Sirius seized Harry's arm roughly as he followed his parents out of class, and dragged him to the back of their troupe.
"We need to talk. Now." Sirius hissed. His tone made it clear that there was no use arguing.
Harry looked up into Sirius' face in surprise, and was severely startled by what he saw. Sirius' eyes were dark and haunted, almost deadened save for a glint of desperation, while a manic, mirthless grin cruelly twisted his mouth. Harry gasped and gave an involuntary shudder; Sirius' expression was strongly reminiscent of how he had looked upon their first meeting, three years previous, when Harry had believed Sirius was an escaped murderer from Azkaban. The sudden, drastic change in Sirius' features was shocking.
James, noticing in mid-sentence that Harry was no longer next to him, whirled around. "Everything all right, mate?" James inquired, eyebrows rising in suspicion as he took in the desperate hold Sirius had on James' future son.
Sirius offered him a weak smile. "Yeah, Prongs, I just want to have a quick word with Harry, here. We'll meet you in Potions. Soon."
James gave him a concerned look, but agreed. "OK, just don't keep him too long, Pads. He already got in trouble for being late to class."
Harry wanted to point out the fact that he hadn't been late, but was too shaken by Sirius to say anything at all.
Sirius clutched Harry's arm tighter and hauled him off into a nearby empty classroom, where he finally released his painful grip.
"Tell me." Sirius ordered, shoving Harry down into the nearest seat.
"Tell you what?" Harry managed, eyes wide, perplexed and slightly fearful about what was going to come next.
"It was me who was appointed Secret Keeper for James and Lily, wasn't it?" He demanded.
"Er—" Harry began, with a vague recognition that Sirius called James by his proper name instead of their childhood nicknames when situations turned grave. However, before Harry really had a chance to formulate a response and explain, Sirius barreled onward.
"I'm not a fool Harry, much as I may act one sometimes, and as an accomplished…omitter of the truth, I suppose, I can tell when someone else is omitting crucial facts, omitting the truth and trying to cover it up. So don't try lying to me any longer, hear?" Sirius snarled, face inches away from Harry's own.
Harry gawked at him. "But—"
"Harry!" Sirius roared, throwing up his hands. "I know it was me! I'm not some—some idiot! Who else would James ask?" Sirius said bitterly with a bark of a laugh. "It had to have been me."
"Well, it was, bu—" Harry began.
"I knew it! I knew it was! Harry, if I sold them out to Voldemort, if I got them m—" But here Sirius' voice caught in his throat, as if he couldn't bring himself to say the word.
"No!" Harry snapped, seizing his chance to explain, thoroughly irritated at not being able to speak his peace, but Sirius swiftly cut him off in that infuriating way of his.
"If I did—that tell me now, so that when we get back to the past, straightaway I can—I can throw myself off of the highest Astronomy Tower or—or something else drastic!"
"You needn't—"
"Harry, you don't understand." Sirius voice was dangerous. "I'll kill myself before I kill my—my best friend!" He stormed passionately, eyes blazing. "I'll do it!"
Judging by the gleam in his eyes, Harry had no doubt that Sirius would. Sirius opened his mouth to go on, but Harry had had enough. "NO!" He shouted. "JUST STOP IT FOR A MOMENT AND LET ME TALK!"
Sirius gaped at Harry, thoroughly startled into silence by Harry's outburst.
"Just let me talk." Harry said again, but quieter, much more subdued.
Sirius nodded, his head cocked to one side as he peered curiously at Harry.
Harry ran his hands over his face, and through his hair before slamming them palm down on the desk in front of him. That familiar rage boiled up in him, rage at having to divulge more of the past, rage at himself for not being able to subdue Sirius any other way, rage at not being given a chance to speak before, rage at his whole pitiable situation. But most of all it was rage at knowing that either way Sirius was doomed, and it was cruel to have to explain the horrible future Sirius was soon to face. It wasn't fair!
"Well?" Sirius prompted, jaw set, arms crossed defensively over his chest.
"I'm trying to think!" Harry snapped. "I'm trying to think out to say it!" Harry glowered crossly at Sirius for his irritating insistence, but instantly regretted it after the hurt look which flashed in Sirius' eyes for a moment.
Sirius said nothing in response, but relaxed his aggressive stance slightly.
"OK, you were my mum and dad's Secret Keeper—"
"I knew it!" Sirius thundered.
"BUT they changed it from you at the last minute."
Sirius' shoulders sagged. "They what?"
"They changed it at the last minute." Harry repeated, his tone much less harsh.
A shiver seemed to go through Sirius, and an expression appeared on his face as if he had just been sucker punched in the stomach without warning. He slowly sank down to his knees on the floor, as if his legs could no longer support his body. For a few seconds he just sat like that, putting his face into his hands, before composing himself once again.
"So I—I didn't do it?" Sirius asked softly, wonderingly, gazing up at Harry with haunted eyes.
Harry shook his head.
"I didn't sell them out to Voldemort?" Sirius reasoned, his voice containing a small lilt of hope.
The pain and confusion on Sirius' face was so vivid Harry felt compelled to look away.
"But then why was I in Az—in prison?" Sirius questioned, unable to bring himself to say the word. "If I wasn't the Secret Keeper?"
"Mum and Dad made the switch without telling Dumbledore. Everyone thought it was you who did it. But that's not why—"
"Why would they do that?" Sirius effectively cut Harry off again. "I would have—I would have died for them!"
"Because you told them to. You reasoned—"
Sirius jumped to his feet. "So it was my—stupid notion that got them killed! Why would I do something so—so stupid?" He demanded.
Harry suddenly felt put on the defensive; Sirius' gaze seemed to pierce straight through him. "Er, it wasn't like that, it was—you were trying to help," he babbled on awkwardly, still not sure how much he should reveal, and knowing Hermione would hex him in his sleep for what he already revealed. "You knew you were the obvious choice, that Voldemort would come after you. So you convinced them to change it, to try and, er, fake Voldemort out, I suppose, to bluff, but you all though there might be a—a spy among the group, so you picked someone who no one would suspect—"
"And picked the spy." Sirius' eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise; all of the pieces seemed to click into place. A cruel smile twisted his features.
"Yeah, you picked—"
But Sirius had already bolted from the room.
Gathering his wits, Harry sprinted after Sirius, yet he was no match for the older boy's easy agility and well toned physique. Sirius stood at the awkward brink between boy and man, with an older body but a youth's easily excitable, impatient mind and rash judgment. This combination, along with Sirius' head start, gave Sirius the clear advantage in this situation.
Sirius tore down the steps, pushing through throngs of students rushing to classes, leaving casualties everywhere. Students stood or were sprawled on the floor, dazed, confused, angry, having been hit by an invisible barrier: Sirius, for the effects of Lily's spell were still on. Harry was not so lucky, for he was met resistance and indignation as he pushed through the crowds, very much visible and corporeal.
It was upon approaching the great stairway down to the dungeons when Harry managed to pick out Sirius again, running towards where the group of his parents, Miranda, Remus, Hermione, and Ron stood chatting to each other, waiting for Harry and Sirius to rejoin them before going down to class together. Harry halted, bending down, his hand against his chest, breathing heavily; he had been unprepared for having to race after someone much too fast for his own good. He was only able to watch in horror as the scene unfolded in front of him, barely managing to croak out, "Sirius, no!" He was all too aware of what was about to happen.
Remus' eyes widened in shock and confusion, his mouth forming a small "o" as he turned to see Sirius heading towards him. Sirius smashed into Remus at full force, not even slowing down in the least, his hands gripping the front of Remus' robes. The pair tumbled down the steps together, right down to the bottom of the stairs. Hermione gasped, Miranda shrieked for Remus, Lily shouted at Sirius, James immediately tried to stop their descent, and Ron watched slack jawed at the spectacle which transpired. Lily and Miranda were already running down the stairs, taking them two at a time, when the pair's fall was arrested, with Sirius landing on top of Remus, knocking Remus' breath out.
"You bastard!" Sirius roared, rearing back his fist and punching Remus. "You did it!"
It was when things got too hectic that James Potter was at his best. He sprang into action, leaping down the steps whole bunches at a time, ready to break up the fight.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lily screeched. "STOP IT!"
"YOU SOLD THEM!" Sirius thundered, punching whatever part of Remus he could reach. "You sold your best friends to him!"
"Stop it!" Remus choked out between cries of pain. "Sirius, get offa me!" He writhed and struggled under Sirius' much heavier frame, unable to free himself. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Sirius, leave him alone!" Miranda demanded. "You're hurting him!"
"The hell you don't!" Sirius snarled. "You sold Lily and James to Voldemort!" He got in a particularly nasty punch, punctuated by a loud popping sound.
James pushed passed Lily and Miranda, and skidded to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, poised to break the two apart. He froze at these words. "You what?"
"I didn'—I don' know—" Remus wheezed, his eyelids fluttering. He had one had up protecting his face, and another trying to wrest Sirius from being able to straddle him and keep him pinned down any longer.
Hermione and Ron exchanged confused looks. "That's not—" Hermione began.
Talking over Hermione, Lily snapped, "What are you talking about?" Though she too had paused, looking stricken.
"He sold you out, James!" Sirius eked out thickly, and it was only at this moment that Harry realized Sirius' had tears streaming down his face, matting his long black hair. "He sold you and Lily to Voldemort!"
A/N: Ah yes, finally an update! I hope it was worth waiting for. I tried to inject it with more action for all of you. :) Keep the reviews coming!