A/N: Well a chapter a day is my goal for this week! We'll see though... I just want to get it along further, since it's not even to a half way mark... And I think I just heard you all collectively gasp. Yes this story is THAT long. I shall try and keep it entertaining though.

This chapter is more of the 'Book Seven' backstory. In other words, what I think shall happen, so in this story it HAS happened. Don't you just love the power of writers? Heh...

Inu-AngelZ: Thanks for the reassurance about the mary sue issue. I too don't think this is one. Granted the main character is OC and has some amazing abilities, but she's certainly not perfect, and everyone won't fall in love with her. :) Maybe a bit of in lust though... That's just fun

Rheniel: Don't feel bad about not remembering. I just threw Remus's death at the end of the second chapter, that was quite a while back... :)

Chapter 12

"How did Remus die...?"

An question like that out of the blue. He must have been thinking about this for a while. Not that it was surprising. Remus had been one of his best friends, and the last one left alive, at least that had been how it was right before he had died. Now suddenly Sirius found himself alive again, and Remus was dead. It was like a switching of fates.

I considered my response carefully.

"Don't you think you should ask Harry that? After all he actually knew him."

"That's exactly why I won't. To him it's personal... To you it's just something that happened in a book after all. Not to mention I think Draco might curse me if I asked Harry a painful question." He was leaning back in his chair, watching me. Normally his eyes were sort of playful, but occasionally they looked pained, and broken. This was one of those moments.

I had winced at the statement of it being just a book. It reminded me of the argument we had earlier. As he had said, everything I knew had just been out of a book, including what I knew of him. But he had a point about why he was asking me. There would be no emotional dodging of the question, I would just tell him what I had read. But I did think carefully what I should say, the look in Sirius' eyes was actually heartbreaking. Remus had been his last friend left alive, so to come back and find out that the last reminder of your happy school days was dead. Well I know that must have been hard.

"Well as you would say, he died well." I kept my opinion on the matter to myself. I still didn't think that any sort of dying could be called good. "In the final battle it ended up with him fighting against Peter. It seemed almost like divine intervention. Old friend against old friend..." My fingers were tapping across the hard wood of the table.

The expression on Sirius' face was still broken but there was a fire that burned in his eyes at even just the mere mention of Peter Pettigrew's name. Glad to see that hatred had survived the grave. From the books I could certainly understand the feeling. I don't think anyone could read those books and NOT hate Wormtail. He had sold his friends out, causing two of their deaths and one's imprisonment in the worst wizard's prison, leaving the last of their friends alone.

"Peter had been given a silver hand by Lord Voldemort, and I'm sure you know what silver is to werewolves..." My voice dropped slightly at the anguished expression on his face, looking like he was to blame for it all. I don't know how he exactly came to that conclusion, just that he believed if he had been around it would have been different. I continued on, trying quite hard to ignore the bright eyes in front of me. "Peter killed him, but Remus cursed him with his last breath, taking him with him. If any death could be considered good, I suppose that would be it." Without even realizing that I was doing it, I had reached out to grasp Sirius' hand, squeezing it gently. The tears that were in his eyes threatened to spill, but they didn't, they stayed where they were making his eyes a bright and shining silver, even as his eyes dropped to my hand over his.

I quickly pulled it away, a pale blush colouring my cheeks. So maybe he wasn't a complete arrogant bastard. I was learning well enough that I couldn't let the book make my judgements for me. After all the man in front of me had to be different then the one I had read about.

"Thank you for telling me. Maybe I should go check out these Harry Potter books myself and see what happened." He grinned, the sad look gone from his eyes for the moment. "See how this woman described me."

I snorted softly, closing the book that was open in front of me. "You might not be overly happy with the descriptions. You didn't exactly come out of it smelling like roses."

"Look I'm sorry for what I said earlier..."

I paused in the process of standing up to stare at the apologetic looking man sitting across from me. And he was penitent if the nervous wringing of his hands, and the look in his eyes was any indication.

"You just told me what you thought from what you had read. There was no reason to call you stupid, or tell you that you were an inconvenience, or that any one could have done your job. Harry told me enough to know you were the only one they could find who could do it, who even knew how. So thank you... I really wouldn't be here if you hadn't done it."

Second only to an apology from Draco Malfoy, was the surprise this was causing me. But since he had been mature enough to apologize, it was only right and fair of me to follow suit Of course there was also the fact that I hadn't felt right since that argument. I had wanted to apologize. I had known better. But being stubborn has it's difficulties. I sat back down, sighing softly.

"Look. You only got angry after I did. Granted though I don't exactly think everything I said was wrong, but it was all based off a book someone else wrote. Someone who didn't know you, just like I didn't actual observe you during that time. I can't make any judgement calls off it. I can though say you've acted like a cocky bastard SINCE I've met you." I smiled at him and he just laughed softly in return, a deep rumbling sound that echoed through me.

"That's fair enough. Everyone tells me I'm too cocky. But here's some real info for you, instead of the money making stuff that woman wrote about. You said I died thinking I was the hottest thing on Earth. Believe me that's not true. I hated myself in the end, I was miserable. The only bright spot in my life was Harry, so I went out to save him at the ministry. Everything I did was for him. It just happens to be in my nature to be a bit... cocky. It's a Black family thing... I honestly didn't think Bellatrix had what it took to kill me. But as it was proven, she did, and I was a fool to have let her. I've regretted it every damn day since I woke up a week ago." His voice was haunted, he had the aura of a man who had spent thirteen years in Azkaban, who had been a fugitive, who had seen everyone he cared about be killed, who had died himself. The broken look was back in his eyes, and it was all I could do not to start crying myself. The feelings coming from his were practically overpowering. It was hard not to try and comfort him, in whatever way I could think of.

In the end though I stayed quiet during this little speech from Sirius Black. It was one thing for me to say that he had been an idiot, but it was simply wrong to hear it from his own lips. That broken look was breaking my own heart..

"You weren't a fool. Horrible things happen. Look what happened to Dumbledore and Remus." I said softly, looking him in the eye as he smiled slightly at me. I needed the cocky Sirius back. He was easier to deal with...

"Now I really want to know how Voldemort managed to kill Dumbledore?"Sirius asked, a slightly surprised note in his voice. "Harry mentioned it briefly, but I couldn't believe it. The old man was supposed to live forever."

"Draco was going to kill him. He couldn't do it so Snape did it for him. He had made a promise to your cousin Narcissa." I shrugged gently, saying it all as simply as I could manage, even though the subject matter itself was anything but simple.

Sirius' eyes had widened at Draco's mentioned role. "And my godson forgave Draco? I'll assume he had since they're..." He swallowed around what he was trying to say.

"Since they're shagging each other senseless?" I said innocently. He glared at me, but nodded looking like he found the entire idea distasteful. "They're rather cute together actually. As long as you ignore Draco's exasperating personality. But that aside, Draco was forgiven because he proved he wasn't bad in the end. He went against his entire families ideals to help Harry find where Voldemort was in the end. After that you'll have to ask one of the two of them how they ended up together. Once you do, please let me know. I'm dying to find out how that happened." I grinned.

He wrinkled his nose and shook his head, his black hair falling into his face. "I think I shall leave that a mystery unanswered. I'm not overly keen to hear the answer. I shall live in the dark about that." He tilted his head to look at me. "What about Snivellus?" He sneered out the name, a fire burning in his eyes like that when he had heard Peter's name.

"Ah well. Don't kill the messenger." I put up my hands in protest, since I knew well enough that he wasn't going to like what I was going to say now. "He's gone back to teaching potions at Hogwarts." I winced at the expected outburst this statement caused. Sirius had stood up suddenly, banging his hands on the table. Only the sudden appearance of a librarian caused him to sit down again, looking anything but apologetic. The fire still burning hotly in his eyes.

"The slimy grease ball killed Dumbledore and he gets his job back? Did he get an award too?" He sneered as he asked the question.

Well when put like that it did sound a bit surprising.

"He did it to protect Draco. And he did it with the full agreement of Dumbledore himself. The old man as you called him, did what he could to protect one of his students. He knew Draco was planning his death, but he also knew that the boy could be saved. Dumbledore also realized his death was a necessary evil. Snape had made an unbreakable vow with your cousin. It was either make Draco kill, or let Snape do it. The slimy git made good in the end. He helped save Harry and almost died. Because of that, yes he has his old job back."

Sirius sat there, arms crossed, muttering about what I had told him. Despite the redeemed factors, it was impossible of him to think of Snape in a good light. Apparently that feud had survived the grave as well. I doubted the man muttering across from me would have thought good of the old potions master even if he had been the Saviour reborn...

"But you want more details, or even definite facts you need to ask Harry." I shrugged and stood up, collecting my books up. "After all my information is from that book, which you have already pointed out has it's faults. Though Harry told me the major events were pretty much correct."

At my movement, Sirius had also stood, helping me get all the books together. There were certainly plenty of them. Not that any of them had helped too much. Even with my mother's suggestions, I was still finding it slow going. The books around here just didn't hold the information that would be relevant to mine and Sirius's problem.

"Any luck?"

I knew from his pointed look at the old books lying out in front of me that he was referring to the side effect from the ritual, just what had been on my own mind. I shook my head, sighing sadly. He though just nodded at me, not seeming to care at all. Then again why should he, I after all was the one who couldn't go home. He was fine for the moment.

"I always find out what I set out to know." I said confidently.