CHAPTER 9: ROUND AND ROUND

Buffy blinked as her mind attempted to process what he had said.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Buffy said, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

"Sirius Black betrayed the Potters," the man repeated.

"No, you must be mistaken," Buffy said. "Sirius would never betray James. They were best friends. They were basically brothers."

"And that's the best part," the man said. "The Potters thought that they were safe by using Black, but he turned them over to the Dark Lord just like that." The man gave a little snap of his fingers to emphasize his point. "They never saw it coming."

"No," Buffy denied more forcefully. "Peter was the rat in the group. If anyone had betrayed James, it would have been him. Sirius would never do that."

"A lot of people found it hard to believe, until the incident with Peter."

"What happened with Peter?" Buffy asked with narrowed eyes.

"Peter went after Sirius, and accused him of murdering Lily and James. He was right upset about their deaths. Peter never had a chance, as Black cornered him and blew him up on a street full of muggles. Thirteen people killed with a single curse. His finger was the biggest piece of him they could find."

The others were standing around shocked. They knew how Buffy felt about Sirius, she had told them everything she could. Now it seemed that once again, life decided to kick her while she was down.

But Buffy just wouldn't accept it.

"There is no way that Sirius could do those things. He's not that kind of person. He wouldn't do that," she ranted.

"You knew him years ago Buffy, lots of things could have changed," Willow said gently.

"Yeah, he could become a raving psycho who decided to switch sides," Anya said. "I mean, look what happened to Willow."

"You don't understand. He hated his family and they were all dark wizards. He would never do those things."

"No one else seemed to think so highly of him. Fudge sent him to Azkaban without trial."

"He did what?" Buffy asked, her tone deadly. She paled slightly at the mention of the horrible wizarding prison.

"How many years did he spend there? Around twelve, I think," the man supplied, thinking back. "Then he escaped. First prisoner ever to do it. He went after little Harry Potter at Hogwarts. Tried to kill him, but didn't succeed," the man said with a scowl. "That kid has more lives..."

"So is he dead?" Buffy asked with wide eyes.

"No. He escaped somehow. He's good at getting himself out of scrapes."

"Why would he want to kill Harry?"

"I realize you're blonde," the man said nastily, "but think about it will you? The man spent several years as a spy for the Dark Lord. He finally chose to show his true colours only to have the little runt defeat his master. I think he'd want revenge, don't you?"

"No. I don't," Buffy said, glaring at the man with cold eyes. "Sirius Black would never betray James Potter."

"You're the one who asked," the man said with a snarl.

"I wanted the truth," Buffy said.

"Well, the truth hurts, baby," he said. "If you can't handle it..."

The man didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Buffy stepped foreword, grabbed a handful of his robes, and shoved him up a tree.

"Buffy, no!" Her friends barely had time to protest her sudden and rash actions.

"Handle this," she said, shoving a stake through his heart, oblivious to the cries around her.

His face showed his surprise at the sudden turn of events, and he didn't get another word in before he crumbled to dust.

Buffy dusted her hands and turned away from the tree where the man had once stood. She faced her friends who were astonished at her actions. "What?"

"That was a vampire?" Willow asked with surprise.

"Yeah, you didn't know that?" Buffy asked, shocked.

"No."

"We thought you had gone off your rocker and killed the innocent man," Anya said.

"Thanks so much for your confidence," Buffy said dryly. "It is night, and we're standing in a cemetery," she reminded them. At their abashed looks, she continued, "And how long have you been fighting evil now? This is why I don't take you on my patrols," Buffy finished with a slightly teasing tone.

"I didn't think vampires came with robes," Xander said.

"Because you're so used to seeing them with large white signs on their chests saying 'I'm a vamp, come slay me," Buffy joked.

"I think I've seen that on a t-shirt once," Willow said kidded.

"The kids these days," Xander said in a mock disapproving tone.

"Yes, well, I do believe we have other matters to attend to," Giles said, interrupting their playful banter. Buffy's slightly good mood vanished in an instant as she thought about what she had just learned.

"Sirius didn't do it," Buffy said defensively, since everyone was looking at her with pity.

"People change, Buffy," Willow reminded her gently. "It's been over a decade since you saw him last."

"He didn't do it," Buffy said adamantly. "There's something wrong with this story. I would've bet my life that Peter was the rat. Besides being an actual rat..." Buffy trailed off, frowning.

"Okay, say that Sirius is innocent. How are you going to prove it?" Xander said. "There were witnesses that say he killed thirteen people."

"You have the worst luck with men," Anya said.

"Tell me about it," Buffy said quietly. She began pacing, trying to get her thoughts in order. "I just need to think. I can do this."

"We've always wondered about that," Xander joked, and then shut up with the glare he received from the Slayer.

Giles was actually happy to have a new problem to deal with, because that meant it kept Buffy's mind off other things. Whenever she was faced with a problem, she wouldn't give up until it was solved, and that meant she did not have time to reflect on her life and how crappy it is.

"Well, why don't we start at the beginning?" Willow said, wanting her friend to be right. "Voldemort was after the Potters, so they went into hiding."

"Right. They used a spell to hide their whereabouts. Only the Secret Keeper would know where they were hidden. The only way anyone else would be able to find them would be if the Secret Keeper told."

"They knew that someone in their inner circle was a traitor," Xander said, "so they had to be careful about who they chose."

"And James chose Sirius to be the Secret Keeper?" Willow asked.

"Of course. It would be the obvious choice. They grew up together, there was no way that he would be the traitor. They were like brothers."

Willow's eyes widened at Buffy's phrasing. "The obvious choice."

"Exactly," Buffy said with a nod, still pacing.

"No, I mean, the obvious choice!" Willow repeated, getting excited.

Buffy finally caught on to what her friend was trying to say. "Of course!" she exclaimed in excitement. "It would be the obvious choice to choose Sirius! He would be captured, and possibly tortured, and then they would make him tell!"

"Unless he didn't know it!" Willow said.

"They must have told everyone that they were going to use Sirius, but then they really used someone else."

"But all those people saw Sirius kill thirteen people," Xander said, not wanting Buffy to get her hopes up.

Buffy and Willow got quiet again as they thought once again about what could have happened.

"The vampire said that Peter went after Sirius, and accused him of killing James and Lily in front of several witnesses, correct?" Giles asked thoughtfully.

"That doesn't make sense," Buffy said with a frown. "Peter was to much of a wimp to actively go against someone, especially Sirius. Peter's not much of a dueler. He had to know he was going to lose."

"You do crazy things for revenge," Willow said sadly.

"Well, if Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper, who was?" Giles asked.

"I would have chosen Remus," Buffy said. "But I doubt that he would be the traitor either. They had to have picked Peter."

"If they did pick Peter, why would he go after Sirius?" Xander asked. He could practically see the wheels in the blonde's head turning.

"If Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper, he would have known it wasn't him, therefore, it could only be Peter or Remus," Buffy said slowly. "Peter must have known Sirius would know it was him, therefore, he went after Sirius and accused him in front of witnesses! Everyone thought he did it anyway, and so Peter was confirming the belief, and making sure his name was clear!" Buffy finished quickly.

"Therefore?" Xander asked. "You used therefore? This isn't English class!"

"Sorry, it just slipped out," Buffy said sheepishly.

"But Peter's dead," Giles said, steering the conversation back on topic. "Sirius must have killed him, because he knew Peter betrayed them."

"Maybe," Buffy said slowly. "Sirius does have a bad temper. But I don't think he would kill innocent people. And I doubt that he would kill Peter in front of so many people. Especially muggles. He might be rash, but he's not stupid. He might as well have walked up to the Dementors themselves and said 'kiss me'."

"Kiss me?" Anya asked confused. "Why would he say that?"

"Dementors are these creepy demon type thingies . . ."

"Thingies, much better word," Xander interrupted.

"When they're around, all your happiness gets sucked away and you're left reliving your worst memories. A kiss is when they suck your soul out of your mouth. You can still live, but not really," Buffy explained. "Although you don't become evil, like vampires."

"I would assume that's because when you're a vampire, you have a demon inhabiting your body," Giles suggested.

"That sucks," Anya said.

"In more ways than one," Xander joked.

"Maybe Peter killed himself and the other people, thinking that Sirius would get all the blame," Willow suggested suddenly.

"Magic is not always easy to track," Anya said. "It would be fairly simple to trick people into believing that someone else cast a spell."

"I don't see why Peter would kill himself, though," Buffy said thoughtfully.

"Maybe he couldn't stand the guilt?" Xander suggested.

"Maybe he didn't really die," Buffy said, her eyes lighting up. "He could have faked his death!"

"I suppose it's possible," Giles said reluctantly.

"What do you mean, possible?" Buffy asked. "It happened to me! And I came back from the dead! Twice!"

"But they found a finger," Giles said.

"It's not that hard to cut off a finger, Giles," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

"Now that doesn't make much sense," Anya said. "I've killed lots of people, and in many different ways. I've even blown a few of them up, but I've never only been left with a finger. If there was a finger then there must have been something else too, or if there was nothing else, there wouldn't be a finger. It doesn't add up."

Buffy shot a look at Xander, daring him to comment. He didn't.

"So, he cut off his finger and used it as evidence of his own death, which he faked, and killed a street full of people, and somehow made it all seem like Sirius did it, even in front of witnesses," Willow said.

"That seems a little far-fetched," Giles said.

"Giles, please. We lived on a Hellmouth for many years, and we've seen things way worse, and much stranger, than this. Why are you so reluctant to believe that Sirius is innocent?" Buffy asked.

"The truth is, I don't want you to get your hopes up. It is possible that Sirius was the traitor, and if that is the case, you would be devastated."

"You're right," Buffy said. "But he's not. Peter was the traitor, I know it."

"What about Remus?" Giles asked. "How come he didn't defend Sirius at all? I'm sure that if they really were best friends, Remus wouldn't let Sirius go to prison for something Peter did."

"I don't know," Buffy said truthfully. "I don't even understand why they made Peter the Secret Keeper."

"Unless they thought Remus was the traitor!" Willow said in a moment of insight."What?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Well, if they thought Remus was the traitor, they would have told him that Sirius was the Secret Keeper, and then actually made Peter it. Then, when Peter turned out to be the traitor, Remus thought that it was Sirius who was the traitor," Willow said, excited about her theory.

"That makes sense, but why would they think he's the traitor?"

"He's a werewolf, right?" Anya asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Willow asked, defending her first love against the ex-demon who never really got to know him.

"It's just, werewolves are considered to be dark creatures. If they knew someone in their inner circle was a traitor, they would probably think it would be the dark creature, who decided to join forces with the dark wizard," Anya said.

"Poor Remus," Buffy said quietly.

"Wait a minute," Xander said. "The vampire said that Sirius escaped from Azkaban, and that he went after Harry. Why would he want to kill Harry if he wasn't the traitor?"

"I don't know," Buffy said with a frown. "Maybe he didn't really want to kill him. It could have been a big misunderstanding."

"Apparently, as he's still considered to be a murderer," Anya said.

"How are we going to prove that Sirius is innocent? Everyone thinks he's guilty," Willow said.

"Well, we're going to have to find him. And Peter," Buffy added with a scowl. "And Remus. We're gonna need his help."

"That might take some time. If you had something of theirs, I could do a locator spell, but they could be anywhere," Willow said. "I guess Remus would be easy enough to find, but maybe not."

"Right. He's a werewolf, and everyone probably knows. He might not even be around here anymore," Buffy said.

"Assuming he's alive still," Giles interrupted softly. As everyone turned their questioning gazes on Giles, he explained. "Werewolves don't have the longest life spans. Changing forms is painful and it takes its toll on one's body. It would take great mental strength and personal stamina to continue on after so many years. It is extremely exhausting."

"How come you never told us this before?" Willow asked, upset for Oz. She might not be with him at the moment, and probably won't ever see him again, but he was her first love, and a part of her heart still belonged to him.

"I didn't want to worry you," Giles said. "I told Oz everything I knew. If he didn't feel the need to tell you, then I suppose he didn't want to worry you either."

"Well, I can hope that Remus is still alive," Buffy said. "He never was one to give up." Everyone was quiet for a moment, until Willow broke the uncomfortable silence.

"So, you have a nephew. And his name is Harry," Willow said, trying to turn the subject to happier areas.

"Apparently. And he goes to Hogwarts," Buffy said. "At least now I know where to find him, not that it would have been too hard. I mean, what are the chances that he didn't go to Hogwarts?"

"So do you want to go see him?" Willow asked.

Buffy thought about it for a minute. On the one had, she really wanted to see her nephew. He was her only family left. She guessed he would probably be ecstatic to see her as well, but that would mean telling him who she was, and she didn't want to expose herself yet.

"No, not yet," Buffy said, much to the surprise of the Scoobies. "There's somewhere else I want to go first."

"Where's that?" Willow asked curiously.

"The Ministry of Magic," Buffy said. "It could be a useful trip for several reasons. One, I can find Fudge. Two, I can possibly find out where Remus lives. Three, I can hurt Fudge. Four, I can find out all I can about Sirius, seeing as how he's a wanted escaped criminal. Five, I can possible use Fudge in some way to better my own situation and destroy his. Six, I can get up to date with all the happenings with Voldemort. And seven, I can do something else to Fudge."

"Sounds good to me," Xander said, clasping his hands, and rubbing them together. "So where is this Ministry of Magic?"

"I guess we can floo there," Buffy said. "I'm not sure how to get there the muggle way, but I do remember there are floo ports. I used to go to work with my parents when I was younger."

"Floo?" Willow asked.

"Bless you." Xander said.

"It's a wizarding way of travel. You're just gonna have to trust me," Buffy said with a small smirk. "First, we're going to need to get back to the Leaky Cauldron. We can use it's floo port."

"How are we going to get back there?" Anya asked. "The cab left a long time ago, and it's not like we're anywhere near, well, anything."

Buffy looked around herself thinking. The Phoenix, long since gone from Xander's shoulder, gave a little trill. Startled, Buffy turned to look at the headstone where she stood. "I guess we can catch a ride from her," Buffy suggested. "I really need a name for you," she told the bright red fire bird. "Have any suggestions?"

The phoenix shook her head, but she flew off the headstone and hovered in the air above their heads, offering them all her tail feathers.

"You're going to have to take us to a dark alley," Buffy said. "I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to be seen just yet." The bird gave a little trill in understanding.

"Anya, you're probably going to want to let your owl go. She'll find you once we're settled. You don't want her to go through all this traveling, and it's not very discrete."

Anya reluctantly opened the cage and let her snowy owl fly out, after much grumbling. It stretched its wings gratefully, then flew off to find something to eat. "Make sure you come back!" Anya called after it, already attached to her pet.

Buffy then took out her wand and thought for a minute before finally coming up with the right spell. She took a deep breath and muttered the incantation, watching as she shrunk the cage and all the packages they were carrying. "Yay, I can still do magic!" she said relieved.

"You couldn't have done that before?" Xander grumbled.

Buffy just shrugged and grabbed on to a red tail feather; everyone else did the same. "Okay," Buffy said, and they disappeared from the cemetery with a small pop.

They reappeared moments later in an alley beside the Leaky Cauldron. No one had noticed their sudden appearance. "Thanks," Buffy said quietly to the bird. She rubbed her hand down the feathery head and neck and the bird happily leaned into her touch, before disappearing again.

"That was cool," Xander said. "No need to drive when you can just pop up anywhere you want to."

"Most wizards can apparate, which is pretty much what we just did, only you have to do it by yourself," Buffy said. "Although you have to get a license because you might do it incorrectly and end up splinched."

"Say what?" Xander asked.

"Being splinched is when half of your body gets stuck where you started, and the other half where you wanted to go. And it doesn't even have to be half of you. It could just be an arm, or a leg. Or an arm and a leg. Or you could accidentally land on top of someone and kind of melt into each other..."

"That's enough of those scary mental pictures," Xander interrupted her ramble.

"Sorry," Buffy said. "But I'm fairly certain that can't happen when she carries us," Buffy said, referring to her phoenix.

"So what are the side effects of floo travel?" Willow asked.

"Don't tell me, I don't want to know," Xander said.

"I don't really think there are any," Buffy said, thinking. "I think the worst thing that could happen is that you come out the wrong gate. Or, you could wait too long and catch on fire."

"Fire? Why is there fire?" Xander asked.

"Floo travel is traveling by fireplace," Buffy explained. "You take floo powder, a magical substance, and throw it into a fire, making the flames turn green and tickly, not red and burny. Then you step into the now green, safe fire, and say the name of the place you want to go. It's really safe."

"You want us to step into fire?" Willow asked.

"Yes."

"You're asking a lot out of us, you know that right?" Xander said.

"Yes."

"Just so we're clear," Xander said with a nod.

They all walked into The Leaky Cauldron and walked quickly through the now packed pub. It was a Friday night, after all. The five made their way over to the fireplace used for floo travel. It was less crowded over here, as there needed to be room for people to be coming and going.

Buffy took the floo powder from the little jar on the mantle and showed her friends what to do. "Just do what I do, okay?" Buffy said. At their nods she continued. She took a pinch of the powder, threw it in the fireplace, and watched as the flames turned green.

Quickly, she stepped into the flames and clearly said her destination.

"The Ministry of Magic."