces so tightly that it was impossible to get it off in Muggle ways. "And consider yourselves lucky. No magic." Snuffles barked angrily and Snape finally looked up. He noticed the big black dog and a look of horror passed through his features, then recognition, surprise, astonishment and anger. He looked paler than ever. "W-what is he doing here?" He asked angrily. Sirius decided to answer that himself.
"I thought I'd come to visit an old friend, Snivelly." He said calmly after transforming again.
"Sirius. Shouldn't you be dead?" Snape replied in his usual tone, calming down a little. "Something about a veil and Bellatrix…"
"Now, now, did you really think a piece of cloth would make me go away?" Sirius shook his head.
"How did you get out?"
"Harry helped me out." Sirius said evenly.
"Oh that's-that's—who let you in the castle anyway?" Snape kept asking.
"Professor Dumbledore. Said I could stick around here for a while. I hope you don't mind." He said mockingly.
"Mind—YOU THREE!" Snape suddenly turned to Harry, Hermione and Ron, who were watching the scene. "Get. To. Work. NOW!" He yelled. They walked off to the messy desks, casting looks of pure hatred on Snape. Meanwhile Sirius sat down on top of one of the desks, still wearing the same calm, almost mocking, expression.
"So, Snivelly, we haven't really gotten a chance to talk lately." Sirius said in mock concern.
"No, you've been too locked up and busy doing nothing to talk." Severus retorted.
"Yeah… you're right. But now I'm not. So how've you been, Snivelly? Still teaching Potions? Do you know who's teaching Defence this year?" Sirius smiled at the extremely irritated look on Snape's face.
"They haven't appointed anyone…" Severus started.
"But they have. So you didn't hear?" Snape looked at him in confusion, the trio listened intently too. "Remember Allen? Allen Krived?" Snape scowled and Harry's mouth fell open. Hermione and Ron just looked confused. They were barely told about Allen, except Harry mentioning his name in his quick explanation during Magical Creatures.
"What?" Severus snapped. He was obviously still trying to get that job. "Him??"
"Oh yeah. I just found out too. They wanted Moony again—apparently he was pretty much everyone's favourite teacher, even with the werewolf thing—but he refused. Too busy, you know. So Dumbledore asked Allen and, well…" Sirius smirked. Snape looked outraged.
"GO!" He yelled suddenly. "LEAVE. You three finish cleaning, but YOU, leave!"
"Um, Professor, we're done." Hermione said. They'd used magic while Snape wasn't looking. Snape looked ever angrier.
"Fine. Get. Out. Of. My. Classroom." He said slowly, emphasizing every word. Apparently, he wasn't fond of Allen any more than he was fond of the Marauders. Sirius jumped off the desk, transforming into the dog and trotted out happily with the trio, leaving Snape along with his rage.
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"You can stay with us until the weekend." Harry was telling Sirius. They were in one of those hidden rooms of the school, with Sirius human again. They needed a place to talk.
"Yeah, you can sleep in our dormitories and during the day, um go to Dumbledore or something." Ron added.
"Because if you stay with us in classes, we'll never learn anything. Funny how many people in this school are dog lovers." Hermione joined in.
"Ok, ok." Sirius laughed.
"Hey, for a change of topic, tell us about this Allen guy." Ron asked Sirius.
"Oh yeah. Damn, I ruined the surprise for you, sorry. I just had to see the look on Snivelly's face." Sirius chuckled. "Ok, well he's appointed the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, as you now know. Um he was an Auror; I don't know what happened with that. I don't know why he isn't in the Order either. But anyway, Allen's a really good guy. I think he's just a bit younger than Dumbledore but he acts even younger. He'll be a really fun teacher; we had him back in our sixth and seventh years. He's really nice, too. Snivellus met him only a couple of times but already managed to hate him, so I think that can be counted as a good thing. They asked Moony to take up the job again, but he didn't want to. Wanted to do more for the Order, you know."
"He's gonna help with the Ministry trial stuff too, right?" Harry asked.
"Allen? Yeah. Apparently, he kept in touch with all these people from our year… quite a few are in the Ministry now, we'll talk to them… if we had a witness, then there'd be no problem but the only witness is Peter, so that's not happening." Sirius replied thoughtfully.
"Why can't they just put a truth potion or something like that on you, then they'd know you're telling the truth." Ron said. It did seem like the easiest solution.
"Oh, Dark Magic can easily block even the most complex truth potions, or charms, spells, anything. You don't even need Dark Magic, if you have enough control of your inner self, you can block that stuff." Hermione replied. "Kind of like all that Occlumency stuff."
"Oh man. So what happens if they decide that you're guilty?" Ron asked cautiously.
There was a silence. "They'll probably put me back in Azkaban or give me the Kiss." Sirius said thoughtfully. He looked horrified at the idea.
"Well we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen then." Harry said to break the silence that had ensued again.
"We should go back to our common room, it's getting late." Hermione noted.
"Yeah let's go. I'm really getting tired of transforming back and forth though." Sirius said, sighing as he once again transformed into Snuffles, following the trio out of the room and to the Fat Lady portrait.
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Ok, I finished. I would have finished this earlier but yesterday I was really hyper and I couldn't bring myself to write anything serious, and before that I was working on my Friends fic (I have to stop forgetting about that one), and then there were problems with FF.NET, so, well, I didn't. So many people reviewed though! Oh my God!
Auriablack, aww thanks. Ron Weasley, thank you so much, you're so nice. Sorry, I'm not doing romance anymore. Maybe some other time. Lil Lupin thanks. shining-star, thank you so, so much and I know what you mean; the stories make it a lot better. Trish, I know, damn JKR for being such a good writer and making us fall in love with him. Ginny, thanks a lot. You never know, she might bring him back in the next book so don't give up completely. And I have to agree; her style is different in OotP… padfoot, ok, no romance. I like 'sappy' stories sometimes but it wouldn't mix well with what I have here already… beliya, I'm glad you like it. I fixed the eye colours thing a few days ago finally, and as I said in the first A/N, the timetables are temporary and not customized so Hermione had Divination too. Tillia KaWaii, wow, thank you. Padfoot79 thanks a lot. Kandice, lol, I finally got chocolate! That's why I was too hyper to write serious stuff lately. I'm still thinking about how I will fit Lucius into the plot, so give me some time for that, ok? Bree Cheese Eater, lol, nice name, and I wish it were true too. Hopefully JKR has a good reason for doing what she did. Vesha thanks. Sirius of my Heart, whoa, I do all those things except dream about killing Bellatrix, unfortunately. I barely dream because I spend whole days and nights reading Sirius fics, and then I get no sleep and when I do get sleep, I'm too tired to dream anything. Burning, thank you. Ice, there's Tonks. I should have written her when I was hyper; I don't think she came off hyper enough. Thanks! Sarah thanks. WeaselGirlmmm, Harry was a bit of a jerk in book 5, yeah, but he's usually a good character still. I was angry too. Upset, then angry, then devastated, then came the fanfics stage, which can be called denial, but I like that stage. Acceptance isn't going to happen for me though. peachgirl1608, I know, *sobs with you *. Padfoot's Bone, I had that thought in mind too when I was writing but then I figured that it'd be better if Sirius wasn't right at Hogwarts, that'd be too problematic right now, thus the Shrieking Shack again. Ali, thank you, um, I just realized how much things in my story Dumbledore doesn't know… from now on, I'm gonna make him more knowing. Tonks, there, I did. Christine, thank you, sorry I couldn't finish faster. Kaitlyn, :D, here you go.
Aah, look at all the people, thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you liked this chapter, it is going to get into more meaningful chapters soon enough but I wanted to take a break and give Harry and Sirius some happy-time. The last conversation was mostly for your guys' benefit, so if it seems a little interview-y, sorry. Hey, did everyone have that problem with FF.net in the past two days? For me, it didn't open at all, my mom got so annoyed because I kept worrying about it… Well anyway, please review and see ya next time, hopefully soon.