Disclaimer--The Potterverse and its inhabitants don't belong to me, I'm just borrowing them with grateful respect for those who brought it into being for us to visit. Any influences from the books, movies, or fellow fanfic writers are not intended as copyright infringement, only the sincerest form of flattery.

Author's Notes--

Strawberries and Blueberries--Hope this is soon enough. ;-) *hugs*

Adrienne--Ginny's finally finding the fun side of daily life in Hogwarts...I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. (Love the sign) *winks* I'm glad you agreed that Hermione's friendship made a catalyst for Ginny to appreciate how well she does fit in, and that you thought the letter to Bill was a good way to close...*hugs*

EEDOE--Isn't it funny how Ron and Hermione influence one another more than either would ever admit? I think it's cute, too. ;-) Yeah...about time Ginny got to show that talkative side and prove she isn't always the timid weakling in the corner. *nods emphatically* I think Ginny sort of enjoys being busy...she doesn't have too much time to think uncomfortable thoughts--you got the bit about the parchment exactly right! *hugs*

Bill--In OotP, Ginny says something along the line of "I forgot" when Madam Pince swoops down on them with the chocolate...so...*winks* The difference between catching Hermione's eye and Harry's sees to be that Hermione notices...still, at least it is a start. Yes...Ginny's schedule DOES have to be regimented...especially she's spending a lot of time with Hermione, who schedules every second this year. *grins* I agree...both about the signifcance of the letter and with the idea that she'll probably have more bad moments...though I'm not sure she has time this year...*hugs*

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"Professor Lupin?" Ginny said suddenly, interrupting their third lesson in Occulumency.



Professor Lupin made a soft sound that might have been an inquisitive grunt.



"Do you think...maybe...there's even the slightest chance...Did you ever wonder if...Sirius Black didn't kill those people after all?" The idea had been lurking over her shoulder ever since it had first occurred to her, and it kept getting more and more insistent...Even if it hadn't been starting to interfere with her ability to clear her mind of thoughts and emotions something that wasn't exactly easy to begin with, although she was beginning to enjoy the deep languor that spread through her limbs when she was making a good attempt-Ginny had been trying to get up the nerve to ask for a while. She wanted to know, so she would know.



She wished she hadn't asked when she saw Professor Lupin's reaction-he was such a pale white it seemed like the blue-tinged gray of long-dead flesh, and his eyes, so pained she was surprised he wasn't screaming like a banshee, stared far off into the distant past. When she looked more closely, she could see he was so rigid with emotion he was shaking. "Professor? Professor Lupin? Do you need help? Should I go and get someone? What's happened-what did I say?"



"No-Nothing," Lupin said, his posture easing slightly, his eyes slowly falling back into the present. "I was just...what on earth would possess you to even wonder such a thing? Didn't you know there were eyewitness accounts?"



"Yes," Ginny admitted, uncomfortable with the subject now she'd begun it. "Dad told me...but...well, couldn't the witnesses have had their memories modified or something?"



"Of course they had their memories modified, the Ministry-oh, you mean before the Ministry arrived? So their account wasn't what happened?"



Ginny nodded.



"Well...yes, the idea has occurred to me once or twice, but I'm afraid I just don't see how Black could be innocent."



"Why not?" Ginny asked, rushing to get the words out before she lost her nerve.



Lupin sighed. Suddenly he looked very tired.



"Ginny...why the sudden interest in this? You don't strike me as the type for morbid curiosity-you haven't seen Black around anywhere have you?"



"No..." Ginny said, hoping he didn't notice her slight hesitation over the word. "But...well...I overheard dad telling mum the Ministry thought Black escaped to go after Harry..."



"Harry," Lupin said in a tone of a man who'd just discovered the truth of life, the university, and everything.



"Yes." Ginny said, blushing slightly in spite of herself, even though she knew Lupin wouldn't belittle her feelings for Harry...or even tease her about them. "And...well...I've been wondering why...Black didn't try to attack Harry over the summer when Dumbledore wasn't around to protect him...if...if he wanted to kill Harry, why did he wait?"



Lupin looked mildly impressed. "A good point...but you know Harry is protected as long as he stays with the Dursleys?"



"Yes...but what about when he's outdoors doing lawn work? Or when he went to Diagon Alley? Why would Black worry about a shadowy tavern full of wizards when he had no problem getting into Hogwarts, and no problem killing a street full of muggles? It just doesn't make sense."



"It does if Black wants to draw attention," Lupin said grimly, his mouth uncharacteristically tight at the corners. "And he might be if he's hoping to rejoin Lord Voldemort."



"Voldemort?" Ginny said in surprise, stumbling slightly over the unnatural grandiose name for a man she would always think of as Tom.



"Your father didn't tell you why Black killed those people?"



"I thought he went crazy."



"Well...possibly...but probably not. He always tended to be a bit wild and unpredictable, but he wasn't crazy-yes, I knew him. As a matter of fact...he was a very good friend of mine at one time."



Ginny swallowed hard, but she had trusted Dumbledore's judgement in believing Lupin would not attack her when he'd first told her he was a werewolf, and every encounter she had with him after that had only served as a further illustration of a warm and gentle nature. Just because he had been friends with a mass murderer didn't make him dangerous or evil...she had been friends with Tom Riddle, after all.



"Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew." Lupin said as if reciting a particularly touching verse. "And Remus Lupin, of course....We did everything together, we were in trouble constantly, and we were inseparable. But James and Sirius were even closer than the rest of us...closer than brothers...I think they were nearly as close as Fred and George."



"Then why-"



"Would Sirius want to kill Harry? I'm getting to that. Sirius was best man at James and Lily's wedding. He was godfather to their son...they named me one as well ...we all knew a werewolf wasn't the best candidate for a guardian, but..."



"It didn't matter because you were family," Ginny said firmly.

A smile seemed to flicker across Lupin's face. "Harry...Harry, who is so like his father...But even though our lives were so happy, the war wasn't going well, and wherever something dangerous was going on, James and Sirius had to be in the thick of it."

"What about Harry's mom?" Ginny asked, allowing herself a brief moment of interest in the people responsible for the boy she adored.

Lupin did smile then. "Ah-well, all you had to do was look for James, and there was Lily...but that didn't mean she didn't have a mind of her own. Anyway, Voldemort found out they were interfering with his plans, and we'd already seen what Voldemort did to people who dared to interfere. James and Lily tried hiding a couple of different times, but nothing seemed to work...and Dumbledore finally decided we had to have a traitor in our midst."

Ginny didn't know she had made a sound until she heard a small, strangled gasp. It sounded pathetically insignificant in the open space of the tower. "And so James and Lily prepared to do the Fidelius Charm-to lock the secret of their location deep within a person who loved them so that as long as that person didn't willingly divulge their location, they were safe."

"But they..." Ginny said, and couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Dumbledore himself offered to be their secret keeper. I offered...my life is worth so little, but I would have willingly given it for the chance to save them...I wanted to save them so badly, it might have been enough...but James wanted Sirius...he said Sirius understood him in a way no one else ever would...that they were bonded...he knew Sirius would never betray them...And so...Sirius it was."

Once again, Ginny was going to be sick because of Sirius Black. She choked bile back with effort, and laid hands gone cold against burning cheeks. "If he could do that...betray...killing muggles is nothing."

Lupin nodded grimly. "And Peter Pettigrew...the witnesses heard him confront Sirius with Lily and James seconds before..."

"And I thought...he might be innocent." Ginny said weakly.

Lupin shook his head sorrowful. "Don't feel too bad, Ginny...I find myself trying to believe as much all the time. Without Sirius and James-and Peter-I might never have known friendship...I can't help wanting to believe...Sirius might have been true to his..."

Ginny reached out and touched Lupin's more-than-usually slumped shoulder with hesitant fingertips. Lupin's gray eyes met hers, meshing so she could nearly feel the connection quivering between them like a thread. "You can never forget a friend," she said, repeating the words Bill had given her when she needed them most. "And you shouldn't. To forget the love you held for someone diminishes love itself."

Lupin reached up and gripped her hand in his, broad and rough and careworn, and she saw her tears in his eyes.