a/n: ha ha! i updated...and it's been less than two weeks! I feel so proud. Well, not really, but still. Anyway, just to warn y'all, this chap is a good deal shorter than most of the other one's I've posted recently. The reason? I needed something to stick here so I could get to the next chapter (which i am loking forward to writing). this basically entailed a lot of moving around ideas in my head to make sure everything works out all right. I can assure you that I hade a very large thinking cramp...lol :) also, it has come to my attention that reviewer responses are not allowed...but I won't tell if you won't...alright?

to my lovely reviewers (well, I imagine you're lovely, b/c I've never actually seen you):
pad's gurl584: its so nice to havepeople understand about not being able to update...it really does
emuerz: i'm glad you liked it and thought it was worth the wait
rockpaperscissor: ok, I see what you mean now...I think i was a little confused last time...but I'm good now. Anywa, explaination. You're right. James wouldn't have been as affected by Azkaban as Sirius would have been... but (yes, theres the 'but' were i defend myself) I imagine that it would still affect him (for a little while, at least), particularly when he first got out. We don't get a good description of Hagrid's initial reaction when he was released from Azkaban...what he was like when he first got out, but in book three George mentions that Mr. Weasley had to go out to Azkaban once 'and he said it was the worst place he'd ever been, he came back all weak and shaking.' I suppose that James would be rather shaken up after being there for a month (now two months) and that, at first, he would have a haunted look about him. And, once again, you have a valid point with the whole Sirius being sirius (lol). I may have overdone it a bit. But, once again, keep in mind, that in book five, he was often reffered to as being moody and surly, and on her website Jo described Sirius as being 'slightly unbalanced from his long stay in Azkaban.he has never really had the chance to grow up. He was around 22 when he was sent off to Azkaban and has hadvery little normal adult life. Lupin, who is the same age, seems much older and more mature.' I dunno...I think it all comes down to a ff writer's interpretation...wow, that was really long...
katie: I'm sorry this took longer than you would have liked. i'm not the best at updating, and I'll be the first to admit it. I'll try and get the next chapter out sooner for you, though.
forestofgreenjello: james will be out soon...I promise...I really do. and i'm glad you liked those quotes...they were a pain in the butt to find...lol. thats part of the reason that chap took so long...I had to find those quotes. So it's nice to know that they paid off. And I'm still glad that you like Jared. You'll get to see more of him when I bring James home. and i'm glad you like the virtual chocolate too...you were the only one who mentioned it tho...hmmm...

disclaimer: no, unfortunately I am not Jo...i don't think i ever will be either...all characters in this chap 9other than Athena, who remains mine) belong to her, and not me

enough of my rambling. enjoi

Athena paid the owl that delivered the paper every morning. She watched it fly off before eagerly turning to the Daily Prophet. She scanned the headlines quickly. She had been searching for a certain article since Harry had left for school three weeks ago. As of yet, however, the particular article had yet to make an appearance. However, on the second page, she spotted it. Her eyes went wide as she scanned the article. She started laughing as she read it, jumping up and down like an over-excited child on Christmas morning.

That was how Remus found her in the sitting room at Grimmuald Place; clutching the newspaper, jumping up and down, giggling gleefully. He stood for a moment, staring at Athena as she made a fool of herself. He was quite bemused and wasn't sure what to say. He doubted if he had seen Athena quite that happy in a while, especially recently. Since Harry left for school, her mood had noticeably changed. She had started to busy herself with a number of different tasks, and was away from Grimmuald Place as much as she could manage. He had a hard time keeping up with all that she was doing, and he doubted that he even knew all of what she was doing. He smiled now, however, at the simple glee that was written all over her face.

"Uh, Athena?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, Remus!" she exclaimed, not bothering to explain. She threw her arms around him, which was rather difficult, seeing as how she was still jumping.

"Athena, why are you jumping and giggling like a loon?" he asked again.

As he spoke, she seemed to notice how stupid she must look and stopped, pulling away from Remus in the process. She was still grinning broadly, however, and she looked rather pleased with herself. "Remus," she said.

"Yes?"

"You know how I've been really busy lately?"

Remus nodded.

"And how you've known...well, not much of what I've been doing?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, not exactly sure with where she was going.

She grinned even more. "Well, it all paid off," she said proudly.

"What?"

She turned the newspaper towards him, and showed him the headline of the article she had just been rejoicing over. He stared at it for a moment before he took in what it said. He pulled the paper from her hands and quickly immersed himself in the article. After he finished he looked back up at Athena.

"Oh my giddy aunt. This is what you've been doing?" he asked.

"Yup."

"You were trying to clear–"

"Yes!"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Remus wanted to know.

Athena grinned, again. "It was going to be a surprise," she said.

"I should have known," he mumbled. "So, is this official?"

"Not yet. They need more information, and probably public support, for this to be official," she said, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. "But this is a good start."

"If you don't mind me asking, Athena. Why?" Remus asked. "Why are you doing this now?"

Her smile faded a little, and her tone was slightly more serious as she said, "I don't know. Why not now? I mean, with Fudge out of office now, the Ministry is more open to what we have to say. And, well, it only seemed right that people know the truth about him. And besides, I guess this is just my way of, I don't, saying good-bye, or apologizing, or something."

Remus nodded in understanding. "Does Harry know?"

"I told him to keep his eyes on the papers. If he decided to pay any attention to me, he should know now, is not very soon," she said. "And, if he doesn't see it, someone else at Hogwarts will. And you know as well as I do how news like that travels."

"You're right. Hogwarts is a well-oiled machine of gossip. If he hasn't seen or heard about the article by now, he will very soon."

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Harry sat at the Gryffindor table beside Ron and across from Hermione. Hermione was currently buried in the Daily Prophet and Ron was frantically writing a Transfiguration he had forgotten to write. He was sitting, relaxing for a few moments, as he ate breakfast. The trio sat in a companionable silence, broken by brief moments when Ron would ask Hermione about something for his essay. Suddenly, Hermione's eyes went wide; she didn't say anything but Harry could tell she was reading very quickly over an article.

She looked up from the paper. "Oh, Harry, you have to read this," she said, her eyes still very wide.

She handed Harry the paper. He took it and scanned it for the article that Hermione had been speaking of. His jaw dropped as he looked down at it. He blinked several times, making sure that he had read the headline right. "'Shocking Breakthroughs on Black's Murders.' " Harry read .Almost instantly, Ron looked up from his essay. "What?" he asked, sounding astounded. Several other heads from the Gryffindor table also perked up. Ginny stood up and walked behind Harry to read the article over his shoulder. Others who had noticed what Harry said either looked through their own copy of the Prophet, found someone else who had the Prophet, or waited for Harry to speak again. Harry, however, didn't speak as he read the article. After he read the article several times silently, he read it aloud for those near by.

"Shocking Breakthroughs on Black's Murders: Tantalizing new evidence points to Sirius Black's innocence. At the start of the summer, the Daily Prophet reported the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, as well as the arrest of several Death Eaters, and the death of convict Sirius Black. At that point in time, Black was believed to be a mass murderer and escaped prisoner of Azkaban fortress. However, a number of wizards and witches have spoken out with new and support of Black's innocence since his death.

In the beginning of August, former quidditch star Athena Bryce affronted the Ministry with a tale of Black's innocence. She claimed that Peter Pettigrew, the one wizard killed by Black, was an illegal animagus. According to Bryce, when cornered by Black, Pettigrew , with his wand behind his back, blew up the street, cut off his finger, and transformed into a rat, his alleged animagus form. A wild tale, to be sure.

However, she was not the only one who backed this story. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, also spoke forth on this matter. 'When Sirius Black was apprehended in June of 1994, he revealed to me the actual events of that fatal day fifteen years ago. He told me how he, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew illegally became animagus during their years at Hogwarts. Sirius spoke of the day of Pettigrew's alleged death, which coincides with Athena Bryce's account of the tale.'

Bryce, as well as others who knew Black well before his arrest, attested to several facts that might have proved his innocence. These include Black's lack of trial at the time of his arrest, as well as the part he played before his death in the Department of Mysteries last June. Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Schacklebolt, who was, incidently, the auror in charge of the hunt for Black, both agree that Black was fighting against the Death Eaters who had infiltrated the Ministry, rather than with them.

However, theirs is not the only side to this case. Newton Scrimgeour, an auror who was at the scene of destruction fifteen years ago, speaks avidly against Black's innocence. 'These are the words of people who all knew Black. These were his friends, comrades and mentors. It would be folly to believe the words of people who were so close to him.'

This news about Black has caused a flurry of activity around the Ministry. All around people are arguing over evidence, choosing sides, and then switching, only to switch back again. Several people have had the nerve to criticize Albus Dumbledore in the process of arguing over the matter. They still believe in some of the rumor-mongering that had aroused last year. However, Bryce seems to have an argument over that, as well. 'That old fool who had the nerve to call himself the Minister of Magic, was spreading rumors to spread doubt about his (Dumbldore's) credibility. We all know that Fudge, the (censored), was wrong about Lord Voldemort returning, it only seems logical that he would lie about Dumbledore as well."

However, the fact of the matter is, there is still not enough evidence to support what Bryce seems to be avidly claiming. Without Pettigrew's body, whether he be dead or alive, we have no solid proof that Black did not murder him fifteen years ago. If Black did not, in fact, murder Pettigrew, and Pettigrew did return to serve He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, it means that one of His strongest supporters is on the loose. The Ministry urges anyone with information about these events to come forward."

Harry stopped reading and looked up at his friends and companions. All those who did not know Sirius personally were trying to decide what they made of this news. Most of them had believed Sirius to be a large supporter of Voldemort; they had never thought about the possibility that Sirius might be innocent...that Wormtail might still be alive. Harry suddenly felt happier than he had in awhile. As the listeners departed, Harry looked over at Hermione and Ron.

"This is great," he breathed quietly.

"I know what you mean," Ron said. "It's about time someone came forward with that whole thing."

"None of us should be surprised that Athena would do something like this," Hermione said, taking the paper back from Harry. While neither she, nor Ron, had actually met Athena, they knew almost as much about her as Harry did. They had grown very accustomed to her letters that would come at odd times of the day, and her seemingly very random, but very useful advice that would grace those letters.

Harry nodded in agreement. He should have known that Athena would try and do something like this. After all, she did like surprises. Even still, however, he was amazed that she would do something so soon after Sirius's death. Harry stared in to space as he tried to contemplate the exact reason why she might have pushed for Sirius's name to be cleared. At last his mind settled on a final thought that seemed to explain it all. A tribute, he thought. A tribute to his death. A tribute to his life.

final an: just to let you guys know, I don't ever plan on going into journalism. So my, er, less-than-great newspaper articles will be restricted to fanfics and stupid schook assignments. Special thanks goes out to my good friend CIRCLE (lol, you know who you are) for reading that article and telling me that it didn't suck half as bad as I thought it did.
Oh, and as an interesting side note, my lovely readers (I meant to say this last chap, but I obviously forgot): I was doing research on Roman gods and goddesses for my speech class and I found out something very interesting (well, i thought it was interesting) and rather ironic. Apparantly, in roman mythology, the goddess Diana was bathing in the middle of the woods and come creep hunter named (this is ironic about him being a creep) Actaeon went and spied on her. And in retaliation, what did she do? She turned him into a stag. I just thought that was really ironic. I didn't know any of that when I started writing actaeon's role...it kinda fits, doesn't it?
ok, as always, thanks for reading, putting up with my, er, less than diligent updating habits and any typos that might have wormed their way in. you are now free to click the purpleblue box thing that says 'submit review'

Delano
p.s. I know exactly whats going to happen in this next chapter, so it should be posted..er...soon (I'm setting no dates, however, because that means that I'll break them)