Disclaimer; Nothing in this fic belongs to me, They belong to J.K Rowling

Chapter Five; the Truth, Part One

As the next morning came neither Harry nor Jessica mentioned what had happened the night before. But Jessica did seem gloomier, the Sunday were spent studying.

After that Monday came, the day that Jessica had dreaded a little. This day meant that she had to go to lessons. She checked her schedule for when she had potions and luckily it wasn't until tomorrow, Tuesday. On her old schedule did they have potions first thing on Monday morning; she had disliked potions even then, especially Slughorn. She had Eva... Lily, for a partner and that was the only reason that she managed to get an O in her O.W.L's on the subject. But now would Jessica do anything to get Slughorn back as a teacher, rather him than Snape.

The first Lesson were Charms, she liked charms. Charms and Transfiguration were her two favourite subjects. Then came Defence against the Dark Arts. In Defence against the Darks Arts she had Professor Bingley previously, an elderly man just as interesting and funny as his name.

The first week happened without so much events, Snape didn't at all acknowledged that Jessica were amongst his students, he simply ignored her. But Jessica felt quite fine with that. All other teachers were acknowledged that Jessica was there in the class now, especially the teachers that she had before her coma. They first said that it was great to have her back and then saying that she was one of the best students they had in that class, which weren't entirely true, the whole class were special and Jessica weren't the only bright one.

The teachers that didn't have Jessica before her come said that the other teachers, who had Jessica before her come, had promised that it would be a delight to have her in their class. The only three teachers that didn't say or do anything like in these two examples were Remus, Snape and Professor Binns. Snape, like mentioned, ignored her and Remus simply acknowledged that she was there and then let her answer the questions no-one in the class could answer which were extremely many.

Professor Binns looked at her for about two seconds when he read her name from the class list and then continued like nothing had happened.

Jessica was a little surprised by how many students there were in the N.E.W.T's level of History of Magic. Only four students, plus herself, before her coma were there at least ten people in this class. The only one from her year then were herself, Alice Chalke and Andrew Gray.

She had been slightly forced into taking History of Magic to her N.E.W.T's by her father, but she didn't mind, she had never regretted that decision.

With the knowing of that the first week had passed uneventful, Jessica felt pretty certain that the next following weeks would just as well, which they did.

In the middle of May did Jessica found herself being called up to the headmaster's office, Professor Dumbledore found that Jessica needed to know about the Prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort, and also about the exact reason to why Harry were living with his aunt and not with somebody else, about what Lily's sacrifice meant.

Before Jessica knew it had a whole month passed by; she still hadn't slept since she woke up from her coma though, but she didn't mind.

The day were June sixth, exactly one month from when she had woken up, while the rest of the school were having their exams this week, Jessica had been called up to the hospital wing this morning.

Madam Pomfrey had, from St Mungos, got the order to do an examination of Jessica's health.

"Have you experienced any physical changed during this month?" The nurse asked Jessica, she were done with the examination and were only having a few simple questions left.

"Well, that depends," Jessica answered. "I have been feeling slightly nauseated, but nothing bad. I have the need of peeing all the time, but that's just me. I have developed a real sensitivity to smells. A slight sense of heartburn, which you have established already. I feel soar in my shoulders and lower back. And I have also been feeling a slight..." Before continuing she leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Breast tenderness." Then she leaned back and spoke in a normal voice. "I have been doing a lot of thinking." She stated.

As Jessica counted up the symptoms, Madam Pomfrey wrote them down on the clipboard, when she was done, she read through them and then realized something, and she must have because she raised her eyebrows and said: "But, this is the symptoms for being..." She looked up at Jessica and quieted herself.

"Being what?" Jessica asked.

"Nothing, I'm probably wrong anyway." The nurse continued and wrote something down on the clipboard, and then she looked back up at Jessica. "Anything else dear?"

"Yes," Jessica responded. "I seem to have developed Insomnia." She said matter-o f-factly.

"Oh," Madam Pomfrey said. "That's not good."

"Yes, I haven't slept since I woke up from my coma."

"You want me to give you a sleeping potion?"

"No, thanks. I'm happy with my extra eight hour. It gives me time to do things I normally don't have time with." Jessica nodded, the truth was that she actually wanted to go to sleep, she craved for it, but she also wanted it to happen the natural way, otherwise she might become addicted to the sleeping potion.

"If you cannot sleep tonight I want you to come and see me tomorrow." Madam Pomfrey looked at Jessica with a stern look.

"I promise." Jessica said.

The nurse softened and wrote a few things down on the clip board. "Have anything special planned today?"

"Yeah," Jessica responded. "Remus made me promise to come and see when the third years are having their exam, he didn't tell me what it is though."

Madam Pomfrey looked up at Jessica with a smile. "Then I should keep you here longer than necessary, you can go."

"Thanks." Jessica jumped off the bed and left the hospital wing.

XXX

It turned out that the exam Remus had made for the third years were a labyrinth filled with all kinds of awful creatures he had been teaching them about. The students had a go at it one at the time. Ron was the one currently in the Labyrinth, and he was the last one.

"Aren't I a genius?" Remus asked with a grin when Jessica came up beside him.

"Yes you are." Jessica agreed. There had been no mentioning of the argument that the two of them had before, it was like it never happened. "You make a really good teacher; one can hardly believe that you are the same guy that reused to help me tutor Junior."

"Well, that was junior." Remus muttered; his thought darkening at the thought of Bart Crouch Jr. and what he had done.

"I don't know why all of you always had something against him; he was a really nice guy." She continued.

"Yeah, he was a really nice guy who only became a Death Eater by accident." Remus answered her sarcastic. "You know what he did."

"It's hard to believe." Jessica muttered in an agreement. "You always get so pesky before a moon." She stated, changing the subject.

Harry came over to them. "Hey." He said.

"Hi Harry, have you down this yet?" Jessica asked, her mood changing.

"Yes, I have." Harry answered her.

"He's the best yet." Remus said. "How's Hermione doing?"

"She's still a little shaken, but she'll be alright."

"What happened to her?" Jessica asked, feeling a little worried or Hermione's sake.

"She had it a little rough with the boggart." Remus answered Jessica as he wrote something down on the clipboard he was using and Ron came out of the labyrinth.

Jessica looked at the clipboard, what was with all the people and their use of clipboards? She didn't spend much more time to this about this.

"How did I do?" Ron asked with a self-satisfied grin on his face, his arm were bleeding.

"Hmm," Remus answered first and looked down on what he had written. "You did well, only... I wouldn't have recommended using a disarming spell on the grindylow's." He said.

Ron looked a little taken back. "It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, it worked splendid if you call getting bitten as working." Harry said, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, you got bitten?" Jessica took a few steps forward and looked at where one of the grindylow's had bitten him on the left arm. "Oh, you'd better take this up to Madam Pomfrey, and you shouldn't wait so long, you might develop rabies." She stated and looked at the wound.

Ron stared at her; nobody had told him that you could get rabies from a grindylow. When Jessica saw his stare she couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"I'm kidding Ron." She laughed. "You can't get rabies from a fish."

Ron's ears turned slightly red as he looked down onto his feet and muttered something incoherent. "Where's Hermione?" he changed the subject. "There you are Hermione." He said, a tad too happy.

"How are you holding up?" Remus asked Hermione.

"I'm fine; we'd better get to lunch." She answered.

And the four of them headed back up to the castle after Ron had gotten a bandage on his wound.

"What do you have after lunch?" Jessica asked as they started to climb up the steps.

"Divination." Harry answered.

"Arithmancy." Hermione said afterwards.

"That must be fun." Jessica answered. "I remember quite clearly how easy the third year exam for Arithmancy were, Professor Vector always made the exams easier than necessary, but nobody else in my class thought so."

"Oh really..." Hermione said and the two of them started to go over what might come up at the exam, but their talking was averted by the sight that met them on the top of the steps.

Cornelius Fudge, sweating slightly in his pinstriped cloak, was standing there staring out at the grounds. He started at the sight of Harry and the rest of them.

"Hello there, Harry!" he said. "And Miss Potter, fancy seeing you here."

"Yes," Jessica answered. Hermione and Ron, not being on speaking terms with the Minister of Magic, hovered awkwardly in the background. "I have to say that I was glad to hear that you had become the new minister."

"Thank you." Fudge answered self satisfied. "And you are doing well, considering the circumstances?"

"I'm doing just fine." Jessica answered.

"That's good to hear." Fudge answered. "Lovely day," He continued, casting an eye over the lake. "Pity… pity…"

He sighed deeply and then looked back at them.

"I'm here on an unpleasant mission. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad Hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on the Black situation, I was asked to step in."

"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron interrupted, stepping forward.

"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge said, looking curiously at Ron.

"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all!" Ron said stoutly. "The Hippogriff might get off!"

Before Fudge could answer, two wizards came through the castle doors behind him. One was so ancient he appeared to be withering before their very eyes; the other was tall and strapping, with a thin back mustache. Harry gathered that they were representatives of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, because the very old wizard squinted toward Hagrid's cabin and said in a feeble voice, "Dear, dear, I'm getting too old for this… Two o'clock, isn't it, Fudge?"

The black-mustached man was fingering something in his belt; he was running one broad thumb along the blade of a shining axe. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Jessica pulled Ron by his arm and the four of them headed toward the main entrance.

"Why'd you stop me?" said Ron angrily as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. "Did you see them? They've even got the axe ready! This isn't justice!"

"No, Ron, what isn't justice is Mulciber, and the fact that he's neither dead nor in Azkaban." Jessica answered angrily.

"Besides Ron, your father works for the ministry." Hermione joined in. "You can't go around and say things like that to his boss."

"Who's Mulciber?" Harry asked once they had sat down or lunch.

"The man with the axe, his name is Mulciber." Jessica told them. "He was in the same year as me, Slytherin. He wasn't a particularly nice person, his favorite hobby were bullying muggleborns, especially younger and females."

"Like my mum." Harry said.

Jessica gave out a little laugh. "Not really Lily, she... weren't a person to bully with." But Harry got the feeling that that wasn't exactly what Jessica wanted to say. "They liked to go after Merry though, Merry little Mary McDonald."

"Why do you call her Merry?" Hermione asked with a slight disgust in her voice.

"She was the biggest virgin in our whole class." Jessica answered like it was completely normal to call somebody for the biggest Virgin, and continued with her lunch. In a strange way had Jessica found that her apatite had increased a lot over this past month, but she figured that it must have something to do with the fact that she hadn't been eating anything at all for the past sixteen years.

Later on when Harry and his friends were taking their last exams, Jessica retreated back to the common room where she sat herself down with her painting book. She had almost filled the whole book up now.

She got interrupted about an hour and a half later when Hermione came in; she looked rather destroyed and held a small piece of parchment in her hand.

"Hermione, what happened?" Jessica asked.

Hermione went over to the sofa and sat down next to her. "I got this note from Hagrid, they lost the appeal, Buckbeak is sentenced to death, and they are going to do it at sunset."

"Oh," Jessica said, she tried to sound chocked and distraught about the news. But she knew that there hadn't been any chance that Buckbeak would be freed. "That's so sad."

Hermione didn't seem to notice the fake sadness in Jessica's voice. "Yeah." She agreed. "Have Ron or Harry come back yet?"

"No," Jessica shook her head. "They haven't been here anyway."

Hermione responded with a nod and leaned back in the sofa.

It didn't take long before Ron strolled into the common room and sat down next to them. And after that it took even longer before Harry came to them.

He looked like he had been running toward the common room. They showed him the letter from Hagrid.

"We've got to go." Harry said at once when he read the letter. "We just can't let him sit there alone, waiting or the executioner."

"Of course we won't." Jessica said.

"But we'll never be allowed... especially Harry." Ron answered her.

"If we only had the invisibility cloak." Harry muttered to himself, as he was trying to come up with another way of visiting Hagrid.

"Where is it?" Hermione asked.

"It's under the one-eyed witch..." He answered her.

"I know where that is..." Jessica said and suddenly stood up. "I'll be right back."

And then she left. She returned with the cloak about a few minutes later.

"How did you know how to open it?" Harry asked.

Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "I've been around long enough."

"Okay then, let's go."

They pretended to go to dinner like everybody else, but then didn't return to the common room afterwards; after they were sure that everybody was gone they put the cloak on and went down

When they came down to Hagrid's hut, it was just about a few minutes until the sun would set.

"Hagrid, open the door, it's us." Harry said as he banged on the door.

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered, but he stood back, and they stepped inside. Hagrid shut the door quickly and Harry pulled off the cloak.

Hagrid was not crying, nor did he throw himself upon their necks. He looked like a man who did not know where he was or what to do. This helplessness was worse to watch than tears.

"Wan' some tea?" he said. His great hands were shaking as he reached for the kettle.

"Where's Buckbeak, Hagrid?" Hermione said hesitantly.

"I... I took him outside," Hagrid said, spilling milk all over the table as he filled up the jug. "He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an'... an' smell fresh air... before..."

Hagrid's hand trembled so violently that the milk jug slipped from his grasp and shattered all over the floor.

"I'll do it." Jessica said and started to clean the mess.

"There's another one in the cupboard," Hagrid said, sitting down and wiping his forehead on his sleeve.

Hermione went over to Jessica and started to look around the cupboards for a new kettle.

Harry, Ron and Hagrid continued talking amongst themselves about what they could do to help, in the middle of it all Hermione started to silently cry. As Jessica watched the girl, she found that she couldn't feel anything herself. But lately hadn't she been feeling so much, or not knowing what to feel that is.

But then, all of the sudden Hermione let out a shriek, all of the eyes turned toward Hermione who held one of the milk jugs in her hand. "Ron... It's... It's Scabbers!"

"What?"Ron gaped at her.

Hermione hurried over to the table and poured the poor rat out of the milk jug and onto the table.

When Jessica saw the rat she had to take a step backwards, she couldn't believe what she saw, it was him, and he was still alive. She could hear him; "Let me go, let me go, I'm safer in here." In his squeaky voice.

But if he were still alive, that meant that Sirius couldn't have done it. Sirius attention was to kill Peter; all those muggles were just there. But if Peter didn't die, that meant that the muggles died for another reason. It was so clear to her now; he had been set up by Peter, who was in league with the Voldemort. But why? And how did he know where Lily and James had hided, and how would he have been able to tell Voldemort?

Unless he was the secret keeper, unless they had changed and not told anyone, Jessica's train of thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Hagrid.

"They're comin'…" Hagrid said, and was his face turning into the colour of parchment.

All four of them turned as well to the window, where they could see the four people coming down the hill toward Hagrid's hut. The four of them started to panic slightly. Ron put down the rat into his pocket. And they ran out into the forest behind the hut, so that they would be able to get away from vision before they got back into the castle.

Once they were in the forest they quietly ran at the edge of the forest, when they were slightly away from Hagrid's hut they stopped and turned around, from here could they see where Buckbeak stood without being noticed.

The rat in Ron's pocked squealed and made a lot of noise; Jessica didn't care about the noise as long as they could get the rat to the castle. In the morning did she plan to take the rat to Dumbledore, it would be safer that way.

Whilst being in the hut she had thought of staying and talk to both Dumbledore and the minister, but then did she have to tell the minister that she, James and Sirius were also unregistered animagi and she would end up so much trouble. Dumbledore on the other hand were more likely not to give her trouble for it, he was a more understanding man than the minister.

"How... could... they?" Hermione choked. "How could they?"

Jessica looked briefly over at Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder. She still found that she weren't able to feel anything for the now dead Hippogriff.

"We need to get back to the castle." Harry said calmly. But things weren't going calmly; Ron seemed to have trouble with the rat.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. "What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still... OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute..."

"He won't... stay... put..."

The rat was plainly terrified. He was writhing with all his might, trying to break free of Ron's grip.

"Don't lose that rat, Ron." Jessica told him.

The rat succeeded to break free from Ron's grip and Ron dropped him to the ground.

"Scabbers come back." Ron called out to the rat and ran after him, straight out into the open field.

"Ron, are you insane?" Hermione hissed and ran after him.

Both Harry and Jessica stood left by the trees and looked after the two people.

"Oh no." Harry suddenly said and Jessica noticed that Harry had seen something else; Crookshanks had appeared onto the ground, his eyes after the rat, suddenly he took a leap after the rat, heading toward it with a colossal speed. "I'm going." Harry said and ran after.

Shaking her head at the idiotic teenagers she sighed and also ran.

The darkness had already fallen upon the ground and Jessica couldn't see any longer then the back of Hermione, suddenly Hermione abruptly stopped running. Harry also stopped to run when he reached her. Once Jessica came to their side, she saw Ron on the ground, finally have captured the rat. She also noticed what tree he was under.

"The womping willow." She muttered to herself. "This is not good." She continued as she noticed, just like Harry and Hermione seemed to do, that the womping willow had noticed Ron's presence, and had become hostile.

Ron, who had busy with tucking away the still struggling Rat, looked over to Harry, Hermione and Jessica, and his face turned into a look of horror.

"Harry look, the grim!" He shouted as he pointed toward the big black dog.

If the situation hadn't been this bad Jessica might have laughed at the fact that Ron had called Sirius for the grim, she had never noticed the look-a-like. But now the time weren't right for a laugh. The dog, which was Sirius, looked in a rather angry mood; he was gritting his teeth and looked like he prepared to take a leap forward at them.

Suddenly Jessica realized what he was after, why he had come to Hogwarts of all places.

She pointed toward Ron. "Hey, it's Ron... It's Ron who's got him!" She shouted toward him, his eyes turned quickly to Jessica's. "I know..." it said in his voice. And then he took a big leap forward toward Ron.

Ron, whose face showed terror at the big dog coming toward him, tried to get away from there, but weren't quick enough. The dog had leaped forward and taken a rather harsh grasp around Ron's leg with its jaws. Ron screamed out in terror as he was being pulled down toward the entrance under the womping willow, and all of a sudden he was gone from sight.

Harry was staring at Jessica, like as if he didn't know who she was and he looked slightly scared of her. "Harry..." Jessica started but then was interrupted by Hermione, who hadn't been taking her eyes from where Ron had disappeared under the tree.

"We need to get help!" Hermione said, her voice trembling with fear.

"No..." Both Jessica and Harry said at once, their eyes turning toward Hermione.

"We don't have time." Harry said to her, like he hadn't noticed that Jessica had also spoken. "Besides that dog's big enough to eat him."

"But how will we get in?" Hermione asked, her voice still full of fear.

But Harry seemed lost for an explanation. The branches whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles, making it impossible for them to get though, and down to the hole.

But Crookshanks seemed to know how to stop the tree from whipping its twigs at them. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered uncertainly. She now grasped Harry's arm painfully hard. "How did he know...?"

"C'mon" Jessica said to them, as she ran forward to the tree and after Crookshanks down under the tree.

Harry and Hermione fallowed after, their wands out.

They crawled forward, head first and slid down and earthy slope down to the bottom of a very low tunnel.

They continued to follow Jessica, who had walked this tunnel numerously many times before and knew where it ended.

After a long walk the tunnel began to rise, moments later it twisted and Jessica were gone.

"Where do you think this leads?" Hermione asked, as they came to the turn of the tunnel.

"The Shrieking shack." Jessica answered, she stood up straight now and soon the two joined her.

"What?" Harry asked. "How do you know?"

"We used this all the time when I was at school." Jessica answered.

Hermione and Harry raised their wands to see what lay beyond. It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up.

Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked very frightened but nodded.

Harry pulled himself out of the hole, after Jessica, and stared around. The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway.

Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair near them. Large chunks had been torn out of it; one of the legs had been ripped off entirely.

"Ghosts didn't do that," he said slowly.

"That's because ghosts have never haunted this place." Jessica stated, now taking out her own wand.

At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. Both of them looked up at the ceiling. Hermione's grip on Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go.

Without waiting for the other two Jessica darted up the stairs and reached the dark landing, only one door was open and Jessica hurried through it.

On a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings laid Crookshanks, purring loudly. On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron.

Jessica rushed over toward him to check up on the mauled leg. Soon after her Harry and Hermione came into the room, they also were rushing over toward Ron.

"Ron... Are you okay?" Jessica asked Ron,

"Where's the dog?" Harry asked panicked.

"Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap..."

"What..."

"He's the dog… he's an Animagus."

Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them.

A/N; I just got back from my vacation two days ago, so I have tried to get this out as soon as possible. But my keyboard have failed me... the button for "f" have stopped working, and it bugs me so much. I will try to get my dad to buy me a new one... but that will take some serious time.

And I know that it might seem strange that I'm mentioning that Jessica were friends with Barty Crouch Jr. But I have a really good twist for that later in the story.

I hope that you enjoy and review the chapters, and thank you all my wonderful reviewers, you are the best.

And as I'm posting this chapter... 4 days until Breaking Dawn!! So if I don't post after Saturday, you'll know why... 4 days! Can you believe it??

review!!