A Story of Light

Notes: It is the second part of A Story of Light , and The Big Mad House is the first part of it, or prelude. J. K. Rolwing owns most of the characters, and surely this fan fiction is not for commercial use. It is merely for my and hopefully your entertainment. Millions of thanks to Vaughn, who was very kind to beta read my fiction and very careful to correct my hundreds of errors. I like her very much!

The Sunlit Ground

Chapter One

Sirius Black, eleven, who was the heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London, had a very abnormal life. First of all, all the members of his family were witches and wizards; secondly, he was punished more frequently and fiercely than the children in the same age for his rebelliousness; thirdly, when most of the children in London went to local schools, he started his new school in Scotland, which had a strange name, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It was on September the first, 1971, that our little hero, Sirius, boarded a train called Hogwarts Express, and started his journey far away from home. It was the first time that he left home without his family's company, but he did not feel scared or lonely. He had been cooped up in, in his opinion, a big mad house for about eleven years, and although there were still school holidays for going home, he left the house finally.

When Sirius was looking for a compartment to settle down in, he suddenly felt somebody bump into him.

"Sorry, I'm looking for...er..." a bespectacled boy with very untidy black hair said embarrassedly.

"A compartment? Me too." Sirius smiled at him. He was in a very good mood and tried to be friendly to everyone.

"Yeah...but not only a compartment. I'm looking for someone too. Honestly, a girl." The boy smiled back blushingly. "Ah, there's an empty compartment at the end of the corridor. Let's get in."

They both got in, and it took them a moment to realise that this compartment was not empty--it was hard to notice, but they at last saw it--a boy was crouching in a dark corner in front of a seat, his face hiding in his oily black hair. Apparently, he was reading a book, but Sirius didn't know why he was hiding there, and finally he raised his slimy head and stared at them with an glaring eye--the other one was still obsured by shadow.

Both of Sirius's eyes stared back at the boy. The unfriendly guy made his good mood suddenly change.

The untidy-haired boy stepped forwards, and said loudly, "Never expected we would meet again so soon, Snape, 'ey? And what're you reading?"

"The Guide to the Dark World, a book on Dark Arts," Sirius said. He had seen the same book in his father's study.

"No wonder you're feeling guilty--curling like an ugly giant spider under the seat," the other boy said sarcastically.

"You!" Snape tried to stand up, but he hit his head under the edge of the seat.

"'You' what?" continued the boy, "I, unlike you, dislike Dark Arts; and I, unlike you, fix any git that learns Dark Arts!"

Snape suddenly pulled out his wand and pointed at the boy, but Sirius said, "Expelliarmus!"

Snape's wand flew out of his hand at once, and he fell onto the floor.

"First tryout of my new wand. Elder and dragon heartstring, fourteen inches." Sirius grinned.

The boy held out a hand, and grinned, too. "My name's James Potter. Nice to meet you."

Sirius held out a hand to shake. "I'm Sirius Black. Nice to meet you."

"Black? Not the 'Noble and Most Ancient' Black family?" James looked incredulously at him.

"Unfortunately it is." Sirius smiled grimly.

James paused a moment, then patted Sirius's shoulder and winked. "Come to my bright side, mate!"

"It's more than I wish." Sirius grinned more broadly to James. "Let's leave this oily git alone."

Shoulder to shoulder, they left that compartment with laughter.

It seemed that the second compartment they just entered was brighter, though like the former one, there was a student sitting there.

The boy couldn't have been older than eleven, for his size was much smaller than Sirius himself. He was rather thin and peaky, but his light brown hair made him look very pleasant, and he was fast asleep, half of his face leaning against the window. And he didn't even stir when Sirius and James made a big noise as they entered.

"Shh!" Sirius put a finger to his mouth, and James stopped talking.

They sat in silence opposite the boy for a long while, and finally James couldn't resist and spoke, "Sirius, we can talk in low voices. That won't wake him up."

"Ah? What?" Sirius asked. James just found Sirius gazing at the boy, not paying any attention to the conversation.

"Sirius, do you have a younger brother?" James asked seriously.

"Yes, a year younger than me. He's my favourite."

"No wonder that. The boy looks lovely but too peaky. You can feed him with some food, 'ey, dear brother?" James pressed his elbow against Sirius's, jokingly.

Sirius blushed and said, "You just reminded me.. I did bring some chocolate and cakes with me. Want to share?" He took them out of his package.

"Thanks, I'd like that." James took a bar of chocolate from Sirius's hand.

"I wonder when he'll wake up. It's lunch time, anyway. He must be hungry," Sirius whispered, giving a piece of cake to James.

The boy stirred and opened his eyes--a pair of big, bright eyes.

Sirius blushed at once, and uttered, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to wake you up."

The boy gazed at him with his big eyes, blushing a little, too, but didn't speak. Maybe he was embarrassed that he was watched by two strangers while he was sleeping.

"I'm James Potter." James broke the embarrassment with a big smile. "Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Sirius Black. How do you do?" Sirius said carefully.

The boy lowered his head, speaking to the floor, "Remus Lupin."

Sirius and James exchanged a startled look at each other, and James shrugged. But Sirius handed a bar of chocolate to Remus, and smiled mildly. "Have chocolate then, Remus."

Out of James's expectation, Remus accepted the chocolate at once with a quiet "Thanks," unwrapped it, and started to eat.

The tense atmosphere soon disappeared, and Sirius was happy to pick all the food from his package and share with his two new friends.

James and he talked and laughed a lot during the journey; although Remus was quiet, his presence was very pleasant for Sirius, and Sirius was pleased to see Remus's every smile that caused by his and James's jokes.

The three of them kept company until they arrived at Hogwarts, then to the castle by boat, and finally into the Great Hall, where the Sorting started.

Sirius was called first. When he went towards the Sorting Hat on the high table, he heard students whisper--

"Is he from the Black family, the 'Noble and Most...?'"

"I'm sure he is. And he's the heir of Black. He needn't put on that hat, because the answer's very clear."

"Yeah, all the Blacks are sorted into Slytherin House. They're pure-bloods and all..."

Sirius became nervous when he put on the hat. He remembered what his mother had said on a night about five years ago, 'You can never leave the house. It's your destiny.' But the rebelliousness in him made him have a desire that night, that he would struggle against his destiny.

"Another Black?" He heard the hat say. "I can put you into the house of Slytherin, but there is something curious..."

No, not Slytherin, he thought, if all the Blacks are in Slytherin, I won't. I hate being a "noble" Black...

"Not Slytherin? Which house do you intend to get in, then?" the hat asked.

An image suddenly flashed across his head. It was a four-legged creature with burning furs--the one he saw on that night in front of a veil.

A lion. Yes, he was definitely sure of that.

"A lion?" the hat mused. "Ah, I see. Then better be--Gryffindor!"

The Great Hall fell into a sudden hush as the hat finally announced its decision. The teachers and students all looked at this black-haired boy, who was very good-looking and comparatively taller than others in his own age, and now he stood up from the chair, looking so graceful, haughty, and proud.

"Hurrah! Congratulations to you, Sirius!" it was James who first broke the silence, shouting and waving.

Soon a round of loud applause erupted from Gryffindor table, which Sirius was stalking towards, but at the same time a wave of hisses was heard all around Slytherin table.

"Potter, James!" Professor McGonagall called before the sound finally settled down.

As soon as James put on the hat, it shouted, "Gryffindor!"

"Welcome, mate!" Sirius dashed to hug him in the sea of applause.

It seemed like a dream to Sirius that night--he finally left that dark house and got onto the sunlit ground. Although it was only the first step, his dream came true.

To Sirius's delight, Remus was sorted into Gryffindor too, and he also shared the same dormitory with Sirius.

Their dormitory was different from others because only four students lived in it, including Sirius, James, Remus, and a small plumpy boy called Peter Pettigrew. Sirius hoped he could lived in a five-person dormitory so that it could be more interesting, but it happened that the number of the first-year students left a spare bed in a dormitory, and Sirius was unluckily in this one.

But at the same time, Sirius was the luckiest among the first-years because he lived in the same dormitory with his friends James and Remus, and Peter, who he knew merely who he had barely known when he entered the dormitory, but had already became his close friend, too.

"What're you doing, Sirius?" asked James.

"Writing to my brother Regulus. He must feel lonely when I'm away." Sirius looked worried.

"You're a rather considerate brother." James winked at Remus, who was reading a book in bed. "Isn't he, Remus?"

Remus frowned slightly in response James's question, and went on reading.

Peter came to Sirius's desk, and smiled. "Yes, you're very kind, Sirius. And I do hope your brother's fine."

"Thank you, Peter." Sirius smiled back.

The next day at breakfast, Sirius, James and Peter sat eating side by side, but Remus, who came later after them, deliberately ignored the empty chair next to Sirius that his friends reserved for him, and sat several seats from them.

"What is it with him?" Sirius asked James when he found Remus didn't even look at them.

"Maybe Remus's too shy," said Peter when he drank a mouthful of pumpkin juice. "He's seldom talked to us since we've met, hasn't he?"

"Let me invite him over." James rose from his chair, but he stopped when a scary looking dark owl zoomed across the Great Hall, leaving a scarlet letter on the table right in front of Sirius.

"I can't believe it, Sirius! It's a Howler!" exclaimed Peter with widened eyes.

"Open it, Sirius," said James calmly.

Sirius opened it, and the Howler began to explode in Mrs. Valerie Black's horrible voice--

"SIIIRIUS BLAAACK! BELLA SENT ME AN OWL LAST NIGHT THAT YOU WERE SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR HOUSE! DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU! I'M DISAPPOINTED AND I'M CONTACTING YOUR HEADMASTER TO CHANGE YOUR HOUSE! SHAAAME OF MY BLOOOD!"

James put his fingers into his ears until the Howler tore itself into pieces, but Peter was still trembling under the table. All the students in the hall were looking at Sirius (except Remus).

"That old hag." Sirius clentched his teeth angrily.

"Was it your mother?" asked James anxiously.

"She says she is," Sirius covered his face with a hand. "The point is, I don't want to change my house."

"You still have a hope. It is said that once you're sorted by the hat, it's impossible to change. And I know Professor Dumbledore's an impartial man. He won't be threatened by your dear old mum," James said.

"I hope so. I'll talk to him tonight." Sirius picked a piece of bread, only to find himself have no heart to eat at all, and dropped it on his plate.

The rest of the day made Sirius even more irritable. The first lesson of the new term was double Potions with the Slytherins in a dark, cold dungeon, where Sirius felt as if he went back to the house of Black again.

The Slytherins kept hissing behind him, and he occasionally caught some words like "blood traitor" and "ill-bred", which made him have an urge to hex them during the class.

When the bell rang, Sirius saw Remus hastily collecting his text book at the last row of the classroom, wanting to leave as quickly as he could.

James called to him enthusiastically, "Remus, let's go to the Transfiguration classroom together, OK?"

But Remus replied coolly, "No, thanks. I'm in a hurry."

He turned around and began to leave, but Sirius grabbed his arm, "Why're you so offish? I think we're friends, aren't we?"

"Dormates doesn't mean friends," Remus said in a low voice.

"What?" shouted Sirius irritatedly. "Say it again!"

"I mean we're not friends. And let go!" Remus struggled in Sirius's grasp.

"You!" Sirius raised his left fist.

"Sirius, calm down!" James dragged Sirius from Remus desperately.

Finally they were separated, and Remus ran away at once. Sirius stood panting heavily, eyes red with rage.

He didn't think that his first day at school would be so awful--he was on the edge of leaving his favourite house, and the person who he was very fond of at first sight turned out to be very unfriendly to anybody.

Night was even more cruel to our poor Sirius. When he returned to the dormitory accompanied by James, Peter gave him a letter that just was sent by an owl to him. It was from Regulus.

Dear Siri,

You have left home only for a day, but I begin to miss you now. I'm so glad that you're sorted into your favourite house and you have new friends.

Mum leaves for Bulgaria this afternoon. She tried to persuade your headmaster to change your house into Slytherin, but your headmaster firmly refused, so she is going to the headmaster of Durmstrang in order to deal with your school transference. Mum's trying to transfer you to Durmstrang, dear brother. I know you won't be willing to go there, because you told me you don't like Dark Arts, and nor am I willing to see you go so far away, although Scotland is far enough from London.

Mum is not pleased that I write a letter to you, Siri, so I sent it after she's gone. Sorry for the lateness.

Take care of yourself and don't worry about me.

Love,

Reggie

With a loud bang, Sirius hit the desk with his right fist heavily. Then he began to cast text books against the wall angrily, without regards to James and Peter's dissuasion.

Last night, he had been very proud to think that he won the game, but now he found himself still too weak to escape from her mother's grip. Thinking he would leave his dear friends and go to a dark school he didn't like, and even his correspondence with Regulus, who needed him so much, was restricted by his mother, he hated being a Black, hated his so-called destiny.

During the following two weeks, Sirius stayed in a bad mood and although he sometimes elicited a laugh from James, he was rather irritable and easily provoked by a small trifle.

Twice, he wanted to hex Bellatrix and her sixth-year Slytherin pal when they said he was a mutant of Black, but unfortunately they were much older and stronger than him, and they threw him into a lake. If it had not been for Andromeda, who came to stop them in time, he could have been eaten by the giant squid.

And Sirius also spent five nights on detention with James by successfully hexing Snape five times. Hexing Snape was James's great fun and Sirius never denied he enjoyed it. Many students enjoyed watching them fight against Snape, too. Snape had been an extremely unpopular guy since his first day at school, while Sirius and James gained their popularity by going against him. In fact, most students (even in the higher grades) were afraid of Snape because he knew many Dark Arts they did not know, so among the first-year students, Sirius and James were the only two who were able to hex him. Students never considered their anti-Snape actions as evil; on the contrary, they thought Sirius and James were brilliant and brave, the height of cool.

Nevertheless, Sirius didn't care in the least about his increasing popularity among students, because as long as he met Remus during class or in the dormitory, who hadn't spoken to him since that day, he thought he himself was a very unpopular Black enough that even his dormate didn't speak to him. Everyone knew it was not Sirius's fault because Remus seldom talked to others either. Remus always kept himself alone, whenever he had class, ate dinner, or to study in the common room. People do need help from others, and James knew it, so he always told Remus which classroom they would have their next classes when the timetable was changed temporally, and reminded him kindly if he made mistakes or forgot something. Although Remus mumbled a little "thanks" to James every time in return, Sirius was quite irritated by his frost. But James always smiled and said, "You should be generous to dormates, Sirius."

Indeed, James's generosity and tolerance made him get new friends easily, and Frank Longbottom and Kingsley Shacklebolt became his good friends after Sirius and Peter, but just like Sirius, he sometimes had to doubt his popularity in the face of a red-haired girl. It seemed James had been keeping an eye on her since the beginning of this term, and tried to strike up a conversation with her, without success. Even worse, James found Lily started to hate him as the number of times that he hexed Snape increased.

All in all, no matter how awful their relationship to others, both Sirius and James felt very lucky to have each other as the best friend. Although they had met less than two weeks ago, they had already been as close as twin brothers--it was not only they kept in company wherever they went, but also they could sometimes understand each other without words; in other words, they had privities.

That day happened to be a cool sunny autumn day, a day that makes you feel liking flying into the deep blue sky. However, most Gryffindor first-years forgot the pleasant weather outside when they were drifting between dreams and reality during Professor Binns's History of Magic lesson.

Suddenly, a sound of the opening door broke the silence, and some students opened their sleepy eyes.

"Sorry, Professor Binns, but I want Mr. Black immediately. His mother, Mrs. Black, is waiting in the Great Hall," said Professor McGonagall urgently.

Sirius stood up from his seat at once, waking up James, who said, "What? What?"

"Is Professor Dumbledore with her?" Sirius asked.

"No, he's gone out of the school for a few days," said McGonagall.

Sirius and James exchanged an anxious look, then James nodded, and Sirius said, "Alright, Professor, I'll go."

He followed McGonagall until the outside of the door, then suddenly a loud bang of an explosion erupted from behind, and several students screamed.

"Merlin, what happened?" McGonagall hurried back into the classroom.

When she was out of sight, Sirius turned around and ran down to the corridor.

If he saw his mother now, he might be sent home at once, and then transferred to Durmstrang. But if he was not caught today, he could hide away from his mother until Dumbledore was back at school, then he might be able to help Sirius in remaining in Hogwarts. So he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and soon he arrived at the entrance of the West Tower.

To Sirius's great shock, Sirius saw Bellatrix and her Slytherin gang waiting with wands in their hands right outside. Damn it, Bella! How did you know I'd run away? Sirius turned back quickly to the tower, trying hard not to be seen.

It was too late. Sirius's hair stood on end when he heard a Slytherin boy shout, "Bella, he's there!" Bellatrix gave a wave, and the whole gang ran after her.

The situation was very desperate. Sirius almost ran out of energy as he ran upstairs, but hearing the thundering steps of the Slytherins behind him, he had no choice but to run.

Finally he reached the top floor of the tower, and ran into a room to hide himself. It was Professor Flitwick's office, and fortunately nobody was there.

Outside, the chasing footsteps slowed down, and Sirius knew that they separated into small groups to look for him.

Soon they would find him, but Sirius didn't know where to run. He looked around the office, and his eyes fell upon the window. The window was the only way to the outside besides the door, but it was on the seventh floor and if he jumped out of the window, surely he would crash into pieces before he could escape. Sirius approached to the window as he mused, and he saw a person on the outside ground waving to him.

It was James. Sirius was very excited to see his best friend when he was in such a desperate situation, but he had no idea that how James could help him. He saw James make a "come-on" gesture, asking him to jump.

"Are you sure? It is on the seventh floor!" Sirius mouthed, jabbing to the inner room to show the impossibility.

James nodded quickly, making the gesture again.

At this moment, the office door burst open, and Bellatrix and a blond seventh-year boy dashed in.

"Sirius, you have no way to run now! Go to see your mother!" Bellatrix bellowed, wand at the ready.

"For me, there's always a way to the light." Sirius sneered at her, then jumped out of the window.

Bellatrix and the blond boy remained still with wide-opened mouths, thunderstruck.

The wind was blowing heavily around Sirius, making him narrow his eyes, but he was still able to see James's enlarging figure from the gaps of his eyes as he was falling nearer towards his friend.

With James's loud "oh", Sirius landed onto the ground, knocking him down, or, bouncing him down, because the small patch of ground around James was as elastic as a spring bed, and that was the reason why Sirius was able to land on safely without getting hurt.

"It was a Bouncing Charm," James said proudly, and cast a spell so that the ground became solid again. "I learned it only yesterday."

"Thanks a lot, mate," Sirius got to his feet first, giving James a hand to get up.

"Thank me later. We have to find a place to hide you," James said as he and Sirius hurried away from the tower. "But the point is, Slytherins are looking for you around the castle. Where to hide you?"

They heard someone moving behind a tree, and they both jumped. But when they found the person was no other than Remus, they relaxed. Although Remus was not the friendly kind of person Sirius thought when he first met him, somehow Sirius could tell Remus's existence could calm you down.

And Remus said seriously, "I know a very secret place that only me and a few staff members know. Please follow me."

Then Remus went westwards, away from the castle, and they followed, for they had no choice with the Slytherins looking for Sirius, and they felt the sincerity in Remus.

Remus led them to a tree called the Whomping Willow,which whomped anything that tried to get close to it, and threw a stone to its trunk. The tree didn't move immediately.

There was an entrance to a tunnel under the willow which Sirius and James had never noticed before, and Remus said, "Both of you better get into the tunnel to hide, for they've already known that James's helping you, Sirius. I will remain outside to get information. Please remember: don't go too far into it, otherwise I can't find you if something urgent happens."

Remus turned around to leave, but he paused as Sirius said behind him, blushing, "Thanks, Remus."

"Not at all," Remus gave Sirius a small smile, and left.

The tunnel Sirius and James went in was very dark, so they lightened the tips of their wands with a Lumos spell, and sat down on the ground.

For a very long time they kept in silence, and finally Sirius no longer looked at the ground, but lifted up his head to speak to James, "He's not that bad, is he?"

"Remus? No, I never think he's bad. On the contrary, I know he's very kind-hearted. He's only pretending."

"How do you know?" Sirius asked.

"I know, Sirius." James waved an impatient hand. "Because every time when he refuses our invitation, the look on his face is not annoyed or defiant, but regretful and sad."

"What? I didn't ever notice that," Sirius gasped at James incredulously. "How observant you are!"

"No, no, the look is quite obvious. Old prejudices die hard, Sirius. When Remus said he's not your friend, you were very disappointed and angry, plus you were in a bad mood that day, you believed he's an unfriendly person. That's why I suggested to you to be generous to others, Sirius. Only in this way can you see through others."

Sirius couldn't agree with James more, but he was not glad to hear James say he was not generous. So he ignored it and continued, "What'd you think he's pretending for?"

"I have no idea," James frowned slightly. "It seems he's disserving himself. I hope I could help him."

"Me too," said Sirius quickly.

James grinned. "Yes, he needs your protection, dear brother."

"Well, I..." Sirius blushed. "He's not my brother, and nobody could replace Reggie."

"I know, I know, Sirius. I was only joking." James was still grinning. "I know Regulus's very important to you, because he's the only one who loves you in that house whilst you were cooped up in it all around the year and had no friends, right?"

"Even if I had loads of friends, I would love Reggie the best. He means more than a brother and friend to me," Sirius said solemnly.

"You're lucky. Although you seldom had a friend in your past, the only one who you love loves you too. I had many friends before I went to Hogwarts, and they're still my friends, except one. We haven't met again for five years, and when I met her, she didn't recognise me. Even worse, the more she feels annoyed by me, the more I want to talk to her. And at last, I feel I fancy her."

"You don't mean she's Lily Evans?" Sirius was surprised. "I didn't know you had been friends! It seems she doesn't like you...oh, sorry, James," Sirius regretted what he just said when he saw the sad look on James's face.

"It's OK, Sirius. I know it, too." James gave a wry smile. "After all, Evans and I were only one-night friends. It happened on a summer night when I was six. I flew on a broomstick under my father's Invisibility Cloak--my father didn't allow me ride a broomstick outside Godric's Hollow, you know--and when I was flying across a Muggle residence in Surrey, I saw a little girl standing on a veranda, long, dark auburn hair blowing in the night wind. Apparently she was praying, and her hands were put together as she spoke to the starry sky, "I wish I could use magic one day."

"She's a Muggle-born?"

"Of course. I guess she didn't know she possessed the magic gift at that time, and nor did I. So I couldn't resist the urge of showing her some magic, and I landed on the veranda, pulling off the cloak. She didn't suspect that I was an intruder. In contrast, she was very excited when I told her I could let her ride the broomstick with me. That night both of us had a wonderful moment. But only one night."

"Why didn't you visit her again?"

"We forgot to put on the Invisibility Cloak when we flew, and were seen by many Muggles. My father was blamed by the Ministry of Magic, so he forbade me to do it again. It was a pity that we even didn't know each other's name," James said sadly.

"Then how did you recognise her five years later?"

"We met at Ollivander's on the day before the new term. I overheard she said she's from Surrey, and judging by her outstanding appearance, I recognised her at once. But the problem was, she didn't recognise me at all. I think maybe it's because I wear spectacles now and have become ugly and clumsy..."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "No, you're not! But the spectacles are really a problem, though. Why don't you tell her you were friends?"

"I've tried," James sighed, "but I always lost the chance. And one day, after I gave Snivellus a fine hex, she said to me, 'If I could not use magic, I would not have seen such an arrogant, bullying toerag like you.' I was deeply shocked, Sirius, I was. I dare not tell her I was that boy from then on."

Sirius looked at him sympathetically, but didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, they heard somebody coming into the tunnel. To their delight, it was Professor Dumbledore with Remus behind him.

"I have good news to tell you, Mr. Black, you can remain in Gryffindor House for as long as seven years." Dumbledore smiled behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Really?" Sirius jumped to his feet excitedly.

"I'm definitely sure it is true, Mr. Black," Dumbledore continued. "Your mother, Mrs. Valerie Black, has left Hogwarts."

"Yes, it's really a piece of good news, sir. But can I ask you how you managed to persuade her?"

"I didn't persuade her, Mr. Black. She can't transfer you to Durmstrang Institude because the transfer is invalid."

"Invalid?"

"Yes. As we all know, only a transfer that has been signed by the Headmaster of Durmstrang could be valid. Fortunately, it happened that I visited the Headmaster Alexander Nonv this week, and he told me that he had gave Mrs. Black the permission-- that you can transfer from my school to Durmstrang. I was not pleased to hear that because she transferred my student without my permission. Alexander happened to be a good friend of mine, and he reconsidered your transference. However, Mrs. Black had already taken the transfer signed by Alexander with her back to London."

"What did you do then?" asked Sirius.

"First of all , we should know that, by regulation, the Headmaster of Durmstrang doesn't sign his signature by permanent ink ,but by a kind of ink that can do anagrams. Only a few people know this secret, and when they want to sign an agreement with the Headmaster, they'll make an Unbreakable Vow with him instead of signing on the paper. However, Mrs. Black didn't know Alexander had changed his signature on the transfer by using a spell at Durmstrang far away. When I requested her to show me the transfer, she was startled that Alexander Nonv's signature had rearranged into 'An elver and an ox'."

"That's brilliant!" Both Sirius and James laughed their heads off, and Durmbledore laughed in his long silver beard.

"What's her reaction next?" Sirius forced himself not to laugh.

"She was very upset, so I comforted her, 'Mr. Black is a talented child, and he is more than fit to be a Gryffindor for his courage. Bravery is a more precious gift than pure-blood, Mrs. Black.'"

James patted Sirius's shoulder, and said, "Hear, hear." Sirius smiled back at him.

"Before I go, Mr. Black and Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "I have to command both of you not to go back to this tunnel ever again, or tell anyone about the Whomping Willow. Remus broke the school rule to hide you here, and if you disclose the secret or come back here, he will be punished, understand?"

"Yes, sir, we promise you," said Sirius and James at the same time.

Dumbledore nodded, smiling. "Excellent. I have to go first. There is a letter left to write to thank for old Alexander's sherbet lemons."

When Dumbledore walked out of the tunnel, Sirius said to James and Remus, "Thanks very much. If it had not been the help from both of you, I would not have stayed in Hogwarts."

"Don't mention it, mate. I don't want you leave here, either," James winked at Sirius.

Remus shook his head blushingly, but said nothing.

Sirius gazed at him for a long while, biting his lips as if making his decision, then finally spoke, "Remus, you said we were friends. But will you accept me as your friend now?"

"Well, I..." Remus looked at Sirius awkwardly, big brown eyes gleaming in the dark, then suddenly smiled, and said, "I accept."

Sirius was unable to hide his excitement but grinned broadly. "We're friends now."

"Can we make friends too, Remus?" James jumped from behind Sirius.

"Yes, of course." Remus smiled.

Outside the tunnel, the autumn sun was shining brightly in the middle of the sky, which was cerulean and seemed to be getting wider. Sirius, James, and Remus were walking together among the golden trees, where the landscape was as beautiful as an oil painting.

It was a season that belonged to glory and freedom.

To be continued