A/N: Are we ready for chapter eight? It may start to get a little confusing here, but I will do my best to get all of the details together. And remember: more reviews more chapters. Please review, even if you think this is the stupidest thing you've ever read. Tell me how to make it better.
P.S. I own nothing. All the credit goes to Her Royal Highness, Ms. J.K.R.
P.S.S. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. To Moony's Angel – Thank you for what you said. No one on my husband's side of the family like my son's name. They always give me hell for it.
To pheonixbabe – Good question. Harry's twins are hardly a year old. I haven't really thought about that yet. And, yes, they will be in the same room as Lucas. Except, they will be a little more comfortable than Lucas is. My son is 5 months old as of December 28. He is finally off of the oxygen (he's been on it since the day he was born) as of December 31. He should be out of the hospital and home by the beginning of February!!
Chapter 8
"What? No, you must be mistaken." Draco shook his head in denial, although he knew perfectly well what his mother was capable of.
Ron bounced forward, grabbing Ginny by the arm and pushing her behind him.
"I told you!" Ron bellowed. "I told you. 'Don't trust him,' I said. He was using you for information – "
"Get off!" Ginny screamed. "I don't believe you. He had nothing to do with this. I'm sure of it. He told me he has hardly spoken to his mother for ages! Draco… tell me you had nothing to do with this."
"I swear, Ginny, I had no idea. I had no part in this." Draco looked over at Hermione. "I'm going over there straightaway. I'll fix this. I'll show her – "
"No." Rita interrupted.
"What? What do you mean 'no'? It's my mother, she will – "
"I said no." Rita repeated. "You are all going. The plan is going smoothly thus far, and you are not going to ruin it. So, if you don't mind…" She paused to grab her wand while everyone stood staring at her, confused.
By the time someone had seen what she was reaching for, it was too late. Rope-like cords shot from her wand in every direction, binding hands to hands and feet to feet then around the group to pull them together.
"Don't try to disapparate or transform, the ropes won't let you." Rita explained. "And do try not to squirm so much, the ropes will only pull tighter."
"What the hell are you doing?" Remus growled.
"I do not recall asking you to speak. You shall remain silent if you know what's good for you, you filthy half-breed."
"Don't call him that! You have no right! How dare you – " Hermione screamed, trying to free herself from the ropes.
Rita laughed. "Weren't you listening? They will only pull tighter." She said as she walked closer to them, eyeing Draco with hatred.
"Draco, Draco, Draco…." Rita clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "The company you keep. Your mother will be disappointed."
"I don't care what my mother thinks." Draco snapped.
"Yes, I'm sure you don't. Just for fun, we shall see what she will say, shall we? We just have to wait for her owl."
"It was a set-up, then." Harry announced as though no one had figured it out. "You took my children. You – "
"Very good, Potter." Rita smiled. "But, no, I have not taken your bloody kids. That would have been Narcissa. Of course, if I had known about them sooner, I would have taken them when I attacked Lavender. A mistake on my part, and Narcissa had me for it. That is why I provided you with the counter-curse."
"What does she have to do with this? Let her go, let all of them go. Take me, I will go."
"Noble and brave Mr. Potter. Haven't you figured it out by now? She wants you to suffer. Do you get it yet? Torturing your wife, your kids, and your friends, and then killing them while you watch. Damn, I thought you had more brain cells."
"Suffer for what?" Hermione questioned, a little calmer this time.
"That will be explained very soon. When her letter comes and we leave, it will all be explained."
Rita looked out the window, watching for approaching owls. Then she turned to Harry. "Do you miss you mother, Harry? You will see her soon. And your dear friend Sirius Black, the filthy murderer."
She turned back to the window, but when she saw no owls she turned to Harry again. "By the way, Potter, I never had a chance to congratulate Belatrix. Will you do that when you see her? I would have, of course. But you see, you killed her."
"Go to hell."
"Now, now, that's not very nice. Sirius Black was an evil man. And a death eater, but some people seem to claim otherwise. He deserved what he got."
"You're wrong!" Harry screamed.
Rita's temper was starting to flare. "You will never understand, will you? You will never see the truth!"
"Stop it!" Hermione and Ginny screamed in unison.
"Sirius was a good man!" Hermione cried.
"Sirius Black was a murderer! He got what he deserved!"
"Oh, I did. Did I?"
Rita slowly turned around, refusing to believe her ears. Sirius Black is dead, she reminded herself. But, he was standing here now. Not as a ghost, but a solid human form.
"What's wrong, Rita?" Sirius teased. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."
There were muffled gasps of shock, but no one dared to speak. Sirius walked closer to Rita. He held no wand, but Rita looked terrified. Not a muscle twitched, and as she spoke her lips barely moved.
"But…you're dead …" Rita stepped back. "You're not real…you're not supposed to be here, you're not real…"
"No…" Sirius growled. He swung his hands up in a "stop" gesture, as if trying to push something invisible, then Rita's body hardened and fell to the floor. "I don't think you are supposed to be here."
Sirius smiled at the group of tied up people and cocked his head to the side. "Have you missed me?"
There was a few moments of silence as everyone stared at him until Harry finally said, "Well, are you going to untie us or not?"
"Of course." Sirius said and snapped his fingers. At once the cords went flying off in every direction, then disappeared.
"Er… Sirius…" Hermione said slowly. "How did… I mean, you're… why…"
"I'm not dead. I never was dead." Sirius replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. "Remus! What are you doing here?!?"
Remus was pulled out of his stupor when he heard his name. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here is the question! How did – "
"I guess I have some explaining to do."
"You're damn right you do!" Harry yelled. "You kept me waiting! You could have come back! I waited. I yelled for you, didn't you hear?"
"I couldn't come back. Believe me, I tried." Sirius took a seat, and, realizing they were still sitting on the floor, everyone followed suit.
"The veil, Sirius, you fell through the veil. That's death." Remus said.
"It's in the department of mysteries, Remus. Does that tell you anything?" Sirius got up and began to pace around the room. "They've been working on it for years upon years. That's why they call it the 'The Department of Mysteries.' It's all a mystery."
"Did you hear me calling for you?" Harry demanded. "You only just fell, didn't you have a chance to come back?"
"I heard only for a few moments. I tried to get back. There was no way to get back through the veil. Remus is right, partially. It is death, only there are some who can escape it." Sirius explained.
"You escaped it, then." Remus stated. "You always found a way to escape death."
"So, what happened?" Ginny asked.
"I disapparated. Not by my own doing, of course. It was more like a force dragging me to this alternate universe. My powers were limited, but I found – "
"What do you mean by 'alternate universe'? Lavender finally spoke up, sounding quite nervous.
"Not exactly an 'alternate universe'. It's hard to explain, really. The witches or wizards who fall through the veil either die or get trapped. The voices some people hear are those of the deceased. Those of us who were trapped were transported to a sort of 'purgatory'. But, we were not dead. If I was dead, Harry would have heard me calling back to him, and he didn't."
"It was like a parallel universe, but different, as well as the same. We had fewer powers. We had different means of law enforcement. There was no ministry, no minister of magic. It was basically a load of muggles trying to rid us of our powers, really."
"We found ways to get our power back. The trick was remembering it all. They were muggles, so they couldn't 'obliviate' us. It was something else that made us forget. But, we had to learn it all again. I remembered what powers I had, and eventually made them stronger. Much stronger."
"Soon they found out what I was up to. It was inevitable. But, my powers were getting stronger, and I learned to override them. It took time and they tried to overpower me, but with no powers of their own, they didn't get very far. Wizards have worked at it for years, trying to overpower the muggles. Very few have succeeded, and some have died trying."
"Once I learned how to apparate again, I tried to get back. I couldn't seem to apparate where I wanted to go. Then, finally, I began to apparate to you, Harry. Most of the time, I've went elsewhere. But, I tried to get to you. And try as I might, I couldn't seem to stay. I just kept disapparating again. It was like this invisible energy pulling me back. I'm not sure how I managed to get past it, but I'm here now. And I haven't been pulled back."
They sat silently, trying to take it all in. And waited to see if he would continue.
Sirius smiled. "So, now that I've told you my story, does anyone want to tell me what this old bat is doing here?" He glanced at the unconscious Rita.
"Hold the phone." Harry blurted out. "You need to explain this to the Ministry, Sirius.
You say other wizards have escaped, but they never said anything. You need to say something!"
"Are you mad?!? An escaped convict waltzing into the Ministry of Magic? You are insane." Sirius laughed.
"A lot has happened since you've been gone, Sirius." Remus stated.
"You're cleared, Sirius." Harry explained.
"Most of the death eaters were captured after I killed Voldemort. The rest of them were killed, unfortunately, Pettigrew was one that was killed. They never knew it was Pettigrew. He transformed just before he died. Fudge had long since given up his title as Minister of Magic, and the new Minister believed we were telling the truth. But, he didn't think anyone else would. He cleared you out of 'respect for the deceased', or something like that."
"You killed Voldemort? Bloody hell! How'd you do it?" Sirius asked, amused.
"You're missing the point, Sirius!" Hermione squealed. "You have to – "
"No, can't do it. End of story. Now, tell me what's going on here."
"Sirius, who's going to tell the truth if not you?" Remus asked.
"Someone else, Moony, not me. I can't do it, so drop it." Sirius sat down again and turned to Harry. "So, are you going to tell me why she's here?"
"I'm not dropping this, not yet. Why can't you say anything? You can't just walk around town, everyone thinks your dead! Do you really want to go into hiding again?"
"I don't have to. No one will ever notice me. Watch… " Within a few seconds, Sirius's hair color and eye color changed, and his hair went from long to short.
"Remember Tonks? She was born a metamorphmagus. I… sort of learned it as my powers got stronger. So, you see, I don't have to go into hiding. Please drop the subject now."
"Narcissa's owl is here." Hermione pointed out. She opened the letter and began to read. Tears streamed down her face as she read to herself.
"What does it say?" Remus asked impatiently.
She gave Remus the letter and he read it aloud.
"Everything is set. Make it quick, Rita, because if these babies don't quit screaming I will kill them before you get here."