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"Yeah but that's not the point. He thinks I'm helping you and now he's watching me like a hawk and I can't do anything anymore!"

Sirius seemed to ponder this when he suddenly glanced into the distance. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" whispered Neville.

"There's someone in the b-"

Before Sirius could finish his sentence, Draco had already sent a stunner into the bushes and started running towards them.

While running, Draco sincerely hoped that it was just a deer or some such thing. But as usual, he wasn't that lucky.

On the muddy ground, stunned, lay Daphne. Standing next to her was her sister Astoria, who let out a strangled sound when her wide, scared eyes fell on Draco. Her gaze flickered to her incapacitated sister, then back to Draco, who was running towards them, wand in hand, and then to her sister again. It was obvious that she was thinking about running away but also didn't want to leave her defenseless sister behind. Ultimately, she seemed to reach a decision. Her posture straightened, her gaze met Draco's and she raised her wand, hand shaking, towards Draco.

"Astoria," Draco panted, coming to a halt several feet away from her.

"Stay away!" she yelled, emphasizing her words by waving about her wand.

"Or what?" Draco asked amused. "Are you gonna Lumos me? Or use Wingardium Leviosa?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ehm-"

"I'm not going to hurt you or your sister, promise," he made a few steps towards her, holding up his hands in a non-threatening gesture.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know who he is," she hissed, motioning her head towards Sirius. "I thought you were a decent guy, Draco, but apparently everything they've been saying about Slytherins is true." Her angry gaze turned to one of betrayal.

"I… I know how this looks but there is a simple explanation for all of this, I swear. Just, please, listen to me. I won't harm you or your sister... See," he turned towards Daphne, "Rennervate."

Daphne's eyes flattered open and immediately searched for Astoria. Once she was sure her sister was alright, she got up and stalked towards Draco. "You! You disgusting piece of-"

"Daphne, let me explain," he backed away.

"So Snape was right. You are helping him! How could you? I know you don't like Potter, but this? This is murder!"

"Daphne-"

"And Longbottom? Are you corrupting Gryffindors too, now?"

"Daphne!" Draco yelled. "Listen to me. It is not what it looks like. Sirius is innocent. No one hear wants to harm anyone. None of us is attacking you or your sister."

She raised an eyebrow in clear skepticism, folding her arms in front of her.

"You two can leave anytime you want. I- We won't stop you. But please listen to me first. Then you can go ahead and tell Snape or Dumbledore or whoever you see fit. But please listen to me first. Please."

"Let's hear him out, Daphne," whispered Astoria. "He hasn't hurt as so far and neither have the other two." She was now standing beside her sister, almost hiding behind her.

Daphne looked between her sister and the three guys and back.

"Hrmph… All right. Talk. And I hope for your sake that is this the freakin' best story I've ever heard because that's what it is gonna take for me to believe you and look over the fact that you just stunned me and that I landed in the mud!"

Neville tentatively moved next to Draco while he began telling their story. Sirius stayed as far back as he could.

"So uhm- where to begin," Draco had to think quickly. He couldn't tell her why he was hanging around the Forbidden Forest with Neville Longbottom of all people. "Neville and I were serving detention, about a week ago," yeah, that sounded believable, "and while in the forest we found him," he motioned into the general direction of Sirius. "At first, we did not believe him either, but his story convinced us to trust him. Damn, his story is so good it made a Gryffindor and a Slytherin work together, can you believe it? He is innocent. Sirius Black is innocent. He never kill anyone. Peter Pettigrew did, the guy who supposedly died through Black's hand. But he is still alive. He faked his own death and framed Sirius for it. He's been alive this whole time." He took a deep breath and looked expectantly at Daphne and Astoria.

Daphne still had her eyebrows raised and Astoria did not look convinced either.

"There are a whole lot of holes in your story and you know it," Daphne finally said, defensively.

"Yeah," Astoria agreed quietly. "How could Pettigrew have possibly pulled this off? And why did Black break into Gryffindor and why did he try to kill Potter if he's innocent?"

"He didn't. He wasn't at Potter's bed, was he?"

"He tried to kill Weasley?" Daphne asked.

"Ehm, no. I did not try to kill anyone," this was the first time Sirius spoke and Daphne and Astoria immediately took a step back. "He is an Animagus, you know?"

"What's an Animagus?" Astoria asked.

"People who can turn into animals," Daphne said, having paid attention during Snape's anti-Lupin-propaganda lesson.

"Like Professor McGonagall?" she whispered.

Neville nodded his head.

"Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter - Harry Potter's father – and I… we were best friends in school," Sirius went on.

"Professor Lupin?" Daphne interrupted.

"He is a professor now?" Sirius asked, delighted. "I shouldn't be so surprised. He's always been smart. We were best friends, you know, the four of us. And we all learned how to become Animagi. Peter can turn into a rat and I can turn into a dog. Quite impressive, isn't it?"

Daphne shrugged her shoulders, still not willing to believe anything they said.

"That's a sweet story, but how is any of this relevant?" asked Astoria.

"Oh, it is relevant, believe me. After I supposedly blew up Pettigrew and all those muggles – which I didn't – you know what the only piece of Pettigrew was, that they found?"

He was met with silence.

"His finger. They only found Pettigrew's finger. He cut it off to fake his own death. He turned into his rat form and has stayed in it – hidden – ever since."

"A rat with one finger missing?" Daphne mused, and Draco knew that she was on the right track. If she drew the conclusions herself, they might stand a chance. "Doesn't Weasley's disgusting rodent have one finger missing? As if it wasn't revolting enough already," she wrinkled her nose.

"Yes," Sirius jumped up. "Yes! It is him. His rat is Pettigrew. Has been for the last thirteen years. This is why I've broken into Gryffindor. To get the rat. Not Harry or this Weasley, but the rat."

"Think about it," added Neville, raising his voice for the first time, "he was already in our dorm with a knife. If he had wanted to, he could have easily killed all of us in our sleep. But he didn't. He didn't because he isn't a cold-blooded killer."

"So you really believe this, too?" Daphne inquired.

"Yes," answered Neville.

"But why now? Why not thirteen years ago?"

Sirius pulled a piece of paper out of his torn pants. "This is why."

It was one page of an older edition of the Daily Prophet. "MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE," it read.

"That's the Weasleys," Daphne whispered, leaning forward, inspecting the picture next to the article.

"And there is the rat," Astoria stepped around Daphne to get a better look at the newspaper. Draco took that as a good sign. "And it is really missing a finger," she mused.

"Do you believe us now?" Draco asked hopefully.

The siblings looked at each other.

"Can you turn into a dog?" Astoria finally asked. "I think if I see that, I might believe you."

"My pleasure," said Sirius, and before he had finished his sentence, he had already half turned into a huge black dog.

Astoria looked delighted. Daphne still looked skeptical.

"That is awesome. Can you teach me how to do that, too?" Astoria asked.

"Sure," Sirius said once turned back into his human form.

"Well," Daphne said, "you look pretty disgusting. But your story makes sense, I think. And you got Astoria convinced so I'm willing to stay quiet about this for a while. But I'll be watching you. And the both of you," she pointed her finger at Draco and Neville.

"Oh, you should have seen him when we first found him. Quite a revolting view, really. But it's already a bit better. We fed him." Draco looked at Sirius. He was really looking a lot better now. He had eaten some real food and there was hope in his eyes, something that Draco hadn't seen when they had first found him.

Daphne wrinkled her nose and pointed her wand at Sirius. "Scourgify."

"Seriously?" Sirius yelled as suddenly he was covered in soap.

"Aqua Eructo. Siccumenti," She added. One spell flushed the soap away, the other dried Sirius.

"Better," said Daphne, happy with her work. "He'll still need new clothes though. It must be cold out here in the forest. And he'll need to shave. And don't even get me started on his hair..." Draco chuckled. "So, what is the plan guys?"

"You are willing to help us?" Sirius asked.

The sisters looked at each other and then nodded.

"Excellent. We don't really have a plan, though. I mean, besides catching the rat."

"Aww come on guys, I'm sure between the five of us we can come up with a plan that will put your feeble attempts to shame."

And that they did.

TBC