Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black slammed the palm of her hand into the corner of a table, her face just slightly twisting into an irritated grimace as she attracted the attention of several others in the pub. Rosmerta looked over in her direction, but she merely shook her head to the inquiring glance.

There was nothing 'Merta could do to help her, nothing anyone could do, or would do apparently.

Some days she would cheerfully strangle her 'beloved' husband. A word from him and she knew that she could get a meeting with Sirius, Lucius was as plugged into the Dark Lord's network as he had ever been and she knew it. Instead what was she doing? Haunting Hogsmeade and playing muggle dog catcher!

'Sirius, if you live through this, I'm going to kill you.' She thought grimly as she finished her drink and left a few coins on the table as she rose.

"Will there be anything else, Madam Malfoy?" Rose asked, stepping up quietly.

"Thank you, No, Rose." Narcissa said with a tired shake of her head.

Rosmerta leaned in close enough that no one else could hear, "You look like hell, Ciss."

Narcissa stiffened slightly, but a glance in the mirror behind the bar told her that Rose had spoken the simple truth. She sighed and nodded, "I have things to do."

"If you're not going to go home, take a room upstairs for a few hours." The bar owner suggested, "You'll do no one, least of all yourself, any good if you collapse in the streets."

Narcissa grimaced at that image, but steeled herself just the same. She had to find her idiot cousin before he did something stupid to get himself killed. "I don't have time, Rose, I..."

A scream went up from outside, shocking them both, and they instantly ran to the door to see a group of Aurors herding Dementors through the streets in a hurry, heading in the direction of Hogwarts.

"What's going on!?" Rosmerta called out to a passerby, yelling above the commotion.

"Haven't you heard!?" A Man called back, "Sirius Black snuck into Hogwarts!"

Narcissa gasped softly, her knees buckling as the world wavered around her.

Rosmerta was there instantly, a single strong arm holding her up and a concerned look shooting in her direction before she looked back to the man. "Did he hurt anyone?"

"No, he tried to break into Gryffindor Dorms to get at Potter but the Painting wouldn't open."

"Did they catch him?" Narcissa asked tonelessly.

"Not yet, this is part of the search party."

Narcissa shook slightly, breathing a sigh of deep relief as she steadied herself. Rose was eyeing her nervously now, and the two just stood there as the procession moved on up the road to the Castle.

"I think you need to be talking to me, Ciss," Rose whispered in her ear, her tone hard and with a lot less of the concern she had earlier.

Xander observed the commotion as he was sequestered in the great hall with some others from his years, not quite able to fathom the situation. That Black had been able to break into the castle wasn't the problem, from what he knew about Black the man knew more about Hogwarts secrets than most anyone alive.

That, in fact, was the problem he was having.

"You ok?"

Xander started as Daphne came up behind him, "What?"

"You look confused."

"I am." Xander admitted. "Something about this stinks."

"How so?"

"Black isn't a stupid guy by any description I've heard," Xander said, shrugging, "So why go looking for Harry in the dorms during the Halloween Feast?"

"Maybe he was going to wait for him and kill him as he went to bed?" Daphne suggested.

"And attacking the painting to announce his presence fits into that plan, how exactly?" Xander asked sarcastically.

"Don't get snippy with me, Harris." She snapped back. "He's been in Azkaban for twelve years, his brain's probably addled."

"So addled he snuck through the line of Aurors and Dementors, then broke through Hogwarts Wards and made it to Gryffindor dorms without being seen? Only to blow it then?" Xander scoffed.

"Look, what do you care?" She rolled her eyes, "it's not like he's here for you."

Xander shrugged defensively, not willing to mention the book or the fact that he'd spent a summer learning all sorts of things from Black's avatar. "I just think it's weird is all."

"You are weird, Harris. Black is nuts. There's a difference." Daphne said with a flick of her hair as she turned away from him and headed for the girl's bedding pads a few yards away.

Xander sighed, taking a seat by the wall and drawing out his copy of the Grimoire. His fountain pen in hand he carefully noted the events of the day in one of the interactive sections, then entered a one word question.

Why?

What's this all about, Narcissa?" Rosmerta demanded in a hard voice when they were alone. "I don't like your reaction out there one bit."

"It's none of your concern, Rosmerta." Narcissa returned in an equal voice. "This is between me and Sirius."

"That... murderer... has no business with any decent human." Rose growled, "Something that, until now, I always believed you to be. Give me one reason why I shouldn't call the Aurors over here."

Narcissa's eyes glinted, the soft blue turning steel grey in an instant as her wand appeared in her hand, startling the tavern owner. "Because it would do you no good, and would likely cost you everything."

Rosmerta paled slightly, taking a step back. "Narciss... Cissy, why are you doing this? You've never been this sort..."

"This is a matter of blood, Rose." Narcissa said fiercely. "Intervene in my affairs and I will crush you."

Rosmerta swallowed as the ephemeral blond spun on her heel and strode out, leaving her to consider the words carefully. Narcissa was not joking, she knew that as a fact. Rose left the private room and looked outside for a moment, eyes falling on a passing Auror as her sense of propriety warred with her sense of self preservation.

Finally she stepped back, letting the door close, and mechanically went back to work.

There was nothing she could do against Narcissa Malfoy, and even less for the Aurors to do. There was no crime in being concerned for a relative, even a murderer. She had always thought that Narcissa detested her cousin, though?

The confusion reigned for that night, but by midway through the next day things were back to normal in the school. Xander's mind was still running in circles as the facts of reality clashed with everything written in his Grimoire, and he didn't like it. He was becoming distrustful of the book, and the contents within as his arguments with the Avatars went round and round.

Evans and Black would have screamed his eardrums bloody if they'd been able to, both insisting that it was IMPOSSIBLE for Black to have betrayed the Potters, let alone killed Peter Pettigrew. What made that even more confusing was the revelation that Evans was, in fact, Lilly Evans who became Lilly Potter, who supposedly died at the behest of Black himself.

Pettigrew was, along with Black and two others (including, Xander was becoming more certain, Remus Lupin) part of the Marauders.

All Xander knew for sure was that he was being lied to, and he didn't like it.

The intelligences locked in the book were of a limited sort, unfortunately, and that meant that they couldn't answer any of the more relevant questions he had, or had been specifically locked against revealing them. Xander had determinedly locked the book in his trunk when they had been permitted back into their rooms, against the vociferous objections of the book's inhabitants who were demanding more information.

Classes moved on, Snape taking over Defense for a few days and tearing into the Gryffindor's for Neville's crossdressing boggart. The next bit of excitement came when the Puffs won their match against Gryffindor on the pitch, largely because a whole group of Dementors had bolted across the field like the demon wraiths they apparently were, scaring the hell out of the school and nearly killing Harry.

As usual, he survived, but the loss of the match had shifted the balance in the scores pretty heavily, which had most of the Kittens looking downtrodden while Draco was puffed up like a marshmallow, strutting around like a peacock.

Xander just shook his head, listening to the whispers behind the boy's back. He wouldn't have looked so foolish if he had anything to do with it, but as it stood Draco just didn't seem to realize that he was making Harry look better and better with every strut.

After all, apparently Slytherin's seeker needed Dementors to take on Potter.

Xander just sighed and let it pass. He didn't understand the game anyway, so what did he care?

Soon it was time for the Hogsmeade visit.

Xander and Wednesday made their way into the small town with the group of students, all gleefully happy to be free of the castle for a few hours. The walk felt good, though it reminded Xander that he'd started to let his conditioning go again and would pay for it if he didn't find some time to exercise soon.

In the group of students he easily spotted Ron and Hermione as they made their way to town as well, but didn't attempt to approach the group. Tensions between the Gryffs and Snakes had ratcheted up again with Draco's nonsense, and Xander didn't feel like a confrontation with some kittens who didn't know enough to avoid a snake.

"Are you well?"

He was startled by the question, turning to Wednesday. "Why are you asking?"

"You've been sullen, withdrawn, and antisocial for the past week or more," She said, eyeing him intently, "Most unlike you. I was starting to think you were hopelessly... cheerful."

The way she spat the word made Xander laugh, which drew a disgusted look from her and he just shook his head. "I'm fine. Just had some heavy thinking to do lately."

"I see."

She didn't push it any further, and he didn't offer anything else, so the two made their way into town and browsed the candy shops, supplies, and general window shopping they were expected to do.

Xander nodded to Hermione when they saw her in Honeydukes, and she nodded back. She didn't look too happy herself, he noted, but he supposed that he shouldn't be surprised.

Ron spared a glance at the snake as he passed, "I don't know what you see in that guy."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "He only helped save your sister last year."

"Yeah, he's ok for a snake," Ron said grudgingly, "But still..."

"Honestly." She huffed, shaking her head.

"Leave her be, Ron. Xander's a good guy." Harry said tiredly from where he was standing under his cloak. "Anyway, like I was saying, the Twins gave me this map... it's called the Marauder's map..."

Hermione's eyes widened as she heard that name, looking at Harry's disembodied head in confusion. "What did you say?"