I own nothing it all belongs to JK! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Harry rounded the corner and reached the familiar gargoyle statues that led to Dumbledore's study. He started into the stone eyes of the statues, he didn't know the current password that would cause them to magically leap aside so he could walk in. Slowly he leaned against the wall and slid down it, sitting on the stone floor beside the gargoyles. Even if he knew the silly password, usually related to some form of candy treat, it was useless he thought bitterly. Dumbledore spent majority of his time away from Hogwarts these days, and with no immediate lesson planned with Harry he saw no reason to believe Dumbledore would be back at the school.

His breathing was still heavy, not from the walk up to this portion of the castle, but from his fight with Malfoy and Snape. He didn't want to go back to the common room and sit around until Ron or Hermione showed up. He didn't have a class to go to because Snape had thrown him out. He felt stuck to the stone floor, looking up at the gargoyles for answers. Sirius had gotten himself into trouble again and helplessness was eating away at him at the thought of it. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he crossed his arms over them and laid his head down against them.

He sat there contemplating what he should do, a plan of action to counter his thoughts of hopelessness. He needed to reach someone in the Order, preferably if he had his choice he'd like to speak with Lupin. Sending an owl to anyone would take too long, Hedwig was fast but he needed to get word out faster. How long Sirius had been in danger was unknown, wasting more time was the last thing he wanted to do. McGonagall would hear him out, but she was strict and after the trouble Harry had gotten into last year trying to help Sirius she would just want to send an owl to Dumbledore.

He needed to use the Floo network to reach Lupin through the fire at Sirius's house. More so he needed someone in the castle who would assist him in using the Floo network as he had no Floo powder. Suddenly a thought popped into his head though. Leaping to his feet he took off down the corridor with his cloak swishing behind him as he sprinted towards the one person he knew would help him. He practically laughed at his stupidity of not thinking of Professor Slughorn sooner.

He may not feel especially bonded to Slughorn, perhaps even a little unsure of him still. That didn't matter though really. Slughorn was so desperate to collect Harry into his club that he was sure Slughorn would be happy to help him with such a simple task. Timing was on his side too, students were filling the hallways to head to lunch as lessons had just finished and they were now heading to the great hall for lunch. Skidding to a stop outside the potions classroom, Harry felt relief flood through him to see Slughorn alone in the classroom straightening up his work station from the last lesson.

"Harry my boy! How are you?" Slughorn boomed as he looked up and spotted him striding into the classroom.

"Hey Professor, I'm okay, I just wanted to ask you a favor." He said looking up at Slughorn while trying to catch his breath. He wanted to sound casual to avoid explaining much to Slughorn, he'd already wasted too much time.

"Sure thing! What can I do for you?" He asked with a smile, he didn't seem phased at all by him standing there panting like he'd just run a marathon.

"I was just wondering if I could use your fire, to contact a family member? My owl is away and I need to get a hold of them soon."

"Sure, I'm heading down to the great hall to have lunch, just close up my classroom on your way out will you?" He asked while reaching up onto a shelf and pulling down an old pot with a lid on it. He handed it to Harry who gratefully took the pot, knowing it held floo powder.

"Follow me!" He said happily and led Harry into his office where a small fire was already roaring in the fireplace. Harry looked at the fire and couldn't believe his luck.

"Thanks Professor, I really appreciate it! See you in the great hall" Harry said truly thankful. With a smile Slughorn waddled out of his office. Moments later Harry heard the classroom door shut.

Harry kneeled onto the floor and opened the pot which revealed a large amount of powder. Taking a handful, he threw it into the fire and called out the address that belonged to Sirius's house. He found himself holding his breath, and not just to avoid the embers of the fire. It hadn't crossed his mind until now that Lupin may not be at the house.

"Remus!" Harry called out seeing the familiar living room in front of him now. He heard footstep and sighed in relief as Lupin kneeled down in front of the fire, wearing a look of concern upon his face.

"Harry? Harry are you alright?" Lupin asked frantically and Harry nodded quickly, he didn't waste any time after that and burst into the story of what Malfoy had told him. Once he had finished Lupin wore a grim look on his face, but he hardly looked surprised at all. This struck Harry as odd, and Lupin must have read his expression.

"Well… I've been wanting to send you an owl, but I didn't want to worry you without talking face to face first." He started to say, and Harry felt his stomach drop. Lupin already knew something and by the sounds of it, whatever he knew wasn't good.

"Embry showed up last night, she didn't look so great. She told me that Sirius had reached her but in his efforts the Death Eaters had taken Sirius instead. She got away barely, because the Death Eaters seemed happy with having Sirius prisoner instead." Lupin explained tentatively, his eyes were watching Harry closely as he explained.

"You believed her?" Harry asked, his voice quiet but incredulous. Lupin looked uncomfortable but he nodded slowly.

"I can't believe this, he's gone again." Harry said shaking his head in disbelief. Anger was bubbling up inside him now. Anger with Embry for leaving Sirius behind again. Anger with Lupin for believing her lies. Anger with his godfather for getting himself into this mess over a girl who betrayed him again. Suddenly he didn't regret what he told Sirius about Wormtail at platform nine and three quarters the last time he saw him. In fact, he wanted to scream the same thing at Lupin too.

"Harry…" Lupin started to say but Harry shook his head.

"Sirius is as good as gone now that the Death Eater have him." Harry said over him, he didn't want to hear Lupins sympathy right now.

"Harry, please listen to me." A different voice said and Harry saw a new face appear next to Lupin's. It wasn't a face he didn't recognize though, it was Embry with her long red hair falling around her face. She looked different though, her face was thinner and pale. Her eyes were less bright and dark circles lay beneath them.

"You left him behind again." Harry said his voice full of anger as he met her eyes that wore a look of sadness. She looked down in shame, and he felt his anger fault despite himself. He wasn't about to let his guard down, but something about her behavior was genuine and taking him by surprise.

"I didn't want to leave him. I was weak though and I couldn't fight them off after they disarmed his wand. He told me to go and I seized the opportunity because the only hope I could see after we both were wandless was getting word back to the Order of the Phoenix so more help could come for him." She explained while her eyes were far away in thought.

"You left us in the Veil though!" Harry cried out frustrated and this time she looked back up at Harry with a fire burning in her eyes.

"I didn't leave you on my own accord! I was under the imperius curse, compelled to do others bidding! I wanted to help you get Sirius back!" She cried out back to him, her eyes had tears welling them now. "Mr. Clarkson put me under the imperious curse when we visited him for information. One of his sons was taken by the Death Eaters and used us to try and get him back through leverage with the dark side."

Harry considered this feeling unsure of what he was supposed to think or feel. Embry's story lined up in theory, but how could he trust her after everything. The imperius curse seemed like the lesser of the three unforgivable curses but it wrecked havoc in solving problems. You never know who's lying he thought bitterly.

"I wanted to save Sirius, Harry. He wasn't just someone I knew in school, I fell in love with him after we left school. We didn't talk about it, it was just between us because the war was raging and it was so trivial compared to all our friends in danger constantly." She said quietly, tears were pouring silently down her cheeks now. "Then everything happened so quickly and I didn't know what was going on. Suddenly James and Lily were dead, Peter was dead, and Sirius was whisked off to Azkaban. The man I knew disappeared over night and I was mourning my friends and in a way mourning Sirius. Fast forward ten plus years later and I find out he was innocent all along. I kept quiet every time I nearly spoke up and used my ministry ties to demand a trial because I was afraid of the truth!" Her voice broke and she buried her face in her hands.

Harry looked to Lupin whose eyes were wide with surprise as he stared down at Embry gently patting her back as she cried. He didn't know what to think. He'd seen people act off the imperius curse and lie to do Voldemort's bidding. This was different though, this was raw emotion that the imperius curse couldn't touch. He didn't have any other choice anyways, he had to trust her right now because she was the only link to where Sirius might be besides Malfoy's snide hints. She was his only hope in getting his godfather back.

"Embry, I… I believe you." Harry said suddenly "But now we've got to figure out how we're going to get him back." He finished fiercely. Embry's head raised up and her eyes met Harry's and she gave him a short and determined nod as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Her sadness was replaced by that look of blazing determination again.