Another Prisoner, Another Professor

Before Harry could even begin to think of what he should do, Swift had crouched down next to Black and rested one hand on his shoulder. "Look, it's not too late," he said; his voice was quiet but intense. "You're both alive and you're both still young men. Even if Remus did escape, I've got enough clout to get him an appeal and you've got enough money to pay for it. They convicted Remus partially because of what Lucius Malfoy said, and his credibility's been going steadily down the tubes ever since the Aurors started searching his house."

Black was still shaking as he sobbed; Harry wanted to go to him, but Swift was in the way. "When they put it all together, being a dark creature might not even count against him," Swift continued. "He fought against Fenrir Greyback and Greyback's everyone's nightmare of a werewolf. No one's going to be able to argue that Remus was really on Greyback and Voldemort's side when Greyback nearly clawed his eye out. It came as a shock to a lot of people when Remus was arrested. The Ministry will remember that. They'll realize that Remus was a brave and devoted fighter who couldn't have been coerced into betraying his friends - they'll realize that killing thirteen people in broad daylight is the last thing a quiet, unobtrusive man would do. I'll make them realize it." He paused and looked over at Harry. "I think he might have a handkerchief somewhere in his desk - could you - "

Harry swallowed. "Could you do it instead?"

Swift's eyes met his; they were an icy, piercing blue, but somewhere underneath there was understanding. "Of course," he said quietly, and got to his feet.

Slowly, Harry rose from his seat and took a step towards Black's chair. Aside from Hagrid, whose loud expressions of emotion he'd grown used to, he'd never had to deal with a crying adult before, much less one who was clearly in so much misery. He knelt down in front of Black, where Swift had been; Black's face was entirely covered by his hands and his hair. All Harry could hear were the low, wretched sobs. It was like hearing an animal in pain. "Sirius?"

Black took one hand away from his face and lifted his head slightly. His face had turned a blotchy red and there were tears streaming from his eyes. Harry was used to Black looking older when he was faced with some sorrow from the past - used to the gaunt, desperate look - but for whatever reason, Black seemed younger. His usual calm dignity had completely vanished; it was as though the years had fallen away and he was his former self again, a devastated man only a little older than a boy whose friends had just been murdered and who was suddenly finding himself completely alone in the world.

He threw his arms around Harry, rested his head on Harry's shoulder, and cried, gasping for air as his body shook. "It's okay," Harry whispered; without thinking about what he was doing, he rested one hand on Black's back and gently rubbed it in a circle. Something buried deep within his mind knew that this was what he was supposed to do, that this was how to comfort someone crying. "It's going to be okay. We're going to find Lupin and figure out what happened - it's going to be okay."

Black loosened his hold and lifted his head from Harry's shoulder; Harry felt a faint sensation of cold as the air touched the wet spot on his robe. "Did you remember that from Lily?" Black asked softly. "That's what she did with you."

There was a noise like someone's throat clearing; Harry looked up and saw Swift standing beside them with a handkerchief. Harry took it and gave it to Black, who unfolded it and blotted at his face. "He's right," Swift said. "We're going to find Remus - damned if I know how, but we're going to do it."

Black was quiet for a moment. "I never understood it," he said, brushing back a lock of damp hair. "I've believed it for years, but I've never understood it - why in God's name would Remus betray James and Lily? Why? He never cared about blood supremacy, he never had any reason to side with Voldemort - we were all his friends, the first friends he'd ever had." He took a deep breath. "That was one of the most important things in the world to him. I lived with that man for nearly a decade, and it is simply not possible that he could have turned against us all without my knowing it. He could lie when he had to, but live a life in which every single thing was a lie? And let's say he didn't want to betray Lily and James but he still had his free will, let's say the Death Eaters had something to threaten him with. All he would have had to do is look over at me some night and say, 'Sirius, I need you to help me - they're trying to force me to give up Lily and James.' He knew that, he knew I would have helped him in a second - I would have rather stabbed myself through the heart than let anything happen to them.

"And Peter - if Remus had helped Voldemort to kill Lily and James, he would have been a wreck afterwards. He couldn't have killed another friend if it was a matter of life or death. Thirteen people, thirteen people with one curse - it's too much spectacle for Remus. A man who spends his entire life trying to be ignored does not suddenly murder thirteen people on an open street in broad daylight. It goes against everything in his nature. I've believed it - I've had to believe it. But not once in twelve years have I ever, ever understood it."

"Before we go any further with this," Swift said, "I'll admit my theory's got some holes. First of all, I don't know where you'd get a phoenix egg, much less how you'd get one in Azkaban. Then there's the question of whether Remus knew about this potion in the first place."

"I don't think he could have," said Black. "I've studied blood magic for years and this is the first I've ever heard of this book. Then again, there are dark wizards in Azkaban who know things the rest of us have never dreamed of - " He stopped and exhaled sharply. "I don't know which bothers me more, that I'm wondering whether Remus is innocent or that I was so quick to abandon the hope that he was in the first place."

"You were twenty-one," Swift replied. "You were twenty-one, and the entire magical government was insisting that he was guilty. There was so much uncertainty during the war - whether you would live, who you could trust - "

"He hadn't been acting normally," Black murmured. Harry had to strain his ears to hear him. "He'd get letters and burn them after he'd read them, and he'd never tell me what they were about. He'd be gone for a few hours and refuse to tell me where he'd been." Black closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "I thought he was seeing someone."

"He could have been a lot of places, and there could have been a lot of reasons why he couldn't tell you." At some point, the book had fallen to the floor; Swift bent down and picked it up. "I've read this entire book, and the protective spell is the only one that involves writing in blood or spilling blood in front of someone's door. As far as I'm concerned, the odds that Remus was forced to betray Lily and James are better than the odds that he did it willingly. What I'm concerned about are the odds that we can find him before the Ministry does. He hasn't been seen since November. Can you think of anywhere that he might - "

Black shook his head. "His parents and all of our old friends are dead. He tried our old cottage back in August, but I sold that years ago."

"Was that the one in Wiltshire? The one the Daily Prophet said he'd tried to break into?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever try to pick up the scent there?" Swift asked.

"I did," said Black, "but I couldn't follow it." He looked down at Harry and sighed. "I realize this isn't exactly the ideal time to tell you, but I'm an unregistered Animagus."

Harry's eyes widened in disbelief. How could Black be - "You're a - "

"An unregistered Animagus," Black repeated. "I made the transformation illegally when I was fifteen. So did your father and Peter Pettigrew - we did it for Remus, so we could be with him during the full moon. Werewolves are only dangerous to humans. I'm a dog."

"A black dog," Swift added.

"There was a black dog at the Quidditch match," Harry said slowly. "In the stands, when we played Hufflepuff - "

"I smell things better as a dog," Black replied. "It wasn't that long after Remus had got into the castle - I wanted to be able to protect you in case he came to the match. If he had, I could have picked up his scent before anyone even saw him."

"Is that the thing the healers would find in your blood?" asked Harry. "The thing that's why you couldn't have me live with you?"

"No, that's something else entirely. If the healers found out I was an unregistered Animagus, I'd have to register and pay a fine. It's unlikely they would, though; it doesn't affect your blood, or anything else about your body when you're in human form."

"Hermione's cat twitches his ears whenever anyone says 'Animagus,'" Harry said. "We don't know why - do you know anything about that?"

Black shook his head. "I have no idea."

"Hermione Granger?" asked Swift. "The girl who wrote to me about this book?"

"Yeah - only I didn't know she was going to write to you. She saw that book in Hogsmeade months ago."

"You'll have to meet her," Black said, leaning back in his chair. "You'll like her, she's very intelligent."

"Sirius," said Swift, handing him the book, "if Remus ends up being found innocent because she wrote to me about this, I won't just like Hermione Granger, I'll throw her a party, write her an ode every year, and remember her in my will."