22. Owl Post Again

Changing Similarities

"Harry!" Hermione was tugging at his sleeve, staring at her watch. "We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us - before Dumbledore locks the door -"

"We have to hurry!" Lillica gasped. "If Mum's unaccounted for for too long, then, they'll know that she was involved!"

"Okay," said Harry, wrenching his gaze from the sky, and noticing that Emma seemed as reluctant to do so as him. "Let's go..."

The four of them slipped through the doorway behind them and down a tightly spiraling stone staircase. When they reached the bottom of it, something made them all stop in horror, for gliding towards them was a dementor. How it had gotten all the way up there and what it was doing there, none of them knew, but it was Emma who stepped forwards and raised her wand before anyone else could react.

She said nothing, and her back was to them so they couldn't see her face, but they all saw the silvery-white shape burst forth from her wand and gallop towards the dementor, driving it back down the corridor before it turned and regarded them all carefully.

It was a stag, almost exactly the same as Harry's Patronus had been. It looked at each of them in turn before fixing its gaze on Emma, and slowly bowing its great antlered head.

"Prongs...you came back to me..." Harry's godmother whispered, and he heard the tears in her voice. "Is it...because he forgave me...?"

"I think it's more like you forgave yourself, Mum..." Lillica said quietly, as the Patronus vanished. Harry chanced a glance at his godsister; her silver eyes were shining, still lit up by what she had just witnessed. "I don't know exactly what for, but, Dad always said that that's what it was..."

"Maybe..." Emma mused, fiddling with something around her neck.

Harry suddenly saw what it was; what he'd thought before was a strange locket with the stag on the front of it was in fact a pocket watch...which reminded him of the danger that they were in.

Emma's hazel eyes suddenly widened, and she pressed a finger to her lips as they heard voices.

They flattened themselves against the wall and listened. It sounded like Fudge and Snape. They were walking quickly along the corridor at the foot of the staircase.

"... only hope Dumbledore's not going to make difficulties," Snape was saying. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"

"As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors. I thought that there was one up here already, but, clearly I was wrong. This whole Black affair has been highly embarrassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the Daily Prophet that we've got him at last... I daresay they'll want to interview you, Snape... and once young Harry's back in his right mind, I expect he'll want to tell the Prophet exactly how you saved him..."

Harry clenched his teeth. He caught a glimpse of Snape's smirk as he and Fudge passed the spot where Harry, Hermione, Lillica, and Emma were hidden. Their footsteps died away. Harry, Hermione, Lillica, and Emma waited a few moments to make sure they'd really gone, then started to run in the opposite direction. Down one staircase, then another, along a new ,corridor - then they heard a cackling ahead.

"Peeves!" Harry muttered, grabbing Hermione's wrist.

"In here!" Emma urged, pulling Lillica into a deserted classroom along with Harry and Hermione.

Just in time, too. Peeves seemed to be bouncing along the corridor in boisterous good spirits, laughing his head off.

"Oh, he's horrible," whispered Hermione, her ear to the door. "I bet he's all excited because the dementors are going to finish off Sirius..."

Emma was checking her pocket watch. "Three minutes!"

They waited until Peeves's gloating voice had faded into the distance, then slid back out of the room and broke into a run again.

"Mum - what'll happen - if we don't get back inside before Dumbledore locks the door?" Lillica panted.

"Try not to think about it!" Emma advised her, checking her pocket watch again. "One minute!"

They had reached the end of the corridor with the hospital wing entrance.

"Okay - I can hear Dumbledore," said Hermione tensely. "Come on!"

They crept along the corridor. The door opened. Dumbledore's back appeared.

"I am going to lock you in," they heard him saying. "it is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do It. Good luck."

Dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it. Panicking, Harry and Hermione ran forward, followed by Emma and Lillica. Dumbledore looked up, and a wide smile appeared under the long silver mustache. "Well?" He said quietly.

"We did it!" said Harry breathlessly. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak..."

Dumbledore beamed at them.

"Well done. I think -" He listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. "Yes, I think you've gone too - get inside - I'll lock you in -"

"And, Professor," Lillica added quickly as she, her mother, Harry, and Hermione slipped back inside the dormitory. "Mum's Patronus...it came back!"

Dumbledore glanced quickly at Emma, who Harry noticed was wiping a few tears from her eyes.

"You always told me that he would, Professor..." Harry's godmother said quietly from where she had gone over to check on Teddy, who was asleep like Ron.

Dumbledore smiled at her gently and nodded before he closed the doors.

As the lock clicked behind them, Lillica joined her mother, and Harry and Hermione crept back to their own beds, Hermione tucking the Time-Turner back under her robes.

A moment later, Madam Pomfrey came striding back out of her office.

"Did I hear the headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to look after my patients now?"

She was in a very bad mood. Harry and Hermione thought it best to accept their chocolate quietly. Madam Pomfrey stood over them, making sure they ate it. But Harry could hardly swallow. He and Hermione were waiting, listening, their nerves jangling...

Teddy woke up, and Harry heard her ask Lillica if she'd brought September.

"I can hear her hissing around on the floor somewhere here..." Emma said in a good-natured way, and Lillica grumbled but resigned herself to looking under the beds for their pet cobra.

Madam Pomfrey handed Teddy some chocolate then, as Emma procured some knitting needles from a bag by her feet and continued knitting what looked to Harry like a plush toy.

And then, as Harry and Hermione both took a fourth piece of chocolate from Madam Pomfrey, they heard a distant roar of fury echoing from somewhere above them...

"What was that?" said Madam Pomfrey in alarm.

Emma's knitting needles paused.

Now they could hear angry voices, growing louder and louder. Madam Pomfrey was staring at the door.

"Really - they'll wake everybody up! What do they think they're doing?"

Harry was trying to hear what the voices were saying. They were drawing nearer -

"He must have Disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out -"

"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Snape roared, now very close at hand. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS - HAS - SOMETHING - TO - DO - WITH - POTTER!"

"Sssolemn facccesss, everyone..." A small voice hissed from Harry's right, and he looked to see September curled up around a kettle.

"Severus - be reasonable - Harry has been locked up -"

BAM!

The door of the hospital wing burst open.

Fudge, Snape, and Dumbledore came striding into the ward. Dumbledore alone looked calm. Indeed, he looked as though he was quite enjoying himself. Fudge appeared angry. But Snape was beside himself.

"OUT WITH IT, POTTER!" He bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Professor Snape!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "Control yourself!"

"See here, Snape, be reasonable," said Fudge. "This door's been locked, we just saw -"

"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" Snape howled, pointing at Harry and Hermione. His face was twisted; spit was flying from his mouth.

"Calm down, man!" Fudge barked. "You're talking nonsense!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW POTTER!" shrieked Snape. "HE DID IT, I KNOW HE DID IT -"

"That will do, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly. "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"

"Of course not!" said Madam Pomfrey, bristling. "I would have heard them!"

"Well, there you have it, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."

"WHAT ABOUT HER THEN?!" Snape suddenly pointed a finger at Emma, who raised an eyebrow. "EMMA PAX OR EMMA BLACK OR WHOEVER THAT WOMAN IS NOW!"

Lillica and Teddy were staring at Snape in shock.

"Yes, what about me, Severus?" Emma asked. Her voice was calm, but it was also icy cold, and there was a certain look in her eyes that made Harry think back to what she'd said in the Shrieking Shack...right after she'd admitted to using a bit too much force to knock Snape out.

'You would think that they'd all be used to it by now.'

Snape was staring back at her with an expression of unbridled fury. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Now really, Professor Snape!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "Mrs. Black has been here nearly the whole time by her daughter's bedside!"

Harry, who had watched his godmother bristle at being referred to as 'Mrs. Black', now watched as Snape zeroed in on what Madam Promfrey had just said. "Nearly? So, Mrs. Black left at some point, then?"

And, Emma bristled again.

"She hates to be called that." Said Teddy suddenly. She was still wearing an expression of shock, and kept on looking from her head of house to her mother. Her injured leg was still in its cast - Harry now noticed that the cast was bearing a number of signatures. "Also, Mum sent somebody to get my sister ages ago, so then I went and asked her to go and see what was taking so long, and I must have fallen asleep and suddenly it's open warfare in here...?" She bit her lip.

"See, now you're upsetting everybody, Professor Snape!" Madam Promfrey said crossly, going over to hand Teddy some more chocolate.

"Yeah," Lillica jumped in, from where she now stood by Harry's bedside table, holding September who was still curled around the kettle. "It's been bad enough that September's been sick and Teddy's in the hospital wing because she got pushed down the stairs. I ran into Mum halfway," she added, as she crossed the hospital wing towards her mum and sister. She placed the kettle and the cobra on the bedside table. "Mum's been worried about both of them."

"It's what we do." Emma said mildly, as Lillica sat down on the edge of the bed and stole a bit of her sister's chocolate.

Teddy bit her lip again and looked worriedly at September, who was looking somewhat sleepily back at her. "Maybe she's still sick?" She wondered. "Can Madam Pomfrey look at snakes?"

"No." The matron replied.

"Things will be fine." Emma assured both of her daughters, before turning to look at Snape directly in the eyes. "Right?"

Snape took a half a step back, like he'd been slapped.

"Yes, Severus, it's just preposterous to believe that Emma would have had anything to do with Sirius Black escaping," Fudge said quickly. "She's a highly respected member of the Ministry Of Magic, after all! Although...my dear, who was it that you sent to fetch your daughter?" He asked suddenly.

Wordlessly, all three Blacks who were present pointed to the floor behind Snape, and so of course they all looked.

A black cobra who was quite a bit bigger than September slithered casually into the hospital wing.

Hermione jumped, and Madam Promfrey gave a startled little gasp.

"Ah," Dumbledore said quietly. "Septimus..."

"You remember Septimus, don't you Minister?" Emma asked pleasantly.

"Oh, yes," Fudge nodded once, not taking his eyes off of the snake who was in the process of winding his way up a nearby bedpost. "Septimus...glad to see that he's still around, my dear..."

"I know, right?" Emma smiled, as Septimus flicked his forked tongue in and out a few times. "It's good to have friends."

Dumbledore, too, was smiling.

Snape stood there, seething, staring from Fudge, who looked both thoroughly shocked at Snape's behavior and perturbed by Septimus's presence, to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward.

"Fellow seems quite unbalanced," said Fudge, staring after him. "I'd watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore."

"Oh, he's not unbalanced," said Dumbledore quietly. "He's just suffered a severe disappointment."

"He's not the only one!" puffed Fudge. "The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day! We had Sirius Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story of that hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughingstock! Well...I'd better go and notify the Ministry..."

"And the dementors?" said Dumbledore. "They'll be removed from the school, I trust?"

"Oh yes, they'll have to go," said Fudge, running his fingers distractedly through his hair.

"Oh, thank God..." Emma muttered, as her knitting needles clicked together.

Fudge nodded. "Yes, yes, never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent boy...completely out of control...no, I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight...perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance..."

"Hagrid would like that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry and Hermione.

"Oh, yes, and here..." Fudge said suddenly, reaching into the pocket of his robes and pulling out a small stack of what appeared to be letters, which he handed to Emma. "I almost forgot, what with all this, but...these are the papers that you requested. You'll find that the vote was almost unanimous, of course, and all that's required now is your signature on the last page, which needs to be returned to head office."

"Of course, thank you so much, Minister." Emma's smile only grew as she accepted the papers from him. "I have been waiting for this day..." She added happily, her eyes twinkling in a way that reminded Harry of how she had been in the photograph of his parents' wedding.

"Yes, well, hopefully now we can prevent anything like what has occurred tonight from ever repeating itself." Fudge sighed.

"Prevention is preferable to a cure, Minister." Emma replied. "I believe that you taught me that, Professor?" She added, glancing over at Dumbledore.

"I believe that I did, Emma." Dumbledore agreed.

He and Fudge left the dormitory.

"Madam Pomfrey, although the snakes will have to manage on their own, I trust that I can rely on you to look after my daughters and my godson and their friends, as always?" Emma said, standing up. She held the envelopes in her hand, but left her knitting where it was; still magically knitting away at Teddy's bedside.

"Yes, yes, of course." Madam Pomfrey said, sounding cross but not at Emma, who merely smiled politely and bade a quick farewell to everyone before she too exited the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey hurried to the door and locked it again. Muttering angrily to herself, she headed back to her office.

"Did you see those papers that she had?" Teddy whispered, completely dropping her act of having been upset by what had happened. "They were from the Department Of Magical Law Enforcement - Mum's going back to work full time, now!"

"No wonder she hurried out so fast!" Lillica added.

"Actually..." Hissed a voice from above, and the twins and Harry looked up to see the cobra named Septimus high above them in the rafters. "I think you'll find that sssshe'ssss gone to keep Messssssur Moony company tonight..."

There was a sudden, unmistakable howl from somewhere seemingly far away. A second, almost excited howl then answered it. The two wolves then howled together.

"How did she get down there so fast?" Harry wondered.

"What?" Lillica blinked.

"Wait, wait, wait - hold up, pleassse..." Teddy breathed, forgetting to speak in English for Hermione's benefit. "Messssssur Moony isss...?"

"Professssssor Lupin." Lillica and Harry answered her in unison, also forgetting to speak in English.

"What?!" Teddy and Hermione both exclaimed, but for different reasons.

There was a low moan from the other end of the ward. Ron had woken up. They could see him sitting up, rubbing his head, looking around.

"What - what happened?" he groaned. "Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? Where's Emma? What's going on?" He suddenly noticed Septimus on the rafters, and froze. "S-September...?" He noticed her curled around the kettle across the room and looked back up. "Harry...why is September there, and also over there...?" He pointed in the two different directions.

Harry, Hermione, Lillica, and Teddy looked at each other.

"What's he talking about, Harry?" Hermione asked, with a completely straight face. "After all, how could anybody possibly be in two different places at once?"

The twins both started giggling.

"You explain," said Harry, helping himself to some more chocolate. He noticed that the plush toy that his godmother's enchanted knitting needles were knitting had started to take shape; it resembled a hippogriff.


When Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the hospital wing at noon the next day, it was to find an almost deserted castle. The sweltering, heat and the end of the exams meant that everyone was taking full advantage of another Hogsmeade visit. Neither Ron nor Hermione felt like going, however, so they and Harry wandered onto the grounds, still talking about the extraordinary events of the previous night and wondering where Sirius and Buckbeak were now. They wondered if Pansy Parkinson had been punished yet for pushing Teddy down the stairs, and how the Black twins must have felt when Septimus and September had filled them in on most of what Harry, Ron, and Hermione had learned down there in the Shrieking Shack. Sitting near the lake, watching the giant squid waving its tentacles lazily above the water, Harry lost the thread of the conversation as he looked across to the opposite bank. The stag had galloped toward him from there just last night...

A shadow fell across them and they looked up to see a very bleary-eyed Hagrid, mopping his sweaty face with one of his tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs and beaming down at them.

"Know I shouldn' feel happy, after wha' happened las' night," he said. "I mean, Black escapin' again, an, everythin' - but guess what?"

"What?" they said, pretending to look curious.

"Beaky! He escaped! He's free! Bin celebratin' all night!"

"That's wonderful!" said Hermione, giving Ron a reproving look because he looked as though he was close to laughing.

"Yeah... can't've tied him up properly," said Hagrid, gazing happily out over the grounds. "I was worried this mornin', mind... thought he mighta met Professor Lupin on the grounds, but Lupin says he never ate anythin' las' night..."

"What?" said Harry quickly.

"Blimey, haven' yeh heard?" said Hagrid, his smile fading a little. He lowered his voice, even though there was nobody in sight. "Er - Snape told all the Slytherins this mornin'... Thought everyone'd know by now... Professor Lupin's a werewolf, see. An' he was loose on the grounds las' night... He's packin' now, o' course."

"He's packing?" said Harry, alarmed. "Why?"

"Leavin', isn' he?" said Hagrid, looking surprised that Harry had to ask. "Resigned firs' thing this mornin'. Says he can't risk it happenin again."

Harry scrambled to his feet.

"I'm going to see him," he said to Ron and Hermione.

"But if he's resigned -"

" - doesn't sound like there's anything we can do -"

"I don't care. I still want to see him. I'll meet you back here."

Lillica opened the door to Lupin's office. He had already packed most of his things. The Grindylow's empty tank stood next to his battered old suitcase, which was open and nearly full. Lupin was bending over something on his desk and looked up only when Harry knocked on the door and Lillica let him in.

"I saw you coming," said Lupin, smiling. He pointed to the parchment he had been poring over. It was the Marauder's Map.

"I just saw Hagrid," said Harry. "And he said you'd resigned. It's not true, is it?"

"I'm afraid it is," said Lupin. He started opening his desk drawers and taking out the contents.

"Why?" said Harry. "The Ministry of Magic don't think you were helping Sirius, do they?"

Lupin crossed to the door and closed it behind Harry.

"No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives." He sighed. "That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he - er - accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast."

"Accidentally on purpose!" Lillica said angrily.

"You're not leaving just because of that!" said Harry.

Lupin smiled wryly.

"This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents... They will not want a werewolf teaching their children, Harry. And after last night, I see their point. I could have bitten any of you... That must never happen again."

"You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" said Harry. "Don't go!"

Lupin shook his head and didn't speak. He carried on emptying his drawers. Then, while Harry was trying to think of a good argument to make him stay, Lupin said, "From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If I'm proud of anything I've done this year, it's how much you've learned. . . . Tell me about your Patronus. "

"How d'you know about that?" said Harry, distracted.

"What else could have driven the Dementors back?"

Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he'd finished, Lupin was smiling again.

"Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed," he said. "You guessed right. . . that's why we called him Prongs."

"Professor..." Lillica ventured. "On a similar note...umm, did Mum tell you about what happened just after Sirius and Buckbeak escaped? About the Dementors?"

Lupin nodded. "She did."

"Well..." Lillica glanced at Harry. "Do you know, then, why Mum's Patronus is a stag as well? I mean...the Patronus actually bowed to her, it was quite magical, really...she said - and, I quote - 'you came back to me...'" Lillica sighed. "She wondered if it was because 'he'd' forgiven her' ... but, Dad always said that when she could use her Patronus again it would be because she forgave herself...do you know what they mean?"

Harry remembered that Lillica didn't know all of what had happened in the Shrieking Shack, and wondered how much the snakes had told Lillica and Teddy.

Lupin smiled slightly. "Your Mother had a very strong connection with Harry's Father." He explained. "Sometimes, it was almost as if they could read each other's minds. She blamed herself for what happened to him and Lily. I suspect that her being able to cast her Patronus again is her way of finally beginning to heal."

"I hope so..." Lillica smiled slightly, as well.

Harry had a feeling that there was something that Lupin wasn't telling them.

He watched as Lupin threw his last few books into his case and closed the desk drawers.

Lupin turned to look at Harry and Lillica.

"Here - I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last night," he said, handing Harry back the Invisibility Cloak. "And. . . " He hesitated, then held out the Marauder's Map too. "I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you back this as well. It's no use to me, and I daresay you, Ron, Hermione, and Teddy will find uses for it. "

Harry took the map and grinned, handing it to Lillica who glanced at it.

"You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Whitefang would've wanted to lure me out of school. . ." Harry said to Lupin. "You said they'd have thought it was funny."

"And so we would have," said Lupin, now reaching down to close his case. "I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle."

There was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak into his pocket.

It was Professor Dumbledore. He didn't look surprised to see Harry there.

"Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he said.

"Thank You, Headmaster. "

Lupin picked up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank. He then looked past Dumbledore, to see that Emma and Teddy were standing there; Mother and daughter both had their cobras draped around their necks. Emma was staring at the ground.

"Well - good-bye, Harry, girls," Lupin said, smiling, but not taking his eyes off of Emma. "It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage. . . . "

Harry had the impression that Lupin wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

"Good-bye, then, Remus," said Dumbledore soberly.

"Thanks for everything, Professor Lupin." Lillica and Teddy said in unison.

"Umm..." Emma looked up briefly. "I'm...going too, actually..."

"What?" Lillica looked surprised. "You're not going to stay for a bit longer? How come?"

Lupin was still staring at Emma, who refused to meet his gaze. "Em...what did you do...?"

"She slapped Professor Snape." Teddy said promptly.

Harry's mouth dropped open, and Lupin nearly dropped the empty Grindylow tank. Next to Harry, Lillica had gone very still.

"Sssolemn faccce, sssolemn faccce..." He suddenly heard her hiss quietly to herself in Parsletongue, and had to work hard to do what she was saying.

"Did...did anybody see you do that?" Lupin wanted to know.

He was talking to Emma, but Teddy chose to answer again. "I only noticed Professor McGonagall. She looked shocked and said 'ten points from Gryffindor' and then she must've remembered that Mum's not a student here anymore so she put the points straight back in." And, here, Teddy rolled her eyes, because both Harry and Lillica were looking horrified.

Lupin was still looking at Emma, and then he asked her: "But...why?"

She finally looked up at him. "Because his personal vendetta against you guys still upsets me to this day." She said, very quietly. "He would have seen both you and Sirius lose your souls, and, I wouldn't have been able to stand that. And, because I let my temper get the better of me." She looked aside. "Umm … I sent a letter home saying how I'd be away for a few days, if … umm, you'd like to catch up properly ... if ... if that's okay with you...?"

"Of course it is!" Lupin said, a bit too quickly, and Harry watched as Emma's eyes lit up. It was like sunlight streaming in through a window in the late afternoon.

"Mum, does that mean that Professor Lupin can come and stay with us for a bit over the holidays, too?" Lillica wanted to know.

"We'll see, girls." Emma smiled, and then she sobered. "Things might be a bit here and there for awhile, but, we'll manage . . . " She then came over and gave Harry a hug, and he froze for a second. "Take care, kiddo."

Over her shoulder, Harry saw Lupin watching them, carefully.

"Umm," Teddy suddenly cleared her throat, and then she said: "P-Professor Lupin! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to realise...that it was you on that day, Professor - that you're the one who Mum called Moony...the one who saved me from that other...from what happened...so...thank you. I've wanted to say it for such a long time, actually..."

Harry had absolutely no idea what Teddy was talking about, but, Lupin seemed to, for he smiled and said: "I understand, Teddy."

"Good-bye, then, Remus," said Dumbledore soberly. Lupin shifted the Grindylow tank slightly so that he and Dumbledore could shake hands. Then, with a final nod to Harry and the Black twins and a swift smile, Lupin and Emma both left the office.

Harry sat down in his vacated chair, staring glumly at the floor. He heard the door close and looked up. Dumbledore was still there.

"Why so miserable, Harry?" he said quietly. "You should be very proud of yourself after last night."

"It didn't make any difference," said Harry bitterly. "Pettigrew got away."

"Didn't make any difference?" said Dumbledore quietly, "It made all the difference in the world, Harry. You helped uncover the truth. You saved an innocent man from a terrible fate."

Terrible. Something stirred in Harry's memory. Greater and more terrible than ever before... Professor Trelawney's prediction!

"Professor Dumbledore - yesterday, when I was having my Divination exam, Professor Trelawney went very - very strange."

"Indeed?" said Dumbledore. "Er - stranger than usual, you mean?"

"Yes... her voice went all deep and her eyes rolled and she said ... she said Voldemort's servant was going to set out to return to him before midnight... She said the servant would help him come back to power." Harry stared up at Dumbledore. "And then she sort of became normal again, and she couldn't remember anything she'd said. Was it - was she making a real prediction?"

Dumbledore looked mildly impressed.

"Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been." he said thoughtfully. "Who'd have thought it? That brings her total of real predictions up to two. I should offer her a pay raise..."

"But -" Harry looked at him, aghast. How could Dumbledore take this so calmly?

"But - I stopped Sirius and Professor Lupin from killing Pettigrew! That makes it my fault if Voldemort comes back!"

"It does not," said Dumbledore quietly. "Hasn't your experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, Harry? The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed... Professor Trelawney, bless her, is living proof of that... You did a very noble thing, in saving Pettigrew's life."

"But if he helps Voldemort back to power..."

"Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt... When one wizard saves another wizard's life, it creates a certain bond between them... and I'm much mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter."

"I don't want a connection with Pettigrew!" said Harry. "He betrayed my parents!"

"This is magic at its deepest, its most impenetrable, Harry. But trust me... the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life."

Harry couldn't imagine when that would be. Dumbledore looked as though he knew what Harry was thinking.

"I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry," he said gently. "He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it."

Harry looked up at him. Dumbledore wouldn't laugh - he could tell Dumbledore...

"I thought it was my dad who'd conjured my Patronus. I mean, when I saw myself across the lake ... I thought I was seeing him."

"An easy mistake to make," said Dumbledore softly. "I expect you'll tire of hearing it, but you do look extraordinarily like James. Except for the eyes... you have your mother's eyes."

Harry shook his head.

"It was stupid, thinking it was him," he muttered. "I mean, I knew he was dead."

"You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night."

It took a moment for Harry to realize what Dumbledore had said.

The twins exchanged a glance.

"Last night Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi," said Dumbledore, smiling. "An extraordinary achievement - not least, keeping it quiet from me. And then I remembered the most unusual form your Patronus took, when it charged Mr. Malfoy down at your Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. You know, Harry, in a way, you did see your father last night...you found him inside yourself."

And Dumbledore left the office, leaving Harry, Lillica, and Teddy with their own thoughts.

"Mum finally told us about being her an Animagus." Teddy said, guessing what Harry was thinking. "Not that she told us why she became one, just that she'd had the ability for awhile."

"She did tell us about your mother becoming one though, Harry." Lillica added. "Mum said that they found out about it on the night of a full moon in Forks."

And, that was when Harry remembered what he had heard - 'five unregistered Animagi' . . .

"That's in Washington." Teddy supplied, and Harry was briefly amazed - his parents had actually travelled to America? Why? When?

"The Ministry sent them there on a sort of 'mission', in the months before they started their final year here at Hogwarts," Teddy answered Harry's unspoken question. "They went to a couple of exotic places, apparently, but Forks is where they found out about Lily being an Aniamgus."

"One of You-Know-Who's followers who's also a werewolf happened to show up there," Lillica went on, and Harry watched as Teddy flinched. "And, of course, Lupin was transformed as well - Mum said that she and Sirius and your Dad needed all of the help that they could get..."

"Considering who it was..." Teddy murmured. Harry looked at her, and noticed that her hands were shaking. She looked up at him, her hazel eyes troubled. Harry remembered the conversation that she'd had with Lupin, just before he left.

'I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to realise...that it was you on that day, Professor - that you're the one who Mum called Moony...the one who saved me from that other...from what happened...so...thank you. I've wanted to say it for such a long time, actually...'

Lillica glanced between her sister and Harry, and then looked over at Septimus and September - the two cobras looked back at her, not saying anything. She sighed.

"Mum told us that the werewolf who attacked that night in Forks..."

"Is the same werewolf, Harry," Teddy's voice was quiet. "Who was responsible for the attack on me, when I was nine."

Harry stared at her in amazement. Suddenly, the form that Teddy's boggart had taken on, which had caused her to run out of the room in fear...and, her running out of Snape's class when the topic had been on werewolves...those things all made sense to Harry now.

"He wasn't transformed, but...there was no mistaking how dangerous the man they'd just captured was. He ended up escaping, as it is, but not before his claw-like nails drew my blood. I've tried to suppress the memory of that attack up until recently," Teddy went on. "But, that's not a very good thing to do. And, I think that I can start to face up to it now, knowing what I know..." She glanced over at Harry. "On that day, there was another man there with my Mum, and working together they both saved me. All that Mum would say was that it was 'Moony'. I never realised...one of her closest friends, someone that she loves..."

"Plus, the best Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher that we've ever had..." Lillica grinned, and then her smile faded. "Or, ever will have, I reckon..."

"Yeah..." Harry agreed, feeling downcast again.

"This should make you feel better, Harry," Lillica said suddenly. "Mum told me that it was Lupin who taught her the Patronus Charm when they were at school - it saved her, Sirius, and your parents as well, not long after that. From a dementor attack. The first of many, and for whatever reason they always seem to go for her on Valentine's Day or Christmas..."

Harry stared at her in amazement. The image of his godmother's stag Patronus - so much like his own - seemed to be reflected in Lillica's silver eyes. He recalled what she'd said about the dementor that had attacked when she was little.

He suddenly understood what Fudge had been talking about, when the Minister had mentioned 'a repeat of that instance'. No wonder Lillica feared the dementors almost as much as Harry did, and Emma spoke about them much in the same way that Lupin did.

"Oh, I wish that I had gotten to see Mum's Patronus like you guys did..." Teddy mumbled. "If Pansy hadn't pushed me down the stairs and then tried to do a Lockhart and remove half the bones in my leg..." She sighed. "I wouldn't have been in the hospital wing. She's just lucky that it won't scar..."

"You've had worse scars." Lillica pointed out.

"True." Teddy agreed and then, to Harry's complete shock, she finally pushed the fringe away from her forehead and he saw the scar on the left side of her forehead. It was vaguely crescent moon shaped, and he didn't have to ask where she'd gotten it from. He wondered how sharp werewolf claws could be, even if they weren't transformed...

"Are you still friends with Parkinson?" Harry couldn't help asking her, as they walked out of the classroom together.

"Possibly," Teddy replied. "We'll see how she makes me feel when word gets around about Professor Lupin..."

"You can always throw some tea leaves at her." Lillica suggested, and the three of them couldn't help but laugh.


Nobody at Hogwarts now knew the truth of what had happened the night that Sirius, Buckbeak, and Pettigrew had vanished except Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lillica, Teddy, and Professor Dumbledore. As the end of term approached, Harry heard many different theories about what had really happened, but none of them came close to the truth.

Malfoy was furious about Buckbeak. He was convinced that Hagrid had found a way of smuggling the Hippogriff to safety, and seemed outraged that he and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper. Percy Weasley, meanwhile, had much to say on the subject of Sirius's escape.

"If I manage to get into the Ministry, I'll have a lot of proposals to make about Magical Law Enforcement!" He told the only person who would listen - his girlfriend, Penelope.

Though the weather was perfect, though the atmosphere was so cheerful, though he knew they had achieved the near impossible in helping Sirius to freedom, Harry had never approached the end of a school year in worse spirits.

He certainly wasn't the only one who was sorry to see Professor Lupin go. The whole of Harry's Defense Against the Dark Arts class was miserable about his resignation.

"Wonder what they'll give us next year?" Said Seamus Finnigan gloomily.

"Maybe a vampire," suggested Dean Thomas hopefully.

It wasn't only Professor Lupin's departure that was weighing on Harry's mind. He couldn't help thinking a lot about Professor Trelawney's prediction. He kept wondering where Pettigrew was now, whether he had sought sanctuary with Voldemort yet. But the thing that was lowering Harry's spirits most of all was the prospect of returning to the Dursleys. For maybe half an hour, a glorious half hour, he had believed he would be living with Sirius from now on...and, Emma ... his parents' best friends...It would have been the next best thing to having his own parents back. And while no news of Sirius was definitely good news, because it meant he had successfully gone into hiding, and Haphazard II brought a letter from Emma (that had taken them ten minutes to try and read) saying that she was very happy to be back at work, Harry couldn't help feeling miserable when he thought of the home he might have had, and the fact that it was now impossible.

"We would've loved to have had you stay with us for good, Harry," Lillica said, somewhat sadly.

They were walking across the Entrance Hall together, heading into the Great Hall for a very late breakfast. When they entered, however, they were surprised to see a small commotion at the Gryffindor table, which seemed to be centred around Ron who could be heard saying: "Stand back, I said! I mean it! I'll take it upstairs if you don't settle! Or, Hermione will . . . "

"Don't you drag me into this, Ronald!"

"What — ?" Lillica began, just as Neville and Seamus came hurrying up to them.

"Lillica!" Neville exclaimed. "Wherever did you get it?!"

"Get what?" She sounded just as confused as Harry felt, and even more so with what Seamus said next.

"Can I have a go, Lillica? After you, of course - "

"What are they talking about?" Harry asked Lillica.

"No idea." She replied, as they reached Ron, who was managing to look excited, ashamed, and jealous, all at the same time.

"Okay, okay, let the lady through." Ron motioned towards Lillica, who raised an eyebrow at being called a lady by Ron. "Lils, I, uh, didn't mean to open it . . . " He gestured to a parcel on the table that had clearly been rewrapped hastily. "I mean, it was badly wrapped, uh, they made me do it!" He pointed to Fred and George.

"Did not!" They protested in unison, as Lillica reached over and lifted the paper away to reveal a broomstick.

"A-a Firebolt?" She stammered, looking at it like she had never seen one before. "Are you sure it's for me?" She added, looking at Hermione for help. "Who sent it?"

"Your parents?" Harry guessed.

"No," Lillica said immediately, suddenly sounding very certain. "I mean, it can't be from Mum and Dad." She was speaking very quickly now. "Or else Teddy would've gotten one, too."

"That's right." Fred and George said together, as Parvati nodded in agreement.

"Not that she needs it, she's got her Nimbus 2001." Ron reminded Lillica, who just shrugged and then looked at Hermione again.

Hermione silently handed her a piece of paper, and Harry looked over Lillica's shoulder as she read it.

"'Thank You, Lillica.'" Harry read out loud , and looked at her. "Who's thanking you? For what?"

"I don't know." She sounded mystified. "I don't recognise the handwriting . . . "

She and Harry both jumped, however, when they heard Septimus's voice whispering from the hood of Lillica's robes. "I recognissse that penmanssship … it belongsss to Messsssser Padfoot . . . "

Harry and Lillica both froze.

"Lils," Hermione said quietly, and Lillica looked down at her; Hermione held up a large, stormy grey feather. "This came with it." She said, simply.

Lillica looked at the feather for a moment, and then her eyes lit up. She promptly detached Septimus from around her neck (much to the shock of those standing around her), thrust him unceremoniously at Harry, and then she grabbed her Firebolt and sprinted from the Great Hall, followed by a group that was just as excited as she was.

As they passed a group of Slytherins making their way slowly across the Entrance Hall, Lillica spotted her sister in the midst of the crowd.

They looked at each other, as the Slytherins all stared in shock at the broomstick in Lillica's hands. Teddy's gaze then drifted over to Hermione, who had just emerged from the Great Hall, still carrying the grey feather.

Teddy nodded, in understanding. "Nice Firebolt, Sis!" She called to her. "Don't fall off!" She added.

"Thanks, and, I won't!" Lillica replied, as she continued on out of the Entrance Hall.

"She's going to fly in a skirt?!" Pansy Parkinson exclaimed, and a few of the Slytherin girls shrieked with laughter.

Harry met Teddy's slightly frustrated gaze, and then he heard Septimus say: "Let me down here, Ssson Of Jamesss."

Harry automatically obliged, and watched with some satisfaction as the majority of the Slytherins all screamed and backed away from the large black cobra, who took his time slithering over to Teddy, as she simply smiled.

Harry turned and, catching sight of Professor McGonagall standing at the top of the stairs and looking like she had seen almost this exact kind of situation before, he had to smile, as well, as he followed his fellow Gryffindors out of the castle . . .


The exam results came out on the last day of term. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lillica, and Teddy had passed every subject. Harry was amazed that he had got through Potions. He had a shrewd suspicion that Dumbledore might have stepped in to stop Snape failing him on purpose. Snape's behavior toward Harry over the past week had been quite alarming. Harry wouldn't have thought it possible that Snape's dislike for him could increase, but it certainly had. A muscle twitched unpleasantly at the corner of Snape's thin mouth every time he looked at Harry, and he was constantly flexing his fingers, as though itching to place them around Harry's throat.

Percy had got his top-grade N.E.W.T.s; Fred and George had scraped a handful of O.W.L.s each. Gryffindor House, meanwhile, largely thanks to their spectacular performance in the Quidditch Cup, had won the House championship for the third year running. This meant that the end of term feast took place amid decorations of scarlet and gold, and that the Gryffindor table was the noisiest of the lot, as everybody celebrated. Even Harry managed to forget about the journey back to the Dursleys the next day as he ate, drank, talked, and laughed with the rest.


As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the next morning, Hermione gave Harry, Ron, Lillica, and Teddy some surprising news.

"I went to see Professor McGonagall this morning, just before breakfast. I've decided to drop Muggle Studies."

"But you passed your exam with three hundred and twenty percent!" said Ron.

"I know," sighed Hermione, "but I can't stand another year like this one. That Time-Turner, it was driving me mad. I've handed it in. Without Muggle Studies and Divination, I'll be able to have a normal schedule again."

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us about it," said Ron grumpily. "We're supposed to be your friends."

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," said Hermione severely. She looked around at Harry, who was watching Hogwarts disappear from view behind a mountain. Two whole months before he'd see it again...

"Oh, cheer up, Harry!" said Lillica sadly.

"I'm okay," said Harry quickly. "Just thinking about the holidays."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about them too," said Ron. "I know that Emma's going to be busy, and we can't impose on the rest of her family," Lillica and Teddy rolled their eyes. "So, Harry, you've got to come and stay with us. I'll fix it up with Mum and Dad, then I'll call you. I know how to use a fellytone now -"

"A telephone, Ron," said Hermione. "Honestly, you should take Muggle Studies next year..."

Ron ignored her.

"It's the Quidditch World Cup this summer! How about it, Harry? Come and stay, and we'll go and see it! Dad can usually get tickets from work."

This proposal had the effect of cheering Harry up a great deal.

"Yeah... I bet the Dursleys'd be pleased to let me come... especially after what I did to Aunt Marge..."

Feeling considerably more cheerful, Harry joined Ron, Hermione, Lillica, and Teddy in several games of Exploding Snap, and when the witch with the tea cart arrived, he bought himself a very large lunch, though nothing with chocolate in it.

But it was late in the afternoon before the thing that made him truly happy turned up...

"Harry," said Hermione suddenly, peering over his shoulder. "What's that thing outside your window?"

Harry turned to look outside. Something very small and gray was bobbing in and out of sight beyond the glass. He stood up for a better look and saw that it was a tiny owl, carrying a letter that was much too big for it. The owl was so small, in fact, that it kept tumbling over in the air, buffeted this way and that in the train's slipstream. Harry quickly pulled down the window, stretched out his arm, and caught it. It felt like a very fluffy Snitch. He brought it carefully inside.

"It looks like Happy's second-cousin or something!" Lillica exclaimed.

The owl dropped its letter onto Harry's seat and began zooming around their compartment, apparently very pleased with itself for accomplishing its task. Haphazard, Septimus, and September all regarded the strange new owl silently. Hedwig clicked her beak with a sort of dignified disapproval. Crookshanks sat up in his seat, following the owl with his great yellow eyes. Ron, noticing this, snatched the owl safely out of harm's way.

Harry picked up the letter. It was addressed to him. He ripped open the letter, and shouted, "It's from Sirius!"

"What?" said Ron and Hermione excitedly.

"Read it aloud!" The Black twins added.

Dear Harry,

I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I still don't know whether they're used to owl post.

Buckbeak and I are in hiding. I won't tell you where, in case this owl falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about his reliability, but he is the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job.

He reminds me a little bit of Emma's old owl, Haphazard.

"Happy's Father!" Lillica exclaimed.

I believe the Dementors are still searching for me, but they haven't a hope of finding me here. I am planning to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way from Hogwarts, so that the security on the castle will be lifted.

There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt -

"Ha!" said Hermione triumphantly. "See! I told you it was from him!"

"Yes, but he hadn't jinxed it, had he?" said Ron. "Ouch!" The tiny owl now hooting happily in his hand, had nibbled one of his fingers in what it seemed to think was an affectionate way.

Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from mine and Emma's joint Gringotts vault. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays' worth of presents from your godparents - Emma was more than happy when I told her about it recently; furthermore, I wanted to find a way to thank Lillica for all her help and what she was willing to do to help both her Mother and me -

"He means me taking the Polyjuice Potion to pretend to be Mum." Lillica explained. "And, there's no use looking at me like that, Hermione; Mum gave me the option, and, I chose to preserve innocent lives and help my family and friends."

"What's a few broken laws when it comes to those things?" Ron agreed, as Hermione now gave him a frustrated look.

I sent the order to Emma to make the purchase, with instructions to use the money from my own personal Gringotts vault. As for the reasons why I decided on a Firebolt … well, let's just say that I didn't need the paragraph in Emma's twenty page letter to tell me that Lillica - and Teddy - must love flying just as much as she does -

"Wonder what else she told him in that letter of hers?" Ron said, and Lillica cringed. "Twenty pages?"

"Look, Mum's had over a decade to think about what to write." Teddy said, very matter-of-factly. "It must be hard to say thirteen years worth of stuff without writing a novel."

I would also like to apologize for the fright I think I gave you, Harry, that night last year when you left your uncle's house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of you before starting my journey north, but I think the sight of me alarmed you.

I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable.

If ever you need me, send word. Your owl will find me.

I'll write again soon.

Sirius

Harry looked eagerly inside the envelope. There was another piece of parchment in there. He read it through quickly and felt suddenly as warm and contented as though he'd swallowed a bottle of hot butterbeer in one gulp.

I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade on weekends.

"That'll be good enough for Dumbledore!" said Harry happily. He looked back at Sirius's letter. "Hang on, there's a PS..."

I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat.

Ron's eyes widened. The minute owl was still hooting excitedly. "Keep him?" He said uncertainly. He looked closely at the owl for a moment; then, to Harry's and Hermione's great surprise, he held him out for Crookshanks to sniff.

"I knew it!" Teddy declared. "That cat's gotta be part Kneazle, just like Valencia!"

"What do you reckon?" Ron asked the cat. "Definitely an owl?"

Crookshanks purred.

"That's good enough for me," said Ron happily. "He's mine."

Harry read and reread the letter from Sirius all the way back into King's Cross station. It was still clutched tightly in his hand as he, Ron, Hermione, Lillica, and Teddy stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters.

Harry spotted Uncle Vernon at once. He was standing a good distance from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, eyeing them suspiciously, and when Mrs. Weasley hugged Harry in greeting, his worst suspicions about them seemed confirmed.

"I'll call about the World Cup!" Ron yelled after Harry as Harry bid him, Hermione, Lillica, and Teddy good-bye, then wheeled the trolley bearing his trunk and Hedwig's cage toward Uncle Vernon, who greeted him in his usual fashion.

"What's that?" He snarled, staring at the envelope Harry was still clutching in his hand. "If it's another form for me to sign, you've got another -"

"It's not," said Harry cheerfully. "It's a letter from my godfather."

"Godfather?" sputtered Uncle Vernon. "You haven't got a godfather!"

"Yes, I have," said Harry brightly. "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though ... keep up with my news ... check if I'm happy ..."

And, grinning broadly at the look of horror on Uncle Vernon's face, Harry set off toward the station exit, Hedwig rattling along in front of him, for what looked like a much better summer than the last.