A New Life

A New Life

Chapter 1: The End of Third Year- Sirius's Innocence

"Please, let's hurry," whispered Hermione. "I can't stand it, I can't bear it...."

Harry looked at his two best friends. Hermione seemed to be fighting off tears. It was hard to tell what Ron was thinking; he was struggling to keep Scabbers under control. A determined frown settled itself over Harry's features; he turned and started to walk toward Buckbeak.

"Harry, where are you--" Hermione started.

He held up a hand. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Wearing a look of confidence he didn't feel, Harry strode over to the tethered hippogriff and bowed. His heart was racing; he knew he'd be in serious trouble if Fudge, The Committee member, or Macnair saw him.

Buckbeak bent his scaly knees into a bow. Hastily, knowing that time was of the essence, Harry untied him and led the storm-gray hippogriff to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, hiding them both behind a tree.

Barely a minute later, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Fudge, the Committee member, and Macnair came outside.

"Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the Committee member. "Where is the beast?"

"It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. So they hadn't seen him.

But he had other problems. Buckbeak plainly wanted to get back to Hagrid. "No, Buckbeak!" he hissed.

A familiar looking centaur approached silently. "Harry Potter. We meet again."

Harry's eyebrows raised. "Hi Firenze," he paused. "D'you know any ways I could get Buckbeak to fly away?"

Firenze looked thoughtful. "I can persuade him, if you'd like."

"Would you? That'd be great. Thanks, Firenze!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harry, what got into you?" Hermione demanded. "What if they had seen you? What if--"

"Calm down, Hermione," Ron interrupted. "He didn't get caught, so what's the point of worrying. Harry," he added. "very nice job."

Harry grinned. "Thanks."

"Where's Buckbeak, though?" Hermione inquired.

"I left him with Firenze. A centaur," he added, correctly reading Ron's questioning glance. "He said that that he'd persuade Buckbeak that he can't stay here."

"Well that's good--" Ron broke off as Scabbers slipped through his fingers. "Oy, Scabbers! Get back here!"

Before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron threw off the Invisibility Cloak and ran after the rat.

"Ron!" Hermione moaned.

She and Harry looked at each other, then followed at a sprint; it was impossible to run full out under the cloak; they pulled it off and it streamed like a banner behind them as they hurtled after Ron; they could hear his feet thundering along ahead and his shouts at Crookshanks, who had turned up and was also chasing Scabbers.

There was a loud thud.

Ron grabbed Scabbers and stuffed him back into his pocket; both hands were held tight over the quivering lump.

But before they could cover themselves with the cloak, or even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws.... Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow-- an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog.

The dog made a colossal leap and bowled Harry over. For a split second, just before the dog rolled off of him, they made eye contact.

Harry went rigid. 'I -- I've seen someone with those eyes before....'

He was being tossed in the air by a smiling man... a smiling man with pale blue eyes. Harry could hear himself shrieking with laughter...

"HARRY!" Harry snapped abruptly back to Earth as he heard Ron's shout.

He leapt to his feet just in time to see Ron jump in front of him [1], to see the dog grab Ron's arm in his teeth and drag the red-haired boy to the base of the Whomping Willow. Within a few seconds, they had both disappeared into a tunnel there.

Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a know in the trunk. The tree froze.

Without hesitation Harry followed where Ron had been taken, Hermione close at his heels.

After running through the tunnel (which felt as least as long as the one to Honeydukes), they finally reached their destination.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, her eyes traveling around to the boarded up windows. "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."

Harry's eyes widened, but he beckoned her forward. "Let's find Ron."

There was a light on in a room at the top of the stairs. Soundlessly they approached the door. Harry held his wand in front of him, then kicked the door open.

Ron looked over at them. "Wow, you guys were pretty fast," he complimented.

Harry and Hermione stared at Ron. He had just been dragged to the Shrieking Shack by a dog that looked more than capable of eating him, and was now talking as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Ron, are you all right? Where's the dog?" Harry asked.

"I'm fine," Ron replied. "But he's not a dog, he's an Animagus."

Harry looked behind Ron and felt his heart nearly stop.

He was tickling him, and Harry was laughing and squirming; he was hopelessly ticklish. The man was laughing too, still tickling Harry relentlessly...

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. "You okay there, Harry?" Ron looked concerned. "Your face went all blank and you kind of zoned out for a second."

Harry blinked, snapping his mind back to the present. "Yeah," he said softly, still trying to figure out what he had seen. "Yeah, I'm fine." His brain suddenly registered exactly *who* the man behind Ron was. "You!" he shouted, his face a mask of fury.

"Hello, Harry," Sirius said rather hoarsely. [2]

Harry whirled abruptly to face Ron. "Are you *sure* you're okay?"

Ron nodded. "A voice in my head told that I wasn't in any danger, but we needed to follow, and that things are not what they seem."

"Things are not what they seem?" Harry looked frankly bewildered. "Who was it?"

Ron jerked his head at Sirius, who said, "I studied telepathy when I was at Hogwarts." [3]

Rage filled Harry. "Things are not what they seem, eh? Now I know what you're talking about." His eyes narrowed. "It's regarding my parents, isn't it?"

Sirius visibly flinched. "Yes... but it wasn't what everybody thought..."

"I don't bloody care!" Harry bellowed, launching himself at Sirius, intent on ripping him apart.

But two pairs of hands stopped him. "I think we should listen to what he has to say, Harry." Ron said, fighting to keep Harry from attacking Sirius.

"Why?" Harry spat, struggling against Ron and Hermione. "It's all just a pack of lies anyhow."

"But what if it isn't?" Ron demanded. "What if he is telling the truth?"

"If he really is innocent," Harry rolled his eyes to convey how possible he thought that was. "wouldn't they have figured that out at his trial?"

"They would've," Sirius agreed, "except I didn't *have* a trial."

Ron's eyes went wide. "But that's not legal! My dad works at the Ministry, and he said that everyone has a right to a trial."

Sirius nodded darkly. "Good ol' Barty Crouch decided that it was so obvious that I did it, he would save time by just throwing me to the dementors."

Ron looked thoughtful. "I see, he wanted to have someone to pin the blame on for the attack, and the scenario was believable enough for you to be their scapegoat, am I right?"

Harry's eyes widened. "I don't believed this! Ron, you heard Fudge at the Three Broomsticks. HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!"

He tried, and nearly succeeded, to break free of Ron and Hermione's hold. [4]

"Harry, just listen!" Hermione hissed.

Harry, however, had no intention of doing that. "Let-- me-- go!" he struggled.

Professor Lupin burst into the room, his eyes darting around, taking in Sirius: who was standing in front of the wall, seeming trying to reason with Harry; Harry: who was fighting against Ron and Hermione and beyond all reason; and Ron and Hermione: who were struggling to hold Harry back, presumably from attacking Sirius.

"Where is her, Sirius?" he asked in a very tense voice.

Harry's eyes went wide. "Professor?"

Professor Lupin ignored Harry, as Sirius pointed to Ron, or more accurately, Ron's pocket.

"But then...," Professor Lupin muttered, staring at Sirius so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "... why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless"-- Professor Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Sirius, something none of the rest could see, "-- unless *he* was the one... unless you switched... without telling me?"

Ron looked thoughtful, putting two and two together. Harry took advantage of his preoccupation to wrench himself free, only to be held back by Professor Lupin. "Harry, you have to listen..."

"I've got it!" Ron said suddenly. "It all makes sense now! Harry, remember what they were saying in the Three Broomsticks? McGonagall said that 'Pettigrew was never in your dad or Sirius's league, talent wise.' What if your parents made Pettigrew their Secret-Keeper instead of Sirius?" he held up a hand to stem Harry's angry response. "Harry, it makes *sense*!"

As Harry started to protest, his eyes went unfocused and he seemed to zone out.

"Harry?" Professor Lupin asked with concern.

"I knew Sirius was there, so I pretended to be asleep. Mum didn't know I was just faking." Harry spoke in a monotonous voice, seemingly to himself. "Sirius talked to her and Dad. He said that they should make Peter their Secret-Keeper, that Voldemort would surely go after Sirius first. But then Mum realized that I was awake, and carted me off."

He blinked, seeming to snap back to the present. "Harry?" Sirius asked. "What was that? How did you know...?"

"It was a memory. " Harry's voice had gone rather flat again. "I didn't understand then. Well, only enough to know that you weren't there to play. Somehow I stored it away until I could comprehend what it meant."

Sirius sighed. "What you remembered is true. I suggested that Peter be your parents' Secret-Keeper; I thought it would be a perfect bluff. But I was wrong. For what it's worth, Harry, I'm sorry." [5]

Harry half-smiled at Sirius, shaking his head to indicate that no apology was necessary.

Hermione frowned. "But Professor, if Pettigrew is alive, how has he been hiding all this time? I mean, wouldn't people have *noticed* is a wizard who was presumed dead was waltzing around?"

Professor Lupin told them the story. (If you really want to read it, it's on pages 352-357 of The Prisoner of Azkaban. The part with Snape is not included.)

There was silence, then Ron spoke. "So what you're saying is my pet rat killed Harry's parents, not to mention a dozen Muggles, and sent Sirius to Azkaban for twelve years." It was not a question. "Well, I always said that Scabbers was pitiful, worthless, and useless. Turns out I was more right than I thought."

"But how do we prove it?" Harry put in. "No one will believe us."

"There is a spell," Professor Lupin answered. "One that forces an Animagus to show him or herself."

Without a word, Harry handed his wand to Sirius. "Only one request: I want to *talk* to him."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"S-- Sirius, R-- Remus," Pettigrew said nervously, eyes darting toward the door. "My friends... my old friends..."

"Yes, your friends, just like my dad," Harry spat venomously.

Pettigrew's eyes widened as they came to rest on Harry. "H-- Hello, Harry."

"Don't 'hello' me," Harry snarled. "I know what you did. We all do."

"But I didn't do anything!" Pettigrew gasped. "N-- Nothing at all."

Harry's normally mild face was contorted with wrath. "Nothing, is it? Perhaps you're under that delusion because you've never heard my mum trying to stop Voldemort killing me. I have." The force of his ire was making him tremble. "Every time I get close to a dementor, I can hear Mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort, and him laughing. Once I even heard Dad." Harry was spasmodically clenching and unclenching his fists. "I could hardly fight the dementors properly because I half wanted to hear their voices. *You did that.*" he was oblivious to the fact that his eyes had filled with tears.

Pettigrew backed away. "I'm sorry, Harry. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me..."

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Sirius. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He-- he was taking over everywhere?" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-- what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Sirius with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Sirius. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

"You should have realized," said Professor Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Harry's mind whirled. Within seconds he reached a conclusion. He ran forward, placing himself in front of Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him. You can't."

Before Sirius or Professor Lupin could react, Pettigrew flung his arms around Harry's knees. "Thank you-- it's more than I deserve-- thank you--"

"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "You're right, it *is* more than you deserve. I'm doing it because-- I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers-- just for you."

Noting all the shocked looks he was getting, Harry continued. "After we've gotten you cleared, Sirius, we'll hand him straight to the dementors."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was an odd group that left the Shrieking Shack. Ron and Professor Lupin were both chained to Pettigrew to prevent any escape attempts. Hermione, Harry, and Sirius followed. Hermione was pensive, seemingly lost in thought.

"D'you know what this means?" Sirius said abruptly to Harry as they made their slow progress long the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," said Harry.

"Yes...," said Sirius. "But I'm also-- I don't know if anyone ever told you-- I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that." said Harry, who wasn't about to say how.

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Sirius hesitantly. "If anything happened to them..."

Harry waited. Did Sirius mean what he thought he meant?

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle." [6] Sirius continued. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..."

Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach.

"What-- live with you?" he asked in surprise. "Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," [7] said Sirius quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd--"

"Are you insane?" Harry cut him off, his voice easily as croaky as Sirius's. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

Sirius turned around to look at him. "You want to?" he asked. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry.

Sirius's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding.

No one spoke until they got to the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks went through first and pressed the knot on the trunk. They proceeded up the sloped lawn, progress unmarred until Harry noticed something disquieting.

"Sirius," he said softly. "The dementors."

Sirius's head snapped up, and he saw the dementors that were quite obviously moving toward them. "Remus!" he alerted Professor Lupin.

Professor Lupin wasted no time. "Can you still produce a Patronus, Sirius?" he inquired.

Sirius nodded. "But I'll need a wand."

"Hermione," Professor Lupin turned to her. "Would you let Sirius borrow your wand?"

Hermione nodded and handed her wand to Sirius.

"We'll need to drive them off before they get too close," Professor Lupin looked at Harry. "Harry, ready?"

Harry pulled out his wand and nodded, looking determined.

"Ron, Hermione," Professor Lupin instructed, "keep a close watch on Peter while we do this. Peter," he turned to his former best friend. "If you transform, we *will* kill you."

Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it at Pettigrew, whose right arm was still chained to his own left.

Professor Lupin nodded in approval. "Ready?" he asked Harry and Sirius.

Sirius nodded, but Harry's face was wrinkled in concentration. A smile slowly spread across it. "Yeah, I'm ready."

What Harry didn't know was that his happy thought was almost exactly the same as Sirius's, and that Professor Lupin's was quite similar. [8]

"On three, then," Professor Lupin said. "One-- two-- three!"

Out of the end of Harry's wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling silver animal. It looked like a horse. It galloped away from him at the dementors along with Sirius's and Professor Lupin's.

Under normal circumstances, Harry would've been looking at their patronuses, but he never even seen his own. Squinting, Harry tried to determine what kind of animal it was.

The three patronuses pushed the dementors back to their positions at the entrances.

Sirius's and Professor Lupin's disappeared after they had served their purposes, but Harry's started cantering back toward him. It wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above... it was coming back to him...

It stopped a few feet in front of him. Its feet made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly it bowed its antlered head. And Harry realized...

"Prongs," he whispered, his eyes widening behind his glasses.

But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished.

Harry stood there with his hand still outstretched for a moment, until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Harry?" Sirius asked softly.

"It was a stag, wasn't it?" He slowly lowered his hand. "My dad's Animagus form."

Sirius nodded, swallowing hard.

No one spoke as they trekked up to the castle and went in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... I hereby sentence Peter Pettigrew to life in Azkaban for the betrayal of Lily and James Potter and the unnecessary slaughter of twelve Muggles."

Under the influence of Veritaserum, Peter Pettigrew confessed to selling Harry's parents to Voldemort; killing a bunch of Muggles and pinning the blame on Sirius; and illegally becoming an Animagus. This charge could have been pressed against Sirius, but they let it go, seeing as he was responsible for Pettigrew's capture.

Dumbledore, Sirius, Professor Lupin, and Harry were called to testify. Dumbledore because he was the one who performed the Fidelius Charm; Sirius because he had suggested making Pettigrew the Secret-Keeper; Professor Lupin because he was one of the Potters' best friends [9]; and Harry because of his flashbacks.

The students had one week left of the school year, which they used as free time. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got a nasty shock when, accepting Professor Lupin's invitation to tea, they were told that he wasn't coming back next year. "What?!" exclaimed Harry and Ron in unison.

"Why, Professor?" Hermione asked.

"This morning at breakfast, Professor Snape, er, *accidentally* let slip that I'm a werewolf."

"So what?" Harry put in. "We don't care!"

"Perhaps not, Harry, but other people will. This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents... They will not want a werewolf teaching their children."

Ron looked resentful. "Why'd Snape have to say anything?"

Professor Lupin smiled wryly. "You know that he and Sirius have rather... antagonistic feelings toward each other. I guess it was too much for Severus to find out that Sirius is innocent."

Spotting the downcast expression on Harry's face, he added, "But don't think you're getting rid of me that easily, Harry. As you're living with Sirius you're going to be seeing me pretty frequently."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This statement had the effect that he had hoped. Harry grinned before exiting with Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, what's that?" asked Hermione suddenly, peering over his shoulder outside the train.

Harry turned and saw a tiny owl carrying a letter. After getting the owl inside the train, Harry picked up the letter that had dropped into his lap. He ripped it open, then shouted, "It's from Sirius!"

Dear Harry,

I hope this reaches you before you get to King's Cross. I had some doubts about this owl's reliability, but he was the best I could find on short notice.

I will be waiting for you when you get off Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I fixed everything with Dumbledore; all that remains is telling your aunt and uncle.

(Harry sniggered at the thought of their reaction.)

There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt.

('So Hermione was right,' thought Harry. 'Well, half right.')

Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from my Gringotts vault. Please consider it thirteen birthday's worth of presents from your godfather.

I would also like to apologize for the fright I think I gave you that night last year when you left your uncle's house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of you before I started my journey north, but I think the sight of me alarmed you.

See you soon.

Sirius

P.S. I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross, the students disembarked. Harry scanned the crowd for some sign of Sirius, but found the Dursleys instead.

"Come on, boy," Vernon growled.

When Harry didn't move, just continued looking for Sirius, Vernon grabbed Harry by his hair [10]. "Didn't you hear me, boy? We're leaving!"

Still getting no response, Vernon started hissing that he would beat Harry within an inch of his life when they got back to Privet Drive....

"I don't think so," a voice said coldly, its owner placing his hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry grinned at Sirius, while Vernon bristled. "Who are you to tell me how to discipline this poor excuse for a nephew?"

"His godfather," Sirius's voice conveyed how angry he was. "Harry is no longer your concern. He is living with me. Come on, Harry."

Still grinning, Harry waved jauntily at the Dursleys, then followed Sirius. The summer looked like it would be a whole lot better than the last.

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A/N- Wahoo! Chapter one has been completed! YES! *throws confetti* Now for my footnotes. (Oh yes, now *words in these* indicates motion)

[1] RONNIE-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *hugs Ron*

[2] Come on, we all knew it was Sirius.

[3] AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! PSYCHICS!

CGF (PA's little sister)- *hits PA over the head w/ a giant book*

PA- *falls over*

CGF- *turns away looking smug, walks straight into a pole* *hits head* *falls over*

Eipekili and EEK- *snickering*

PA- *wakes up* Huh? Oh, I guess she left. *falls back over*

CGF- *raises head dizzily* That's it, I'm calling my agent. *falls back over*

Eipekili and EEK- *FOCL*

[4] In the book, it took "tremendous effort" to break free of Ron and Hermione, and Ron's leg was broken. So I think that if Ron's leg hadn't been broken, Harry couldn't have gotten free.

[5] *sniff*

[6] You've obviously never met the Dursleys, Sirius. *shakes head*

[7] Must we jump to conclusions?

[8] Most of you probably got this, but when EEKi read it for me, she didn't, so I thought I'd explain all of their happy thoughts.

Harry- He's going to live with Sirius.

Sirius- Harry's going to live with him.

Professor Lupin- Sirius is innocent and going to be set free.

[9] And because I didn't want to leave him out. ^_^

[10] Um, no pun intended. (Get it? Harry, hair.)

Oh yes, don't tell me that Ron was too reasonable, because I had to change SOMETHING or else the scene from the Shrieking Shack would be exactly the same, and if you want to read that, go buy the book. (They're in paperback now). Also, Professor Lupin drank the Wolfsbane Potion. (It's my story, I may as well make it how I want it!)

Don't expect updates for quite a while. The next part (which is currently 11 pages long) is nowhere near finished. It's the changed version of the summer after third year. After that, it will be an even longer wait. Sorry, but I have a life in addition to writing (unfortunately), so I'll update as soon as possible. Please review! I'm quite new at the whole "multi-chapter epic where each chapter is long" thing.

-Professor Authordude