Later that day Harry had arrived in Diagon Alley with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. His heart felt as if it could beat out of his chest, his mind elsewhere with the possibility of seeing Sirius again. He hadn't the slightest idea how he was managing to calmly act like it were just any other day, like he hadn't heard their conversation in the kitchen with Lupin that very morning. Besides the fact that it was crucial Mrs. Weasley suspected nothing of them so they could sneak off once they arrived in Fred and George's shop as planned

Harry was so wrapped up in thoughts of what he had heard that he had almost forgotten about Voldemort for the time being. Mrs. Weasley was far more distracted by other things to notice Harry's dismay he realized as he truly started to take in the surroundings of Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley had changed from the friendly place he had always traveled to each year before he had taken off to Hogwarts to start a new year. The streets were far less crowded and the people who were out shopping remained in tight groups, he was used to many friendly "Hello's" but now people hardly dared to make eye contact with others not in their group. The shops that usually bared bright colored advertisement posters and displays were replaced with "Have you seen this wizard" posters with horrible photographs of Azkaban escapees. Harry felt a horrible lurch in his stomach as he recognized none other than Bellatrix in one of the posters, her awful face glaring down at him.

"Harry are you coming?" Hermione asked gently, but also giving him a look of urgency with a quick glance Mrs. Weasley's way. Harry nodded and quickly kept walking, not having realized he had stopped in thought.

"Alright everyone, I'm off to meet Remus for a bit, stick close together now and do not wander off alone." Mr. Weasley said in a firm tone at a cross street leading to what Harry knew to be his destination of The Leaky Cauldron. He kissed Mrs. Weasley's cheek who wore a nervous expression before he hurried down the road his cloak swishing behind him.

"Mum could we go and see Fred and George's shop now please?" Ginny asked looking up at Mrs. Weasley hopefully.

"Yeah I'm dying to see it!" Ron added.

"Alright I suppose that would be a good place to start, follow me." Mrs. Weasley said and they started off again down the road. Harry anxious to arrive so he could give them the slip and get down to business on finding out what on earth Lupin had been talking about.

He knew immediately when they arrived at Fred and George's shop with no question though. The place was a bright spot in a now dim Diagon Alley with a large sign reading "Weasley Wizard Weezes" in bright orange lettering. The windows were full of displays of their products and not a single "have you seen this wizard" sign could be seen. Ron and Harry exchanged giant grins with each other as they walked in together.

The place to Harry's pleasant surprise was absolutely booming with business, everyone had seemed to let down their guard while inside. He hardly wondered why because the place radiated the essence of simple fun. He watched as Mrs. Weasley was dragged off to a display of something called pigmy puffs by Ginny.

"Let's go while she's distracted we aren't going to have much time." Ron said leading them down a deserted isle of Nosebleed Nougats. Harry slipped the invisibility cloak out of his bag where he had tucked it that morning and quickly threw it over them.

"I don't know how we are going to go unnoticed, Mrs. Weasley was so worried back there." Hermione said looking nervous.

"We'll worry about that later, lets sneak out while those girls have the door open." Harry said gesturing towards a group of girls who had just paid and were headed for the door. He knew Hermione had a point but he didn't care, he was so close to getting the information he was desperate for. They slipped out the door unnoticed and paused momentarily watching to see that Mrs. Weasley was still distracted, and she was for now Fred had joined her and Ginny.

Harry quickly led them down the streets towards the leaky cauldron as quickly as they could while remaining safely hidden beneath his cloak.

"Hurry we can sneak in while that man is leaving." Ron whispered frantically to Harry and Hermione who followed his lead and made it in noticed. Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and a woman Harry didn't recognize sat together at the end of the very nearly empty bar.

"Come on." Harry whispered and they slowly and careful moved across the bar towards the group, hardly daring to breathe. Harry grabbed Ron and Hermione's wrists and the kneeled down together next to a plant a few feet away from them, their voices audible now.

Harry figured the woman sitting with Mr. Weasley and Lupin was the person Lupin had mentioned in the kitchen that morning named Embry. She was a beautiful woman who was very tall and had Auburn hair that fell around her shoulders in waves.

"I've worked in the department for years, and when I first was signed on any talk of the veil left me with an angry boss." The woman said looking very seriously between Mr. Weasley and Lupin.

"But why?" Asked Lupin, his face wore a look of desperation that matched the way Harry was feeling at this point.

"Well it's been there for ages, it's a great mystery to most people who work in the office but it always transfixed me. So, I quietly tried to dig up answers from a man who oversaw the department before he retired and was replaced with my now boss who is very hush hush on the veil." She said.

"That was Jemeriah Clarkson, right?" Asked Mr. Weasley whom worked in the Ministry as well and Embry nodded.

"Yes. And basically, what it comes down to is he believed it to be a portal, something the Ministry used in much older days before Azkaban was around." She said looking rather grave.

"So, it's… a prison?" Lupin asked looking confused. Harry heart was nearly beating out of his chest now because it seemed Sirius could be alive then, but in a prison. Sirius had spent nearly half his life in a prison, the thought of him in another made Harry feel sick.

"Well if he was right then yes, he retired before we could investigate further so it's still a bit unknown but Mr. Clarkson is a brilliant wizard whom I trust to have a lot of insight on this." She said.

"Why do you want to help us, why tell us this when this is a great risk to your job?" Mr. Weasley asked, Lupin shot him a look but Mr. Weasley stayed firm.

"It's true Remus with everything going on exhausting Order members on what at this point seems to be a goose chase in these dark times is hard for me to wrap my head around." Mr. Weasley said.

"He is a part of the Order and he is our friend we must at least see what this Mr. Clarkson man has to say before we give up." Lupin said angrily.

"Have you even thought about what would happen if Harry gets word of this and it turns out to be false!" Mr. Weasley cried out.

Harry didn't need to hear anymore, he threw of the cloak to which Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and Embry all jumped in surprise, Hermione and Ron slowly stood up behind him as well.

"I already know, Mr. Weasley… and I want to do something." Harry said.