Chapter 30

Disclaimer: Harry Potter etc still belongs to JK Rowling, plot still belongs to me.

Author's Note: I don't think Voldemort's attack is going to happen for a while. Fear not; it will come eventually. It could be tomorrow, it could be next year, it could be when you're least expecting it… or whenever's good for you.

A/N2: The rest of my stories are now off hiatus! Now I just need to finish this one... After this I only have six backlog chapters left... Uh-oh.

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It was strange sitting in Defence Against the Dark Arts that afternoon, knowing what the three Gryffindors knew. Lupin still seemed disconcertingly happy. He spent the lesson teaching the class several new and interesting hexes, which resulted in some very bizarre behaviour from various people. After they left, Ron could not stop moving his head like a chicken, and Harry was still distinctly unsteady after receiving a particularly strong Unbalancing Hex from Hermione.

Conversation among the students had turned to a new focal point: Sirius Black's sudden transition from mass-murderer to wronged wizard. Some students were trying to act as if they had known it all along. Most, however, just seemed shell-shocked. This was compounded by the rumour that Sirius Black was currently residing somewhere in Hogwarts, which mainly came down to the fact that everyone knew Snape had been somehow involved, and someone had guessed the connection.

On Monday evening, Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing homework in the Gryffindor common room when an owl swooped in through the window and landed on the arm of Harry's chair. He took the note from its leg, recognising Sirius's handwriting, and read it.

" Harry, if you and your friends aren't too busy, I'd love for you to come and see me tonight. I'm in a secret room on the second floor, next to a statue of Genevieve the Jumpy. The password is 'Snuffles'. " He turned to Ron and Hermione. "Should we go then?"

Hermione looked doubtful, but Ron shrugged in agreement. "Yeah, let's go. This essay isn't due till Thursday anyway." They stood up and left.

It took a while to find Sirius's room, as it was in a part of the second floor that they had been in very little before. Eventually though, they found the statue Sirius had mentioned, and said the password. A large tapestry swung aside to let them in, and the three of them climbed through the hole.

Sirius turned round as he heard them come in, and smiled when he saw who it was. "You made it!"

"Yep," Harry grinned back. "You successfully dragged us away from our fascinating homework."

"Tut tut. I just thought I should have someone here to commemorate my first piece of post in about fifteen years…" He indicated a red envelope on the desk. "If only for moral support." He gingerly picked up the Howler (for that was what the envelope was) and opened it. An angry female voice suddenly filled the room.

"STUBBY BOARDMAN, HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE ME LIKE THAT? I KNOW YOU'RE A FREE MAN NOW, SO YOU'VE NO EXCUSE FOR NOT GETTING IN TOUCH! AFTER THAT LOVELY MEAL WE SHARED, THE NIGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE KILLED THOSE MUGGLES, I THOUGHT YOU CARED FOR ME! WELL WE ARE FINISHED! DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING NEAR DORIS PURKISS AGAIN!" The voice finished its tirade. The envelope caught fire and crumbled to nothing. Sirius's face registered blank astonishment.

"Who, or what, is Doris Purkiss?" He asked tentatively. "And since when has my name been Stubby Boardman?"

Harry and Ron were both laughing too hard to answer. Hermione did it instead. "According to an article in The Quibbler last year, Doris Purkiss is a woman who thinks you are actually a singer called Stubby Boardman, who she was going out with before you went to Azkaban. She was on a date with Stubby the night Pettigrew faked his own death, but then he never contacted her again. She thinks that you are Stubby, and couldn't possibly have killed the Muggles as 'you' were with her at the time."

Now that he knew the full story, Sirius doubled up with laughter, just like Harry and Ron.

"Hang on!" Harry said suddenly. "I can hear someone outside!" He stepped over to the door and listened.

"And I'm telling you that's Ron and Harry in there!" A girl's voice drifted in. Harry visibly relaxed as he recognised it, and he lifted the tapestry to find Ginny standing outside with Luna Lovegood.

"Hi Ginny, hi Luna," he said a little apprehensively.

Before he could say any more, however, Luna broke in. "What's Stubby Boardman doing in our school?"

And so it occurred that by eight o'clock on Monday, no less thannine people knew about Sirius living at Hogwarts. This led to the realisation that, before long, the whole school would know.

After giving Ginny and Luna a brief explanation of the situation, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius decided to go to Dumbledore and try to get something done about the fact Sirius was still having to hide. Hermione performed her invisibility spell on Sirius before they left the room, in case they ran into anyone in the corridors. First, they went to Lupin's office, and then the five of them carried on to Dumbledore's office. Between them, they managed to guess the password ('pear drop'), and they went in.

The conversation was not too long. Due to their insistence that everyone would find out sooner or later anyway, Dumbledore agreed to make an announcement at breakfast on Tuesday, informing the students of Sirius's presence, after which he would be free to be seen by the students.

Sirius quickly settled into his new life, and the students seemed, remarkably, to accept his presence. He seemed quite comfortable with being a free man, and one who was believed to be innocent, at that.

So much so, in fact, that eleven days later he made his first foray into the public eye by going to Hogsmeade along with the students. Lupin stayed by his side all day, looking oddly like a bodyguard. This proved a great source of mirth to Harry and his friends.

Predictably, the evening ended with a group of very soused Sixth Years making their unsteady way back to the castle. Had they not been so drunk, however, they might have noticed Lupin walking back to the castle a little way behind them. He was alone.

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Author's Note: My God, this chapter is boring. I'm working up to something, don't worry.