A/N: This chapter was difficult to write. I struggled a lot with how I wanted this to go, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I know that I said this story was going to be canon through the end of GoF, but to get certain plot points to fit in the way I needed them to, I had to start making changes to the plot now. Plus, I couldn't keep myself away from Sirius for too long. The story has really told me where it wanted to go, not the other way around.

Expect significant plot changes from this point forward.


September 9th, 1993

Mom,

Everything is going so well here! Ginny introduced me to a bunch of her friends, but I also really like the girls in my dorm. We stay up really late at night talking about home and which classes we like, and which boys we think are cute. Fred and George told me that I'm too young to be thinking about things like that, but I don't care. For the first time ever, there are boys around that I'm not related to!

Percy insisted on walking me to all of my classes in the first week – he spent an entire hour talking to me about how important it is in first year to do as well as possible; something about how it sets the foundation for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. An hour, Mom! I couldn't get away until Fred hexed Percy's head boy badge to glow green, and he walked away in a huff to figure out what had happened.

I miss you so much. It feels weird not seeing you every day, but I think I'm really going to like it here. All of my classes are so interesting, so far. My favorite so far is Defense Against the Dark Arts – our professor is new, Professor Lupin. Every class we have a practical lesson – last week I heard he showed the third years a boggart! Ginny told me Ron nearly wet himself when his showed up. I bet you could have guessed that it was a spider!

Yes, I am keeping my distance from Ron, like you asked. It's really hard though, because I really want to introduce myself to Harry Potter. You would think being so close to his best friend would mean I'd have already met him, but I guess we always missed him when he was at The Burrow.

Everyone is talking about Sirius Black. We heard that he was spotted a couple of towns away. Professor Dumbledore seems worried. Did you know that there were dementors stationed outside the school? They're really scary; a couple came on to the train, and Harry Potter passed out. Poor kid is being made fun of by a super nasty Slytherin third year with silver hair. I'll write again soon.

Love Always,

Hollyn


Hollyn,

I am so happy that you are enjoying your classes so far. Professor Lupin used to be a classmate of mine – if you ever feel like you are in trouble, go to him. He is a wonderful man, and he will help you.

Give Fred and George a hug from me for watching out for my little girl – you are FAR too young to be thinking about boys. Listen to Percy, and focus on your studies this year.

If anything else happens regarding Sirius Black, owl me straight away. And remember, don't let anyone know your connection to him. He doesn't know about you, and I want to keep it that way. Professor Lupin, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape are the only ones who will have made the connection – keep it that way. They will all keep your secret.

Give everyone my love. Study hard.

Love Always,

Mom


November 1st, 1993

Aunt Addie,

I know that I haven't written to you all term, and I'm sorry about that. There seems to be something wrong with Hollyn though, and I felt like I needed to owl you.

Sirius Black broke in to the castle last night, during the Halloween Feast. He attacked the Fat Lady portrait – he ripped her apart, actually.

Hollyn kept whispering in her sleep the entire night – Dumbledore had the entire castle sleep in the Great Hall – that she needed to owl you, but this morning she woke up and could barely move. Fred and George have taken her to the hospital wing, they think she's just scared and that some Pepperup Potion will help her.

I've never seen her so scared before. We're all scared of Sirius Black, but it seemed like he absolutely terrifies her. She's trying to hide it, but I can always tell when she's upset. It seemed like she wanted you to know, so I volunteered to owl you for her.

Love,

Ginny


Ginny,

Thank you for letting me know. Be safe this term, and keep an eye on Hollyn for me. I imagine it must be difficult to go to Hogwarts as a first year and experience something so scary – but I bet you know a thing or two about that. She needs you.

Love always,

Aunt Addie


Remus,

I know it has been a long time we have spoken, and I hope you can forgive an old friend for her short sightedness. I'm sure you have realized that Hollyn Jones is my daughter. Please keep an eye on her for me. With Sirius able to break in to the castle, I would feel so much safer knowing you, my friend, were watching out for her.

Sirius doesn't know she exists, and I intend to keep it that way. I'm sure he is using the secret tunnels to get in and out, although I'm fairly sure that Fred and George Weasley have the Marauders Map…maybe try to confiscate it so you can keep an eye out.

Let me know immediately if he breaks in to the castle again. I am set to camp out in Hogsmeade if it means I'll be closer to my daughter.

Your friend,

Addison Black


Addison,

I will keep an eye on Hollyn. We have much to discuss the next time we are able to. I will update you at once if I hear of anything new.

-Remus


December 25th, 1993

Addie,

Merry Christmas! Harry was sent a firebolt anonymously. Do you still have access to Sirius's Gringotts account? Is any money missing?

Harry's friend Hermione Granger is convinced that Sirius sent it, and the broomstick was confiscated by Minerva. Let me know what you think.

-Remus


Remus,

No money was taken out. Keep me updated.

-Addie


February 6th, 1994

Mom,

He snuck in to the common room last night. A third year boy, Neville Longbottom, lost a piece of parchment that had a list of all of the common room passwords – the portrait who replaced the Fat Lady likes to change them on us a couple times a week – and Sirius Black must have found it.

He attacked Ron. Mom, he was in the tower! He was so close to Harry. Everyone is saying they must have gotten the wrong bed. I don't understand Mom, why is he going after Harry? You must know, and it is driving me barmy not knowing anything when I know that you do.

Please answer.

Love always,

Hollyn


Hollyn,

I promise that I will explain one day, but for now you know everything that you need to know.

I love you,

Mom


May 1st, 1994

Remus,

How is Hollyn doing? She hasn't answered a single owl since she returned to school after the Easter break. She barely talked to me her last day home too. I know that she is angry with me for not explaining about Harry, but I can't have her any more involved in all of this than she already is.

Having a pre-teen is hard work. I swear I wasn't this sensitive when I was her age.

Best,

Addie


Addie,

She is fine. She has been spending a lot of time alone, though.

I wouldn't worry. She will answer when she is ready. I seem to remember a four-month period in second year where you didn't speak to either Sirius or James because they played that prank on you involving slugs – she obviously takes after you, maybe not in looks but definitely in temperament.

All the best,

Remus


June 6th, 1994

Mom,

I haven't answered you for a reason. I know that you knew Harry Potter when he was a baby. I know that you were best friends with his parents, Lily and James. I know that you were there when he was born.

I can't believe you didn't tell me. I can't believe that you let Harry grow up with his Aunt and Uncle. Ginny told me all about them, and they're horrible. You wouldn't let me meet him, and I don't know why. It doesn't make any sense. If you love him as much as you say you did in your letters, you would have taken him in.

I asked Ginny if I could go home with her to The Burrow for the summer, and she told me that I needed to ask you. That's the only reason I'm writing. The train leaves next week, so if you could let me know before then, that would be great.

Kind Regards,

Hollyn


I wrote back immediately upon reading her last letter. Her unusually cold tone did throw me off, but that wasn't the most concerning part of the letter. I know that she's angry – I would be angry too – but I needed to know how she had found out about our connection to Harry.

Hollyn,

This is extremely important. How did you find out about this? Answer immediately.

Love,

Mom

My hands were shaking. I had no idea how she could have found out. Who had told her? It didn't seem like the sort of thing that would come up casually, and Harry himself didn't even know. I knew that none of the Hogwarts Professors would have told her. It didn't make any sense to me; none at all. Luckily, Hollyn must have read the urgency in my last letter, because just a short half hour later, a response flew in through the open window.

Mom,

Over Easter break I read the letters in that box that you keep on your desk but never open. I was hoping to find jewelry, but instead I found letters from Sirius to you, and I was curious. He mentioned Lily, James and Harry several times.

I won't apologize for snooping. You should have told me. Besides, none of those letters made any sense to me; it's like they were all written in some sort of code. I didn't tell Harry any of this – seems like a weird way to introduce myself. "Hey Harry, I was supposed to grow up with you, but my Mom's husband actually killed your parents."

I do love you, Mom. But I am so angry at you. See you soon.

-Hollyn

I put Hollyn's letter down with shaking hands, completely thunderstruck at what she had told me. I rushed over to the box that she was talking about, which had sat on my desk for the last twelve years, untouched from the day I had put my necklace and rings away in it. I had sealed it away, confident that no one would ever be able to access it. I was, after all, the last of the Blacks. Wasn't I?

If Hollyn had been able to open the box, didn't that mean she was a Black too? You had to have Black blood to open it. But how was that possible? I knew that she couldn't possibly be Sirius's. Right? It didn't make any sense. It felt as if there was something tickling the back of my mind – as if something was trying to break free, something was trying to remind me of something that I had forgotten. It was like déjà vu, but instead of vaguely remembering something, I knew that I had forgotten something. Something important.

I opened the top of the box. Sitting on top was the necklace and my rings, right where I had left them. Sitting underneath that was a letter dated October 30th, 1981 in Sirius's familiar penmanship – one day before Lily and James had died. I had no memory of receiving this letter. From what I could remember, Sirius and I hadn't spoken in a week before Halloween. He had gone on a mission with the Prewett brothers to track down Travers, and that was the last I had seen or heard from him. Or so I thought. Apparently, he had sent me a letter in between. I picked it up, the letter feeling warm in my hands, almost like a friendly reminder of a life I had forgotten.

I opened the letter. Sirius's penmanship was, as always, immaculate. Just seeing it for the first time in twelve years made my heart swell, like a physical reminder of the love we shared. I read the letter quickly.

Kitten,

I'm sorry for my abrupt departure the other day. I knew you had to be up early for practice, and I needed to come home and figure some things out. If I had stayed, I never would have let you get up and leave me.

I met with Prongs this morning, and he agreed with me that he needed to change Secret Keepers. With Moony possibly having joined You-Know-Who, we felt that it was safer to make a quiet switch, to throw him off our trail.

Dumbledore did the spell a few minutes ago; Wormtail is now the Secret Keeper. He hasn't been seen out in months, so he can go in to complete hiding without it being suspicious. I think this is the best thing for them – no one will ever suspect that they picked Wormtail.

As my eyes skimmed the end of this paragraph, it was as if a faucet had opened suddenly in my mind. Pouring in was not water, but snippets of conversations – conversations that I had already had, but forgotten; conversations that were taken away from me. Accompanying the snippets of conversation were blurred images, and elusive impressions of what I was feeling at the time.

"Never again," he growled out between kisses. "Never fucking again."

"I am never leaving you again," Sirius whispered, growling out his words in a way that made me wish he would stop speaking. He moved up my neck, his lips barely ghosting my skin, until his nose touched mine. "No more words."

"Shhh, love. I'm right here; I'm not going anywhere. No more words."

It was as if the scene changed, the voices changed. This was a different conversation that had been taken from me, a different moment in my life that I had lived without for twelve years.

"Were you and your husband trying for a baby?"

"No? We haven't exactly talked about it."

"You are pregnant. Just pregnant it looks like."

Once again, the images changed. This time I felt fear. I felt panic. I felt pain.

"Your husband is in Azkaban. He went nuts after betraying Lily and James, and he traced down that little idiot, Pettigrew."

"That's impossible. They switched! Sirius didn't betray them, he's innocent!"

"Even if that's true, you're the only one who knows. And I'm going to make sure that you don't remember when I'm through with you."

"Stop! Please! I'm pregnant."

"Well, how about we make sure you think that baby is a Whitmore, not a Black."

"Obliviate."

By the time the memories stopped pouring in, I was hysterically crying. I remembered, I remembered everything. I remembered Sirius's touch the night we conceived Hollyn. I remembered how pained he had been over the loss of Fabian and Gideon Prewett. I remembered how happy I had been, once I had calmed down, that I was carrying his child. I remembered how much Jase had hurt me.

I couldn't believe that all of this time, Sirius had sat in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit. For a crime that I could have acquitted him of, if only I hadn't been so stupid. If only I hadn't allowed Jase to hurt me again.

Hollyn could have grown up with her father. I could have had my husband. Sirius would have been a free man. Harry would have been with us, not with his Aunt and Uncle. There was no way the Ministry would have been able to take him without the smoking gun of Sirius.

And, I realized with a sinking feeling…Dumbledore had known all along that Sirius was innocent. He had known. He had willingly allowed an innocent man to go to Azkaban for a crime that he didn't commit. I felt a rage like I had never felt before – I had already been angry with Dumbledore for what he did to Harry, but now I knew that it went far beyond that. He was willing to sacrifice anyone and anything that he felt necessary in order to do what he felt was right. Never again. That man would never again mess with my family.

Just as I was getting up to storm to Hogwarts, intent on confronting Dumbledore for real, another owl flew in through the window. I grabbed it, reading it hungrily. So much had already happened today, and I had a feeling that it was only the beginning.

Addison,

Sirius is on the grounds. So is Peter Pettigrew. I think I know what happened that night twelve years ago.

Sirius is innocent.

They are under the Whomping Willow with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Meet me there.

- Remus

Peter Pettigrew. That fucking rat! Of course he was alive – he had never once done anything to benefit anyone other than himself. How had I not seen it at the time? He never would have accepted being Secret Keeper for no reason – putting himself in danger to protect his friends? Not his strong suit. I chuckled to myself, somewhat crazily, noting how ironic it was that Remus and I had figured out Sirius's innocence within minutes of each other.

I got up and got dressed quickly – it was rather late at night and I was already dressed for bed. Thinking quickly, I threw the entire Black box into a knapsack, and took it with me. Now that I knew the truth, I was going to make sure that Sirius was cleared immediately.


I was waiting at the gates of the castle, dementors floating all around me. I felt the chill this time – I was already in so much pain, they were feeding off of my sadness easily. Within minutes of my arrival, however, Remus opened the gates for me, patronous easily driving away the lingering guards.

I threw my arms around him. "Remus!" I cried, reveling in the familiar face. Remus wrapped his arms around me tightly, but pulled away quickly.

"We must hurry. They've been down there ten minutes already," Remus panted. It was obvious that he had run down from the castle, and it looked like he was in terrible shape. His clothes were shabby, his face tired. I grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him along with me.

"Peter?" I asked as we hurried towards the tree.

"I was watching the Marauders Map – which despite your well intentions, the Weasley twins did not have. Harry had it, and I confiscated it a couple weeks ago. I was watching it, as I do most nights, and noticed Hollyn was running up and down the owlery steps." He gestured to the map in his hands. He must have taken it with him so he could see when I arrived.

"She was writing me. She actually made me realize Sirius was innocent."

"What?" He shook his head, deciding there wasn't enough time for me to tell my side of the story. "I noticed though, that there was a commotion outside. It was Harry, Ron and Hermione walking back up from Hagrid's – there's this whole thing about a hippogriff, I'll explain later – but Sirius was dragging Ron towards the tree. And that wasn't even the weird thing…the weird thing was the Peter was being dragged too. I owled you immediately, then rushed down here."

We had come to the tree, and Remus flicked his wand. A branch hit the knot under the tree, which must be the way to stop the branches from thrashing wildly, for the tree stilled immediately. We slid in to the underground tunnel, and made our way through it, moving quickly. It sloped upwards, and we found ourselves in the Shrieking Shack. It was dusty, the furniture was all knocked around, and there were claw marks all over the walls. I looked at Remus, and he shot me a bashful look.

"Not my favorite place in the world," He admitted, looking around with a shudder. We heard the floorboards squeak above us, and he put his finger to his lips while pointing towards the stairs. He let me go first, and I moved quietly upstairs. There was a hallway at the top with three or four doors on each side. The second door on the right was cracked open, and I could hear murmurs coming from behind it.

With a look at Remus over my shoulder, I pushed the door open with a bang. The scene in front of me took me by surprise. Sirius was slumped on the ground in the corner of the room closest to the door, while Harry stood in the opposite corner, wand out and pointed at Sirius. Hermione was standing just behind Harry, her own wand held limply in her own hand. Ron was sitting on the bed in the corner, holding his leg in obvious pain.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione said at the same time that Ron said, "Aunt Addie?"

"Aunt Addie?" Hermione echoed questioningly, as Ron repeated, "Professor Lupin?"

"Remus? Addison?" Sirius echoed dumbly from the floor, looking up at us like we were the last people in the entire world he had expected to see. He looked every bit the crazy man that they were portraying him to be. He was filthy, every inch of him was covered in dirt and muck; his hair was the longest I had ever seen it, and knotted horribly. His face was gaunt, and I could count each of his ribs underneath the shirt that was ripped open from the chest down. He was covered in tattoos; I wondered briefly where he had managed to get them while in Azkaban, but that was a question for a later time.

"Hello, love," I greeted, somewhat awkwardly. Sirius's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the term of endearment, but he didn't have a chance to say anything, because Ron was shouting.

"Love? Love! I thought Fred and George were pulling the mickey on me, telling me that you and him used to be married," Ron was shouting, betrayal evident on his face. "You've been at every birthday party since I can remember! Ginny idolizes you! Hollyn is like my sister!"

"Ron, you don't understand," I began, taking a step towards him. Harry raised his wand higher, pointing it at me now, rather than at Sirius.

"Take another step, and I will…"

"What, Harry? What are you going to do? Hex her? Hex a woman you don't even know?" Remus asked, almost conversationally. He had his hands up in the classic surrender position, but that didn't deter Hermione.

"You!" She shouted, her eyes bulging from her head. "You've been helping him this whole time. This whole time, you've been his friend. I trusted you! He's a werewolf!" She accused, her head whipping to look at Harry and Ron, while her finger pointed at Remus.

"I'm surprised in you Hermione, not at all up to your usual standards. Only one out of three correct, I'm afraid. I have certainly not been helping Sirius, and I have not been his friend up until now. You are correct, however, that I am a werewolf. When did you figure it out?"

"When Professor Snape assigned us that essay. I looked up the lunar cycles and it all matched up."

"You remind me very much of a pair of brilliant witches I used to know. And one of them is standing in this room. They also figured it out by studying the lunar cycles," Remus chuckled, looking at me affectionately.

I blushed at the attention, but the moment was cut short by Sirius barking from the corner, "This is all well and good, but I'm here for one thing, and one thing only." I looked over my shoulder at him; he was glaring at Ron with a single-minded intensity – one that scared even me.

"What's that?" Harry said, his wand faltering slightly at the sight of his favorite professor protecting the man who he believed wanted to kill him.

"To commit the murder that I was imprisoned for." Sirius was acting erratically. He was being vague, probably not intentionally. If I knew Sirius, he had spent the last twelve years with one thought on his mind – find and kill Peter. Now that he was so close, nuisances like explaining himself to Harry wouldn't get in his way.

"So you are here to kill Harry!" Hermione cried, stepping in front of him protectively. I admired her courage, but it was misplaced.

"No, you stupid girl," Sirius growled impatiently. "I'm here for the rat."

He was glaring at Ron, who I noticed now had been struggling soilently with his rat, Scabbers. It dawned on me suddenly. "I was such an idiot. How did I not recognize him sooner?" I exclaimed, the pieces all fitting together now.

"What d'you want Scabbers for?" Ron asked in a high-pitched voice. Scabbers was thrashing around wildly now, and with a shout of pain, it was obvious that Scabbers had bitten Ron. Ron dropped him, and Scabbers started scurrying across the bed.

Remus flicked his wand, and a white light filled the room. When the light faded, sitting on the floor where Scabbers had been just seconds ago, was Peter Pettigrew.

"Hello, Peter." I said simply. He looked up at me first, then around the room. At the sight of Sirius, Remus, and Harry, he put his hands over his head and almost squeaked in fear.

I could tell that Ron, Hermione and Harry were confused. They were no longer standing on the offensive, but had relaxed in to a less combative stance. Harry was the first to break the silence. He looked over at us, his eyes so reminiscent of Lily's that it hurt to look in to them, and said in a determined voice, "Explain."