Hey everyone! I'm back, posting at long last. I'm really REALLY REALLY sorry about how long between my posts but shrugs with a smile don't hate me? Lol. Just to show you I really really love you, I'll post two chapters but you MUST review in return. Lol : P

Lost In A Sea of Faces--I always talk to you so should I even answer your reviews? Lol, of course I'll answer them, cause I like it when you leave long reviews. Lol. I do have the next few chapters written but I'm rewriting them because I don't like 'em. As for my diff. portrayals of Snape all I have to say to that is hehe. Just to tell you something, he'll show emotion MUCH MUCH MUCH later in the story. I love Kate...she's so...me. Hehe.

A.S. Leif--Hey, my most favoritest reviewer...lol. That isn't even proper English. Lol. I'm glad it's improved, that's why I took it off...to improve it that is. Kathleen is not really supposed to be very 'official' that's why I love her. She's me...when I'm upset...or just feeling like hurting someone. Lol. I love writing the arguments between Snape and Kate. Hehe. I have so much fun with that. They have a comman ground that I will reveal later in the story...much later. Lol. Kate is the only one that will be ABLE to tolerate Sev. But you'll understand later. Again. Hehe. This muse is working but I just have to buckle down on rewriting this one...in my 'spare time'. Lol. I have a new story I'm working on that is called Beyond the Moon Lit Sky, I'll be posting it soon. It's my first attempt to actually add a character in J.K. Rowling's stories. I'm putting her in Chamber of Secrets (she's in Ginny's year). Can I count on a review from you when I post it? ; P Thanks for the luck, I'll need it in trying to balance all these stories I'm writing. : P Oh, and just some random news that you might be interested in, I've been contacted by an editor about my 'real' stories (the ones that aren't fanfictions) and they are intersted in my stories. : D So, keep your fingers cross that they'll like the story I'm fixing up and I'll be published within the next two years. Yeah! Lol.

Well here's the chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter Thirteen

Sirius Black and Kathleen Peters

Something was wrong he knew it even before he was fully conscious. The first thing was that he was in a bed and he didn't remember coming home from his walk. The second was that the mattress he was laying on was much more comfortable than his and his head was throbbing, almost like it did after…Harry's eyes flew open. It all came rushing back to him as he sat up sharply. Sirius, the dark alleyway, Dementors! His thoughts screamed. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was before he realized it was useless because he couldn't see. His glasses were missing.

His hand fumbled around the around where a nightstand would be when he heard a door open. "HARRY!" a startled but familiar voice shouted.

"Glasses!" he exclaimed, his hand still moving around frantically.

A hand grabbed his before pressing something cool into his hand. He shoved them onto his face, wincing as he hit his bruise rather roughly. Though the bruise had significantly shrunk with whatever River had given him, it was definitely not gone. He glanced at the person and the last person he thought he would see came into focus.

"Hermione?" he gaped out. He heard the door close and looked toward it sharply. Two others were in the room, both redheads and it took him a minute to figure out who they were. "Ron? Ginny?" They smiled at him. He blinked his brow furrowing. "Where am I?"

"Grimswald Palace." answered Hermione sitting down on the bed.

If they expected him to explode with anger at the fact that he was in his godfather's house not months after Sirius had died, they were in for a surprise. "Sirius," was the first and only thing that came out of his mouth as he sat in what seemed like shock.

Hermione reached for his hand and squeezed it. "I know Harry, I'm—"

"NO!" he exclaimed looking at her sharply. The brunette jumped startled. "No, no. Hermione," His eyes seemed to dance. "He's alive! I saw him!" All three teenagers stared at him in disbelief. "No, I swear, it's true! I saw him!" he swallowed hard. "Dumbledore was hiding him! He was there! I saw him! I hugged him…he was real…"

Ginny stood up and sat down next to the raven-haired boy. "Harry, Sirius is dead." She said quietly.

"No!" Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed. "He's not! He's not dead! Dumbledore has been hiding him!"

"Harry, I really don't think you should be getting up." Hermione said worried.

Ron, for once, agreed with their bushy haired friend. "Yeah, mate, you were attacked by someone but the rotten adults wouldn't tell us who."

"Ron!" moaned Hermione as Harry stood up.

Harry shook his head fighting Hermione as she tried to convince him to get back in bed. "He's not dead!" He shoved her away. She stumbled back. Ron's arm shot out and stopped her from falling; both of his best friends were staring in shock at him. "I saw him!"

"Harry, you could have hurt her." Ron said, Hermione being as shocked as Harry that Ron was standing up for her.

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, RON! Sirius is alive!"

"Harry," Hermione tried.

"He was there! Sirius is alive! Dumbledore was hiding him and he couldn't let me know he was alive!"

"Then why did he show himself to you if he wasn't supposed to? Padfoot could be called a lot of things, Harry, but he would never disobey Dumbledore in regards to you!" Hermione said fervently.

"HE'S ALIVE!" Harry shouted throwing the bedside table over. The lamp on it crashed to the floor, shattering.

Ron jumped in surprise but Hermione just scolded him. "Harry!"

Harry wanted to throw or punch something. Why didn't they believe him? "HE'S ALIVE! Don't you understand! I saw him!"

"Harry he can't be, you saw him fall." Hermione tried as the door burst open and order members started in.

"Harry?" the familiar voice of his werewolf friend reached his ears.

"Professor Lupin! I saw him! He's alive! He's not dead!" shouted Harry near to tears. He saw Sirius it wasn't just a dream! He saw him, Harry had hugged him, it wasn't a dream, it couldn't have been. "He's not dead…"

"Oh, Harry." Lupin said with an apologetic sigh reaching for the boy, who shoved him away. Lupin stumbled back, startling both himself and the others in the room. Never had they seen Harry shove Lupin but Harry didn't care, they didn't believe him but he knew what he saw. "Harry?"

"WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME!" Hermione grabbed his arm but Harry wrenched it free, both out of reflex and fear, too many times Vernon had grabbed him by the arm before hitting him. "NO!" He stepped on the glass causing him to jump. He probably looked insane to the Order members. "You don't believe me, none of you do! He's alive I saw him!" shouted Harry stumbling back into the wall. His voice lowered, now as if trying to convince himself. "I saw him."

"Harry," an old but kind voice entered the thick air, the voice belonging to a man who almost always had a twinkle in his eyes. "I thought that lamp needed a new look as well,"

Harry's emerald eyes focused on the old man walking past the others in the room. His eyes flickered to the broken lamp and then back to Dumbledore. "Oops," was all he had to say about it.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Easily fixed," he waved his hand and the lamp was repaired.

Harry watched it in silence for a second. "I saw him, he's alive!" he said suddenly. "He's alive."

"No Harry." Dumbledore said sadly, the twinkle in his eyes gone in an instant.

"I saw him," Harry whispered in a pleading tone. "He was real, I hugged him, he changed into, into Padfoot! He was real! He's alive!"

Lupin sighed and motioned for the others in the room to leave. Ron started to argue but Hermione hushed him by a slap on the back of the head, the sound causing Harry to wince slightly, the movement going unnoticed by the teenagers but not by Dumbledore and Lupin. Mrs. Weasley shut the door behind her leaving Lupin, Dumbledore, and Harry alone in the silence.

"He was real." Harry said looking at both of them. He looked at Lupin. "He changed into Padfoot, Professor Lupin. It was him! I hugged him and he was real, he wasn't just something I made up."

"Yes Harry," Dumbledore said sitting down on the chair that Ron had been straddling earlier. "He was real but he wasn't Sirius."

Something flickered in those green eyes, almost like a flame of hope was being doused with a gallon of water. The look nearly killed Lupin, Harry saw that but he couldn't help it. Sirius was alive, he was real. "No," Harry whispered leaning against the wall shaking his head. "He was real. Alive,"

"Harry," Lupin said walking towards him. "It wasn't him, no matter how much we want it to be, it wasn't him. He's gone. You know that."

Harry hit the wall with his fist, squeezing his eyes shut as he slid down the wall, burying his head into his knees. Both men watched for a moment as the teenager tried to get a handle on his feelings. No one spoke for a moment and then Harry's face appeared, his eyes wet with tears. He nodded slowly, not looking up.

"Yeah, I know." He whispered so quietly the others barely heard him. "I just wish he was back,"

"Harry, I do too," Lupin said softly kneeling down in front of Harry.

"I miss him, Lupin." Another tear escaped his eyes. "I miss him so much."

Lupin pulled the raven-haired boy into a hug. Harry tensed immediately, his muscles aching to spring back. Slowly he relaxed into the hug of his father's friend. After a few more minutes he wiped his eyes, pulling away. He forced a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and took Lupin's hand to get to his feet. His eyes were anywhere but on the people in the room, obviously embarrassed.

"Sorry," he apologized, feeling guilty for his out burst. "Who was it?"

"Lucius Malfoy." answered Dumbledore truthfully.

Harry's hands clenched into fists, anger and bitterness clear on his face. "But he changed into Padfoot. Into Sirius' amginis form."

"He wasn't using a Polyjuice Harry. It was an older form of a disguise potion, hard to obtain but not impossible." Dumbledore explained.

His anger boiled. "Why! Why would they do that!" he half growled. He glared at a corner. Suddenly his glasses cracked and the lamp shattered again. "Wha—?" he pulled his glasses off.

"Harry, listen to me, you must calm down. Your magic is pressing out into the air and it caused the glass to break." Dumbledore explained in a caring voice.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, sliding his glasses back on. "Oh." His anger was still there but he pushed it always, almost like he did when Vernon was mad at him.

"Pushing it away will do nothing, Harry." Chided the old man softly.

He glanced up at the man. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Talk to someone about it," the white haired man said.

Harry's eyes shot to Remus and then the floor again. "No." He swallowed hard, tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "How, how did I get here?"

"That would be a story for another time, Harry. Are you hungry?" asked the white-haired man, the twinkle back in his blue eyes.

"No," Harry didn't look at either of them. "I'd, I'd actually like to go to bed now, it's kind of late." He said softly, one of his hands clutched his arm, the one that Sirius—Lucius had grabbed.

"Good night Harry. If you ever need another, owl me—oh, and your things will be brought to this room. Don't worry about anything Harry." Dumbledore said before leaving.

"Harry," started Lupin but Harry didn't even look at him.

"I'm really tired, goodnight Professor Lupin."

Lupin sighed. "Goodnight Harry." His footsteps left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Harry stood still for a moment before throwing himself onto the bed, tears trying to force their way out. He took off his glasses, after setting the beside table upright, and put them down. He buried his head into his pillow fighting miserably his tears. He wished so badly that what he had seen was real but somewhere deep inside of him, he knew that it couldn't be. Sirius was gone, for good.

"Do you think we should wake him?" "I don't know. He should eat something, look at him, he's skin and bone." "He went crazy last night." "He did suffer Crucio Ron," "Oh right... so should we wake him?" "I don't know. He looked really tired and he didn't wake up with a nightmare or anything." "No really, Hermione, like I didn't know that, I only would have heard him screaming if he did." Slap. "Ow, 'Mione!" "Shut up Ron." "What did I do this time?"

The whispered voices reached his ears some hours later. Harry keep his eyes shut as the whispers when on. Finally he grabbed a spare pillow and threw it at the door. "Damn it, guys, I can hear every word you say. If you're gonna come in just come in!" he moaned.

The door opened and his two best friends hurried in. "Harry, we, we weren't sure if we should," Hermione started but Harry cut her off by sitting up, shoving his glasses onto his face.

"Shut up, Hermione. Dumbledore told me the truth." He muttered shaking his head. His stomach grumbled, reminding him of his lack of meals. "I'm starved."

Ron grinned. "Great, mum, will be glad to hear it, breakfast is out on the table."

And with that they dragged him down the stairs and into the kitchen. Harry stopped in his tracts when he saw the most unlikeliest of people sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal. "River?" he gasped out finding his voice.

The girl didn't move at first, her eyes on what she was reading off, strangely enough a Palm Pilot. Then she looked over at him and smiled brightly, not quite the smile that he was used to on River. "Wonder Boy, you're up."

"Wonder Boy?" giggled Hermione.

She shrugged. "What, what are you doing here?" he stuttered out.

"Albus didn't tell you?" questioned the brown haired girl before him.

"Tell me what? What are you doing here? You're a witch?" the questions spilled from his mouth as his eyes caught her wand, which was stuck in her hair like a chopstick to hold her long hair up in bun. He couldn't help but think what Mad-Eye-Moody would say.

She giggled and spooned her cereal into her mouth. "Yes, Harry I'm a witch. Fun little twist in the story of your summer, ain't it?" she asked grinning at him, dimples appearing on her cheeks.

The English accent she had had for the last few weeks was gone and replaced with a strongly American accent. In fact, everything about her right now seemed to scream 'American Rebel'. Her shirt was a red-skin-tight shirt with black letters spelling out 'Does Not Play Well With Others' and fishnet sleeves covering her arms. A dozen silver bracelets hung off her left wrist, a black watch on her right, and a black ribbon was around her neck with a ring hanging off of it. Her feet, which were up on a chair, were, of course, in her ever-so-famous combat boots. A skull was dangling from her right ear next to a loop-ring and a bottle with the poison symbol on it was dangling from her left, all silver. Her lips were glossed with red and strands of her long brown hair hung in her face. The hair was a darker shade than the almost sandy-brown hair it had been before. Her brown eyes were lined with black eyeliner and glitter fell down her eyes and along her cheeks.

She was different.

"What's going on?" Harry asked staring at her.

She rolled her eyes and kicked the chair towards him. "Take a seat and I'll explain it to you." He looked at Ron and Hermione who were already sitting at the table, helping themselves to the breakfast foods on it and then sat down. She smiled at him and waved her hand, vanishing her bowl. "All right, first and for most, never call me 'River Jacobson' again." She shuttered with a disgusted look on her face, which caused Harry to chuckle. "Not that I don't like the name River but after your whale of a cousin called me that and your asses of relations I can't stand it." A smile broke across Harry's face. "So let's reintroduce ourselves, the name is Kathleen Peters."

She held out her hand. He stared at it and then slowly shook it. He saw her fingernails painted black rather than her 'perfect French-tip nails' that she had when 'with' Dudley. "What were you doing for the past month at Privet Drive if you're a witch?"

"I was in hell, just like you." She said rolling her eyes. He actually burst out laughing. "Glad you found that funny," A smile was clear on her face. "I was hired by Dumbledore to watch you, keep an eye on you, protect you, whatever you what to call it. You were gonna be mine for the summer, anything thing that happened to you it'd be my fault."

"Okay, how, how old are you?"

"Same age as you will be in three days." She responded casually. Harry nodded, remembering his sixteenth birthday was tomorrow, that wasn't a date he'd forget. "Don't ask me to explain why I was asked to watch you, I'll leave it to the old man we all respect. Long story short, I had to act like the 'perfect girl' for your relatives to get them to trust I created this potion that implanted memories into your head."

It dawned on him. "That strange smell,"

"Figured you had no idea what it is since most wizards and witches don't. You would have dismissed it as perfume." She nodded explaining.

"So your father? Where is he?" Harry questioned, he liked Mr. Jacobson—or was it Mr. Peters—whoever he was, Harry liked him because of how many times the man had saved him from his uncle's wrath.

"Six feet under in a cemetery in California." She responded drinking a glass of water, her eyes hardening slightly. He stared her confused and startled. "My real father has been dead for several years now, murdered by dark wizards," She shot the others a look that plainly said 'you give me pity I'll kill you' before going on. "What you interacted with was an advanced robot that I created that had a sort of AI, it could function on its own but it worked best when I was around." She explained with a shrug.

"AI?" asked Ron.

"Honestly, Ron." moaned Hermione shaking her head.

"Crazy Purebloods," she muttered shaking her head. "AI is short for Artificial Intelligence."

"Is that why he always functioned slowly outside of your company?" She nodded. "The day at the arcade, when the slots started spitting out money?'

She held up her wrist where a watch was. "Made the watch with help from my old partner. I can make any electronic machine do what I want."

"The water park?"

"Just a ploy to keep an eye on you. Dudley hated it but," She made a disgusted face. "He was too blinded by the horrid airs I had to put on to look much into it."

"Your concert?"

"Another way to watch."

He studied her for a moment. "Then it was you that saved me last night? With the dragon Patronus charm?" She nodded. He looked down at his hands. "Thanks," he mumbled.

She nodded again. "Just doing my job, Wonder Boy."

"Wonder Boy?" he questioned and she shrugged. He sighed. "How did you know when my uncle was, well you know?" He glanced nervously at Ron and Hermione. "You weren't there, so how did you know?" She pulled out a mirror and handed it to him. He was looking at his own reflection. "So, it's a mirror,"

"Now hand it to Ron and Hermione, ask them what they see." She said glancing at what she had been reading when they walked in.

He handed it across the table to Hermione's outstretched hand. "Wicked," exclaimed Ron grabbing the mirror from Hermione's grasp.

"How did you do this?" she asked peering over Ron's shoulder.

"What do you see?" he asked curiously.

"You," Ron answered, his jaw nearly scrapping the table in shock.

"Me?" His eyes shot to Riv—Kathleen. "What?"

"Remember when we first met and I 'tripped'?" she asked with a sheepish grin. "It was a trip I did it on purpose. It's a powder that was used in an ancient form of scrying that only the caster can know where but everyone can see. Only the caster can end it as well, no Finite Incantom will work. That's how I could see you."

Harry started to turn red all of a sudden, a thought occurring to him. "You, you didn't watch when,"

"No, Harry. I'm not a pervert. You may have been my job but I ain't gonna watch you twenty four seven. If I did I would have asked for a lot more money." She said shaking her head. Harry frowned. "You having trouble wrapping your head around it?"

He nodded slowly. "I guess. I mean, I have tons more questions but—"

"I'll answer what I know." She cut him of saying. He stared at her. "What? I'm not an Order member I have no secrets except personal and if I don't like what you're asking me I'll tell you."

"Then you wouldn't be able to answer my questions if you're not a member." Harry said apologetically as he piled food onto his plate.

"Just because I ain't an official member don't mean I don't get to sit in on the meetings," she said with a devilish grin that amused Harry to no end.

He liked this person better than he liked River Jacobson, she was different but Kathleen Peters seemed pretty neat. He and Ron were obviously thrilled that they might have an inside informant on the Order meetings. Hermione on the other hand, well she was less than thrilled.

"You're serious," gaped Hermione, shock on her face.

Kathleen sipped her water nodded. "I wouldn't have said it now if I didn't mean it. I have no qualms about it, never like the members very much anyway," She moved her head slightly, as if listening to something and then let out a half amused half annoyed breath of air. "Isn't that right Remus and Minerva? Never liked you two very much, you bugged me more than all the others combined."

Everyone just stared at her until the two adults she spoke of walked into the room from another kitchen door, guilt written on their faces. Harry shoved a fork-full of food into his mouth to keep from laughing and Ron was biting his fist. Even Hermione looked like she was ready to laugh as Kathleen gave the adults a look that mirrored McGonagall's when the Transfiguration Teacher was upset.

"Yes, you two were the pain in my ass for the entire time," she said with an annoyed smile. "Wonder Boy, meet the two people who didn't trust Dumbledore enough," Harry stared at her and then at the guilty faces. "Every order member promised me that they would leave me alone because I work alone. They," She shot another look at them, which nearly caused the other teenagers in the room to burst into laughter. "Broke into my house how many times?"

"Nine or ten," muttered Lupin his eyes on the floor. McGonagall wasn't much better but her head was at least in a defiant stance.

"Nine or ten, or fifteen times both of you." Kathleen said with a glare. Then she grinned. "But I don't think either of you will get over how I sent you away." For the first time in his life, Harry watched Lupin and McGonagall's faces turn a deep shade of red. "Now stop spying on me or else you'll relive that."

McGonagall looked as if she was about to argue but Lupin wisely pulled her out of the kitchen leaving the trio to burst in to giggles, which slowly turned into guffaws. "What? What did you do?" gasped out Hermione calming down before any of the others.

Kathleen rolled her eyes. "I sent them to Diagon Alley in their undergarments." Hermione's face flushed as Harry and Ron were sent into new galls of laughter, imagining the sight. Hermione looked amused but horrified. "What? They knew the rules. I work alone no help, no spies, and definitely no parents."

"And we all know why you work alone, now don't we," a sly but dreaded voice flowed in over the teenagers laughter. Harry looked sharply towards the kitchen door only to confirm his fear. Severus Snape was standing there, glaring at Kathleen with more hate then Harry had seen on that face in a long time.