Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry really sorry. You would not believe how much homework I had! Anyway, review responses.
KCB-once again, you're an author and don't count. And I managed to sleep until 2 because i was SICK!!!!!!!!! VERY!!!!!!!!!!
A Sirius Fan-Please excuse that and any further blonde moments. I was tired the last time i was answering reviews. And Sirius already has his girl lined up for him. Not sure when she's makeing her appearance, but it'll be soon.
A.J. of Gryffindor-Why thank you!
Padfoot's Sidekick-Pernicious Penguins???? Oke dokee. And we tend to think Harry is stupid, so we portray him as stupid, and it seemed like something he would do. As for Podmore, someone in the Order had to be a Death Eater and he seemed like the most likely candidate.
Anyway,
Read our lips. J.K. Rowling owns these characters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Onto chapter 12!
Chapter 12
O.W.L. Results
"Sturgis Podmore?!" Sirius exclaimed as he told Ron, Harry, and Hermione what had happened during the meeting. "There are a few people I would have thought possible of being Death Eaters, mainly Snivellus, but Sturgis? Something's not right here!"
"But Sirius," Hermione argued, "the truth potion is never wrong! You just have to accept it! Besides, he was in Azkaban for awhile, remember? What if he was never under the Imperius Curse?"
"You know Hermione, that's normally the way I would take this. But I just know Snape fixed those potions! Dumbledore may trust him but I sure don't!"
"Probably about as much as I trust you, Black," Snape remarked silkily. Sirius turned around in horror to come face-to-face with his old enemy. "It thoroughly surprised me to find that you weren't a spy. Then again, you never truly had the courage needed for that kind of work..."
"You take that back, you slimy-haired freak!" Sirius yelled as he lunged at Snape. The pair of them got into a duel, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to duck the occasional missed spell and avoid a number of cruel fates, including pink hair, turning into a teapot, and the subtraction of a few limbs. This went on for fifteen minutes, until both Sirius and Severus were lying on the ground with a number of magical injuries. Unfortunately, this was also the time that a few of the Hogwarts teachers, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Hagrid, who had decided to come to Hogwarts to get their classes ready, came upon them in the hallway.
Flitwick, apparently not aware that Sirius was innocent, fainted on the spot. Hagrid, who had no idea how Sirius had come back from the dead, went into hysteria, and, thinking that Sirius was an imposter, slammed him against the wall and started strangling him. McGonagall, who knew that Sirius was both innocent and alive, started scolding him and Snape, who was still lying on the ground, enjoying himself by watching Padfoot struggling to free himself and tell Hagrid that he was indeed Sirius Black at the same time, his feet dangling a yard from the ground. Harry, realizing that if Hagrid didn't stop choking his godfather Sirius would truly be dead in a short while, started trying to explain to Hagrid that Sirius really was alive, but couldn't make himself heard over the racket of Snape and McGonagall arguing, Hagrid's yells of, "You're not Sirius Black!! 'E's dead!" and Ron and Hermione's shouted attempts to wake up Flitwick.
Fortunately, Mr. Weasley came into the scene at this point with a strange expression on his face, halfway between fear and amusement. He, too, tried to get Hagrid to realize that the man he was strangling was really Sirius, but Hagrid just ignored him and told him that he must be Confunded. Seeing Sirius's face turn blue, Harry gathered together all of the strength he could and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"QUIET!!!" It seemed to have the desired affect, because everyone present stopped what they were doing to look at him, Flitwick woke up, and Hagrid dropped Sirius onto the floor. Mr. Weasley ran over to him and started explaining things as he helped Sirius up and supported him.
"Hagrid, this really is Sirius, Dumbledore and Lupin questioned him with Veritaserum. He was transported to the Sahara, nobody really knows how, why, or who did it, but he's alive."
"Sorry 'bout that Sirius."
"That's ok," Sirius replied weakly, still being supported almost entirely by Arthur.
"And Flitwick," he continued, "Sirius is innocent. It's a long story but I assure you, he did not betray Lily and James or kill all of those people." Flitwick nodded, but still looked warily at Sirius.
"Well, if everything is sorted out, we should probably get our classes put together, and allow Sirius time to recover from his little ordeal."
"Thanks Minerva," Sirius muttered and collapsed. Mr. Weasley staggered a little at supporting Sirius's full weight, but stayed standing
"If yeh need me, I'll be ou' back, tendin' ter the animals."
"And we'd better get our classrooms in order. Coming Flitwick?"
"Yes," he murmured, still seemingly entranced by Sirius.
When Sirius came to the next morning, he found he was lying on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room. So many memories from school came flooding back to him as he lay there, looking up at the ceiling. Running around the school with James's Invisibility cloak, playing endless games of Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap late into the night and waking all of the other students up. Of course, they wouldn't get mad at the Potter and Black duo, not if they wanted to keep their dignity. Ron and Harry pulled him out of his musings by coming downstairs, rather loudly, he thought.
"Hey Sirius, you're awake!" Harry exclaimed. Sirius cried out in pain at the sound of Harry's voice and massaged his head. "Sorry," Harry added in a whisper as Ron went off to find Hermione and Tonks. After she had healed Sirius's headache, Tonks handed them a small pile of papers. She left the room with a wicked smile, saying they were from Dumbledore. Hermione took them with curiosity and stared for a few minutes, her face frozen in an expression of fear. It took a while for Ron or Harry to work up the courage to ask what they were, and when they did, Hermione only looked up at them, and then continued her staring contest with the sheets. Sirius finally got sick of the silence and pulled the papers out of Hermione's hand.
"They're just your O.W.L. results! Nothing to worry about here," he added with a smirk. Instantly, Ron, Harry, and Hermione started fighting over the pieces, looking for their own. Once found, they each sat in a different corner and stared at the papers. "Well?" Sirius prodded once he thought it safe. Hermione screamed and fainted, but the men paid no attention to her.
"I actually did alright!" Harry admitted. "I got a Dreadful in History of Magic, but I don't really need that one anyway..."
"How could you get a Dreadful there?"
"He fell asleep."
"Well that was stupid."
"Sirius, shut up. But I got an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, and...and Potions?!"
"I guess it helps when Snivellus isn't your teacher, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so. And I got an E in Herbology, an O in Care of Magical Creatures, and an A in Divination and Astronomy. I can become an Auror!!"
"What about you Ron?"
"Well, I got an O in potions too, wow, and in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures, an E in Transfiguration and Charms, and an A in History of Magic, Astronomy, and Divination."
"I think Dumbledore's Army helped a lot!"
"Yep!"
"What about Hermione?" Sirius pointed over to where she lay, the paper still in her hands. He walked over to her and started reading her grades. "Potions-O. Defense Against the Dark Arts-O. Herbology-O. Charms-O. Transfiguration-O. History of Magic-O. Care of Magical Creatures-O. Ancient Runes-O. Arithmancy-E."
"There's the problem." Harry nodded in agreement.
"What are you talking about?!"
"Hermione got an E in something."
"Isn't that good???"
"Not for Hermione!" Harry replied. She woke up then and got upset at the three of them for not waking her up sooner. The four of them were sitting around, after having breakfast delivered by Dobby, talking about careers when they had an unexpected visitor.
"Well, if I'm ever allowed to work again, I'd like to be an Auror too," Sirius was saying, as the portrait hole was opened and Lupin staggered in and fell on the floor. "Moony!! Nice to see you!! Why are you all tied up?" Lupin tried to say something, but since he was bound and gagged, it sounded rather like
"Mmflpdmmged!"
"I'm sorry Moony, what was that?" Lupin only glared at Padfoot.
"You mean, we never unbound you?" Hermione asked. Remus nodded vigorously, or at least as vigorously as someone who is bound and lying on the floor can be. "Did anyone ever let you out of the Great Hall?" The next answer was also muffled, but they assumed it to be a no.
"Well, who knows the countercurse?" Sirius, to their surprise, started laughing.
"Ron, there is no countercurse!!" Another frustrated answer from Moony.
"Well, anybody got a knife??" Harry asked, thinking back to the knife he had gotten a couple of Christmases ago from Sirius. However, it had melted when Harry used it to try and open a door in the Department of Mysteries.
"Nope." Ron and Hermione answered at the same time.
"We could always try Diffindo," Sirius suggested with an evil grin as he pulled out his wand. Remus's eyes widened and he let out frightened mumble. "Alright fine, have it your way." Sirius got up to untie his friend. "This brings back memories, now doesn't it?"
"Don't remind me," Remus groaned as soon as Padfoot took off his gag. Everyone present laughed, remembering the night during Harry's third year where he had met Sirius, and Snape had bound Remus, convinced he was helping his old friend into the castle.
"Uh, Moony? I can't untie these."
"Oh, stop joking!"
"I'm serious!!"
"I know you are!"
"I mean I'm not kidding!"
"Yeah right Padfoot."
"Fine. Harry, Ron, Hermione, get over here and try to untie him." The three did as they were told, but to no avail. "See! I wasn't lying!"
"Oh no!!" Remus moaned.
"C'mon Moony, let's go find Dumbledore," Sirius remarked as he lifted Remus up, stumbled, and fell over backwards.
"You want some help Sirius?" Harry asked, obviously amused by the scene. Sirius glared at him as he and Ron helped him to his feet.
"What about me?" Lupin asked, still on the ground.
"Hermione, you take his legs, Harry, you help me and support his head, and Ron, you run ahead and look for someone who can help," Sirius told them, like a general commanding his army. However, Sirius's army stayed where they were, smug looks on their faces. "What??"
"You forgot to say the magic word," Hermione replied loftily, looking up at the ceiling.
"Fine. Please."
"Ok!" they replied. Ron ran out the portrait hole and left the remaining four to make a slow descent to the Great Hall, where Dumbledore was waiting for them.
After getting Lupin untied, which took almost the entire Order and five pairs of scissors, they held yet another meeting, discussing what to do with Sturgis Podmore, who was currently locked in one of the dungeons.
"We could modify his memory," Arthur Weasley suggested.
"Yes, that is possible, but then, if somehow the truth potion was incorrect..." Dumbledore sighed and didn't continue.
"We could put him under the Imperious Curse."
"No Kingsley, we won't stoop down to their level."
"Wait!! I have an awesome idea!!" The rest of the Order groaned. "No, really! We modify his memory so that he just doesn't remember that we know he's the spy. Then we give him false information to either really confuse the Death Eaters or prove that the potion was messed up (which I don't doubt)" Sirius added under his breath. The rest of the Order decided that Sirius actually had a good idea ("Wow! Two in a row, great job Padfoot!") and carried out their plan.
I really was going to update sooner! To make up, i'm also giving you chapter 13! Will that help? -Ducks objects thrown by reviewers- Sorry!!!!!!!!!!!
