Hi, all! ZenoNoKyuubi here with a fresh chapter straight out of my head! Please enjoy!

–

Journal, September 2nd, 1993,

Set up my lab in my trunk the very first thing I did when I woke up. It is greater than I could have ever dreamed of. A personal space where no one can bother me should I so wish it. All I have to do is disappear into my trunk and lock it, and I'll be alone for as long as I wish.

Designations Mickey, Minnie, and Charles seem to have enjoyed the change in location, as they no longer have to endure Hedwig's predatory gaze. I have wasted too many sedatives trying to calm them down because of Hedwig.

Tested smaller doses of AS-4 on the mice. Like designation Hermione, the test subjects experienced a sense of euphoria, from what could be seen of the behavior of the mice. It would, however, be prudent to test it on human subjects. I just need someone willing to try it on.

Started classes today. As expected, they were much too easy for someone of my intelligence. Something tells me I should be in seventh year, doing real magic, not playing around in third year. Arithmancy was the only class so far that has provided me with any real challenge.

–

Journal, September 5th, 1993,

I managed to get Hermione and Ginny to give me a strand of hair each today. This should be a good start to studying my hypothesis that there is no actual genetic variation in the sequence that controls access to 'magic' in pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns. If this hypothesis proves true, then not only is blood purism morally wrong, but scientifically as well. Though if the opposite is true, the moral implications are not something I dare to comprehend...

Study into wizard DNA is not progressing as quickly as I had hoped, as I do not have access to any advanced Muggle technology. All that I have access to is my microscope, and although it works as well as any other microscope, thanks to magic, I find myself lacking a computer for analysis and calculations. It feels so... stone-age to work everything out myself on a piece of parchment.

–

Journal, September 7th, 1993,

I have for the last few days putting pills of my own design into Hermione's pumpkin juice, in an effort to force diabetes. Now that I have your attention with that little lie, stop reading my journal, Hermione.

Ahem... DNA testing is going slowly, as predicted. I have yet to isolate the gene that allows the brain to unlock the amazing potential it has locked away. If there is such a gene. No, I mustn't think like that. Every mystery in this world has in the past proven to not be magic. There cannot be such a thing as magic. The gene exists, I just know it...

Tested out my fifth sedative today, designation SS-1: Soporific Sedative-One, a sedative that induces a deep sleep in cases of insomnia. Injected Mickey, Minnie, and Charles with artificial adrenaline, and then injected them with SS-1, which was a failure. Artificial adrenaline and SS-1 should not be mixed, as it induced heart failure in Mickey. It took a lot of work, but I managed to bring him back. Minnie and Charles ended up in a comatose state that they have yet to wake up from. I dare not inject them with any more adrenaline, as they may also suffer from heart failure...

–

Journal, September 9th, 1993,

Nothing new to report regarding Minnie and Charles. They remain comatose, and I have been forced to force-feed them food and water, to make sure they don't die. Mickey, on the other hand, has completely recovered from his heart failure, and is as spry and happy as ever.

Tested the new SS-2 on Mickey today, which worked wonders. A smaller dose of the formula 1,3-Dihydro-7-nitro-5-phenyl-2H-1,4- benzodiazepin-2-one, rather than 1,3-Dihydro-7-nitro-5-phenyl-2H-1,7- benzodiazepin-2-one worked wonders. It has come to my attention that the previous concoction was too strong.

Also worth noting, upon learning that Professor Lupin was a Half-blood, I stole a stray hair from his robes, intent on comparing his DNA with Hermione and Ginny's DNA. Now I have a sample of each. I will get to the bottom of this blood purity matter. I will find the magical gene, henceforth known as the M-gene.

–

Journal, September 10th, 1993,

This is... curious... Most curious indeed... I studied Professor Lupin's DNA, using a special charm on my microscope to magnify his hair thousands of times. I discovered an abnormality in his DNA strain. It's a mutated strain in his DNA helix, a strain I have never seen before. I must ask Professor Lupin if he has any disease that I have never heard of before. I think I recognize the mutated strain, but I cannot recall where I have seen it.

On another note, I also took a good look at Ginny's hair, and managed to find the M-gene. In Hermione's, it looked identical to Ginny's and I saw nothing different about them. It is merely a mutation, an evolution, of the DNA, which unlocks the brain's potential to do what people have labeled 'magic.'

–

Journal, September 11th, 1993,

I asked Professor Lupin about his disease, and he became very nervous all of a sudden. He denied having any such disease and asked me to go back to my next class. Perhaps it is a touchy subject with him? Then again, I have never really cared about things like that. Also, something has bothered me, why is his boggart the full moon? He couldn't be...? No... Could he? Must ask Hermione about this, I value her opinion, after all.

–

Journal, September 20th, 1993,

Did some true good today. Ronald Weasley's rat, Scabbers, has been looking poorly for a while now. Ron informed me that he has been like that since they came back from Egypt. I have to admit, the rat does look very woebegone. I offered my services to Ron, and gave Scabbers a sedative that worked wonders on him. After all, Scabbers has been truly frightened ever since the first time he met Crookshanks, who naturally attacked him.

A small dose of AS-5 worked wonders on the rat, who calmed down drastically after the injection, and unlike AS-4, he didn't feel that sense of euphoria. Perhaps it is time for human testing of AS-5? Hermione has been looking rather stressed lately, and it's only been nineteen days since we returned to school. Her course schedule is rather packed, so it is no wonder why she is stressed. She has several lessons at the same time, leading me to believe she has been cleared for usage of a time-turner, and that can be very stressful if used for a prolonged period of time.

–

Journal, September 23rd, 1993,

Human testing of AS-5 has proven a success. Hermione, once coming down from her sedated state, was very angry for not asking permission to try it on her, but who are we kidding? If I had asked permission, she never would have let me try it on her. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, after all. I think that will be my secondary motto from now on.

Side-note, for the sake of protocol, my main motto is 'Science is neither good nor bad, it is only true.'

–

Journal, September 28th, 1993,

Restating my assumptions, magic is utilized via an abnormality in the human DNA, an evolution I have come to refer to as the M-gene. The M-gene can be found in pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns alike. There is no notable difference in any of these examples, and it is merely an evolution that appears for reasons unknown, in a human. As proven with those commonly referred to as Squibs, the M-gene isn't necessarily hereditary, but having parents with the M-gene certainly increases the chances of being born with it.

–

Journal, October 6th, 1993,

Anxiously awaiting the full moon. Soon, my hypothesis will either be proven true or false. Is Professor Lupin a werewolf? I shall be studying his DNA closely for when the full moon appears. It shall be interesting to see the effects the full moon has on Professor Lupin's hair...

Addition, the time is now 11:43 in the evening, and all I can say is, success! As I expected, the appearance of the full moon caused a chain of events in Professor Lupin's DNA. It forced a mutation in his DNA strain, taking on a different structure entirely! This is an amazing discovery! If Lycanthropy is, in fact, a genetic disease, that means a cure can be found! I'm sure of it! Here and now, I vow to find the cure for Lycanthropy!

–

Journal, October 7th, 1993,

After almost one month, Minnie and Charles have finally woken up. They seem to have suffered no damage from their coma, which is lucky, as I have only ordered one new mouse, and don't have enough time to bother ordering two more so soon after the first.

This mouse that I have ordered, designation Romulus, will be my test subject when it comes to the study of Lycanthropy.

–

Harry stood inside his private lab in his trunk, muttering to himself as he stood at his alchemy station, mixing up some brews. The wall was covered in scorch marks from when earlier brews had exploded on him. He didn't have a real idea on what he was making, he just had a tendency of doing things when he was thinking hard on something. To the side, Lupin's hair was still under his microscope.

Groaning, Harry set down the two test tubes in his hands and walked away from his alchemy station, walking over to his microscope and looking into it, turning the knobs on the sides to focus better on the hair. It had turned back to normal, as today wasn't a full moon, but Harry could still see that the DNA was in the process of reverting to its former self.

Harry waved his wand, and behind him on a table, his quill stood up on his open journal.

"Journal, October Eighth, Nineteen ninety-three..." he said, grabbing a syringe from next to the microscope, filled with a blood red liquid. "I have successfully isolated the Lycanthropy mutation, and have managed to bond it with designation Romulus's blood. Now, it is time to inject it into Romulus himself."

Harry walked over to an added fourth cage in one of the corners of the room, opening it and reaching into it to grab the white mouse inside. He grabbed the mouse and lifted him up, before lining up the syringe.

"Injecting Romulus with the werewolf DNA..." he said as he stuck the needle into the squeaking Romulus, pressing the plunger and pumping the blood back into Romulus, who squeaked. He pulled the syringe out and put Romulus back into the cage, before closing the hatch.

"Now, I just have to wait until the next full moon, which should take place on November the fifth. With luck, I should have successfully transferred the Lycanthropy mutation to designation Romulus. Though time will tell. I shall keep a close eye on Romulus, and make sure the mutation properly bonds with his body."

He waved his wand again, and the quill quivered, before falling down. A knock was heard from the lid of the trunk, and Harry made his way over to the ladder, climbing up it and opening the lid to find Hermione kneeling next to the trunk in the boys' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower.

"Harry, we're going to be late for classes," Hermione said, which made Harry's eyes widen.

"Oh yeah, it's Friday already," he said, climbing out of the trunk, before closing and locking it. "I completely missed that."

"Have you been in there all night?" Hermione asked, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Are you ever going to tell me what you're working on?"

"Maybe, if I'm sure you won't go blabbing about it to a teacher."

"Is it that dangerous?" Hermione asked, and Harry's eye took on an almost mad glint.

"Hermione, I may be on the verge of something incredible, but if found out before I actually discover it, it would no doubt be frowned upon by the magical world. So no, it's not dangerous. It may, however, be considered unethical."

"I don't think I want to know anymore..." Hermione mumbled, looking nervously at Harry, who was rubbing his hands together happily.

"Speaking of nothing in particular," Harry said suddenly, grinning at Hermione. "Have you noticed how vindictive Snape has been lately?"

"Without a doubt, he's heard of Neville's boggart," Hermione agreed, nodding.

"Oh, it wasn't because I called Potions the silly little brother of Alchemy?" Harry asked, and Hermione sighed.

"No one cares enough that you said that to spread it around, Harry..."

"I see... I must try harder, then."

–

On October sixteenth, Harry joined the line outside the Transfiguration classroom with Hermione, when they found a disturbance at the front of the line.

Lavender Brown was crying, with Parvati Patil standing with an arm around her, explaining something to Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were looking very serious.

"What's the matter, Lavender?" Hermione asked anxiously as she and Harry went to join the group.

"She got a letter from home this morning," Parvati whispered. "It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox."

"Oh," Hermione said. "I'm sorry, Lavender."

"I should have known!" Lavender said tragically. "You know what day it is?"

"October sixteenth," Harry said immediately, for once keeping track of what day it was.

"Exactly! 'That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the sixteenth of October!' Remember? She was right, she was right!"

"Would anyone mind explaining to me what's going on?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"On the first class of Divination, Professor Trelawney told Lavender that the thing she was dreading was going to happen on the sixteenth of October," Parvati whispered, and Harry gave a long, drawn-out "Aah..."

Immediately, Harry reached into his robes and took out a syringe.

"You're hysterical, Lavender, would you like a sedative?"

"A... A what?" Lavender hiccuped, and Harry smiled in a friendly way.

"A sedative. It will calm you down."

"No!" Hermione said, getting between Harry and Lavender. "Harry, stop trying to test your concoctions on your Housemates!"

"This is no test!" Harry said indignantly. "This is AS-4, the very same sedative I have already tested on you."

"Without permission!"

"Don't be such a baby all the time, and let me give Lavender her sedative."

But Harry never got the chance to give Lavender her sedative, because at that moment the door opened, and Harry swiftly hid the syringe from view, putting on an innocent look.

At the end of the class, Professor McGonagall spoke up as the class made to leave, "One moment, please! As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"

Neville put up his hand.

"Please, Professor, I... I think I've lost-"

"Your grandmother sent your to me directly, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall said. "She seemed to think it was sager. Well, that's all, you may leave."

Harry made his way over to Professor McGonagall's desk holding the permission form that he'd gotten Uncle Vernon to sign by promising to spend the last few weeks of the summer holidays away from Privet Drive.

"Ah, Potter," Professor McGonagall said as Harry handed over his permission form. She stared at it for a while, then looked at Harry again. "Potter, I would suggest that you consider staying in the school over the Hogsmeade weekend."

"Why, Professor?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Never mind that, Potter. Just consider it."

"Yes, Professor," Harry said, looking at Professor McGonagall strangely. Nonetheless, he gave her a bow of his head, then walked off to his next class, which was Arithmancy with Hermione, if he remembered correctly.

–

On Halloween morning, a Sunday, Harry was rudely awoken in his private lab by a very loud knocking. He was sitting at his desk, his quill in his hand, halfway through a sentence in his journal. Slowly, he put the quill down, then moved over to the ladder, climbing it and opening the lid of the trunk, to find Hermione once more kneeling by the trunk in the boys' dormitory.

"Good morning, Harry!" Hermione said happily. "Hogsmeade visit's today!"

"Great..." Harry muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I'll be out in a moment."

With that, Harry roughly closed the lid and locked it from the inside, climbing down the ladder again. He immediately got to changing his outfit. Whereas he would normally walk around in his robes, he now disposed of his robes, keeping only the shoes, slacks, shirt, and tie, and put on a long lab coat over it. It felt right to wear it. After all, he was a scientist.

Finishing his journal entry, Harry made his way up the ladder again, unlocking and opening the trunk, before climbing out. He closed the lid and locked it again, and then made his way down to the common room to join a giddy Hermione.

"Come on, there is so much we need to see!" she said excitedly as the duo made their way out of the Gryffindor common room.

They headed down to the entrance hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going.

"I don't see what we're going to do," Harry said, ignoring the chill he felt as they passed the dementors guarding the gates of Hogwarts. He stretched and yawned, and would much rather have been in his lab, mixing up a brew or something interesting like that.

"We can go take a look at the Shrieking Shack," Hermione said with a bright smile. "It's said to be the most haunted place in Britain."

"Fascinating..." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"And then there's Honeydukes, the candy shop. I think you might like it in there," Hermione said, her smile fading a little when she saw Harry's deadpan look. "Er... There's also Tomes and Scrolls, a bookshop, and-"

Hermione didn't need to say anymore, as Harry had perked up, and hurried up down the long, winding path to Hogsmeade Village.

–

Harry was rather full on Honeydukes snacks, so he decided not to go to the Halloween feast, and instead brought his new books to the dormitories, where he stored them in one of the compartments in his trunk. He then headed down to his lab, to conduct a few more experiments before bedtime.

Mickey, Minnie, and Charles seemed to sense Harry's good mood, as they shivered in their cages in fear as Harry went to his alchemy station and started mixing up his brews, whistling happily to himself.

"Journal, October Thirty-first, Nineteen ninety-three," he spoke to his quill, which was standing up on his journal. "Alchemy is going as expected. Each day, I learn more and more, and each day, I get closer and closer to Nicolas Flamel. I am sure I will one day find the exact formula to create the Philosopher's Stone. But for now, I am only interested in the cure for Lycanthropy. Due to the lack of technology at my disposal, I have been forced to relying on alchemy to concoct a potion that should be able to bond the cure I am working on to the Lycanthropy mutation. However, time will tell."

Harry spent most of the evening in his lab, working on his alchemy, and didn't come out until two hours into the feast. He supposed he should go see Hermione, to show her that he was alright. She had looked a bit worried when he said he would skip the feast, after all.

Whistling to himself, Harry locked his trunk and headed down the steps to the common room, a slight skip in his step due to the great progress he was making in his lab, and pushed open the Fat Lady, climbing out of the portrait hole, only to come to a complete stop at what he saw.

Standing just outside, holding a knife raised in the air, was a man with filthy, matted hair that hung to his elbows, eyes that were deep in their sockets, and waxy skin stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull.

Harry's whistle slowly died off as he stared into the eyes of the man, who stared right back at him. He glanced at the knife in the man's hand, and his own hand slowly slipped into his lab coat, grasping his wand.

The man looked down at Harry's hand, then glanced at his own knife, slowly lowering it. Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and he equally slowly brought his hand out of his coat, not holding his wand. They both let their hands fall limply to their sides.

"Harry?" the man croaked suddenly, making Harry raise an eyebrow.

"Mr. Black?" Harry asked cautiously.

Sirius Black suddenly looked like a man who had no idea what he was doing or why. He glanced around a bit uncertainly, looking over Harry's shoulder into the portrait hole, then looking over his own shoulder, as if contemplating whether to run.

"Harry, there's little time," Black said suddenly, deciding to talk to Harry, rather than doing whatever else he had been planning on doing. "You may hear some stuff about me, but I want you to know, none of it is true. You hear me, Harry? None of it is true, I swear to Merlin."

"What are you-" Harry started, but his mouth was suddenly covered by Black's hand, as the man perked up, listening intently. Listening himself, Harry heard the thundering of hundreds of feet, and the talk of the students coming back from the feast. Black looked a bit panicked, looking over Harry's shoulder again, before looking to Harry once more.

"If there's anything from your father in there, I can trust you not to tell this to any teachers. If you want the truth, meet me tomorrow by the Whomping Willow. Unlike the people in this castle, I will tell you the truth. Since you don't look like you want to kill me for what I've done, I can tell you haven't been told. I have to go. Please meet me tomorrow at midnight."

With that, Black let go of Harry, just in time for the students to reach the foot of the stairs. Screams were heard as the students saw Black, who threw a glance over his shoulder, before rushing off up the stairs.

"BLACK!" a girl shrieked. "SIRIUS BLACK IS IN THE CASTLE!"

Panic ensued as Harry stood there, feeling a bit confused. Why would he want to kill Black? What had Black done to him?

Within moments, Dumbledore came sweeping through the crowd, walking up the steps to Harry, who stood deep in thought.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry saw worry in his eyes.

"I'm... I'm fine..." Harry said, blinking.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked calmly, but his eyes were sharp now. His very presence seemed to have calmed the students, who were quiet, some muttering to themselves.

"Sirius Black," Harry said. "He was here. He had a knife," he explained, blinking still. He still wasn't quite sure what had just happened. "He saw me, and I saw him. He lowered the knife, then the students came, and he ran off."

"So, he lowered the knife because the students came, and he ran away?" Dumbledore asked, but Harry shook his head.

"No, he lowered the knife first, and he looked like he wanted to talk to me," Harry lied. "Then the students came, and he ran away."

"I see." Dumbledore looked contemplative, then turned to the other students. "All Gryffindors, please move back to the Great Hall, and await the rest of the students. You too, Harry."

Harry nodded and joined the crowd, immediately spotting Hermione, who was making her way toward him. He started to whisper what had happened, but then he realized what would happen if he did. Hermione would go to Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall in a heartbeat. Therefore, he decided to tell her the lie he had told Dumbledore.

–

From that moment on, Harry had no privacy outside his lab. Teachers found excuses to walk along corridors with him, and Percy Weasley was tailing him everywhere like an extremely pompous guard dog. Professor McGonagall summoned Harry into her office, with such a somber expression on her face that Harry thought someone must have died.

"There's no point hiding it from you any longer, Potter," she said in a very serious voice. "I know this will come as a shock to you, but Sirius Black is without a doubt out to kill you." Harry opened his mouth, but Professor McGonagall beat him to it. "Now, don't you worry, we are all on high alert when it comes to Sirius Black. So long as you remain in the castle, I am certain that nothing will happen to you."

Harry opened his mouth to remind Professor McGonagall that he had been face-to-face with Black once already, but thought better of it, and closed his mouth. Instead, he settled for wearing a curious expression.

"But, Professor, why didn't he kill me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "He had several moments to do so, but when he saw me, he lowered the knife."

"Now, I admit that is curious behavior," Professor McGonagall admitted. "However, there can be no doubt that Black has been unhinged after Azkaban. Who knows what goes on in his mind?"

Slowly, Harry nodded.

"Will that be all, Professor?"

"That will be all, Potter," Professor McGonagall said. Harry gave another nod, then left her office.

That night, Harry took his Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk and put it on, before leaving the dormitory, sneaking down the stairs and leaving through the portrait hole.

He slowly crept through the castle, making sure not to be discovered by Filch or his cat, Mrs. Norris. He sneaked down the marble staircase to the oak front doors and found, to his surprise, that they were unlocked. Smiling triumphantly, he pulled them open quietly, then sneaked out of the castle, closing the doors behind him.

As he made it to the Whomping Willow, he found a large, black dog sitting on the lawn. The dog perked up when he approached, sniffing the air. Then, it jerked its head toward the Whomping Willow, rushing toward it. Then, just as the willow tree raised one of its limbs to hit the dog, the large black dog raised its paw and pressed a knot at the base of the trunk, and the tree went slack.

Harry watched in surprise as the dog suddenly changed. Where once had stood a scruffy, very large black dog now stood Sirius Black, who gestured for Harry to follow him, before disappearing down a hole by the roots of the tree.

Despite his common sense telling him not to follow, Harry's curiosity got the better of him, and he followed Black down the hole, down a long, dark tunnel.

"Lumos," he whispered after taking out his wand, which lit up. The wandlight lit up Black's back as the man made his way through the tunnel, Harry following.

On and on went the tunnel. Then, it began to rise. Moments later, it twisted, and Black had gone. Instead, Harry could see a patch of dim light through a small opening.

It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls, there were stains all over the floor, every piece of furniture was broken as though someone had smashed it, and the windows were all boarded up.

"Nox," Harry said as he straightened up, still holding his wand out. Before him stood Sirius Black, looking grimly at him. Harry tilted his head to the side, raising his wand and pointing it at Black. "I've been told you broke out of Azkaban to kill me."

"I suppose that would be the Ministry's theory," Black admitted, nodding. "However, they've got it all wrong. I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to commit a murder, yes, but not you. Never you, Harry."

"Who, then?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

Harry blinked.

"Again, who?"

Black sighed and said, "I suppose a bit of a history lesson is in order. What do you know of your father's school days?"

"Nothing," Harry admitted.

"Well, I was your dad's best friend back at school. Our other friends were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew," Black explained. "Thirteen years ago, your parents found out that Voldemort was after them," he croaked, and Harry saw his eyes held a certain sadness to them. "They went into hiding, and Dumbledore cast the Fidelius Charm, a charm that involves the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is impossible to find, unless the Secret-Keeper divulges it."

"Why do I sense that this story doesn't have a happy ending?" Harry asked, already sensing what the answer was going to be.

"Because it doesn't. You see, we convinced everyone that I was the Secret-Keeper, as Voldemort would surely go after me. We made Peter Pettigrew the Secret-Keeper instead. We thought it was the perfect ruse... We never expected him to run off to Voldemort with the information..." Black muttered. "I as good as betrayed your parents when I made the choice of handing over the title of Secret-Keeper to Pettigrew. After Voldemort murdered your parents, I tracked Pettigrew down and cornered him. He yelled for the whole street to hear that I had betrayed Lily and James, then blew up the street, transformed, and sped into the sewers to join the other rats."

"I take it he's an Animagus like you?" Harry asked, and Black, no, Sirius, nodded. "But there are millions of rats. How did you know which one was Pettigrew? I mean, he's at the castle, right?"

Sirius put one of his clawlike hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show Harry.

It was a photograph of the Weasley family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet that summer, and there, on Weasley's shoulder, was Scabbers.

"I recognized him at once," Sirius growled out. "I saw the rat's paw, saw that it was missing a finger, just like Peter did, because he cut his own finger off, leaving a shred of evidence behind when he faked his own death."

Harry stared hard at Sirius for a few moments. Sirius stared right back at him.

"Believe me... Believe me, Harry... I didn't betray Lily and James. I would have died before I betrayed them."

For reasons Harry couldn't explain, he believed Sirius. Slowly, he nodded, and a hint of a smile appeared on Sirius's face.

"I suppose all that remains is capturing Pettigrew, then?"

"It should be easy for you. You are probably the last person he expects would believe me," Sirius said, leading the way up a staircase into a dusty old bedroom, where Sirius sank down on the magnificent four-poster bed, appearing deep in thought. "Is there any way you can get an excuse to grab the rat?"

Harry grinned. "Oh, is there ever," he said excitedly.

–

Well, there you have it, the second chapter! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!