A/N: Alright, we're getting into the plot! Hope you enjoy!

Neither Moony nor Padfoot will tell Harri what's going on, but she knows they're waiting for something. They pace by the windows in the kitchen, and by the time Kreacher finishes dinner, neither of them is in a mood to eat.

At first, Harri thinks it's because of the Diagon Alley trip, that they are angry with her, but Moony pulls her aside and promises her it's not. He still won't tell her what, though. Around eleven, when Harri can no longer force herself to be awake, she pads into the kitchen to inform them she's going to bed, and they see her off with hurried kisses.

Strange.

The next morning is stranger still, because when Harri comes downstairs, she finds Kreacher attempting to set the table for breakfast, muttering darkly about 'Master' and the 'Beast' cluttering up his kitchen. As it is, they're both slumped on the table, dead asleep.

"Padfoot?" Harri says, poking his shoulder. He jolts up with a start, bleary eyed and panicked.

"Is it here?" he demands.

"What? Is what here?" Padfoot cranes his neck out the kitchen window, and Harri is suddenly reminded of Aunt Petunia, who liked to use her long neck to spy on the neighbors. Only difference is, Padfoot has his eyes turned to the sky.

"Moony," Harri says, poking him too. "What are you waiting for?" Moony wakes much more slowly, his eyes still drooping as he pulls himself up.

"What time is it?" he croaks.

"Morning," Harri says. "What are you waiting for?"

"Remus," Padfoot says, and Moony is up, alert and worried. "It's here." A giant owl flies through the open window and Kreacher shrieks, waving his wooden spoon at it, but Padfoot pushes him away. Remus sets down a saucer of water and plucks the tightly rolled parchment off its leg before it can even offer.

Padfoot and Moony huddle together to read it, and Harri starts to get cross. Trying to keep her anger in check, she flops down in one of the seats, waiting. Kreacher, still upset and eyeing the owl like he'd like to cook it up, sets down a cup of tea for her.

Padfoot sinks down to the floor, onto his knees, eyes unfocused and far away. Harri hurries towards them, worried.

"Padfoot!" she says. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I suppose we ought to tell her," Padfoot says, not looking at her. "No point in lying if we've got to go."

"S'pose so," Moony says with a sigh. He takes a seat and offers a hand to Harri. "We sent a letter to someone very important yesterday, asking if he'd listen to us about Siri—er, Padfoot."

"About why he was in jail even though he never did anything?" Harri guesses.

"Yeah," Moony says. "He wrote back and he's willing to listen to us."

"Who is it?"

"Albus Dumbledore," Padfoot says, finally getting off the floor to take a seat. "Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts! The magic school?" Harri clarifies. Perhaps he knows someone on the council, maybe a barrister or someone. Harri wonders briefly if wizards even had barristers.

"He's… pretty important," Moony says. "He can help us set Padfoot free, I think." At that, Padfoot snorts.

"Can I see the letter?" Harri asks. Moony spreads it out on the table for her to see, smoothing out the rolled parchment.

Remus,

I can only offer a chance to explain. Sunday, at nine. Head to Hogsmeade, find Aberforth. He will send you to me.

Remember, I will know if I am being deceived.

Albus Dumbledore

Harri's not sure about the man, especially after that last line. What if he rings the police as soon as they get there?

"It's our best bet," Moony explains. "If Dumbledore vouches for Sirius, the world will just fall in line."

"If," Padfoot says. "And it's a very big 'if'."

Sunday Morning, Nymphadora Tonks is woken to a great banging on her door. She wakes with a jolt, falling out of bed. Tangled in her duvet, she fights to shove it down and get some air. Her room is absolute mess, the entire contents of her school trunk covering every spare inch of the room.

"Nymphadora, get up now! You've only got two days to pack and I know you haven't gotten started!"

"Mum," Tonks groans, finally freeing herself of the duvet. "Leave it, won't you? It's so early."

"If I don't hurry you, there'll still be packing to do on Tuesday morning, and I'm not having it." With that, her mother bursts in, taking in the state of the room with a deep sigh. "Nymphadora, this is entirely unacceptable."

"Mum," Tonks all but growls. "Do not call me Nymphadora."

"It's a lovely name," Mum sniffs. "It means 'gift of the nymphs', you know."

"Mum," she says, already exhausted. "You've only told me about a million times." Thankfully, her dad chooses then to intervene.

"Andy, leave her, won't you? We've only got our little girl for two more days before she's off for her last year," Dad says, wrapping his arms around her Mum and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Tonks tries and fails to hide a smile. "Still, pet, best to start with the packing now, don't you think?"

"I haven't even had any breakfast," she whines. She'll have to do the packing by hand, because all three of them have the worst organizational spells ever. It doesn't seem like it, but she gets her catastrophic tendencies from her mum, not her dad.

"Well come on, then!" They make their way into kitchen, where Morgause, their owl, waits with letters in beak. Mum grabs them, reading their senders out.

"Darling, one from William and one from Quirinus." Tonks grabs the letters, tearing them open.

"Mum, it's Bill and Q," she corrects. It's hopeless to try, though. She scans through them quickly, just updates about the many Weasley siblings and thanks for the sweets from Bill, and thanks from Q, along with a rambled few paragraphs on DADA. She smiles. Merlin, she'd missed them.

Just two more days. Two more days and she'd be back.

*
Sunday morning, Remus, Sirius, and Harri head out to find a secluded spot to apparate from. Remus settles Harri on his back and hoists Sirius in dog form up into his arms. Overbalanced and a bit unsure, he turns on the spot, focusing on The Hogshead pub.

He opens his eyes and they've arrived, limbs still intact. He drops Sirius a bit unceremoniously, who scampers off to turn back, and helps Harri down.

"Will we have to do that again?" she asks, shaking a little. Remus smooths back some of her errant hair.

"We have to get back somehow," he says. "Sorry, darling." It's early, but the Pub's door is unlocked. Aberforth stands behind the counter, a tall, imposing figure. He expects Harri to shrink back, but she just keeps clutching his hand, head high and eyes curious.

"So, it's true then?" he asks gruffly. "About you I meant, Black."

"No," Sirius sneers, temper clearly rising. Remus swallows, settling his free hand on his shoulder.

"Er, Professor Dumbledore sent us—"

"Don't you think I know that?"

"Right…" Aberforth sighs, gesturing for them to follow them back. There's a dingy little room there, and unconsciously, Remus tugs Harri closer. There's a portrait of a girl, who can't be much older than Harri, smiling genially at them. Harri gives her a wave and the girl lights up, clapping her hands. At this, Aberforth softens.

"Will you take them back, Ari?" he asks. "He's expecting them." The girl nods once, holding her hand out. "The wain first."

"I don't think so," Sirius snarls, stepping in front of Harri protectively. She peeks out behind his legs and points to the portrait.

"Where is she going?" Harri asks, and Aberforth regards her with cool eyes.

"Go and find out," he says. Sirius tries to protest, but Harri steps forward, and suddenly she's gone. Before either of them can begin, Aberforth simply points. Harri's in the portrait, retreating back like she's following a long hallway.

"This is rather advanced," Remus mutters, studying it closer.

"Well, you can ask him about it," Aberforth growls. "Go on, I haven't got all day!" Sirius steps in next and Remus has the presence of mind to thank him before he goes in. It is a long corridor, he realizes, hurrying to catch up. Suddenly he's falling out, tripping over the frame. He swears softly, hopping to correct himself.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin." Remus jerks up, finding Dumbledore before him. Sirius has Harri's hand, clutching like it's a lifeline. "Right on time."

"Professor," he says, inclining his head.

"Let's take this into my office," Dumbledore suggests. "Sirius, I'd appreciate if you'd loosen up."

"Professor, with all due respect, I'm not fond of people poking around in my head," he says tightly. Occlumency was something Remus could never master, nor James, but Sirius was brilliant about it.

Dumbledore hums softly, leading them to the statues of the Eagles that protect his office. He says the password and the four of them head up. The office is just like Remus remembers it, covered in portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses. Phineas Nigellus snoozes away, tucked in his corner. The first thing Sirius had done was stick a curtain up over him.

"Sirius," Dumbledore says, a note of distrust in his voice. "How am I possibly to know if you are telling the truth?"

"Professor, perhaps you could just trust me," Sirius says, a little cold. Dumbledore quirks an eyebrow but doesn't respond. Instead, he turns to Harri.

"Ah, you must be Harriet," he says, smiling kindly at her. Harri nods.

"Yes, sir," she says.

"Do prefer Harri?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, Harri, could you tell me how you came to be here? I was under the assumption you'd be with your Aunt and Uncle."

"Padfoot—er, Sirius is my Godfather, sir," she explains. "He came to get me and we…"

"Go on," Dumbledore prods her. There's a strange look on her face that Remus can't make out, but it's entirely familiar.

"Sir," Harri starts carefully. "Sirius didn't do anything wrong." Dumbledore seems surprised, but he nods once.

"Are you happy?" he asks. "Are you treated well?" Privately, Remus thinks he really doesn't give a shit, considering he left Harri to live with Petunia and her husband, but he forces himself to keep his face calm. If anything, he's an exceptional liar, good enough to fool even a Legilimens. It's his one true talent.

"It's really good, sir," Harri promises, a smile breaking out on her face. "Padfoot and Moony are the best! They're teaching me about Hogwarts!"

At that, Dumbledore smiles.

"Would you like to see something interesting?" he asks, walking over and holding a hand out for her. She looks to both him and Sirius, who nod. "Do you know what a phoenix is, Harri?"

Dumbledore leads her away, to a back room and Remus catches Sirius's eye, shaking his head once. It's their signal to calm down, though usually, it was James who kept everyone in check while Remus talked them out of detention.

After a moment, Dumbledore returns, sans Harri, and takes a seat at his desk, imploring them to as well.

"I'm failing to understand," he says plainly.

"Poking around in a seven-year-old's head isn't going to do much either," Sirius all but snarls. Remus kicks him discreetly.

"I understand how you feel about legilimency," Dumbledore says. "But it won't harm either of you. How else am I meant to understand?"

"We made an unbreakable vow," Remus admits. "That's how I knew he was telling the truth."

"You'll forgive me if I don't favor that," Dumbledore says, shaking his head. "There is a certain element of dark magic to it, and an accomplished wizard can manipulate it. Sirius has always been an outstanding wizard."

"Professor," Sirius starts, much more controlled. "Please let me explain."

"Begin."

"You told James and Lily there was a traitor in the group," Sirius says. "He was worried about me, about what the traitor would do to get to me. James knew I wouldn't have betrayed them, but he thought someone might torture me, I dunno. I didn't… I didn't know what I'd do under torture, so we came up with a plan. We decided we'd switch secret keepers, so even if I was captured, I wouldn't be able to say anything."

"And who was the secret keeper?" Dumbledore asks, frowning thoughtfully.

"Peter… Pettigrew," Sirius chokes out. "He didn't go on missions, just ran messages, so we thought… we didn't know—"

"Sirius," Dumbledore interrupts softly. "Either you're telling the truth or putting on the performance of a lifetime, but I need to know for sure."

"How?" Remus demands. There's a part of him that wants to wrap Sirius up in his arms, stroke his hair back, and reassure him, but another part wants to lunge across the desk. Remus takes a careful breath. The full moon is in a week, and already he's feeling the effects.

"Do you know what a penseive is?" he asks. Remus shakes his head but Sirius nods.

"Yes," he says stiffly. "My grandfather had one."

"A penseive, Remus, is a device that allows memories to be seen and shared. A memory can be extracted and displayed." Remus looks at Sirius, who worries his lip.

"I'll show you," he says, sounding defeated. "I'll show you when we switched."

A/N: I'm not going to lie, I spent a long time agonizing over what Dumbledore might believe, and I decided on the pensieve. There will be a bit more explanation on it later as it crops up, but look forward to a flashback next chapter. Also, how do you guys feel about the updates from other characters? We've got some from the Weasley's and their friends, and if you have ones you'd like to request, or if you want me to do away with them entirely, let me know! Thanks for reading and let me know what you thought!