DISCLAIMER: Still sitting here owning nothing.
AN: Sorry for the delay, I've had a lot on my mind. Here's the next chapter (ten pages, ya'll happy?)
Remus drew a deep breath. Professor Dumbledore had everything under control. There was no need to worry. Pettigrew would be tried in court in two weeks.
When they had gone to the Ministry, the first thing they did was show Pettigrew to everyone and anyone who was near. By the time they found the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, she had already found out about the newly- living person, floating around the halls.
Dumbledore had persuaded her, and Pettigrew, without much difficult, that they needed to have a trial as soon as possible.
The Rat, thinking Dumbledore and Remus were on his side (Remus expected), had readily agreed.
After everything that had happened, Remus' mind was on automatic and he was mostly in shock. Whenever he saw anything remotely relevant to any of the events of the previous few weeks, he would start to shake and not be able to make an intelligible sentence for a few minutes.
Unfortunately for him, the full moon was fast approaching, and he was slowly becoming weaker. Every night, on Dumbledore's orders, Remus would drink a goblet full of potion that '_Professor_ Snape' had concocted for him.
This particular night, Harry and Ron had planned on visiting and Remus was slowly drinking his tea while waiting (he had already had his vile potion earlier that night). They had become regular visitors to his room (a spare one on the East side of the castle) ever since Ron had found out that his rat, which had been living with his family for ten years, was actually a person. A person, no less, who seemed to be mistrusted and perhaps even hated by his best friend's father's friend.
Remus Lupin didn't even notice when the two boys had entered the room. He was slowly reviewing the few facts he had- and some he thought he'd had.
'A street full of muggles. Didn't see what they thought they saw. Peter Pettigrew. . . alive. Sirius in Azkaban for ten years. Ronald Weasley's pet rat. The Potter's Secret-Keeper. 'It was the Rat,' Sirius had said.'
"Er. . . Moony? Remus?" Ron said tentatively.
Remus dropped his tea cup, which shattered on the ground.
The bushy-haired girl from the library was standing in between Ron and Harry and, with a wave of her wand, she cleaned up the mess and fixed the cup.
Remus muttered his thanks.
"It's absolutely no problem whatsoever, Mister. . . er. . ." the girl looked at Ron for help.
'Lupin!' Ron mouthed.
"Mister Lupin," the girl said.
Remus stood up weakly and walked over to the children, looking them over.
The girl trembled, Ron smiled at Remus, and Harry showed little emotion of any kind.
Remus realized that it was Harry's first year at Hogwarts and he should really be concentrating on his work and not on Remus' problems.
"Harry-" he started, but Harry cut him off.
"Remus, we've been meaning to talk to you a bit more about Ron's- er- pet rat."
Remus nodded, gravely and motioned to two chairs at the other side of the room.
Harry and Ron sat down on the chairs, and Remus sat on the bed. The girl- Hermione Granger wasn't it?- stood, unmoving where Harry and Ron had left her.
Remus pulled out his wand and muttered the spell that would conjure a chair. Soon Hermione, without having realized what was going on, was seated in a small wooden chair next to Ron.
"What is it you need to know?" Remus asked, quietly.
"Who, exactly, was that? That rat?" Harry asked.
"Wormtail," Remus said, shortly.
"Wormtail," Ron repeated, "the Wormtail on the map?"
Remus nodded.
"And he's Wormtail because his tail looks like a worm," Ron stated, wisely, comprehension creasing his face.
"Oh, well spotted," Hermione Granger said, finding her voice.
"Is he not your friend anymore?" Ron asked Remus.
"I don't know," Remus sighed, "I don't know what to think anymore."
Harry looked up at Remus and asked, "Why is Padfoot not your friend anymore?"
Remus looked at Harry searchingly and said, "I used to think it was him who- " he stopped and started again, "Have you ever heard of the Fidelius Charm?"
Ron and Harry shook their heads, but Hermione Granger said, "I think I read about that one, is it the one where no one can tell something about you?"
"Mostly," Remus said, "It's where the secret (in your parent's case, Harry, the location of the place they were living) is hidden inside a single mortal soul. That person is called the Secret-Keeper. The only way anyone could possibly have fond out their location would be if the Secret-Keeper told them willingly."
"And you think, wait, you're not sure whether it was this Padfoot person or Ron's rat, right? No one told you?" Hermione said.
Remus nodded, "I went to visit Sirius Black- Padfoot- in Azkaban, the Wizard Prison, just before school started; I went to ask him why he betrayed them, but he denied it. He said it was Peter. He said it was the Rat."
"And you don't know who to believe." Harry said.
"You've got the measure of it pretty well."
"Isn't- isn't being an Animagus illegal?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Not if you get a license, but none of my friends had licenses, so, yes, it is illegal."
"Let's go over this again, ok? Harry's dad was Prongs and he could turn into a stag illegally, Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew and an illegal rat and Wormtail, your other friend is Sirius Black who's in Azkaban for a crime he MAY have committed, but maybe not, and he was an illegal animal too," said Ron.
"Dog wasn't it?" asked Harry.
Remus nodded.
"And you were- erm- you are Moony," Ron continued.
"Yes."
"Do you change into an animal?" Ron asked curiously.
Remus shivered, "In a manner of speaking, yes."
Hermione's voice was very close to silent when she spoke, "It- it wouldn't be a w-wolf, would it?"
Remus turned to look at the girl, who began to tremble afresh.
"Yes," said Remus, sadly, almost bitterly, "I'm a werewolf."
Remus looked up at the trio of first-years standing in front of him. He was startled to see that none of them looked like they were scared of him. Hermione looked as though she were terribly afraid that she had hurt Remus' feelings, Ron appeared to be thinking very deeply, and Harry didn't seem to see the importance of his being a werewolf in the slightest.
"Well," said Ron, "I dunno about you guys, but I am extremely interested in the innocence or guilt of my rat."
"I want to figure this out too, Moony," said Harry, "I want to find out who killed my parents."
"So do I, Harry, so do I," Remus replied.
"Why don't we, then?" asked Hermione, "Why don't we interrogate the one in Azkaban?"
Remus frowned, "I don't think it's a good idea to take you three out of school."
Hermione looked horrified.
"No! That's not what I meant," she insisted, "We could go next weekend, that way we wouldn't miss any classes."
"Er-" said Remus.
"No, that's too close to the full moon," Hermione corrected herself.
"What about the weekend after?" said Harry.
"I don't think-" began Remus, but this time Ron cut him off.
"Yeah! I bet that'll work!"
Dumbledore won't go for it, though," said Harry.
"We can persuade him!" Hermione said eagerly, "He'll understand, he's got to!"
"I don't know about this..." Remus said.
"It *will* work!" said Ron, "Let's go talk to Dumbledore right now!"
With that Ron and Harry turned and left the room, Remus and Hermione staring after them.
"They just love to take chances," said Hermione haughtily, "Ever since the day Harry made the Quidditch team."
"What?" Remus asked, startled. But then, of course James' son would be on the team.
"Oh, you won't believe it," Hermione said, "During broomstick practice, Neville broke his arm after falling off his broom and had to go to the Hospital wing with Madam Hooch. Just that morning he had gotten a Rememberall from his Gran, but when he fell of his broom, he . One of the boys in Slytherin, called Draco Malfoy, grabbed it off the ground and got on his broom intending on leaving it in a tree where Neville couldn't get it."
"Neville?" Remus asked, "What's his last name?"
"Longbottom," Said Hermione.
"Oh." Remus said softly, "I knew his parents."
"Erm- ok. Anyway, Malfoy challenged Harry to come and get it, and Harry got on his broom FOR THE FIRST TIME and chased Malfoy until he threw the Rememberall. Then, you won't believe this, Harry went shooting down after it and right before he hit the ground, he grabbed it and was able to pull up from his dive before he hit the ground! It was absolutely amazing!"
"Yes," Remus nodded, "His father was a Chaser on the Gryffindor team. I assume Harry is a Seeker?"
"Yeah, McGonagall gave us all a scare when she saw him and said 'Follow me.' The next time we saw him was at dinner, and Malfoy began taunting him. Then I overheard him challenging Harry to a duel to take place in the middle of the night in the Trophy Room. Ron said he was Harry's second and Malfoy picked his.
"I tried to stop them from doing something so reckless, but they went anyway. I had a bit of misfortune, so I had to go with them. Oh, and Neville was there too. He had gotten locked out. I suspected it would all be a trick and Malfoy would trick them, and I was right. When we got to the Trophy Room we met Filch and Mrs. Norris instead of Malfoy and his friend. Luckily we escaped to another room. Unluckily we escaped into a room with a vicious three-headed dog in it, that was standing on a trap door. Now both Harry and Ron seem very keen on having another adventure."
"Merlin, he is like his father," Remus stated.
"Well, I don't approve of it," sniffed Hermione, "although it was rather interesting, I would rather not repeat the experience."
"Alright, then."
"Erm- Remus? Shouldn't we go after Ron and Harry and help them convince Dumbledore?"
"Actually, Hermione, I still don't know if that's such a good idea, taking you three to Azkaban. There are dementors there."
"What are dementors?" Hermione wondered.
"Dementors are the foulest of creatures. If you are in their presence they drain the happiness from the air around you. You feel cold. If given the chance they'll do worse than kill you."
"W-worse than kill?"
"They can suck out your soul. You can live without your soul, you see, but it's not pleasant. The heart keeps beating, they can breathe, but they aren't themselves anymore. They exist as an empty shell.
Hermione shivered, "And they lock people in the same building as those dementors?"
"Yes," said Remus, "Sirius Black has been living in a tiny cell, not five feet across, for ten years now. Every day the dementors patrol past, or stand outside the cells, draining the happiness from the prisoners, draining their sanity."
"Th-that's awful! Does anyone deserve that kind of treatment?"
"For what he did, I think he does deserve it," replied Remus.
"But you don't know for sure it was him," Hermione pointed out, cautiously, "It could be the Rat person."
"I know," said Remus, rubbing his temples, "I'm just not sure what to think."
"So let's go help Ron and Harry persuade the Headmaster!"
Sirius awoke on the floor of his cell. It was cold.
He remembered the dementors coming, but then he had passed out. He hadn't had the strength to resist them, since he hadn't eaten for six days.
Sirius tried to move his hands and legs, but found they were too numb to respond. Sitting up, he shook his arms out and tried to get some blood flowing through them. He rubbed his hands until the pins-and-needles feeling filled them, which was good enough for him, and then he started on his legs.
He hated this place. Hated it almost as much as he hated Pettigrew.
'I hope Remus catches him soon!' Sirius thought, bitterly.
Suddenly, the animagus remembered why the dementors had come after him, and Sirius turned toward the puddle he had been looking at the day before. At first glance there was nothing to suggest that anything out of the ordinary would have happened because of, or near it.
When he leaned closer, however, Sirius realized that again there was something moving in the bottom of the puddle. Upon closer examination, Sirius realized that, again the water was showing him his old friend, Remus Lupin.
Sirius made it to the other side of the room in one small step and sat cross-legged beside the pool.
Unlike the first time, Sirius thought he may have been able to hear something, despite the fact that he could see very little in the dark cell.
From what he could see, Sirius thought there were five people in the room that was in the puddle. One- he was sure- was Remus, another he recognized as the headmaster of Hogwarts; Albus Dumbledore. A smaller one standing next to Dumbledore, Sirius guessed, was the reason he had passed out before- James' son.
Who the other two children were, Sirius didn't know. It was much too dark to tell their hair color or any facial expressions- Sirius hadn't a clue how he had identified Harry and Dumbledore- but he could tell that they were around Harry's height.
'...think...never...but then again...'
Sirius strained his ears, and tried to block out the sound of the continuous drips.
'...please...good...really far...with my studies...'
'...true, Professor...obsessed...help us if we fall behind...'
'...will take good care of them...don't know... persuaded me to persuade you...'
Sirius' heart beat was too loud- he couldn't hear all of the sentences.
'When...say you wanted to...-aban?'
'-kend after next.'
'I see.'
'So... let us?'
'I must... McGonagall and perhaps... but there is... chance.'
Sirius tried to think what in Merlin's name they were talking about, but he hadn't heard enough of the conversation to tell exactly.
"I'm glad that's over," said Harry, as he, Ron and Hermione made their way up to the Gryffindor common room.
"I don't believe how easily Dumbledore gave in!" exclaimed Ron.
"I, for one, could tell that he wasn't going to put up much of a fight. He obviously trusts Mr. Lupin and he knows we'll be careful," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"We still don't know if we'll be able to go, for sure," said Harry.
"Yeah, but it's pretty likely, isn't it?" said Ron, "I mean, he can't not let us go."
"Of course he'll let us go," Hermione said, certainly.
"I've a question for you, Hermione," said Ron irritably, "Weren't you not talking to us?"
"Well... yes, but I _was_ very curious," Hermione paused, blushing slightly as they opened the portrait hole, "about who that man was, if he wasn't a teacher. I mean, do you know how many adults are usually in the castle during the school year? I read in-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ms. I-know-everything-because-I've-read-every-book-I- could-find, we know how much you know," Ron said, grinning. The bushy- haired girl grew quite red.
"Oi, you three, where've you been?" said a loud voice from the corner of the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione turned to see Fred and George sitting there.
"Oh, hello," said Ron, "we were just talking to a friend."
"What kind of friend? One that isn't in Gryffindor?"
"No, he was in Gryffindor, he just isn't now," said Harry.
"Our brother and his friends were consorting with the enemy?" said one of the twins in outrage.
"He isn't that much of an adult," retorted Ron, "He's really nice."
"His name is..." said George, waving his arms, waiting for an answer.
"His name is Remus Lupin," said Ron, "Or Moony, if you'd like
Fred and George exchanged significant glances, "Is that who you've been hanging out with?" Fred asked.
Harry nodded slowly.
"Isn't he a bit... strange?" George asked, Fred kicked him.
"Well, yes, I suppose, but he- hey, where'd Hermione go?" Ron asked suddenly.
"Dunno," said Harry, looking around the Common Room.
"Library," said a voice, shortly in Harry's ear. He turned to see Lavender Brown standing behind him and Ron, her arms folded around a little diary, "She tried to get your attention to tell you, but you wouldn't listen so she told me."
"Oh, ok," said Harry turning back to the twins.
It was the most brilliant idea!
She couldn't think of any way it would go wrong- if only she could get a teacher's note
To busy hurrying down the hall to the library, Hermione didn't notice the other person walking determinately in the opposite direction until it was to late.
Remus Lupin, unfortunately, didn't stop in time, either.
"S-sorry," Hermione gasped, getting up from the floor.
"It's quite all right, Hermione," Remus said, finding some leverage by pushing off the wall. When they were both balanced again, Remus said, "Where was it you were going in such a hurry?"
"Library," Hermione said, "You?"
"I was- oh, never mind, that's not important. I'll go with you to the library, I ought to look up some things before we make our trip to the prison in a week-and-a-half."
"Well, then," said Hermione, suddenly straightening up, "Let's go do some research in the library! Come on, Remus."
The first-year Gryffindor girl stood up and grabbed Remus' hand, dragging him through the hallway, and then set off at a quick pace, to her favorite haunt.
I would appreciate reviews, as I like to know what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it.
But I guess, if you don't want to, I'm not gonna force you.
AN: Sorry for the delay, I've had a lot on my mind. Here's the next chapter (ten pages, ya'll happy?)
Remus drew a deep breath. Professor Dumbledore had everything under control. There was no need to worry. Pettigrew would be tried in court in two weeks.
When they had gone to the Ministry, the first thing they did was show Pettigrew to everyone and anyone who was near. By the time they found the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, she had already found out about the newly- living person, floating around the halls.
Dumbledore had persuaded her, and Pettigrew, without much difficult, that they needed to have a trial as soon as possible.
The Rat, thinking Dumbledore and Remus were on his side (Remus expected), had readily agreed.
After everything that had happened, Remus' mind was on automatic and he was mostly in shock. Whenever he saw anything remotely relevant to any of the events of the previous few weeks, he would start to shake and not be able to make an intelligible sentence for a few minutes.
Unfortunately for him, the full moon was fast approaching, and he was slowly becoming weaker. Every night, on Dumbledore's orders, Remus would drink a goblet full of potion that '_Professor_ Snape' had concocted for him.
This particular night, Harry and Ron had planned on visiting and Remus was slowly drinking his tea while waiting (he had already had his vile potion earlier that night). They had become regular visitors to his room (a spare one on the East side of the castle) ever since Ron had found out that his rat, which had been living with his family for ten years, was actually a person. A person, no less, who seemed to be mistrusted and perhaps even hated by his best friend's father's friend.
Remus Lupin didn't even notice when the two boys had entered the room. He was slowly reviewing the few facts he had- and some he thought he'd had.
'A street full of muggles. Didn't see what they thought they saw. Peter Pettigrew. . . alive. Sirius in Azkaban for ten years. Ronald Weasley's pet rat. The Potter's Secret-Keeper. 'It was the Rat,' Sirius had said.'
"Er. . . Moony? Remus?" Ron said tentatively.
Remus dropped his tea cup, which shattered on the ground.
The bushy-haired girl from the library was standing in between Ron and Harry and, with a wave of her wand, she cleaned up the mess and fixed the cup.
Remus muttered his thanks.
"It's absolutely no problem whatsoever, Mister. . . er. . ." the girl looked at Ron for help.
'Lupin!' Ron mouthed.
"Mister Lupin," the girl said.
Remus stood up weakly and walked over to the children, looking them over.
The girl trembled, Ron smiled at Remus, and Harry showed little emotion of any kind.
Remus realized that it was Harry's first year at Hogwarts and he should really be concentrating on his work and not on Remus' problems.
"Harry-" he started, but Harry cut him off.
"Remus, we've been meaning to talk to you a bit more about Ron's- er- pet rat."
Remus nodded, gravely and motioned to two chairs at the other side of the room.
Harry and Ron sat down on the chairs, and Remus sat on the bed. The girl- Hermione Granger wasn't it?- stood, unmoving where Harry and Ron had left her.
Remus pulled out his wand and muttered the spell that would conjure a chair. Soon Hermione, without having realized what was going on, was seated in a small wooden chair next to Ron.
"What is it you need to know?" Remus asked, quietly.
"Who, exactly, was that? That rat?" Harry asked.
"Wormtail," Remus said, shortly.
"Wormtail," Ron repeated, "the Wormtail on the map?"
Remus nodded.
"And he's Wormtail because his tail looks like a worm," Ron stated, wisely, comprehension creasing his face.
"Oh, well spotted," Hermione Granger said, finding her voice.
"Is he not your friend anymore?" Ron asked Remus.
"I don't know," Remus sighed, "I don't know what to think anymore."
Harry looked up at Remus and asked, "Why is Padfoot not your friend anymore?"
Remus looked at Harry searchingly and said, "I used to think it was him who- " he stopped and started again, "Have you ever heard of the Fidelius Charm?"
Ron and Harry shook their heads, but Hermione Granger said, "I think I read about that one, is it the one where no one can tell something about you?"
"Mostly," Remus said, "It's where the secret (in your parent's case, Harry, the location of the place they were living) is hidden inside a single mortal soul. That person is called the Secret-Keeper. The only way anyone could possibly have fond out their location would be if the Secret-Keeper told them willingly."
"And you think, wait, you're not sure whether it was this Padfoot person or Ron's rat, right? No one told you?" Hermione said.
Remus nodded, "I went to visit Sirius Black- Padfoot- in Azkaban, the Wizard Prison, just before school started; I went to ask him why he betrayed them, but he denied it. He said it was Peter. He said it was the Rat."
"And you don't know who to believe." Harry said.
"You've got the measure of it pretty well."
"Isn't- isn't being an Animagus illegal?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Not if you get a license, but none of my friends had licenses, so, yes, it is illegal."
"Let's go over this again, ok? Harry's dad was Prongs and he could turn into a stag illegally, Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew and an illegal rat and Wormtail, your other friend is Sirius Black who's in Azkaban for a crime he MAY have committed, but maybe not, and he was an illegal animal too," said Ron.
"Dog wasn't it?" asked Harry.
Remus nodded.
"And you were- erm- you are Moony," Ron continued.
"Yes."
"Do you change into an animal?" Ron asked curiously.
Remus shivered, "In a manner of speaking, yes."
Hermione's voice was very close to silent when she spoke, "It- it wouldn't be a w-wolf, would it?"
Remus turned to look at the girl, who began to tremble afresh.
"Yes," said Remus, sadly, almost bitterly, "I'm a werewolf."
Remus looked up at the trio of first-years standing in front of him. He was startled to see that none of them looked like they were scared of him. Hermione looked as though she were terribly afraid that she had hurt Remus' feelings, Ron appeared to be thinking very deeply, and Harry didn't seem to see the importance of his being a werewolf in the slightest.
"Well," said Ron, "I dunno about you guys, but I am extremely interested in the innocence or guilt of my rat."
"I want to figure this out too, Moony," said Harry, "I want to find out who killed my parents."
"So do I, Harry, so do I," Remus replied.
"Why don't we, then?" asked Hermione, "Why don't we interrogate the one in Azkaban?"
Remus frowned, "I don't think it's a good idea to take you three out of school."
Hermione looked horrified.
"No! That's not what I meant," she insisted, "We could go next weekend, that way we wouldn't miss any classes."
"Er-" said Remus.
"No, that's too close to the full moon," Hermione corrected herself.
"What about the weekend after?" said Harry.
"I don't think-" began Remus, but this time Ron cut him off.
"Yeah! I bet that'll work!"
Dumbledore won't go for it, though," said Harry.
"We can persuade him!" Hermione said eagerly, "He'll understand, he's got to!"
"I don't know about this..." Remus said.
"It *will* work!" said Ron, "Let's go talk to Dumbledore right now!"
With that Ron and Harry turned and left the room, Remus and Hermione staring after them.
"They just love to take chances," said Hermione haughtily, "Ever since the day Harry made the Quidditch team."
"What?" Remus asked, startled. But then, of course James' son would be on the team.
"Oh, you won't believe it," Hermione said, "During broomstick practice, Neville broke his arm after falling off his broom and had to go to the Hospital wing with Madam Hooch. Just that morning he had gotten a Rememberall from his Gran, but when he fell of his broom, he . One of the boys in Slytherin, called Draco Malfoy, grabbed it off the ground and got on his broom intending on leaving it in a tree where Neville couldn't get it."
"Neville?" Remus asked, "What's his last name?"
"Longbottom," Said Hermione.
"Oh." Remus said softly, "I knew his parents."
"Erm- ok. Anyway, Malfoy challenged Harry to come and get it, and Harry got on his broom FOR THE FIRST TIME and chased Malfoy until he threw the Rememberall. Then, you won't believe this, Harry went shooting down after it and right before he hit the ground, he grabbed it and was able to pull up from his dive before he hit the ground! It was absolutely amazing!"
"Yes," Remus nodded, "His father was a Chaser on the Gryffindor team. I assume Harry is a Seeker?"
"Yeah, McGonagall gave us all a scare when she saw him and said 'Follow me.' The next time we saw him was at dinner, and Malfoy began taunting him. Then I overheard him challenging Harry to a duel to take place in the middle of the night in the Trophy Room. Ron said he was Harry's second and Malfoy picked his.
"I tried to stop them from doing something so reckless, but they went anyway. I had a bit of misfortune, so I had to go with them. Oh, and Neville was there too. He had gotten locked out. I suspected it would all be a trick and Malfoy would trick them, and I was right. When we got to the Trophy Room we met Filch and Mrs. Norris instead of Malfoy and his friend. Luckily we escaped to another room. Unluckily we escaped into a room with a vicious three-headed dog in it, that was standing on a trap door. Now both Harry and Ron seem very keen on having another adventure."
"Merlin, he is like his father," Remus stated.
"Well, I don't approve of it," sniffed Hermione, "although it was rather interesting, I would rather not repeat the experience."
"Alright, then."
"Erm- Remus? Shouldn't we go after Ron and Harry and help them convince Dumbledore?"
"Actually, Hermione, I still don't know if that's such a good idea, taking you three to Azkaban. There are dementors there."
"What are dementors?" Hermione wondered.
"Dementors are the foulest of creatures. If you are in their presence they drain the happiness from the air around you. You feel cold. If given the chance they'll do worse than kill you."
"W-worse than kill?"
"They can suck out your soul. You can live without your soul, you see, but it's not pleasant. The heart keeps beating, they can breathe, but they aren't themselves anymore. They exist as an empty shell.
Hermione shivered, "And they lock people in the same building as those dementors?"
"Yes," said Remus, "Sirius Black has been living in a tiny cell, not five feet across, for ten years now. Every day the dementors patrol past, or stand outside the cells, draining the happiness from the prisoners, draining their sanity."
"Th-that's awful! Does anyone deserve that kind of treatment?"
"For what he did, I think he does deserve it," replied Remus.
"But you don't know for sure it was him," Hermione pointed out, cautiously, "It could be the Rat person."
"I know," said Remus, rubbing his temples, "I'm just not sure what to think."
"So let's go help Ron and Harry persuade the Headmaster!"
Sirius awoke on the floor of his cell. It was cold.
He remembered the dementors coming, but then he had passed out. He hadn't had the strength to resist them, since he hadn't eaten for six days.
Sirius tried to move his hands and legs, but found they were too numb to respond. Sitting up, he shook his arms out and tried to get some blood flowing through them. He rubbed his hands until the pins-and-needles feeling filled them, which was good enough for him, and then he started on his legs.
He hated this place. Hated it almost as much as he hated Pettigrew.
'I hope Remus catches him soon!' Sirius thought, bitterly.
Suddenly, the animagus remembered why the dementors had come after him, and Sirius turned toward the puddle he had been looking at the day before. At first glance there was nothing to suggest that anything out of the ordinary would have happened because of, or near it.
When he leaned closer, however, Sirius realized that again there was something moving in the bottom of the puddle. Upon closer examination, Sirius realized that, again the water was showing him his old friend, Remus Lupin.
Sirius made it to the other side of the room in one small step and sat cross-legged beside the pool.
Unlike the first time, Sirius thought he may have been able to hear something, despite the fact that he could see very little in the dark cell.
From what he could see, Sirius thought there were five people in the room that was in the puddle. One- he was sure- was Remus, another he recognized as the headmaster of Hogwarts; Albus Dumbledore. A smaller one standing next to Dumbledore, Sirius guessed, was the reason he had passed out before- James' son.
Who the other two children were, Sirius didn't know. It was much too dark to tell their hair color or any facial expressions- Sirius hadn't a clue how he had identified Harry and Dumbledore- but he could tell that they were around Harry's height.
'...think...never...but then again...'
Sirius strained his ears, and tried to block out the sound of the continuous drips.
'...please...good...really far...with my studies...'
'...true, Professor...obsessed...help us if we fall behind...'
'...will take good care of them...don't know... persuaded me to persuade you...'
Sirius' heart beat was too loud- he couldn't hear all of the sentences.
'When...say you wanted to...-aban?'
'-kend after next.'
'I see.'
'So... let us?'
'I must... McGonagall and perhaps... but there is... chance.'
Sirius tried to think what in Merlin's name they were talking about, but he hadn't heard enough of the conversation to tell exactly.
"I'm glad that's over," said Harry, as he, Ron and Hermione made their way up to the Gryffindor common room.
"I don't believe how easily Dumbledore gave in!" exclaimed Ron.
"I, for one, could tell that he wasn't going to put up much of a fight. He obviously trusts Mr. Lupin and he knows we'll be careful," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"We still don't know if we'll be able to go, for sure," said Harry.
"Yeah, but it's pretty likely, isn't it?" said Ron, "I mean, he can't not let us go."
"Of course he'll let us go," Hermione said, certainly.
"I've a question for you, Hermione," said Ron irritably, "Weren't you not talking to us?"
"Well... yes, but I _was_ very curious," Hermione paused, blushing slightly as they opened the portrait hole, "about who that man was, if he wasn't a teacher. I mean, do you know how many adults are usually in the castle during the school year? I read in-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ms. I-know-everything-because-I've-read-every-book-I- could-find, we know how much you know," Ron said, grinning. The bushy- haired girl grew quite red.
"Oi, you three, where've you been?" said a loud voice from the corner of the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione turned to see Fred and George sitting there.
"Oh, hello," said Ron, "we were just talking to a friend."
"What kind of friend? One that isn't in Gryffindor?"
"No, he was in Gryffindor, he just isn't now," said Harry.
"Our brother and his friends were consorting with the enemy?" said one of the twins in outrage.
"He isn't that much of an adult," retorted Ron, "He's really nice."
"His name is..." said George, waving his arms, waiting for an answer.
"His name is Remus Lupin," said Ron, "Or Moony, if you'd like
Fred and George exchanged significant glances, "Is that who you've been hanging out with?" Fred asked.
Harry nodded slowly.
"Isn't he a bit... strange?" George asked, Fred kicked him.
"Well, yes, I suppose, but he- hey, where'd Hermione go?" Ron asked suddenly.
"Dunno," said Harry, looking around the Common Room.
"Library," said a voice, shortly in Harry's ear. He turned to see Lavender Brown standing behind him and Ron, her arms folded around a little diary, "She tried to get your attention to tell you, but you wouldn't listen so she told me."
"Oh, ok," said Harry turning back to the twins.
It was the most brilliant idea!
She couldn't think of any way it would go wrong- if only she could get a teacher's note
To busy hurrying down the hall to the library, Hermione didn't notice the other person walking determinately in the opposite direction until it was to late.
Remus Lupin, unfortunately, didn't stop in time, either.
"S-sorry," Hermione gasped, getting up from the floor.
"It's quite all right, Hermione," Remus said, finding some leverage by pushing off the wall. When they were both balanced again, Remus said, "Where was it you were going in such a hurry?"
"Library," Hermione said, "You?"
"I was- oh, never mind, that's not important. I'll go with you to the library, I ought to look up some things before we make our trip to the prison in a week-and-a-half."
"Well, then," said Hermione, suddenly straightening up, "Let's go do some research in the library! Come on, Remus."
The first-year Gryffindor girl stood up and grabbed Remus' hand, dragging him through the hallway, and then set off at a quick pace, to her favorite haunt.
I would appreciate reviews, as I like to know what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it.
But I guess, if you don't want to, I'm not gonna force you.