"You can go to sleep if you want to," Sirius said.

Rachel covered up her yawn and shook her head. "No, that's okay. I stay up at night sometimes. Besides, I don't think I could sleep here."

"I usually sleep as Padfoot, it's warmer and more comfortable," Sirius said. He had wrapped his blanket around himself, though he'd offered it to Rachel first.

"You can be a dog now if you want," Rachel offered.

"No, I'd rather spend the time that I have with my goddaughter. I've missed too much already," Sirius said. "So you're a Slytherin, you're third in your class, Snape is your guardian, and you have a doe Patronus like your mom's. What else?"

She frowned as she thought about it. There wasn't much else, really. "I'm the Seeker for the House Quidditch team. We won the Quidditch Cup this year and last year."

Sirius smiled. "A Seeker, huh? You know that James was a Chaser? And Quidditch Captain on top of that. Our team was unstoppable."

"Did any of your team go on to play professionally? Was my dad going to try to play professionally?" Rachel asked eagerly.

"James and I used to talk about it a lot. He wanted to go out for the Appleby Arrows but as we got older and casualties from the war started to build up, we realized that we had more important things to do. I think if he'd lived, he would have eventually gone on to join the League," Sirius explained. "Are you thinking of going professional? What team?"

"The Holyhead Harpies," Rachel said immediately. "And maybe. I haven't really decided yet."

"And what does Sni-Snape think of that? I would have thought he'd want you to do a Potions Mastery," Sirius asked.

"I haven't asked him about it yet," Rachel admitted. "I don't think he'd think playing Quidditch is very practical."

"Of course it's not practical, but it's fun," Sirius said with another smile. "Speaking of things that are fun, or rather are not fun, how is it having him as your guardian? Because we could potentially change that, you know."

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I'm your godfather, I have certain legal rights and I could certainly contest his guardianship if you wanted me to, once my name is cleared," Sirius said.

Rachel quickly shook her head. "No, I mean, no thank you. I like living with Severus. He's very kind to me."

"I think you must have a skewed understanding of kindness from your time with the muggles. I can think of a lot of words to describe Snape and kind is not one of them," Sirius said.

"He is, to me at least. He bought me a Nimbus 2001 for my birthday. He went to my parents' home and gave me stuff that belonged to them. He bought a new house when he wanted somewhere better for me to live. If anyone tries to hurt me, he always makes sure they're stopped," Rachel explained. She didn't bother to point out that Severus was sending her Patronus messages every hour to make sure she was alright.

Sirius laughed. "I'll be damned, the man actually has a soul after all. Back when I knew him, I was sure he was destined for Azkaban. Never thought I'd end up there myself."

Rachel chewed her lip and decided there wasn't going to be a better opening to ask. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what was Azkaban like?"

"Hell, unadulterated hell," Sirius said, his expression going blank. "The Dementors, they suck every happy thought from you, every happy memory. All you can think about is the worst memories in your life. At first it's memories of people hurting you, but eventually that loses its impact. Then it's all your regrets and every single thing you've ever done wrong. Finally it's not memories anymore, it's just deep wish that you could die, because there's nothing you can do to stop the pain and the torture that is existing in your own mind."

Rachel felt sick. She had been the one responsible for Leander ending up in Azkaban. If she'd never told Severus about what happened in the prefect's bathroom, Leander would be free right now. Instead, he was being tortured.

"Fortunately, I had two advantages that the others didn't," Sirius continued. "The first was the knowledge that I was innocent. I would repeat that to myself over and over again and it helped some with the self loathing. The second advantage is that I'm an animagus. For whatever reason, the Dementors didn't affect me as strongly while I was Padfoot."

Rachel reconsidered her stance on becoming an animagus. It might be worth it if it meant that she could resist the Dementors better, even if she wound up as a relatively useless animal. "I know someone who is in Azkaban. It's kind of my fault that he's there," she said, a little worried what Sirius would think of her.

"Did he receive a fair trial?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know if it was a fair trial, I didn't go. But Severus went to the trial," Rachel said.

Sirius nodded. "And did you somehow lie or plant evidence to get this person sent to Azkaban?"

"No! Something happened, and I told Severus about it because I thought I was supposed to. The next thing I know, Professor Dumbledore has expelled him and then he had a trial and was sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban. I didn't mean for it to happen at all," Rachel quickly explained.

"What did he do?" Sirius asked.

Rachel looked down, not wanting to tell Sirius about what had happened.

"I mean it had to have been pretty bad. I nearly got Snape eaten by a werewolf and I wasn't expelled," Sirius said.

Rachel looked up again abruptly. "What?"

"Snape hasn't told you?" Sirius asked.

"No, but Professor Lupin said that my dad used to bully Severus. Is that true?" Rachel asked.

"Bullying is a bit overstating it. James and I pranked Snape on a regular basis, but Snape gave back as good as he got. I assure you we weren't picking on someone who was helpless," Sirius said. "But don't change the subject. This kid. He hurt you?"

"Not exactly. I think he hurt some of the other girls though, worse than me," Rachel said. "He was a prefect."

"In general I'm against sending people to Azkaban. I think it's overkill. I understand the necessity of removing certain people from society, for everyone's sake. What else would we do with Death Eaters? But I have a hard time imagining a crime that deserves constant torture and mental anguish for years, or for the rest of someone's life," Sirius paused for a moment. "But none of that means that this kid being sent to Azkaban is your fault. You didn't set him up, you didn't lie about it, you just told the truth and Dumbledore took care of the rest. That was out of your control. That's one of the things you have to realize about life, one of the hardest things. A lot of things are out of your control. All you can do is what you think is the right thing at the time and hope for the best."

Rachel's shoulders slumped. He was right, that was a hard thing to try and accept. "It did feel like it was out of my control. All of it. But a lot of my life has felt like that."

"I know the feeling, all too well. We don't get to choose the circumstances of our birth. Merlin knows that if I hadn't been Sorted into Gryffindor and made friends with James, I would have wound up in Azkaban and deserved it. We do the best we can with what we've got. That's how I got out of Azkaban," Sirius said.

"How?" Rachel asked, not quite following.

"When the Minister came on his yearly tour of Azkaban, making sure everything was in order and that the prisoners were still suffering, I asked him for his newspaper. He gave it to me and I read through it many times. It was like a brief window to the outside world and I wanted to soak up as much light as possible. And then I saw it. Or, I should say, I saw him. Wormtail, sitting on the shoulder of a boy in a picture with an article about the Weasley family," Sirius explained.

"Scabbers!" Rachel exclaimed. "Ron and Hermione were arguing because Ron said that Crookshanks, that's Hermione's cat, had eaten Scabbers."

"Yes, Crookshanks and I have become fairly good friends. It took a while to communicate with him what I wanted, but eventually we were able to track down Wormtail," Sirius said. "But that's skipping ahead. Once I saw the picture, I realized that Peter was going back to Hogwarts. Where you were. And I knew I had to get out and stop him from hurting you."

"You broke out of Azkaban for me?" Rachel asked.

"For you, and for your parents. I owed them, I will never stop owing them," Sirius said, looking directly at Rachel. "James rescued me from my family. Quite literally, but in many ways besides that. I would do anything for him. Once I was galvanized with purpose, it became easier to think. I knew I had to get out and I watched the guard rotation for a week before I made my escape. I slipped through the bars as Padfoot, made my way out of Azkaban, and managed to swim far enough out into the ocean that I was past the anti-apparation wards. Then I apparated to shore. After that it was simply a matter of keeping myself alive and apparating in short hops across the country until I reached Hogwarts."

"And that's why you were trying to get into the Gryffindor dorm. Not because you were after me, but because you were after Ron's rat. We thought you might have thought I was a Gryffindor," Rachel said.

"I did assume as much, but yes, my primary purpose was to get Pettigrew," Sirius said. "I broke into the Shrieking Shack, but have mostly been staying in this cave as Hogsmeade is searched by Dementors quite frequently."

Rachel nodded, realizing that Sirius had been using the passage from the Shrieking Shack to the Whomping Willow to get past the Dementors.

A silver doe emerged through the cave wall and trotted over to Rachel. "It's now two o'clock. I heard from Albus. He is still in negotiations with the Ministry. They insisted on questioning Pettigrew again. Albus is hopeful that this can be resolved by the morning. How are you doing?"

Rachel got to her feet and pulled out her wand. It took her a little bit longer to concentrate on happy memories, but she managed to do it. "Expecto patronum."

Her doe appeared. "To Severus Snape. Thank you for updating us. We're doing fine. Sirius taught me how to put a charm on the fire to keep it from burning up all the wood, so we're staying warm."

She sat back down as her doe trotted off with her message and yawned again.

"Snape as an overprotective guardian to James Snow's daughter. Will wonders never cease," Sirius said to himself as he shook his head.

Rachel just smiled. She didn't mind that Severus was checking in on her. It was good to know that they were making progress with the Ministry.


Severus stood up as he heard someone knocking at his office door and glanced at the clock. It was a little bit before eight o'clock in the morning already. He wasn't a stranger to staying up all night, many advanced brews required constant attention for more than twenty four hours, but this had taken more of a toll on him. Even though he had attempted to grade essays, he'd gotten very little done, and most of his time had been spent brooding about Black and Pettigrew, and worrying about Rachel's absence.

He opened his office door to find Gemma, Theo, Millie, and Draco waiting for him.

"We're sorry to disturb you so early, sir, but we wanted to ask if Rachel has been safely returned," Gemma said.

"Not as of this time. I am in regular communication with her, and the Headmaster is keeping me updated on his progress at the Ministry," Severus said.

"Sir, if I may use your fireplace to make a floo call, I could call my father. He's personal friends with the Minister and I'm sure that he would be willing to speak with him and get this taken care of as soon as possible," Draco said with a small nod - an affectation he must have picked up from Lucius.

Severus thought that Lucius would be very disappointed indeed to learn that Black was not a Death Eater. He'd often said that Black was an example of a Death Eater who was willing to make the appropriate sacrifices for the Dark Lord - sacrifices Lucius himself would likely not want to make. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Malfoy, but I don't think that's necessary at this juncture. The Headmaster has things well in hand, the Ministry simply wishes to be thorough," Severus said, managing not to scowl. The Ministry was taking far too long, all because they did not wish to publicly admit their mistakes.

"She's been missing for over twelve hours, sir," Millie said, her forehead crinkled with worry.

"I'm aware. I communicated with Rachel less than an hour ago. She is doing well and we will have her back at Hogwarts soon," Severus said. He would make sure of it.

"Sir, isn't there a way we could simply go to where she is? Aren't there spells for finding people? Can't the Ministry use the Trace to find out where she is?" Theo asked.

"There are spells that can tell us what established town or village she is closest to, however those require a blood contribution from the person you are attempting to find and such spells are generally not encouraged by the Ministry. The Trace is also not active during the school year for students," Severus explained. "I appreciate your forethought and your concern. I'm asking that you carry out your day as you normally would. I have the situation in hand."

"Can we come back at lunch to see if she's back?" Millie asked.

"Yes, though I may not be in my office if the Headmaster has called for me. I assure you that you will be informed once Rachel is returned," Severus said.

"Thank you, sir," Gemma said, gently putting her hand on Millie's shoulder and guiding the group of third years away.

Severus went back into his office and wrote a note on a piece of parchment informing students that his classes were cancelled for the day and information as to which pages they should review in their books as well as a homework assignment. Unfortunately it was a day where he'd planned for students to brew in class, but he couldn't teach a class where they were brewing when he might be called away at any moment.

He stuck the note to his classroom door with a Sticking charm and then went back into his quarters and sat down in his armchair. He hadn't heard from Albus in hours. What could possibly be taking this long?

Now that it was just past eight, he cast the Patronus charm, having to put more effort into conjuring happy memories than he usually did. Before these last two years his memories for the Patronus charm either had to do with Lily or his Potions Mastery. Now, some memories of spending time with Rachel had started to join those memories. "To Rachel Snow. I do not have an update from the Headmaster of the Ministry at this time. Hopefully I will hear from them soon. How are you?"

His doe bounded away and Severus sank deeper into his armchair. He needed to eat and keep his strength up, though the idea of food was repellent to him at the moment.

He knew that Albus would inform him when progress was being made, but that did not diminish the urge to send a Patronus message to him as well, demanding to know what was happening and why the issue wasn't settled already. He didn't get to make demands, he knew that well enough by now.

Rachel's Patronus appeared. "Sirius and I are doing well. We went out and watched the sun rise for a bit. There are little red squirrels out here and we watched them for a while too. Sirius says he likes to chase them," came Rachel's voice from the doe before it disappeared.

Severus shook his head. At the very least, Rachel seemed untroubled, though he suspected she was likely frightened and trying not to seem that way. Rachel didn't often show her emotions to him. She seemed placidly happy often enough, or mildly wary, but he rarely saw her truly upset, or fearful, or angry.

He could understand that. His life experiences, even as a child, had taught him to be in control of how he expressed his emotions and the benefits of being able to conceal what he felt. However, he hoped that she was less reserved with her friends, and that she could learn that it was alright to express herself with him.

With a sigh, Severus flooed the kitchen and arranged for a light breakfast. He forced himself to eat eggs and toast and then settled in with sixth and seventh year essays, since they were the only ones he likely wouldn't tear to shreds while he was on edge.

Grading took longer than it usually would and he stopped frequently to check the time. He sent a message to Rachel once every hour and then waited until he heard back from her before he went back to the essays. Shortly after he'd sent his message at noon, there was another knock on his office door. He opened it to find Rachel's entire study group waiting.

"I'm afraid I have no new information at this time," Severus said.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Hermione asked.

"Not that I'm aware of, Miss Granger," Severus said. "The Headmaster is with the Ministry making arrangements for Rachel's return. The best thing we can do is to let him work unhindered."

"Would it make sense for me to send messages to Rachel, sir? I could do it somewhere private," Theo offered.

"While I'm sure that Rachel would like to hear from you, I think it's best if we keep the line of communication just with me, given who she is with," Severus said. "You may check in again with me again once classes are finished for the day."

"Yes, sir," Millie said, clearly recognizing the dismissal.

The group left, their heads bowed as they discussed the matter among themselves.

Severus went back into his quarters and this time sat on the couch, where Rachel usually sat. It was odd. He was used to keeping his own company, but his quarters currently felt strangely empty.

Just before one in the afternoon the flames in Severus' fireplace roared to life. "Severus, if you could join us in my office, please," Albus said.

"On my way," Severus said, reminding himself not to be relieved until he heard what Albus had to say. He stepped through the flames and out into Albus' office.

Aurors Shacklebolt and Dawlish had returned, along with Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour, and the head of the MLE - Madam Amelia Bones.

"May I introduce Professor Severus Snape. He's Rachel's guardian and he is the one who brought in Pettigrew," Albus said.

Severus nodded to them in turn.

"The Dementors are currently being removed from the area surrounding Hogwarts. We anticipate their complete removal within the next hour. At that time, we're asking that Sirius Black apparate to the Hogwarts gates with Rachel. The aurors will take Sirius Black into custody and he will await his trial at the Ministry," Albus explained. "Would you mind relating this to Rachel and Sirius, and asking them to confirm that they will join us under these circumstances?"

"Of course," Severus said. He cast his Patronus once again. "To Rachel Snow. The Dementors are being removed from Hogwarts. This should be complete within the next hour. At that time, I will send you another message and Sirius Black will apparate you to the Hogwarts gates. He will be taken into custody by the aurors and await trial at the Ministry. Sirius Black, do you agree to these terms?"

They all watched as Severus' doe galloped away through the wall.

"I'm told that Rachel Snow can cast a corporeal Patronus and that is how you have been staying in contact with her," Amelia Bones said.

"That's correct," Severus said. He wished he could have kept that secret more closely guarded, but Madam Bones would see Rachel's Patronus for herself soon enough.

"That's very advanced magic for a thirteen year old," Scrimgeour said. "What prompted her to attempt to learn it at her age?"

"Rachel was uncomfortable around the Dementors," Severus said, purposefully understating it. The Ministry didn't need to know that Rachel was essentially incapacitated by the presence of a Dementor.

"Aren't we all," Dawlish said with a shudder.

Rachel's doe joined them. "Sirius agrees that he will apparate us to the Hogwarts gates when you tell us that it's safe to do so and all the Dementors are gone," came Rachel's voice.

Albus nodded. "Let's make the walk down to the gates now. By the time we get there most of the Dementors should be gone already and we can take a report from the guards on duty."

Severus nodded in agreement. He could only hope that for once in his life Sirius Black kept his word.


"Are you ready to go back?" Sirius asked.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Rachel pointed out. Sirius did seem nervous. He'd been pacing ever since Severus had sent his message saying they were sending away the Dementors.

"It's hard to trust that they'll give me a fair trial and yet the alternative is that I flee to another country and seek asylum there," Sirius said, coming to a stop and looking at Rachel. "I have too much unfinished business here. If I wind up back in Azkaban, at least I will have the comfort that Wormtail is in the cell next to mine."

Rachel frowned with worry. Would they really send him back to Azkaban knowing that he was innocent? Was there something she could do to stop that from happening?

"Try not to worry so much," Sirius said, crouching down next to Rachel. "You are very much like Lily. She would get that same expression whenever someone was in trouble."

"Can I write to you? After the trial?" Rachel asked.

"Write to me? I expect to see you in person, I'm your godfather. And if Snape has a problem with that, then I'll sort him out," Sirius said.

Rachel expected that would probably go poorly and resolved to solve the problem on her own. Maybe if she arranged it so that Severus didn't actually have to see Sirius in order for her to spend time with him. "I'll write to you at first at least, and while I'm at Hogwarts."

Severus' Patronus appeared. "We are waiting for you at the Hogwarts gates. The Dementors have all been sent away," came Severus' voice.

Rachel got to her feet and looked at Sirius, unable to stop herself from worrying that this was the last time she was going to see him.

Sirius was apparently having the same worries, because he placed both of his hands on Rachel's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "If nothing else, I'm glad we've had this time together. James and Lily would be very proud of you," he said quietly.

"I'm glad I got to spend time with you too," Rachel said, feeling uncomfortable under Sirius' hands but she didn't want to move when he was clearly struggling.

"Do you know the Extinguishing spell?" Sirius asked, seeming to draw himself straight.

"Yes," Rachel said. She pulled out her wand and turned to the fire. "Extinguo."

They were left in darkness. Rachel slid her wand back in her pocket and braced herself as she felt Sirius' hand on her arm. A stomach-wrenching moment later they were on the path in front of the Hogwarts gates.

Severus was there, as was Professor Dumbledore, a woman, and three men. The three men all had their wands pointing at her and Rachel reflexively took a step back.

"Release the girl, Mr. Black," one of the men called.

"Rachel, walk over to me," Severus said.

Rachel glanced at Sirius and then hurried over to Severus' side, grateful that the men didn't continue to point their wands at her.

Severus immediately placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her into a half embrace. "Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?" he asked urgently.

"No, I'm fine. I'm not hurt," Rachel said. She waited for a moment and then twisted around under Severus' hands so that she could watch what was happening.

"Mr. Black, your case has been reviewed and a trial has been scheduled for July 22nd, 1994. You will be taken into custody and be held in a cell at the Ministry until the time of your trial. Do you understand?" the woman asked.

"I'll be given a fair trial?" Sirius asked.

"On my honor, Mr. Black," the woman said.

Sirius nodded after a long moment. "I accept your terms and will allow you to take me into custody."

Two of the men walked up to Sirius, their wands still drawn. One of them tapped his wand to Sirius' wrist and a set of manacles appeared.

"We'll apparate him directly to the Ministry," one of the men said.

"We'll join you shortly," the man who had remained behind said.

With that, the two men and Sirius disappeared.

"May we trouble you to use a floo?" the woman asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Of course, you may use the one in my office," Professor Dumbledore said. "Rachel, are you well?"

"Yes, sir, I'm fine," Rachel said quickly.

"I'll leave you to Severus' care then," Professor Dumbledore said.

They went through the gates and onto the Hogwarts grounds, Rachel walking by Severus' side.

"Miss Snow, I am Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour," the man introduced himself, coming around to walk on Rachel's other side.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Rachel said, not entirely sure what the man wanted. She glanced at Severus.

"I have to say I'm quite impressed that you have a corporeal Patronus at such a young age. It certainly speaks to your skill and abilities," Scrimgeour said.

Rachel immediately understood why Severus had asked her to keep her Patronus a secret. "Thank you, sir."

"Have you given any consideration to joining the auror corps after you finish at Hogwarts?" Scrimgeour asked.

"Miss Snow is considering many career options as she is still very young. I'm certain she will give the possibility of becoming an auror the due consideration it deserves," Severus said.

Rachel glanced at Severus again. She supposed that was better than her answer, which was to say she only had a vague understanding of what aurors really did and hadn't even considered it as a career.

"Of course," Scrimgeour said. "If you have any questions about the process of becoming an auror or what classes we recommend for your NEWTs, please feel free to send me an owl."

"Yes, sir. Thank you," Rachel said.

The rest of the walk was quiet and they parted ways in the entrance hall, Severus and Rachel continuing down to the dungeons.

"I understand that you did not rest last night. When was the last time you ate?" Severus asked once they were in his office.

"Yesterday at lunch," Rachel said. She was quite hungry, her stomach wasn't used to skipping meals anymore.

"Let's have lunch and then you can decide if you need to rest or if you're ready to speak with me about this past day's events," Severus said.

Rachel shifted on her feet. She knew she was in trouble, but she figured it was better to know now than it was to wait. "Can I shower and change my clothes before we eat?" she asked. Her uniform and robes were quite filthy from sitting on the cave floor.

"Of course. Do you have everything here you need or do we need to stop by your dorm?" Severus asked.

"I have everything here," Rachel said. She'd taken to keep a spare set of clothes and a spare uniform at Severus quarters for when she stayed overnight after being in the hospital wing. The only thing she didn't have was a clean set of robes.

"Alright," Severus said. "Please join me for lunch when you're finished."

Rachel quickly took a shower, taking the time to wash her hair even though she'd washed it the day before. She didn't want it to smell like smoke from the campfire. The warm water felt wonderful after spending the night shivering, but she was mostly focused on the uneasy sensation in her stomach.

She'd never really been in trouble with Severus before and she didn't really know what to expect. She'd tried really hard to be good and follow all the rules so that she was never in trouble, but she just hadn't been thinking when she'd followed Crookshanks into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow. Maybe Severus would make her write an essay, or do lines? She supposed that depended on how mad he was.

She changed into her clean uniform, tied her hair back in a plait, and then went to join Severus for lunch. There was already food waiting for her on the table. She served herself a ham sandwich from the platter and began to eat, wavering between the hunger from not having eaten for a day and the nervousness that was twisting her stomach.

"Do you not want more?" Severus asked, once Rachel had eaten a sandwich and drank a glass of pumpkin juice.

Rachel shook her head. She thought if she ate any more she was going to throw up.

"Do you wish to go rest?" he asked.

"No, we can talk now," Rachel said.

Severus considered her for a long moment and then nodded. "Let's go sit by the fire."

Rachel took her spot on the couch and pulled her legs up with her.

"Can you walk me through what happened yesterday, starting with when you left the castle after class?" Severus asked.

Rachel nodded and took a deep breath. "I went to Quidditch practice, where we did Chaser drills. After that, I took a shower, because my hair was a tangled mess, and Imogen said she had to go to a study session and asked me to walk back with Marcus. But I guess Marcus didn't know that, because when I got out of the locker room, everyone was gone. But I don't want to get them into trouble. They weren't trying to leave me behind."

"They're not in trouble. I will speak with Imogen and Marcus about responsibility and how to better organize themselves. They are adults now and this is the sort of thing that's best learned while you're still at school," Severus said. "Go on."

She was glad he wasn't going to give them detentions. "I went to walk back to the castle, but I found Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. He had a rat in his mouth. I tried to get him to come back to the castle with me, because Hermione would be worried that he was out. But then a dog showed up and I thought the dog must be from Hogsmeade, since we aren't allowed dogs here. So I tried to get them to go with me, but they were walking away, and when we got to the Whomping Willow, Crookshanks went forward and touched part of the tree and it stopped moving. And then Crookshanks and the dog went into a tunnel at the tree's roots. And I followed them."

"Let's pause there and think about that more closely. Can you think of some things that might have happened when you followed them into the tunnel?" Severus asked.

"The tunnel might have been steeper, and I could have fallen and not have been able to get back out," Rachel guessed.

Severus nodded. "Or what if you'd startled the dog and it had attacked you? Or what if it had been rabid? What if you'd fallen and broken your arm and weren't able to send a Patronus message to tell us where you were?"

Rachel looked down at where she was gripping her hands together. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want an apology, Rachel. I want you to understand how dangerous this was, and this not even being the most dangerous part of the evening, and I want you to learn how to better assess a situation and make safe decisions," Severus said.

Rachel shifted and nodded again, not able to bring herself to look at Severus.

"When you're about to do something you're not sure about, I want you to stop and think about what is the worst possible thing that could happen and how can you prevent it. What are some other decisions that you could have made instead of going into the tunnel?" he asked.

"I could have gone back to the castle and told Hermione that I'd seen her cat outside. Or I could have come and told you that there was a strange dog out there. I didn't realize he was an animagus, but I should have, I've read about them," Rachel said.

"An animagus…" Severus trailed off. "Sirius Black was the dog."

"That's right, he was already Sirius when you showed up at the Shrieking Shack," Rachel said, realizing Severus hadn't seen the dog at all.

"Pettigrew was a rat, Black was a dog, what was James?" Severus asked, seemingly to himself.

"My dad was an animagus too?" Rachel asked, realizing she should have asked Sirius.

Severus refocused his attention on Rachel. "They were close friends. I would be very surprised if James was not an animagus as well. Regardless, let's continue. Tell me about what happened after you followed the cat and the dog into the tunnel."

"I followed them through the tunnel and we came up into a house, which I realized was probably the Shrieking Shack, but I didn't see any ghosts. I followed them upstairs and tried to get Crookshanks to let the rat go, because I didn't want to pick him up while he was still holding it because it might bite me. And then Professor Lupin showed up," Rachel said, looking down again. "And you were right when you told me to be careful around him, but I wasn't, and I'm sorry. I should have listened to you."

"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I urged you to be careful around him, however I'm not sure you're aware of the danger that you were in right then," Severus said.

Rachel thought about it for a moment and then her eyes grew wide. "It was the full moon last night."

"You know?" Severus asked.

"That Professor Lupin's a werewolf, yes. How could I not after you gave that lecture?" Rachel asked.

"You seem to be the only one who made the connection. Unfortunately, Albus forbade me from revealing that information directly to anyone, including you," Severus said with a slight scowl. "If your classmates had realized, surely one of them would have revealed it by now."

"My study group knew, but we figured that since you knew, Professor Dumbledore must also know, and that it was okay and that there must be something that keeps him from escaping when he's a werewolf," Rachel explained.

"A potion that I brew for him. Wolfsbane. It renders him a wolf with a human mind. I brought it to him last night when I found his office empty. Fortunately my view from the doorway included the window, so I was able to see him crossing the school grounds and entering the tunnel. I followed him because I suspected he might be meeting with Black," Severus explained. "However, if I had not gotten Lupin back in time to take his potion before the moon rose, we all could have been killed or worse."

Rachel nodded and shivered. It seemed like she hadn't thought through a lot of things last night.

"What happened after Black took you?" Severus asked.

"He took my wand. I was really scared for a few minutes, but he just used it to light a fire. And then he told me that he wasn't the secret keeper for my parents, and that it was actually Peter Pettigrew, who was the rat that Crookshanks had, which was Ron's rat, which he thought was eaten by Crookshanks months ago. Do you think it's true that he wasn't the secret keeper?" Rachel asked. She wanted to believe Sirius, but she trusted Severus' judgement more about things like this.

"As far as we can tell, yes. The aurors questioned Peter Pettigrew with Veritaserum and he admitted that he was the one who betrayed Lily and James to the Dark Lord, and that he was a spy, and that he killed the muggles when Sirius confronted him and then faked his own death. There will be a trial for him as well," Severus explained.

"Do you really think Sirius will get a fair trial?" she asked.

"The Ministry does not want to admit that it made a mistake when it condemned Black to Azkaban for life, however I suspect they will not have a choice," he said.

"Why didn't they give him a trial in the first place? And use Veritaserum to find out about Pettigrew?" Rachel asked.

"It was the end of the war. Many Death Eaters were still at large, some of them killing indiscriminately. Others were professing that they were never Death Eaters at all, but that they were under the Imperius Curse, which was now lifted since the Dark Lord was dead. The MLE, which is the department which handles criminal law, was under incredible strain and some laws were passed to expedite the trials of Death Eaters. Obviously this was a mistake, as it allowed both for errors to be made, such as sending Black to Azkaban, and for people like Lucius Malfoy to buy their way out of a sentence," he explained.

"Does that mean there are other people in Azkaban who never received trials?" Rachel asked, trying not to imagine enduring the Dementors for no other reason than the Ministry couldn't be bothered with a trial.

"I do not know. I imagine that Albus will push for an inquiry into just that," Severus said. "Did anything else happen while you were with Black?"

Rachel shook her head. "We just talked a lot. He told me some things about my parents. He wanted to hear about every Quidditch game I've played. Oh, he said that he set a werewolf on you. Was that Professor Lupin?"

Severus did scowl this time. "Yes, it was. He was bragging to you about that?"

"Not bragging, I think he was more surprised that he wasn't expelled," Rachel said, deciding not to bring up what Professor Lupin had said about James bullying Severus.

"He should have been, that was attempted murder. I could easily have died or been turned into a werewolf. The only reason Black wasn't expelled was because it would have revealed that Lupin was a werewolf and he no longer would have been allowed to attend Hogwarts," he said, still scowling.

"Even with the Wolfsbane potion?" Rachel asked.

"There was no Wolfsbane potion at the time, it is a relatively new invention. They kept Lupin in the Shrieking Shack on the full moon. I was curious, as I thought they were up to some illicit activity, and Black told me how to get past the Whomping Willow. The only reason I didn't die was because James learned of the trick and tried to save my life," Severus said.

"I'm glad he did, even though Sirius never should have tricked you like that in the first place," Rachel said.

"You must be tired. Why don't you go rest until it's time for dinner. Would you prefer to rest here, or in your dorm?" Severus asked.

"In my dorm, if that's okay," Rachel said. She didn't think she could go to sleep just yet. Then she realized something. "I'm missing classes! You're missing classes too!"

"I cancelled my classes for today and the other professors are aware you were not able to attend today. Do not worry about it," Severus said.

"Sorry," Rachel said again, feeling bad that she'd made Severus cancel his classes.

"You don't need to apologize. Just learn from the experience," Severus said. "I'll walk you back to your dorm."

Rachel nodded, still feeling bad. And she thought that Severus was probably more angry about the situation than he seemed. She'd have to figure out how to get back into his good graces over the next few weeks.

Severus walked her all the way to her dorm room instead of dropping her off at the entrance to the common room. "Get some rest. If you miss dinner, come to my

quarters and you can eat there."

"Thank you," Rachel said. "And thanks for doing everything to get me back."

"Of course, that was never in doubt," Severus said. "Do you need a Dreamless sleep potion?"

"No, I'm fine," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Rest well," Severus said.

Rachel went into her room and closed the door, and then went to her bed and sank down into it. She was kind of tired, but not so much that she thought she'd fall asleep. Midnight jumped up onto her bed and started purring.

Rachel rubbed Midnight on her head. "That's right. You're a good cat. You don't go running around with animagi. Good cat," she said. She settled in on her bed with Midnight and wrapped her other arm around her stuffed bunny. It had been a very long day.

Rachel looked up as the door to her dorm opened and saw Millie in the doorway.

"Rachel!" Millie cried and raced over to Rachel's bed, dropping her bag and throwing her arms around her. "Oh Merlin! I was so worried!"

Rachel accepted the hug even though Millie was half squishing her. "Sorry about that, I'm okay."

Millie finally let go of Rachel and smiled at her. "Professor Snape said you were sleeping and not to wake you until dinner. I was just going to peek in and make sure you were really here."

"I am, but I can't believe I missed classes, and our study sessions too," Rachel said. She felt a little bit bad that she hadn't even thought about it until she'd made it back to Hogwarts.

"It's fine, you didn't miss much. Were you really kidnapped by Sirius Black? Wait, don't answer that, everyone in the study group is going to want to hear and I don't want you to have to do this multiple times," Millie said.

"Why don't I grab my bag and we can go join the rest of the study group. I assume we're meeting as usual?" Rachel asked as she tucked her bunny away on her pillow, but under the blankets.

"Yes, Theo and I just came down here to check with Professor Snape and get different books. We're planning on reviewing History of Magic tonight and doing our Astronomy homework," Millie said, picking up her own bag and going to her wardrobe.

Rachel exchanged the books in her bag, reminded herself that she needed to check what homework they'd done yesterday so she could find time to do it, and pulled on a clean set of robes.

They made their way out into the common room and found Theo waiting for them.

"Rachel!" he said as he hurried up to them. He turned to Millie. "Professor Snape said not to wake her."

"I was already awake," Rachel said quickly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Rachel said, getting the feeling she'd be getting that question a lot.

"Rachel!" Imogen called. She wrapped her arms around Rachel. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe this happened, the one time I don't walk you back to the school and you get kidnapped."

"I'm okay," Rachel said, hunching her shoulders as she tried to gently get out of Imogen's grasp.

Imogen finally let go. "We were so worried."

"We were," Gemma said, joining them. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rachel said again, feeling her chest start to tighten as people gathered around her.

"Is it true that Sirius Black is innocent? And he's the one that kidnapped you?" Draco asked, pushing into the space in between Theo and Millie.

"Yes, Sirius Black is innocent. They're going to give him a proper trial now, because they never gave him a trial before," Rachel said, taking a step back.

"What was he like?" Pansy asked, looking over Draco's shoulder.

"He was fine," Rachel said, glancing around for a way out.

"Rachel is on her way to her study group, so if you'll excuse us, you can ask her questions at dinner," Millie said, stepping forward and taking Rachel's right hand. Theo moved to stand on Rachel's left side and Gemma and Imogen backed away to let them through.

"We're glad you're okay!" Daphne called as they moved away.

"Thanks," Rachel called back. She sighed in relief as soon as they were out of the common room.

"Let's get out of here before anyone else shows up," Theo said, shaking his head.

"Yes, please," Rachel agreed.

They were stopped three more times on the way to their study room by people Rachel barely knew asking if she was okay and if Sirius Black had actually kidnapped her. There was no keeping secrets at Hogwarts.

"Rachel!" Hermione said, leaping to her feet as soon as Rachel was through the door of the study room.

Rachel accepted the hug and was glad it was at least brief.

"We're so glad you're back," Ginny said.

"Everyone was quite worried," Luna added.

"How are you doing?" Neville asked.

"I'm okay. It was a little bit scary, but I'm okay," Rachel said, moving to take her seat.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Have you seen Crookshanks recently? Did he make it back to your dorm?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, he's there right now, but what does that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked, looking puzzled.

"I wouldn't be so sure he's in your dorm, because he wasn't yesterday. And he didn't eat Ron's rat either, though you might not want to tell Ron that," Rachel said.

"Maybe start from the beginning?" Neville suggested.

Rachel nodded and began her story starting with the end of Quidditch practice and going all the way through when she'd returned to Severus' quarters, adding in some of the details that Severus had told her.

"How many more people are in Azkaban who never got trials?" Hermione asked, her expression grim.

"Professor Snape said he didn't know, but that Professor Dumbledore would raise the issue with the Ministry," Rachel said.

Neville shook his head. "They're not going to do anything unless they're forced. Look how long it took them just to agree to give Sirius a trial so that he'd bring Rachel back."

Theo nodded in agreement. "There would have to be a sustained public outcry, particularly from people who had influence with the Ministry. It wouldn't surprise me if some former Death Eaters take up the charge and try to use it as a way to get some of their people out of Azkaban."

"My father writes about Ministry conspiracies sometimes. He just did an article about the Rotfang conspiracy a few months ago. I could ask him if he'd be willing to write about people who were sentenced to Azkaban without trials. Maybe he could interview Sirius," Luna suggested.

"It's better than not doing anything at all," Hermione said.

"I could ask Sirius if he's willing to be interviewed, but his trial isn't until the end of July," Rachel said.

"It will take at least that long to do research for the article anyway. I'll write to Daddy tonight," Luna said.

"I can't believe I've been living with Peter Pettigrew for my entire life," Ginny said with a shudder.

"There seems to be a spell that makes an animagus return to being a human. Maybe we should look it up and try it on animals that we're around a lot, just in case," Rachel suggested. "And Sirius said something interesting. Apparently the Dementors had less of an effect on him in his animagus form. It might be worth trying to become an animagus just for that benefit."

Theo nodded thoughtfully. "And you said his form helped him in escaping from Azkaban. And Pettigrew's form helped him fake his own death. It seems like there are more benefits to the transformation than we had considered."

"Well, I hope we're never in a situation where any of those things is necessary, but I can see the benefit. I'm not sure when we'll find the time though," Hermione said.

"Summer," Theo said. "I've read through the books you gave me for my birthday and I can write out the useful parts in our two-way books. However, if I've learned anything from them, this is going to take a lot of time and we're going to have to do a lot of work to keep it a secret."

"Can I borrow those books once we've finished exams? I'd like an overview before I commit to this," Hermione asked.

"Sure," Theo said. "And not all of us have to do it. It's just something to do if we want to do it and it may give us an advantage one day."

"When you say a lot of time, what do you mean?" Millie asked.

"I mean we probably won't achieve our forms until fifth or sixth year at the earliest," Theo said.

"Yikes," Ginny said.

Rachel was still undecided. Having a form did sound useful, and she wasn't afraid of hard work, but she thought she'd like to know more about the process before she committed herself. And she'd have to figure out how to tell Severus. She couldn't see hiding this from him.

"Rachel, I appreciate you wanting to help Crookshanks, but next time, if there is a next time, let him go do whatever he's doing. I hate the thought that you could have been hurt going after him," Hermione said.

"Okay. I think it seems like he can take care of himself pretty well too," Rachel said. "Professor Snape said something similar, about me thinking through situations before I act. I hate the feeling that I've disappointed him."

"That's part of having parents, I think," Hermione said.

"I disappoint my father all the time," Theo said, the words slightly bitter.

"Me too, with my Gran," Neville said.

"Alright, disappointing your parents some of the time is normal. You can't help if they have unreasonable expectations of you," Hermione amended.

"It's like with me and the diary, last year," Ginny said. "I knew my parents would be very disappointed in me, so I didn't tell them. They have enough trouble with the twins."

Millie sighed. "And I still say both of you acted with good intentions and did your best. And then you learned from it and things were okay. Professor Snape will get over it, he just needs some time. I think your parents would get over it too, Ginny. They'd be upset at first, but you can tell them that now you know better and you know how to check things to see if they're cursed."

"Maybe," Ginny said. "I think they'll have enough to be upset about when they find out about Scabbers. I think Ron is actually going to be pretty upset too. Hermione, maybe don't bug him too much about it, even though he was kind of mean to you about the whole thing?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Hermione said. "It would be nice if he apologized to me, but since Crookshanks was the one who took Scabbers away, I'm not going to press the issue."

"Thanks," Ginny said.

"That's very wise, I think, not to ask for an apology when someone's upset," Luna said.

Hermione blushed slightly. "Alright. We're all glad that Rachel is back safe. Let's try to make up for some lost time, we've got less than two weeks until exams. Let's do our Astronomy homework now, and then we'll do a History of Magic review after dinner?"

"Sounds good," Rachel said, relieved that things were back to normal.