An: Wow! This chapter wrote itself in a few hours. My muse was all out today and I sized the opportunity to get as much writing done as I could.

Thanks to everyone for your support, I am still amazed that so many people like my story.

Please enjoy this new chapter and tell me your opinions if you wish to.

''Truth is not fully explosive, but purely electric. You don't blow the world up with the truth; you shock it into motion.''

– Criss Jami, Healology

CHAPTER 9

Sirius Black received the second major shock of his day when he read the letter that some mysterious person had unexpectedly sent him.

Mr. Sirius Black,

We do not know each other personally and thus you may take everything that I write in this letter with a grain of salt. As what I have to say is rather important and pertinent to your godson Harry Potter, I took the liberty to charm this letter and ink with a true spell in order to avoid possible denials and doubts you may have. (Feel free to confirm it.)

As I mentioned, we never met before; however I do know about you and the actual true behind your unfair incarceration at Azkaban and the true betrayer of the Potter's on that faithful Hallowe'en night fourteen years ago.

You see, I am Harry's cousin from the Potter's side and to a certain degree your cousin as well. It is a well-kept secret that Charlus Potter and your aunt Dorea Black-Potter had had a son shortly after they were married. Unfortunately, the child, Daniel, was born a Squib and they decided that it would be best that their son be adopted by a French Squib couple. Long story short, I am Daniel Argent's (former Potter) grand-daughter.

I've been trading letters with Harry since before the Summer Holidays and he had told me much about everything and everyone on his life. I have to say that I was not impressed about the adults' attitude in his life; especially the ones that claimed to love him and want the best for him.

Harry had thought the world of you, Sirius Black, and it was a huge blow that you sided with Albus Dumbledore to make his already miserable existence even more unbearable. He told me that you were the last person that he believed would dismissed his pleas about not wanting to return to that wretched muggle house and you disappointed him beyond belief when you agreed with that man's conniving and selfish decision.

The second sheet of parchment inside this envelope is a copy of the last letter Harry sent to me. Actually he wrote it a few hours before he died. I warn you that that letter is not an easy one to read though you will be able to confirm for yourself just how alone and let down Harry was feeling.

You may think that I contacted you to simply make you feel even more miserable about this and rub it in your face that you are one of the people to blame for the death of your godson; I assure you that it is not my intention. What I am trying to accomplish with this is opening your eyes to the true that is so clear to me.

You and most people in Britain have such a blind faith in Dumbledore that you don't even stop to really think about the true consequences of his demands and your actions where that man is concerned until after the deed is done and the situation is irreparable. I find it quite appalling that he has such a great power upon the people and no one seems to see exactly what he is trying to do with his underhanded words and manipulative ways.

Tell me, Mr. Black, where was Dumbledore when you were imprisoned in Azkaban without a trial? Surely, the Chief Warlock could have demanded a trial in 1981 to one of the members of his Order of Phoenix, don't you think? Even if everyone believed that you were guilty, even without any evidence I may add, it was – and still is – your right to have a proper trial before the Wizengamot to be fairly judged for your (alleged) crimes.

Didn't you ever wonder why Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr. had had a trial even though there were witnesses to their despicable crimes before they were incarcerated and you didn't even get a forewarning before you were shipped to Azkaban?

I will leave you with these questions and let you draw your own conclusions; perhaps this way you will see how the world is not as black and white as you seem to believe. Despite your family's treatment of you, not everyone Dark is evil and unscrupulous; and despite the late Potter's kindness and acceptation of you in their loving family, not everyone Light is as moral and benevolent as them. A very wise man once taught me that the world is mostly filled with tones of grey, every human is made by light and darkness and it is up to each one of us to decide our path independently of our magic affiliation and the world's biased views of what is right and wrong.

In the end of this letter I leave you a gift that I hope you will use (after checking that it is untainted, I'm sure). After the last written line, please tap your wand and say 'appareo' and a crystal vial will appear. Inside there is an untraceable potion that, not unlike Polyjiuce, will change your appearance for eight hours (currently there are four dosages inside; a swallow per each will suffice). This will allow you to be present at the trial where the culprits of Harry's death will be judged and see for yourself exactly what kind of man is the Leader of the Light and the one you trusted with your godson's well-being.

If you have any questions considering this matter, I will gladly answer them. You will need only to attach your response letter to the post owl the next time I'll contact you.

Best regards

Lady Florence Peverell

After reading the letter twice, Sirius and Remus looked at each other silently for a few moments. They were so shocked by this unexpected letter and its own startling content that their current grief was put aside temporarily. Mutely, Remus cast the revealing spell to confirm the sender's allegations and indeed there it was: the whole letter shone brightly for a second confirming that this unknown witch was not lying.

Nodding his head to his friend, Sirius tapped the end of the letter and casted 'Appareo' as explained and immediately there was a vial filled with a light blue liquid in front of them. No taking any chances, Sirius casted a few searching spells to check that there was no poison inside and another to confirm that it was indeed a disguising kind of potion (the vial shone a pale yellow for an instant). He put aside the vial and the letter after they were reassured of their authenticity and retrieved the forgotten envelope on the kitchen's table top.

Swallowing deeply and with steadily growing dread, Sirius unfolded the second letter and both of them forced themselves to read all of it, even if their wish was to stop after only reading the first few sentences. Unbeknownst to them, their first though was the same as Madam Bones': the letter seemed eerily like a suicide note and it kept getting harder with each line they read of the last words of Harry Potter. Words that were filled with sadness, loneliness, hurt and most of all resignation.

Sirius instantly started to cry tears of anguish the moment he read the sentence where his godson's mentioned he was fine with dying and only got worse after that. Remus wasn't taking it any better and cried alongside his friend as each word stabbed both of them as if they were sharp knives painfully and ruthlessly imbedded on their bodies.

After finishing the most agonising and heart-wrenching letter that they ever had read, Sirius and Remus stayed silent for a long time, each reflecting on their own past mistakes and what they could do to avenge their godson even if it was only in a small way. Even without speaking, they both shared the same opinion: Albus Dumbledore would pay for his part in Harry's demise. The old man did not take part directly in that tragedy but now they both were aware that the headmaster had always known about the Boy-Who-Lived's family circumstances and never bothered to rectify the situation. Worse, it seemed that the man had purposely separated Sirius from Harry all those years so he could have full control of Harry's living arrangements and later use that to his advantage in controlling the boy for his own plans.

Looking each other in the eye, the two Marauders silently swore that Dumbledore would regret ever messing with their godson. They didn't care what they had to do to make it happen; hell, they would turn Dark if necessary to take that deceitful wizard down.

With that determination and promise in mind, the two men pushed aside their grieving a little longer and started planning and drafting a letter to send to the mysterious Florence Peverell as soon as they had the chance to, declaring their willingness to help her if she had her own plans against Dumbledore.

Severus Snape had locked himself in his quarters in the dungeons after receiving the shocking news of Harry Potter's death and had gone straight to his liquor closet even though it was too early in the morning to start drinking alcohol. He still couldn't quite believe that the person he had survived all these years to protect was no more and needed some strong support to help him live through that already strenuous and distressing day.

After he had learned of Lily Potter's death, his best and only friend, all those years ago, he had hastily run to Godric's Hallow to see for himself the truth of that information and had found his beloved friend's already cooling body in the house's nursery with her baby son wailing for his mother and his forehead bleeding from the Killer Curse rebound.

Severus didn't know how long he had sat there on the floor embracing Lily and crying guilty and desolate tears for what he had made happen with his foolish and selfish actions; after all, it was him that had relayed the Prophecy to the Dark Lord and thus point Voldemort's desire to destroy his possible rival in the Potter's direction.

Afterwards, the only thing keeping him alive and not drowning completely in his own despair and guilt was the Vow he had made to Lily to protect his son's life. Dumbledore hired him as the Potions Professor at Hogwarts and as the time passed, Severus too had started to fall in the Headmaster's web of lies and manipulations; he, who had promised himself to never again believe and follow anyone blindly after his erroneous allegiance to the Dark Lord, had trusted in the old man's word without hesitation and thus treated Harry Potter harshly and deplorably always with the notion that he was a spoiled and arrogant brat just like his father and not once trying to see beyond the little tell-tales that he had glimpsed along the years at Hogwarts that may have meant that the reality was not really as Dumbledore had painted it.

And now Severus found himself wondering what he should do: his main reason to fight on this coming war was no more. He didn't wish to fight for the Light anymore after Dumbledore's failings were found out; though he didn't want to return to the Dark Side either as the way it currently was even if he considered himself a Dark wizard as his views differed greatly from Voldemort's present goals.

As he thought deeply about all this, he was caught off guard when a big black owl entered his quarters and landed neatly before him on the back of one of the armchairs that occupied his living room. The bird held out its leg with a letter attached and waited for the wizard to relieve it of its burden.

Severus was surprised to receive a missive at this time of the day and from an owl he didn't know but reasoned that it could be from one of his Death Eaters associates wanting to know about the Boy-Who-Lived's demise and Dumbledore's particular response to that news. Nevertheless, he took the letter from the bird and it flew immediately away without wanting for a returning letter.

Not a message from a Death Eater then, he decided when he saw his name neatly written in an unknown calligraphy.

Intrigued now, Severus proceeded to check for hidden spells or poisons in the letter before finding none and opening the envelope.

Master Severus Snape,

We never met personally although I can say that I know much about you personally and professionally.

Before expounding on the reason of this letter, please do know that the parchment and ink are spelled with a truth spell, I'm sure you know how to confirm my claim.

(Here, Severus did just that and indeed the letter was spelled to show the truth, leaving the man even more interested than before.)

I am certain that at this moment you are already aware of Harry Potter's death and that it was as shocking and unforeseen to you as it was to everyone else even though you have never showed any concern to him beyond the relationship between teacher and student. One could even be callous enough to state that you'd be happy with this news as you had always did your best to oppress him and never lost an opportunity to berate and punish him.

I know better though.

I know of the Vow that you made more than fourteen years ago to Lily Potter promising her that you'd do your best to protect his son's life.

I am aware as well of the Life Debt created when James Potter saved you from Remus Lupin's werewolf's claws when you were sixteen.

I know that you never forgave yourself for relaying part of the Prophecy to Voldemort and that Dumbledore never let you forget it either.

More importantly, I know of the reason why you survived all these years and played your flawless part as a spy between two powerful Lords intent on controlling the Wizard World, each in different ways.

And lastly, I understand that now that your reason to fight is gone, you don't know what path you should take; as Dumbledore lied about Harry Potter and is one of the people to blame for his death and Voldemort is a unreasonable and cruel master that has lost the original goals of his campaign.

I'm sure that by now you are wondering and panicking who am I and how do I know so much about your person.

You have no need to alarm, I assure you. I have no intention in sharing your secrets (remember that this letter was spelled to only show the true). In fact, what I wish is to impart some information of my own.

As of last night, the Dark Lord Voldemort became a bit less insane thanks to my actions. I will not divulge what I exactly did but I can tell you for sure that his current awful behaviour will change in the next few days and he will be less erratic and much more logical and rational in his plans.

I am not your enemy, Severus Snape.

I came to the British Wizarding World to try and make it better. All this prejudice, backwards and sheep mentally is not the way to do it. Dumbledore and the Ministry are more than happy to let our world to continue in this fashion as long as everyone turns to them for answers and I, for one, will do my best to change this mind-set.

Harry Potter was my cousin from the Potter's side and I will not let the main culprit for my last blood relative's death get away with it. I will do anything necessary to avenge Lily's son and show the wizarding world precisely who is the person where they had put all their faith and trust.

As a peace offering to you, I enclosed within a letter from Lily Potter which she had written to you when she had gone under the Fidelius Charm. You see, Dumbledore in his selfish ways decided to hide both Potter's Wills fourteen years ago and thus everything was unable to be delivered to the appropriate parties, such as this letter.

If you wish to put any remaining doubts about this matter to rest, please be present at the trial for Harry Potter's murder and you will understand exactly just how far reaching and manipulative Albus Dumbledore was become.

Best regards

Lady Florence Peverell