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Ginny


As Christmas gets closer we all start to get packages from home. Blaise and Harry are the sad exceptions, but Harry at least gets something from my parents and Mrs and Mr. Granger. Then one morning, just after class has started, we get another visit from Professor McGonagall. She comes inside through the doors of the classroom and she has Neville and Draco??? with her. Sirius stares at them. Oh boy, what happened to them? Both boys look like they've just come out of the mud. So does McGonagall, actually...

"Sirius! We have to hide Draco and Neville here. They've just both survived an awful ordeal! We didn't mention anything because we didn't want to get you worried about Neville, but he and Draco have really no place else to be right now, so can you take them in?" she asks.

"Yes, of course! Wait, I call Remus over!"

Sirius goes over and calls Remus in, who takes care of the two muddy boys. McGonagall sinks down on a chair and sighs. Sirius brings her a cup of tea and a towel to at least dry her face. Then she starts to tell him, what has happened. She has passed Draco and Neville in the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts when all of a sudden all three of them were drawn out of the Hall, through the grounds and into the Forbidden Forest. She still has no idea how it was even possible, but she says it felt like being sucked into a pipe and pulled to where the people doing the sucking were. Of course they landed in the middle of a group of three Death Eaters, among them Lucius Malfoy. They were interested in Draco, to force him into their ranks, but he told them he wanted to stay out of it. McGonagall went somehow unnoticed, she still didn't understand how and why.

"I think I was just brought in because I was on the edge of that powerful draw. I felt like I was there and at the same time wasn't. They threatened Draco with You-Know-Who's wrath and cursed him with Cruciatus, but he said he wanted to stay out of it all. He said he didn't like Mudbloods, but he didn't want to kill them. He didn't want to kill anyone for that matter. I have to say he was pretty courageous. Malfoy was livid. He told Draco that from now on Draco wasn't going to be sure of his life anymore and that he didn't bring up the brat to become one of Dumbledore's followers and that he would just get rid of him and that ridiculous excuse for a wizard Neville Longbottom.

I stayed quiet, because I thought they must see me, too, but after several minutes I noticed they didn't. When he lifted his wand I had to react though, so I started stunning the two behind Malfoy and finally Malfoy himself. Before he was able to speak the curse I got him. We were deep inside of the forest and we had to get back, but it took us the whole night to find the way back to the castle. But we had enough to do with ourselves, we couldn't take the Death Eaters along. I didn't wait for a second, I just made a Portkey for the three of us and brought them here. I don't think, Neville and Draco will survive, if we don't hide them well."

"You were right, Minerva. Can you send their school materials later on? Don't touch their clothes, at least not Draco's, that'll rise suspicion and there must be enough spies in his house. We'll get them new clothes here."

"Good. I'll do that."

"Now come with me, I'll bring you up to Hermione's room, she'll surely give you some robes, so you can take a bath, wash up and get some rest before you return to Hogwarts. Does Albus know yet?"

"Not a word! That worries me to bits."

"Anana will be out of here in an instant! Now get some rest, you look like death!"

"I feel like death, Sirius. This was awful!"

I've never seen Professor McGonagall like this. She lets Sirius help her over to the kitchen. The rest of us sit there, stunned. Seems we get two more classmates. I can only hope that Malfoy won't disrupt the peace between us and start being mean to the others. Hermione gets up and says:

"Well, we'd better do some reading while we wait for Siri to come back. Okay?"

We all nod and do some work quietly. Better than speculating anyway. Sirius comes back ten minutes later and smiles.

"Good kids! Now let's get on with our work..."


Remus


I take over two totally wet and frozen boys. Both don't even say one word to me, they seem to be in shock still. I lead them to the bathroom in the kitchen.

"Bath or shower? You can choose. Get out of your clothes quickly, I'll have them cleaned and warmed immediately. Here are towels, best get into the hot water quick! I'll be right here in the kitchen when you're done, okay?"

Both boys nod and I let them get inside of the bath. Then I rush to the study to get some parchment. When I come back, Sirius leads Minerva up the stairs.

"Can you inform Hogwarts, love? They don't know anything yet..."

"I will, if you come down and tell me what happened."

"Give me five minutes."

He's back a few minutes later and asks me to take care of Minerva when she's coming out of the bathroom. I promise and he tells me what has happened. I take a few notes and then write the letter to Albus, which is out of the door within minutes. I know that it won't take much more than three hours for Anana to get there. Magic is magical sometimes!

The boys' clothes next. I clean them with a spell and charm them warm with another spell. Then I ask Dobby to prepare some hot chocolate for them and a breakfast. I knock on the bathroom door and say:

"Neville? Draco? I bring your clothes back and put them on the chair next to the door, okay?"

"Okay," Draco calls.

I open the door and put the pile of clothes on the chair. Then I close the door quickly and head up the stairs to look after Minerva. I knock on the bathroom door.

"Minerva?"

"Yes, Remus..."

"Everything okay? Can I take care of your clothes?"

"Sirius has given me a set of robes from Hermione, I'm okay. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Good. Do you want to get some rest? You can use Hermione's room."

"Yes, thank you, I'll go there right away."

"Okay, leave your robes in the bathroom, I'll take care of them!"

"Thank you, Remus."

I go back down. Both, Draco and Neville have returned from the bathroom and sit at the table, eating their breakfast and drinking their hot chocolate. Draco asks:

"Where are we, Professor?"

"You're in Switzerland."

"Oh. Have you all been here then? Since term started? We only knew that several students, two of my classmates, too, have been taken to safe places."

"Since before term started actually. Yes, that's correct. You may have heard that Blaise's parents were killed."

"I even know who did it," Draco says glumly.

"You do? Not your own father hopefully?"

"No, but some close friend. Avery. I heard them talking about it at the manor. Back during summer break. Do we stay here now, too?"

"I suppose so. We'll have to talk about it with Minerva. You are in danger probably, and if your father was in a position to abduct you from right inside the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts once he'll be able to do it a second time."

"Professor McGonagall saved our lives! She stunned all three of the Death Eaters just when my father wanted to kill us. I don't even know what he wanted with Longbottom."

"Neville must have just been drawn in because he was there. Classical case of wrong place at the wrong time. But I'm sure he's in as much danger now, because your father doesn't want witnesses! Did you recognise any of the other two Death Eaters?"

"No. One was a woman. She looked frighteningly sick. A bit like the photos of Sirius Black after his escape, I'm sure you remember them..."

"Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Remus, your aunt and uncle actually, Draco, since Bellatrix is your mother's younger sister," Minerva says, coming down the stairs.

As soon as she sits down next to Neville, who starts to tremble horribly, Dobby turns up with breakfast for her. She smiles and thanks the house-elf, then turns back to Neville.

"I'm sorry, Longbottom, I know this is awful for you to know. They haven't been out of Azkaban for more than 24 hours and were already standing behind Malfoy in an attempt to kill! They both must be the worst of You-Know-Who's followers!"

I know why Neville takes this news so hard. The Lestranges were the ones who tortured his parents into insanity. They were responsible for traumatising Neville so badly that he was not much more than a squib. Draco has no idea and doesn't understand, of course, but Neville calms down as Minerva strokes soothingly over his shoulders. He's grown quite a bit. He still has Frank's round face, but he's stretched and looks a lot more mature now. He seems to have gained some confidence, too.

"Well, the best thing will be to get you boys a room, so you can sleep and recover from your ordeals!" I decide.

Once they're both finished with breakfast I take them through the classroom over to the other side of the house.

"Here are the rooms for you kids. If either of you wants the room here you can have it, otherwise I have some free rooms on the top floor."

"Where's Blaise?" Draco asks.

"He's got the corner room there... if you take this one, it's nicely sized, but it's pretty dark, as it only has the window to the side of the house. You'd probably like it more to be upstairs and have a front room."

"Fine with me."

I take them both up the stairs.

"This floor is where the girls are. Padma, Parvati, Morag and Mandy. Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry are on the other side of the house, above the kitchen. Here we are. This is the bathroom. Here, choose your rooms. They're only scarcely furnished right now, but leave it to Siri to adjust them to your wishes later on, he's really good at it. After classes we'll show you the rest of the house, okay?"

They both nod. I warm the rooms with magic and both of the boys slink into one each and I leave them be. I return to the kitchen. Minerva sips on another cup of tea and looks dead on her feet.

"Do you want me to help you up?"

"Remus! I'm old, but not that old! I get up there no problem. I'll take a nap for a while."

"Good. Sleep as long as you need and like."

I look at the table. Two more. Well, we can do it. One can take the end on the side of the stairs and one can sit next to Mandy. Or we simply add a chair and move a bit closer together.

Minerva turns up again just when class ends and Sirius and the kids come through the door to the kitchen. She wears her own clothes again, now cleaned. She smiles when she sees how easy we all are with each other. I think, integrating Neville into this group won't be a problem, but I dearly hope Draco will not act out the evil one.

"Hello, Minerva! Albus has sent word right back that he's informing Mrs Longbottom of Neville's whereabouts. You are to return to Hogwarts when you're rested," I tell her.

"I'll leave immediately. Thank you for the help, Remus, I'm sorry to bring you two more students."

"Well, as long as we don't have to pile in here I don't mind."

Draco and Neville come in as well. They both look a bit better, though still a bit tired. Minerva says goodbye to all and walks out of the house to disapparate back to Hogsmeade. I assign Neville and Draco a place at the table.

"You can take the end of the table, you two..."

They both nod. I ask them all to sit down for a moment and tell Draco and Neville:

"Well, first about the rules in this house: we call each other by our first names. All of us. We respect the rules that are in place at Hogwarts. We respect each other. All of us. I am the boss here, so I expect you two to follow my orders - or Sirius' orders for that matter. We are both very reasonable in many things as you will find out. We have a pair of Muggle neighbours whom you both treat with the same respect. They are the owners of this house, which they were kind enough to let us renovate to what we wanted it to become. Any questions?"

"No, Professor," Neville says.

"Good. Now, you can both call me Remus or Moony, and you can call Professor Black Sirius or Padfoot, as we think we're all grown up enough to respect each other, even if we call each other by our first names. Okay?"

Both nod.

"Good. It's too late tonight, but tomorrow I'll be out to shop for groceries anyway so you two come along and we'll get you the clothes you will need."

Draco shoots a short glance at me, as if to ask me where I take the money for all this. I disregard it.

"Now let me show you the rest of the house..."

I take them through the front rooms and then back to the classroom and up the stairs to the library and the common room.

"This here is the library. Believe me, it may not look like it, but it contains the complete Hogwarts library. The books out of the restricted section are locked away though, and the same rules as in Hogwarts apply, if you want or need one of them you need our permission. Hermione or anyone else will gladly show you the system and the spells to find the books you might need. If you follow me upstairs..."

We go up. Blaise, Justin and Ron have already taken residence there to watch some silly show on the telly and I explain:

"This is your common room. Any free time you want to spend with your friends you can come up here. You're just as welcome in the kitchen and the front and living room, but most of your class mates find this is a nice place to be together. - Now I expect, we'll have your school material by Sunday. That means you're still off tomorrow, but from on Monday you'll come to class like everyone else. Okay?"

"Okay," Draco drawls, "can I stay here?"

"Sure!"

Neville follows me down the stairs to find Hermione. She's working on some homework in the library and he joins her group, as Harry, Ginny, the Patil sisters and Ernie are there, too. I leave it to the kids to tell Draco and Neville what expects them in class and return to the living room. Siri has started some music and sits with a cup of tea in one of the armchairs in the study. He looks up.

"Do you think we'll be able to fit Draco in?"

"No idea, but I fervently hope so. We've become a harmonious family, but it doesn't take much to disrupt peace in a group of people."

"If not, then I think a couple of detentions to help neighbour Gruber in the stables will help..." he grins.

"Maybe. He'll not like it too much that he'll be fitted with Muggle clothes tomorrow."

"You'll manage. Or just get him the necessary stuff and I'll take him on Saturday. I shouldn't have a problem with his arrogance, I have pretty much of that myself if need be."

I have to laugh. Draco is after all, a son of his cousin Narcissa. That makes Sirius an uncle of Draco's.

"I'll see how it goes. I'll draw onto the Hogwarts account for their clothes."

"Just make sure that the little brat doesn't spend too much."

"You bet."

The next day I take Neville and Draco out and to the car. They both wear a cloak from one of their schoolmates, because it's really winter now. I let them board the car on the second row and go around to mount from the other side. The drive to Bern takes a bit more than an hour and I park the car in a parking house. We walk across the old part of the town to get to the Zouberbär and then to Gringotts, where I withdraw a large amount of Galleons and have them exchanged to the local Muggle currency.

"As you can easily see most wizards and witches here walk around like Muggles, which is why we're going to get the two of you each two sets of robes and a new cloak, then the rest of what you will get will be Muggle clothes."

After we get a fresh supply of ingredients for Polyglot potion, we do that and both do not contradict me in anything, which amazes me from Draco, who seems extremely subdued. When we walk through Muggle Bern and stop at several boutiques, larger clothes shops and some department stores, Draco finally speaks up:

"Remus?"

"Yes, Draco?"

"How do I handle this? My own father wanted to kill me..."

"I have no idea, Draco. We've all seen how he's been practically brainwashing you all your life, but there was nothing we could do. Unless you yourself start seeing it we could not do anything."

"I was awful! I've followed his wishes to the word, every day. I only started to see how awful HE was when I saw him kissing the seam and the feet of that THING!"

"There's only one thing I can tell you as an advice, Draco. Try to put it behind. You can start new! You haven't fallen for Voldemort's cheap promises and probably you've seen through his lies. Do you remember, what he promises his followers?"

"Power. He says there's no love or hate, there's only power and that he wants to give it to his followers."

"Very true. And where's the lie in there?"

"I don't know? He's the only one who really holds the power?"

"That's twenty points to Slytherin, Draco, because you've just hit the nail on the head. Voldemort promises power for his followers, but if they dare speaking the wrong word at the wrong time the only one who has the power is Voldemort himself. He doesn't care for his followers, he uses them. He orders them around like slaves, and if they do not get him what he wants he punishes them with torture or even death. He only gives them the power to torture and kill themselves. And his goal is not even a noble one. Besides that he himself is far from being a pureblood, Slytherin's heir or not..."

"He's not?"

"No, he's not. His father was a Muggle."

"Oh..."

"He's a crazy, evil thing, Draco. If you decide to stay out of it completely, you have made a wise decision, though it can be a deadly one. We can't protect you forever, you know."

"You mean, I'll have to fight?"

"You might be drawn in just as we were. Sometimes life forces such decisions upon us and we have to decide even if we hate our own decision. For whatever reason."

"I see."

We continue to shop for clothes for the boys. Both get a necessary amount of underwear, socks, t-shirts, some shirts, some jumpers, jeans and other trousers, a winter coat, sneakers, boots and shoes, slippers, toiletry, and whatever else they need. It's a long day and we carry around a lot of bags. Then we still have to do the shopping for the groceries before we are able to return to Sunnegg.

I take the ingredients to Sirius. He stores them and grins.

"One or two more times and I'll know how to make that potion by heart!"

Over the weekend we notice that Neville has no problems feeling comfortable with the group, but that the teens leave Draco alone. At one point I see Parvati talking to him, he responds, albeit briefly, but he remains polite. On Sunday afternoon I see the two of them working on a wizard's puzzle together in the classroom, where they have the best light. Good. Let him find someone new here, someone neutral.

On Monday Draco and Neville turn up with the others for breakfast and come to class. There's enough space on the existing tables, Neville sits down next to Ginny and Ernie and Draco sits next to Parvati. I start my lecture and work through the day like every other day. I know we do things fairly differently in History, but I'm sure, Draco and Neville will get into the subject soon enough.

At lunch we discuss the Christmas holiday. It will start on 22nd December and school would resume on 8th January. The trial will be on the 10th, so we would start school a week later.

"Well, we have a small surprise for you for the days after Christmas, we'll go to a ski resort and you can all learn to ski. That should be a lot of fun," Sirius announces.

I have been busy. We have chosen a place in the canton of Wallis, Belalp, which practically only consists of the hotel and a few houses, ski lifts and a funicular to reach the place. The road is closed in winter. We'll have six rooms for two and one room for three. We'll go there on the 27th December and stay through to the 5th January.

Of course apart from Harry, Justin and Hermione no one knows about skiing and other winter sports.

"You'll see!" I promise them, "Usually the weather should be great at that time and we'll be on over 2000 metres above sea level, so lots of snow and sunshine! We will rent the skis and you kids can learn properly with a ski instructor. You'll have a load of fun. Actually, Siri needs to learn from scratch as well, and I won't mind a few pointers myself, it must have been more than fifteen years since I've skied the last time."

My cheerfulness starts to sparkle over to them and they ask a lot of questions about winter sports. Our next outing is therefore the one to the nearest sports shop, where we can rent the equipment and buy their skiing clothes.



Neville

I can't believe this. This is school like I've been dreaming school should be! I'm getting good only within a few days and I find that I can even like Potions! Now we get to spend a whole ten days in the mountains and will learn to ski. I bet I'll be lousy, but who cares, it should be fun.

I like my new room. Sirius has come by and made it all up. He's amazing! I have a four poster bed with lovely blue curtains, the same curtains adorn my two windows. There is a wardrobe, a desk and a chair and he set a comfortable armchair in the corner between the window and the bed. Everything is covered with snow outside, I've never seen that much snow! There are cats everywhere in the house. Well, not always, I'm told they belong to the neighbours.

Draco and I get to drink a potion, that helped us learn the local language in no time. The others only speak it to us, so we will have it down quickly. Hermione tells me we don't get out much, but it's nice to be able to blend in by speaking their language. It sounds funny, but I learn it fast anyway.

I'm reading a lot. Classes are a relaxed affair, even though we are all concentrating, but Remus and Sirius are casual teachers. Sirius often makes fun of us, but he has fun, he isn't malicious. I'm astonished to learn that he is an uncle of Draco's. Draco is quiet. He doesn't interfere much, but he does participate in class, so I guess he's doing okay. As long as he leaves me in peace I can live with him. Blaise and Morag, the other two Slytherins are actually nice. I'm keeping mostly to Ginny and Ernie, they're both very easygoing and helpful. Padma and Parvati are the girly girls here. They are both really lovely girls and they know it. Padma seems to be going with Blaise.

Hermione is with Harry. I hear they even sleep in the same bed. It frightens me a bit at first, I think they're so far advanced that they are like a year or two ahead of me. And Ginny is going with Ernie, but those two are fun to be with. Ginny has actually been moved up a year and is allowed to take her OWLS with us. Good for her!

We are having a great time choosing our clothes for the winter holiday. There's tons of colourful stuff, but Draco comes out choosing everything in black! Hermione laughs out loud and tells him:

"Hey, Draco, going Goth, are you?"

"What's Goth?"

She rolls her eyes. Then she grins.

"You need more lessons in Muggle Studies, Draco... you'll have a ton of new stuff to learn in the next few days, when we'll go to Belalp!"

"Do you think I'm not up to it?"

"Oh, you will be! No worries... none of us knows how to ski, so we'll all be our same clumsy selves..."

Christmas finally comes. It's celebrated on Christmas Eve here, so the evening before Remus asks:

"What would you prefer, celebrating Christmas as it's celebrated here or as it's celebrated at home?"

We decide to follow the local custom.

"Good. I suggest you all take a nap in the afternoon, then it's the big dinner and opening presents and we'll go down to Lützelflüh for the Christmas service at the church. For which we'll accompany Barb and Housi."

I'm looking forward to this. I do take a bit of a nap and come down for the dinner. The table is set in the classroom, everything is decorated and there's even a tree in a corner. There's a merry fire in the big fireplace and Barb and Housi have come in with their daughter, Hanna. Remus and Sirius have invited them for Christmas Eve a while ago as I heard. The room is looking wonderfully. There's a mistletoe hanging mid-air and like at the Great Hall there are hundreds of candles floating to give the room a soft yellow light. I can see that Hanna can't stop to look at the candles and at the Fairy Lights on the tree. The teacher's desk and the rows of tables are stashed away, probably made small and the long table sits a bit set back from the fireplace. In front of the fireplace I can see all the armchairs and sofas from the common room and some small tables. The walls, the mantle above the fireplace, the chairs and the table are decorated with fir branches, wound to garlands, mixed with holly and held together with red ribbons. There are small golden stars hanging everywhere. We all sit down. The table has space for everyone, even Dobby and Winky, who hardly dare sitting down. But Remus and Sirius insist that they share the dinner with us.

The food is as good as ever, since Dobby and Winky both are excellent cooks. After the meal we all spread over the armchairs and sofas. Remus starts to Accio the gifts under the tree. Hanna stares even more. Hermione grins and whispers to me:

"She's never been exposed to all of our magic before! She knew for a while, but she's never seen it, so she's probably still quite baffled."

I have to grin. Remus checks the labels on the gifts and banishes them to the one who gets them. Since there's thirteen students, two adults and three guests there are quite a lot of packages under that tree. We are soon immersed in opening our gifts. I can't believe that I'm getting one from each of my great uncles and aunts, and of course there are two from my gran.



Harry


This is the moment. She'll open it in a few moments, as she's just picked it from the pile. The ring I've chosen is a simple platinum band with a sapphire surrounded by several tiny diamonds. I watch her as she takes off the wrapping and opens it. Now she looks up at me and - oops! The next thing I know is she's sitting on my lap, kissing me and whispering:

"Oh, Harry! Thank you, thank you so much, it's beautiful!"

"You're welcome, sweetie, I'm glad you like it!"

"Let's see where it fits..."

"Your right ring finger, I've measured one of your other two rings," I say.

"Wow, you've done this thoroughly. Why the right and not the left?"

"Well, I supposed the left would mean an engagement ring, and I do think we're still a bit young for that, love..."

"I'd marry you tomorrow, Harry."

"All I need is ask?" I ask, astonished about my own cheekiness.

"All you need is ask," she says.

"Hermione, will you marry me?"

Everyone around us shuts up. Hermione shuts up for a moment. I blush crimson or even darker red, what do I know. It feels crimson anyway. Then she looks at me and hands me the ring back and says with a low voice:

"Maybe you should put this on the ring finger on my left hand, Harry. Yes, I'll marry you."

I can't believe I've done this. I'm not even legal, neither is she and yet she says she will marry me. Ginny, who sits next to me on Ernie's lap, grins and then shouts out:

"YAY! YAY, Hermione will marry Harry!!!!! Wedding bells, wedding bells!!!"

Ernie starts laughing, too, but Hermione and I don't care, as she's busy duelling with my tongue and we're kissing for the next ten minutes. Someone, I think it's Neville, ends the snog though, and holds out his hand to shake ours. Remus and Sirius are still speechless. It takes them a full ten more minutes, before they can say anything.

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Sirius asks.

Hermione holds up her hand and shows him the ring. Sirius laughs out loud and catcalls, then he comes to pat my shoulder and says:

"You actually proposed to her in the middle of all of us? Tell you what, Harry, you've just pulled a big one over your Dad, James hardly dared speak the words!"

Remus grins, too, and adds:

"But then he wasn't big friends with Lily during all of his school years. You two are aware of the fact that you'll have to wait for at least two years?"

"Yes, Remus, of course," I say.

"Good. - Congratulations, you two!"

An hour later we squeeze into the car and drive down to Lützelflüh to attend the service. Hermione and I hold hands through the whole of it and she rubs mine reassuringly with her thumb all the time. It's quite a nice service, we sing several Christmas songs and there's a large fir tree in a corner adorned with white candles. At the end we all walk back to the car quietly. When we come home we start for the stairs, but Remus calls us back into the classroom, where he produces several bottles of champagne.

"I've bought those for New Year's Eve, but we'll get a fresh supply. I think Harry's and Hermione's engagement is reason enough to get a little drunk!"

We all agree of course. Siri gets the stereo over and plays lots of music and we drink champagne and dance and have a lot of fun. Remus and Sirius don't send us off to bed before we want to leave ourselves. I still can't believe that I did what I did. I climb the stairs at about three in the morning with Hermione, who looks as tired as I feel. We go straight to her room and enjoy the quiet up there. Ginny will probably end up in Ernie's room, so we'll be all alone up here. We fall into bed and sleep within minutes.



Hermione


Christmas morning. This is usually when we get to open our presents, this time though we've been through this yesterday in the evening. It's still a quiet morning and there's fresh snow falling outside. Harry is still asleep next to me. I can't believe we did that. He's my fiancé! Oh dear, I'll have to tell my parents, and soon. I don't want to know yet what their reaction will be. I'm quite sure they won't be too impressed. But they must be miffed with my whole situation anyway, so a little more won't harm.

Yes, I do want to marry you, Harry. You are going to grow into a very handsome man soon, do you know that? You're intelligent, powerful, but above all you're a wonderful, wonderful soul, someone who will never knowingly step on someone else. You are warm and kind and funny. You're fiercely loyal and would die for a friend. And you don't know yet, but in an hour or so, when you wake up, you'll get to go all the way and have me! Actually I'd even want you to get me pregnant, but I don't dare going that far. If there was an accident though... next year maybe. Once we're both sixteen I'm probably going to fail with a spell.



Parvati


The day of the departure is finally here. Remus and Sirius have stored our luggage into the car, the skis are all in three carriers on the roof and we pile into the Mercedes. It's a tight fit, but with the magical enlargement it works out quite well. The drive is not too long, but the last bit is on snow covered roads. I hear Remus say how glad he is for the four wheel drive. Whatever that is...

I sit on Draco's lap. He's just pulled me there when we piled in, to save space, he said. Like he wants to save on anything, the sly dog! But he has been mostly okay since he's joined the crew and his sarcasm is not malevolent. He makes us laugh more often than not. I have my arm around his neck and he brushes over my hand with his lips. On Christmas Eve we've danced together quite a bit. What if I fall in love with him? I'm not out of a family that can follow its pedigree down to more than four generations of wizards and witches. Will he hurt me?

We get out on the parking lot next to what looks like a funicular. Remus tells us soon after that this is what it is and that we will have to get up a few hundred metres higher with it. I do think that I'd rather fly up on my broom than this Muggle contraption and I have the feeling that this feeling is shared by several of my class mates. But Remus sends Sirius off first with a cabin full of our equipment. Once Sirius gets there, the next cabin is filled with the rest of the equipment. When the next cabin comes down the first five of us pile in. I go with Draco, Neville, Mandy and Morag. The ride is actually quite pleasant. The sky is dark blue and the sun shines brilliantly. We get to see across a big valley over to more mountains, amazingly tall. It seems like we were riding directly into the sky, but finally the cabin enters the small house that marks the end of the line with a final lurch forward. Sirius is there and waits for us. Some staff member opens the door for us. We get out and sit on suitcases and benches to wait for the next group to come up.

It's Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ernie and Ron. That leaves Remus, Padma, Blaise, and Justin to come up last. We have to be patient for another fifteen minutes until they arrive. Now we load all of our gear onto a small carrier. Remus tells us that the little device is powered by electricity and it looks like kind of a sledge. We have to walk to the hotel. It's at least half an hour's worth of walking on a path covered with hardened snow. When we finally arrive the house looks old. But then Remus leads us around it and we all gasp at the same time. What we see is a gigantic valley with what looks like a glacier.

"This is the Aletsch glacier. It's Europe's longest glacier and right now it's still about 20 km long, even though it lost some of its length in the past fifty years. Quite impressive, isn't it?"

We can't but agree with him. The white is blinding. The glacier spreads in front a few kilometres away and sways in long curves through its valley. I've never seen anything like this and I can see that several of us have taken out a camera to take a picture of this amazing sight. The glacier itself isn't purely white from ice and snow. Remus explains that there is a lot of debris that the glacier carries along.

"A glacier isn't just solid ice. It moves. Only a very short distance every year. And sometimes it even carries corpses. There was one found in a glacier lake in the Ötztaler Alps that has departed from a place along the glacier over 5000 years ago and was found completely intact after the glacier had carried the body embedded deep inside of the ice down to its end. This was amazing, as anyone falling into one of the crevices would usually be milled to practically nothing, but the body of this man came out with only the slightest damage to one of his hip bones."

Honestly, is there something Remus doesn't know??? He leads us to the entrance of the hotel. It's an old house, but it must have been renovated recently. It looks simple, but comfortable. We check in and are shown to our room. I share mine with Padma. Mandy and Morag have one, Ginny and Hermione, Neville, Ron and Harry, Blaise and Draco and Ernie and Justin share one. The rooms are rather small, but big enough to contain two comfortable beds. We unpack and while we're all busy with that, Remus and Sirius have taken care of all of our equipment. The only thing we have with us in the room are the ski boots. Huge things that are heavy and make us walk like we're on a ship.

We meet again downstairs in a big lounge, where the guests can spend their time at the hotel. There's a telly and there are several smaller tables with chairs, there are sofas and armchairs and coffee tables and there's a fireplace. Remus has taken Anana along, as we do need to be able to communicate with our world. She's allowed to perch in the lounge and soon the other guests start talking to her. They think it's a crow of course and I hear someone saying to another guest, that crows are incredibly clever and intelligent. Well, dooh! Owls are, too, I think.

We go outside. It's still light and we have some fun with snowballs. We all know that we're not allowed to use magic outside of our rooms. So it's the Muggle way all through. Within a short time we're all wet and freezing. So we get inside and get changed. Dinner is served a short time later and we assemble in the restaurant. The food is local and it's good. Of course Remus has decided that we should be introduced to the main speciality here, which is cheese fondue and we are allowed to drink some of the local white wine to it. Local wine? I can't believe that on this level any grapes would grow, but Remus assures me that down in the valley and along the lower slopes of the mountains thousands of grapes are growing every year.

"In fact, this is the southern end of Switzerland and on the ridges of the mountains over there Italy begins. So this is a very warm area in summer and the grapes are getting a lot of sun."

"Wow..."

My father is a wizarding oenologist. He's also the main wizarding wine seller in all of Great Britain. Padma and I know quite a bit about wine already, so we taste the local variety with interest. It's a fairly strong wine, but lightly sparkling. It's rather on the very dry side. It does taste nice and fresh though with a slight sparkle.

"Fendant," Remus tells me.

He knows my father, so he knows my background. And he waits for my judgment and I tell him I quite like the wine.

The fondue is a completely foreign experience. It's nice though and we all get very tipsy by the time we've finished the meal. Not only have we been drinking wine there's a lot of it in the fondue as well. The bread is nice and crunchy.



Sirius


We spend the evening playing games and cards in the lounge. Some of the kids go back to their rooms for an early night. They feel the alcohol of course and Remus wonders if it isn't too much to allow them alcohol twice in a week.

"They will sleep well tonight, that's for sure, love," I soothe him.

"Well, we're at 2000 + metres here, so that will make us tired, too. Tomorrow we'll meet the ski instructor and head off for the first lessons, love."

"That'll be fun! Lots of opportunity to laugh about ourselves, I suppose," I say.

"Maybe you!" he teases.

Oh yes, I forget. He's done this before.

The next morning the kids turn up one by one for breakfast. We'll start skiing at ten, and the instructor will come by to get us. We can take our time. There's fresh bread, mostly white and some almost black bread, which is cut into very thin slices. It's also very flat and when I try it I notice that it must be from sourdough. It's very nice in the taste though, so I eat it with butter and jam and have some cheese with it. Gosh, I love the cheeses in this country! Of course Switzerland is a dairy country and there are some of the world's best cheeses made here. I especially like the Emmental, with its very strong aroma, then the Gruyère, which is equally strong but tastes totally different. There are two local varieties of cheese here in the canton of Wallis, too, they're a bit softer than the two others, but nice and salty and the taste is more creamy.

Some of the kids eat cereals since there's no eggs and bacon here. Then they dive into the bread. Hermione immediately loves the dark bread as well.

"Mm, that's nice!"

"Walliser bread, Hermione, it's a sourdough - we can get it elsewhere, too, if you like it," Remus informs us immediately.

"Oh, good! I'd like to have some of this sometimes."

Everyone turns up in their ski clothing. Remus is happy to see that we're all almost ready, just need to get our boots on. The ski instructor turns out to be a cheerful young woman who greets us and promises a few days of fun. We all go and get the boots, our sunglasses and follow Remus' order of smearing sunblockers on our faces and necks. Then all we have to do is grab our skis, ski sticks and follow the young woman who has introduced herself as Camille Collombin.

"Rather call me Camille, all of you, we are not formal around here."

We follow her to the place where the ski school gathers and she tells us that this is where we will meet every day for the next four days and then four more days in the next week. She then starts off with showing us several exercises to warm up.

"People are prone to have more accidents on skis when they just rush out on the slope. You need to have your body warmed up and smooth to start. That's enough with this, now get your skis on and we'll proceed to another set of exercises."

We all struggle a bit but have our skis on soon. Remus is next to me, looking all smooth and cool. He puts his gloves on the ski sticks and watches the instructor. She shows us two more exercises, then she's happy and says:

"Well done. Now, would you please tell me your names, I have little stickers here, which you can fasten to your jackets, that'll make it easier for me to remember who you are. I've only noted down the first names. Blaise?"

Blaise lifts his hand and she sticks a little sticker on his arm.

"Draco? - You'll have to tell me when I don't pronounce your names properly, I can see that some of you have very unusual names!"

We all laugh and promise to help. She continues.

"It's Drayco," Draco explains.

"Okay, Draco, got that. Harry? - Hermeeone?"

"Hermione," Hermione corrects calmly and takes the sticker.

"Lovely name, I think," Camille mutters and repeats it: "Hermione? Is that correct?"

"Perfect," Hermione smiles.

"Justin?"

She pronounces it in French. Justin corrects her and she repeats it to get it right, then goes on with the rest of us. She struggles with Morag. Gets it right after a few tries.

"Padma - Parvati - you look like you're coming from India. I love your names..."

"Our family is originally from India, that's right. And my name has the emphasis on the first syllable. Paar-vati."

"Thanks, I'll try to remember that. Well, then there's Remus, that's you, if I'm not wrong... another very unusual name."

"That it is. Add my surname Lupin and it accounts to something pretty wolfish..." Remus jokes.

"Oh, I get the picture. Remus was brought up by a wolf!"

"Exactly."

"Good one. Sirius. - That's a star..."

"Right. The dog star to be precise. The brightest star in the whole of our firmament." I spread my sparkling charm.

"Oh, is it? Are you interested in astronomy?"

"A bit."

"Fascinating. Well, now that you all have your badges we can walk over to the beginner's hill. The first two or three days we'll not go anywhere up, we'll just use this small hill to do all the exercises we need. - Remus, you said that you used to ski, didn't you?"

"Long ago."

"So, may I ask you to always take the rear?"

"Fine with me."

"Thank you. Move along!"

The next two hours we are told how to move on the skis, how to skitter down sideways and lots of other small things. Then we have a break for lunch and after lunch we meet again and actually start learning how to turn, so we can really start to glide down a hill.

I'm amazed how tired I am when we get back to the hotel. Remus and I both take a shower and put on sweatpants, t-shirts and woollen jumpers. Both of us have been given one by Molly, Remus' in olive, mine in a striking aqua blue. I love that jumper already. It's warm and soft and smells of the love she's knitted inside. We meet with the others in the lounge, but we're all a bit subdued and tired.

"That's the altitude. And our physical workout. Both together take a higher toll than workout in the lowlands. Lots of athletes move up to the mountains to train, because the air is thinner here. You can pick up more oxygen and that gives you more strength. Only if you really train your body of course," Remus explains.

Where does he store all that knowledge? I just shake my head sometimes. Right now I'm too worn out to tease him. I'm looking forward to dinner, which is very nice. It's a very tasty lamb stew with potatoes and salad.

The next two days we're occupied with learning the basics in skiing. All of us, even Remus, fall down several times, but Camille also teaches us to fall. At one point she tells us that we are to learn to fall. Which we do.

And then, on Friday we finally get to go up with one of the ski lifts for our first ski-run. Of course we're going very slowly, but I soon notice that this is something for me! I follow the directions. Camille is a good teacher, must be, because even Neville enjoys this and he's naturally rather clumsy. But the speed Camille makes us go helps us to learn to automate the movements. By late afternoon I think I have it. So on Saturday we go and try the same run a load of times and get more confident. The kids start going faster. Draco and Justin get the gist of it the fastest and once they arrive on the top of the lift, get off it with a Whoop and they are the first ones down at the end of the run. Remus and I take it more slowly. We watch the teens discover the real fun of skiing and Remus remarks:

"It's doing them really good! They move around, they get the sun on their skin and they have fun at the same time."

When we get down to the lift the next time we see Albus standing next to the line. Harry speaks with him, next to him are Ron and Hermione.

"Ah, there are Remus and Sirius. I see you are doing something entirely Muggle!"

"Hello, Albus! Checking on us?" I ask casually.

"In a way. I need to speak to you regarding your testimony tonight."

"Certainly. It's too early to leave here, but we could keep you company over at the restaurant there... maybe you'd like to try a glass of the local wine?" Remus offers.

"I'd love to, Remus. Are you sure you two have enough? I could just wait for you there."

"No, it's okay. We've had our fill mostly. The kids enjoy it on their own. They already know the meeting point."

"Good. I don't think there's any immediate danger here anyway."

Remus and I get out of our skis, slap them together to get the snow off and shoulder them. We walk over to the restaurant, which has a very large sunny terrace. We put the skis in the special holders, add the sticks and open the top buckle on our ski boots. Then we find an empty table.

"I'll go and get the drinks. Would you like something to eat, Albus?"

"No, thank you, I'm quite fine. Just something to drink."

"I'll be right back."

It takes a while, then Remus returns with a tray containing three glasses, a bottle of red wine and a plate full of chips. He puts it down, fills the glasses and sits down next to me. We both pick up the chips while we talk with Albus.

"This is a wonderful area, Remus! I've never been here before," Albus says.

"Yes, it's great. It's getting the most of the day's sunshine, as it's the northern side of the valley. We get sun from the morning to the evening, as long as it's out. Unlike some of the places on the other side of the valley. I just said to Sirius that it's doing the kids such a lot of good! They're scooped up inside for most of the day and get too little sunshine in winter. We'll have to send them out during the lunch break a bit more, Siri..."

"Well, with the amount of sunshine we get at Sunnegg we can do some stuff on the terrace soon..."

"That's true."

Albus takes a deep breath and says that he finds the air wonderful.

"Well, what do you want? We're on 2000 metres here. That's counted as high Alpine," Remus says with a smile.

He lifts his glass and so do I and we clink it and then do the same with Albus.

"Santé!" Remus says.

"Well, I think we can quickly go over the topic I came to discuss here," Albus starts, then takes a first sip of the wine and starts to smile.

"Very nice wine, Remus."

"It's Dôle. Local stuff. I really like it a lot. - Do you know who will be judging?" Remus asks.

"Amelia Bones herself."

"Oh, good. She was the one who signed the summoning letters. I got one, too," I say.

"You did? She's fairly perceptive then. I didn't tell her exactly where you are and I will ask them to mark all of you as living in an undisclosed safe place. Of course you'd now be free to leave it any time, Sirius."

"I know. But I don't want to, Albus," I say and show him our rings.

He smiles.

"Good. Then you'll be officially added to the Hogwarts payroll. The Minister will not like it too much, but as far as I've seen you're doing good work. Even Severus said so."

"Wow, I feel flattered..." I say sarcastically.

"Not that he said it in kind words. More like: Zabini and MacDougal think he does a good job. He seems to be up to the task."

"Sounds about right."

"Do you like teaching?" Albus asks.

A straight question for once. Not really like him, but he deserves a straight answer.

"I've been doing some thinking about it and yes, I like teaching. But I have a very nice surrounding here and only one single class of very cooperative students, that may be the reason. But I like what I'm doing right now."

He nods, apparently content.

"I think, Sirius does an excellent job, Albus. Neville came to me the other day and told me that he has done a lot better in both his weakest subjects, Potions and Transfigurations, and that he thinks it's Siri's doing," Remus says.

Now Albus smiles.

"Splendid, splendid! I'm glad you feel well, Sirius, because even if you'll only be a witness, this trial will not be easy on you. Dolores Umbridge will be acting as the prosecutor and she's known to be very unfair. She's also very close to Fudge. And they're both still debating whether to believe Voldemort is back or not."

"I remember her..." Remus says with a very bitter tone.

"I suppose you do," Albus agrees.

I look at them questioningly.

"She passed some legislative that practically forbids me to look for paid work, because I'm a werewolf. Albus could be prosecuted for it," Remus explains in a pressed tone.

I hold myself back, because I want to scream! I'm going to hate that woman! And I have the sinking feeling that the testifying is going to be terrible.

"Bones assures me that this is a clear case. Nothing surprising will come from it, it's pure formality. They have learned from the first war and they know that they have to hold a trial. Pettigrew is already in Azkaban, he'll be brought in for the trial and they haven't calculated more than two days for it, if it even takes that much. You'll be back here by the weekend," Albus assures us.

"Good."

"That won't stop Umbridge to ask her questions ten times. You need to be prepared to keep your calm, Sirius. Even though you are basically a witness for the prosecution, she'd love to find something to put you back to Azkaban, because she is one of those people who is convinced that you were a Death Eater."

"Oh, thank you very much. A look at my wrist will be enough to prove the contrary," I say, trying to sound cool.

"Exactly. I have to tell you though, that there are not that many people out there who know about the Dark Mark tattoo."

"I know."

"Anyway, the most important thing is that you won't stumble over one of her questions that would allow her to open a case for you. You are allowed to not reply if you don't want to. Replying to a question that would incriminate you is not mandatory. Especially if she brings up the incident with Severus Snape and the Whomping Willow. I don't know in what order you'll be called in, but I think you will be the first witness, Sirius. I'll be there and I'll be with you."

I have to admit that I'm relieved to hear that. Having someone like Dumbledore on my side is a lot of help. I pick up some more chips. The plate is almost empty now, as both, Remus and I have been picking chips from it and even Albus has taken one or two. I sip my wine and look out at the wonderfully peaceful surrounding.

"Thank you, Albus."

"That's the least I can do, Sirius. I'll be there for you all."

Some of the teens turn up. They have their own pocket money, so they go inside and get themselves something to drink and a snack. Justin and Ron come to the long table and ask whether they are welcome.

"Of course, sit down already," I tell them and laugh.

They take off their sunglasses and attack another plate full of chips. Justin has taken the ketchup bottle along and continues to put fresh ketchup on the edge of the plate. Ron looks very happy and tucks in. Their cheeks are flushed from the air and the sun. I turn back to Remus. His cheeks have taken on some colour as well. He looks totally different with that tan. Albus has noticed, too, because he compliments Remus:

"You look very healthy, Remus. And it's only a few days since the moon..."

"I'm feeling fine, Albus. By the way, Hermione has found a way to make the potion more bearable. She's added some aspartame, which is a Muggle artificial sweetener. It tastes a lot less horrible and the aspartame does not seem to do it any harm, as it worked well."

"She's practically brewed the potion herself. I was only standing by. She did a great job with it," I add.

"I've seen that you have given her extra points for Gryffindor for it. I'll have to commend her then," Albus says.

"Yes, I think, her work deserved the extra credit."

"I don't think that many fifteen year olds would be capable to brew such a complex potion."

"Well, Hermione claims that Transfigurations and Charms are her best subjects, but I'd like to say she's better in Potions than in both the other subjects, though she's doing excellent work in them, too."

"She never gets the real top marks she actually deserves, but since Severus marks constantly low I don't interfere."

"I just found that it alters the picture of her overall performance," I say.

"Yes, it probably does."

Slowly the other kids find us. They are all worn out from their skiing. Albus asks them how they like the winter sport.

"It's great!" Draco says.

He even forgets to sneer! He looks almost happy now, which I find astonishing. Learning that your parents don't care for you one dot is hard, even for someone who has been brought up becoming hardened like Draco. I don't think he's cried about the loss of his parents yet, but it's the first time he looks content since he's joined us. His face looks less pale than it usually does. Like all of us his cheeks are flushed with a healthy rosy colour and the grey eyes shine.

"I'd never thought this could be fun, but it is. I can't wait to go further up!" he tells us.

"We will, next week, you heard Camille," I remind him.

"Yeah, but she'll slow us down, I'm sure..."

"Well, for a bit, probably, but there will be more advanced things to learn now. And we can go skiing on some other weekend... it will be easy to keep the gear until the season's end," I offer.

"Oh, good! I'm not used to being so much outside, but I like it," he says.

Ernie and Ginny comment as well:

"It's really great! We've been up and down I don't know how often. I'm glad we can go further up on Monday. I can't wait to write to Mum and especially Dad about it," Ginny says.

After another hour it starts to get dark and we move back to the hotel. Albus comes with us and joins us for the dinner, then I take him up to my room, from where he disapparates.

We all go to bed early. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and there's a big party at the lounge of the hotel for that. We get there after the big dinner the next day and the evening turns out to be a very funny one with everyone celebrating the beginning of the new year. There's some dancing and people sit together talking, the kids mingle with other kids and seem to have a lot of fun.

Most of the other guests are families and young people. It's all easygoing and casual and after midnight everyone wishes everyone a happy new year with a glass of champagne. We get to bed at about two o'clock and sleep as soon as we feel the pillow.



Remus


The next day we return to our ski classes. It's still a lot of fun, especially now that we go up a bit higher and get to the more difficult moves. The kids learn to choose their route downhill and they are allowed to do several fast bits, which pleases most of them. Even Neville, who seems to enjoy himself thoroughly. I'm glad to see him so relaxed, that will boost his confidence, which can still do with a lot of encouragement.

I'm very happy about my decision to take the kids out of the house for a few days. They have great fun and they are more active than they usually are.

Skiing is one of those things that have to appeal to Sirius Black right away. He has a knack for everything dangerous and fast. Soon he's really at it, together with Draco and Justin. They take off fast once they're up with the lift and joyously glide down again and again.

By the time we have to go home we've really learned a lot and we're confident to go down many of the slopes. It's with regret that we leave the place. But we return back to Sunnegg and settle down for next term.

We can't stay. We all pack another little bag and get ready to Portkey back to Hogwarts. Albus has asked that all students come along. Blaise, Morag and Draco will stay at guest rooms in the teacher's wing, away from their house.

On Wednesday we floo to the Ministry. Albus goes first, the students follow, then I go and Sirius comes last. When he gets up and cleans himself from the soot, I can hear his heart beat. I take his hand while we go down to the courtroom.

Blaise, Parvati, Padma, Draco, Morag, Justin, Ernie, Mandy, Neville and Ginny are allowed to sit in the stands. We are guided into a room next to the main entrance to the court room.



Sirius


I'm scared shitless. Even though I know I'm not accused, the thought of that woman freaks me out. The trial is public, therefore there will be lots of people and a number of journalists. An hour after the beginning I'm being called.

"Mr. Sirius Black, you are asked to testify."

I get up and feel Remus squeeze my hand one last time. Then I follow the wizard who called me into the courtroom. I am sworn in and allowed to sit on a chair next to the judge. Amelia looks at me and smiles. I remember her - she was a Ravenclaw, a few years ahead of us. She asks the general questions, name, age, occupation, place I'm living and so on. I reply to the ones I can reply and remind her that I'm currently living in a safe house and cannot disclose the location because I am protecting children.

"I see. - Miss Umbridge, please proceed to question the witness."

The woman gets up and comes to where I sit. Her eyes stare into mine. I hold her gaze stubbornly until she turns away.

"Mr. Black, can you please give account on the days before the Fidelius Charm was performed over Lily and James Potter."

I sigh and tell them the story. How I had decided, a few days before the charm was supposed to be performed, that I could not be the Secret Keeper and the reasons for this.

"Very well. So you have not been present when the charm was performed?"

"No. I can only assume that Lily Potter cast the spell. She was well capable to do it herself. So I don't know who was present."

"And you checked on the chosen Secret Keeper, Mr. Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes. Every night I contacted him."

"You also contacted him on Halloween night 1981?"

"Yes. But he was not at home. I floo called, but got no reply. He hadn't told me he would be out, so I flooed in and looked for him. He was not in his flat. And there was not the slightest sign of a struggle. I believe that should be somewhere in the investigation reports. So I was getting scared and decided to check on the Potter's home."

"But only the Secret Keeper would have been able to see them..."

"Yes, of course. But I still knew where they were. If the house was okay, then I thought it would be okay for them. But when I got there I was already too late. The house was burning. I found the bodies. And then there was Hagrid, who was there already, and he asked that I give him Harry. I wanted to take care of Harry, I'm his godfather after all. But Hagrid..."

"Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

"So he took the boy?"

"Yes, on Albus Dumbledore's order. We quarrelled for a while, but then I gave in and told him to take my flying motorbike, because I was sure I wouldn't need it anymore after that."

"Why were you sure of this?"

"Because after thinking for a moment I knew that Peter Pettigrew had not been forced to give away the Potter's location, he had betrayed them."

"And what does that have to do with your motorbike?"

"Well, I was determined to track Pettigrew down. I was determined to kill him for this."

"But you didn't?"

"No, I didn't. He got the better of me."

"You mean when he encountered you the next day?"

"Yes. I tracked him down, but when I found him, he was ready. He had his wand out and hidden in his back. He called out for the whole street to hear that I had betrayed Lily and James, then he cut off the index finger of his right hand and blew up the street. Then he vanished."

"How did he manage to vanish? Did he disapparate?"

"No, he did not. He is an Animagus. His Animagus form is a rat. He just joined all the other rats in the sewerage and was gone. You can imagine that I was quite out of my mind. I laughed hysterically because it was clear at this very moment that he framed me for his crime. No one would have believed me when I said I wasn't the Secret Keeper, because we had told no one about the switch."

"Why did you not inform anyone?"

"Because I was sure Voldemort would come after me and he could well have killed me, but I would have been unable to give the secret away, since I didn't keep it. We didn't know that Pettigrew had spied on us for a whole year. We only knew someone in our group was giving secrets away. I suspected the wrong friend."

"The wrong friend being who?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Good, we keep it at that. When did you see Peter Pettigrew the next time?"

"On the picture on the front page of a Daily Prophet in July 1993 at Azkaban."

"How did you get hold of a newspaper there? As far as I know prisoners in Azkaban are not allowed to get any."

"No, they're not. Minister Fudge gave it to me when I asked him for it. He was on one of his inspections of the prison."

"So he gave you the Daily Prophet and you saw Peter Pettigrew on the front page? I don't remember having seen anything like that ever since 1981."

"No, you wouldn't have seen him, but I did. He was in his Animagus form. He was a rat. A pet to be precise and he sat on the shoulder of one of the children of Arthur Weasley. Ron Weasley."

"Ah! And you could tell that this rat was Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form?"

"Yes."

"After all these years?"

"Yes. I knew him exactly. And he had the toe missing."

"You mean the index finger?"

"Yes."

"What happened then?"

"When I read the caption that the Weasley children would be returning to Hogwarts for the start of the next term it rang a bell in me. I knew that Harry Potter would be going to Hogwarts now and that meant that Peter Pettigrew was at Hogwarts at the same time. He was hiding from the other Death Eaters who were still out there and who would probably kill him for sending their master to his downfall. The other prisoners in Azkaban did not like him very much. They were often screaming they'd kill him if they ever saw him. So I knew I had to get out..."

She looked down at something in her hand and then said:

"The Ministry recorded that the guards at Azkaban told them you were talking in your sleep and saying 'He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts'. The Ministry officials concluded you were after your godson Harry Potter, but you actually referred to Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes. I didn't even dream of harming my godson, I wanted to protect him."

"I see. We still don't know how you got out of Azkaban, Mr. Black! Would you care to elaborate?"

I throw a quick glance to Albus, but he nods, so I look back at her and tell her:

"I'm an Animagus, too. I was able to transform in my cell and it helped me to remain halfway sane and to keep my power. I was very thin though and quite weak when I broke out. I was thin enough to transform into my Animagus form and slip through the bars of the gates. I swam to the shore and that was it."

She stares at me in shock.

"Would you demonstrate your transformation?"

"Yes, sure."

I get up, transform and trot once around the room. Then I return to my chair and transform back.

"There is no dog registered at the ministry as an Animagus. Would you care to tell us when you mastered this transformation?"

"James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and myself mastered it in our fifth year at Hogwarts. We had attempted this in secret. No one knew about it."

"What was your incentive to do this?" she asks, but this time Albus protests on my behalf.

"The question has no relation to our case, Miss Umbridge. It will be cancelled from the records," Amelia states.

"Well, then tell us when you met up with Peter Pettigrew in his human form the next time, Mr. Black."

"On the evening of 8th June 1994 at Hogwarts."

I relate the whole story of the Shrieking Shack. And then she asks me about the latest meeting, which I also elaborate.

"Very well, Mr. Black. That's all. You can sit at the side over there."

I'm relieved beyond anything imaginable. She has done it quite fairly, hasn't tried to make me slip. I sit down on an empty bench and wait for the next witness. I have now time to look around. Wormtail sits on his chair in chains. The wizard who called me inside leads Remus to the room. I give him a small smile and he breathes deeply. Then he calmly takes his assigned place and replies to Amelia's questions after his person.

"Your name?"

"Remus J. Lupin."

"Your age?"

"36."

"Your occupation?"

"Teacher."

"Where do you live, Mr. Lupin?"

"I believe it has already been stated that I cannot disclose my location as I'm keeping a safe house for several Hogwarts students."

"Right. - Miss Umbridge, your witness."

Umbridge closes in on Remus and tries to stare him down. Her demeanour is different though and I believe she is afraid of him, because she knows he's a werewolf.

"Professor Lupin," she stresses the word Professor, "when did you meet the defendant last before Halloween 1981?"

"It must have been several days before. We weren't in close contact, so I can't say exactly. But it was at least a week or more before Halloween."

"And when did you see him next after that?"

"Like everyone else I thought he was dead. However I saw him again at Hogwarts on the evening of the 8th June 1994."

He then proceeds to tell the story from his point of view, but it corresponds with mine. He doesn't falter when she asks:

"This was the night of the full moon, wasn't it, Professor?"

"Yes."

"Professor Lupin, you have been employed as a teacher by Albus Dumbledore even though you are a werewolf. How did he ensure you did not harm anyone at the school?"

"I was taking a potion. The Potions master, Professor Severus Snape, brewed it for me. It's a potion that suppresses the wolf. I transform, but I'm keeping my own mind. I'm not aggressive."

"But is it correct that you had forgotten your last dose of this potion on this particular full moon night?"

"That is correct."

"Your transformation started when you were trying to bring Peter Pettigrew back to the castle?"

"Yes. Upon which Sirius Black transformed into the dog to keep me away from the students. It didn't take too much, I had almost the full dose of the potion, so I was confused, but didn't fight much. The students remained unharmed. This has nothing to do with Peter Pettigrew's case though. It only gave him the opportunity to snatch my wand, freeze Ron Weasley and the cat and get away."

"When did you see Mr. Pettigrew the next time?"

"When he tried to break into our safe house last November."

She asks him to retell the story and he does, then she dismisses him. Remus sits down next to me and I take his hand. Albus gives us a quick glance and a wink. It seems to run the way he wants it to run. The next witness is Harry. Umbridge asks him about the night in the Shrieking Shack and then he proceeds to the night of the Third Task at the Triwizard Tournament. He has prepared himself to talk about the night and relates the whole story from when he was taken out of the maze. She seems especially interested in the story of the silver hand. He tells her very detailed how Pettigrew got it. Finally she dismisses him and he's sitting down next to me. I ruffle his hair and pull him close. He looks up to me and smiles.

"Okay?" I whisper.

"Yeah," he says.

The next witness is Hermione. She only has the story in the Shrieking Shack to relate and it corresponds with our versions. Finally it's Ron's turn. He's telling his version of the story in accordance with ours. He comes and sits down. After Ron there are a number of other witnesses, Snape is one. Dumbledore requests that the spectators have to be sent out for confidentiality for his testimony. The wish is granted, because Amelia Bones has been informed about Snape's role as a spy for the Order. Though he can't give any evidence during the events of the Shrieking Shack he can relate more recent meetings with Pettigrew. He also brings up the subject of the Dark Mark on his arm as well as Pettigrew's.

When he's dismissed he sits down a bit away from us and waits. The court is closed afterwards for the jury to discuss the case. They don't take long. Amelia waits until the jurors resume their places and asks:

"What is the jury's verdict?"

"The defendant is guilty."

Through everything Pettigrew has never said a word. I see him sinking to a small heap now. Everyone is getting very quiet and turns to Amelia, who gets up and says in a very unhappy voice:

"Due to the fact that it would be almost impossible to imprison Peter Pettigrew in Azkaban as he could transform into the rat at any given time and escape, I see myself forced to sentence Mr. Pettigrew to the Dementor's Kiss, to be administered at Azkaban tonight, and a sentence for life at Azkaban after that."

The gavel drops down and the trial is over. Pettigrew's eyes show the terror he must feel now, for a moment he makes a gurgling sound that dies down quickly. I don't want to pity him. I grasp Remus' hand and tremble, as the familiar cold rushes over me, when two Dementors enter the courtroom and take hold of Wormtail. They have to almost carry him out. I take a deep breath. We can leave the courtroom. We go down to Albus and then on to the other students. Arthur and Molly Weasley join us to be able to say hello to Ginny and Ron. We still have the tan from the days in the mountains and the sun and Molly looks at us and says:

"Thank you, you are really looking well after them, they look in perfect condition!"

I embrace Molly. Then I tell her:

"They look after themselves, Molly! They're really good kids, we have no trouble with them at all."

"You've all got a tan! I thought it's winter there, too!" she exclaims.

"Yes, dear Molly, but we've just spent ten days on ski slopes on over 2000 metres with only sunshine every day! Naturally we have a tan."

"Oh, I forgot for a moment. I'm sure it was lovely!"

"I'm very glad we were there, Molly, because thinking of those happy days helped me through testifying here. It wasn't just lovely, it was probably the happiest vacation I ever spent."

"Terrible thing! He looked quite done in already!" Arthur mumbles, returning our attention to the trial and its result.

"Well, he forced me to go through this for 12 years, Arthur! I couldn't say I feel any pity," I tell him coldly.

Albus joins us and remarks:

"Miss Umbridge was very subdued, wasn't she?"

"Yes, I was wondering what made her go so smoothly..." I confirm.

Arthur looks a bit puzzled. We explain to him that we have expected her to try and catch me unawares to be able to prosecute me. He nods.

"I think, the case was too clear cut. Cornelius must have called her back. But let us not stay here. I think, we must return you to your home as soon as we can," Albus says mildly.

Half an hour later we all land in our classroom in Switzerland. I look around and ask Remus:

"What do you say? We leave tomorrow off? Start the term one week late?"

"Yes. That's okay with me, because we're a bit ahead anyway."

"Yay!" the students all holler. They disperse and Remus pulls me up to our bedroom.



Remus


By Monday we return back to the normal routine. We get to business right away and catch up with the lost week. Things run smoothly in the next few weeks. The sun is out quite often, as we're just above the usual fog area. Sometimes we are right in the middle of it, but we get used to this and normally January and February provide us with wonderful days, cold and crisp, but clear and sunny. We get some toboggans for the kids and they go out and use them on the hill. They're tireless and walk up the hill again and again. Sometimes they take out their brooms and fly. We send them outside as often as possible.

Because of the success we also take them out to ski some more in other areas. We all get better quickly, once we're out and warmed up we make good use of our ski passes for the lifts. They quickly decide that this is a sport almost as cool as Quidditch. Not only Draco gets very good at it, Ron and the Patil twins have gotten the hang of it as well, and Ginny is a very elegant skier after only a short time. Like Draco she has chosen an entirely black outfit and looks stunning with her long coppery hair. She gets stared at very often. Ernie doesn't always enjoy the attention his girlfriend gets.

We work them quite hard in Defence now. They are getting practical lessons once a week to practice their duelling. They're paired up and have to disarm each other. We make it a form of competition. Everyone has to face everyone and the one who wins the most duels will receive the most points for his or her house. On one occasion we have Barb in the room, when we have them duel and she's shocked, how the kids throw around curses. They block them, dodge them, reverse them and finally have to disarm their opponents. Some of the duels are real battles, especially when Hermione and Harry fight each other. Both have not lost one match, only Hermione's against Ginny was close. It's their second duel and they don't let their love for each other interfere. Hermione throws a Jelly Legs at Harry. He dodges and counters with a stunner, but she has her shield up in a second. From behind the shield she tries Stupefy on Harry, but he deflects it. He gets her with a Rictusempra, but Hermione is able to disregard it and fires back with a boxing hex. This time she hits Harry and sends another one right away, hitting his thigh. He drops to the floor and dodges it, uses Expelliarmus on her, but she's able to deflect it. They go on for at least half an hour until Harry once again dodges one curse to be caught on the floor with a final Expelliarmus from Hermione.

She sinks down on the floor next to Harry and hands him his wand back. Then she's trying to catch her breath and I congratulate them both on their duel.

"That was great! You're getting good at this. Now we'll be able to add more different curses and you can find your own to work out, too," I tell them, "There's only one limit. Each curse you find on your own has to be shown to either me or Siri and will be added to the list we keep. You may well surprise each other, but not us. Clear?"

"Clear!" they all confirm.



Hermione


I can't believe how smoothly things go right now... it's almost creepy, but we have to concentrate on our schoolwork. OWLS are awaiting all of us and I can't let myself be distracted from studying. Defence with so much duelling is exhausting. It's fun though, in a way. We really work each other out and we all get better. Malfoy is astonishingly benign and doesn't cheat with tabooed spells. We all find more of them in the many books of the library and Remus makes us study the theory and research the history of those spells. We're all getting pretty good at deflection. And sometimes, if one's fast enough, there are counter curses which can be used.

But there are the moments when it's impossible not to think about those Death Eaters out there. I hear little from my parents, but they seem to be okay. I hoped I'd get to see them with the Weasleys at the trial, but they weren't allowed to bring in Muggles.

It's been three weeks. I can still hear that verdict! I know why Mrs Bones had to sentence Wormtail to this, but the thought was horrible. And that very same night! It was an awful evening at Sunnegg! All of us were sort of waiting.

The next morning Remus and Sirius picked a letter from Anana's leg and passed it to all of us to read. It said:

"Dear Remus and Sirius

I have been appointed a witness for the Ministry, together with several others, to attend the execution of yesterday's sentence over Peter Pettigrew.

It was probably the worst thing I have ever witnessed in my long life and I can safely say that I've seen many, many atrocious things. I know as you know it was inevitable to be able to imprison him for life.

The Dementors brought him forth, a shrieking, sometimes screaming lump of a man. Cornelius Fudge was there at my side and had to ask Pettigrew for a final word. He was unable to say it if he had one. Then a third Dementor lowered its hood and pressed down on Pettigrew. He didn't much struggle, and after two minutes everything was over. He is now a docile shell who has been put into a cell where he will receive food and water and does not need to even be watched. The Dementors left for an hour, during which Amelia Bones, Cornelius Fudge, the other witnesses and myself were able to find out whether there was any reason left inside the prisoner. We could not get a word out of him. He was just looking at us, but his eyes were empty. Apparently he will be able to talk again, but will have no memory at all of anything that happened before the Kiss.

I felt I had to inform you of last night's event. To be honest, I was utterly relieved that I was witnessing the sentence of Peter Pettigrew, as sorry as I am for that, and not the execution of Sirius Black.

With that I want to let you know how much you both mean to me! You are some of the true light in my old age and I hope to remain

Yours sincerely

Albus Dumbledore"

It was easy to see how much Professor Dumbledore was shaken by having to watch Dementors suck the soul out of someone. I'm only too glad it wasn't me! But he's practically told Remus and Sirius how much he loves them. I think that was a wonderful end to such a horrible story he had to tell. I'm still a bit shaken by it myself.

It took another two weeks and then another letter found its way to the breakfast table, this time from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was addressed to Sirius who opened it with trembling hands. He read it and then grinned. My trepidation vanished, because Padfoot only puts that grin up when he's quite happy about something. The letter brought his new papers, identity card and a form to register as an Animagus. I think that must have been what made him smile. We all pored over it and noticed that some of the questions sounded a bit ridiculous, like the one asking for Sirius to state the spell he used to transform. Like this wasn't perfectly well known, once an Animagus WAS an Animagus.



Sirius


I left the stuff on the kitchen table the whole day. Now I still can't believe I'm holding those papers in my hands. It is practically like getting me a new life. Not one word about the unregistered Animagus either, but I suppose my twelve years in hell would account for more than enough punishment for that. It's just a fine in the books. I'm staring at my personal documents. With these I can get a passport. And with a passport I can get a new driver's license and I can register in Switzerland as a real citizen, not just some stray dog living here on a vet's certificate!

Not to take me wrong, I still adore my dog form, I still love to become Padfoot and my lover still loves to pet Padfoot and play with him, but I'd like it to become something I can be totally at ease with. To just curl up next to Remus in my dog form when he reads and put my muzzle on his lap is one of the best feelings I know! Actually, it's after dinner now and he's getting up to go over to the living room...

I follow him and when he actually picks up a book and sits down on the sofa, I transform and hop up on the sofa next to him. Yes, this is nice. He grins. Muzzle on his thighs, mm, nice bit of scent from his trousers! Aah, this is good. Come on, Moony, where's your hand?

Finally. He's found his place and reads, his hand idly raking through the fur on my head, neck and back. He ruffles my floppy ears. Mm, just don't stop!

"You're awfully needy tonight, Padfoot," he teases me.

'Just don't stop petting!' I bark.

"Oh yes, and I understand this how?"

Oh, he's evil. I push my head against his hand. Yes, sir, you've not just started to pet me and then stop. There, just move a bit down, that's the spot, Moony!

I don't feel like doing anything, he's got a free evening, so he just spends it reading and I spend it with my head in his lap. I fall asleep some time on the way and when he finally gets ready to go to sleep he wakes me from a very nice dream! Well, doggie-nice, I was just chasing the most colourful fat butterfly!

Seemingly we've been completely left alone by the kids. We get up and Remus makes the round to lock all doors and secure them, then we go up the stairs to our bedroom. I transform, shed my clothes quickly and slip into the bed. Remus follows me a moment later and that's all I need. I really need to cuddle tonight and he gladly pulls me close. Feeling his heart beat has always calmed me down immensely. I find sleep again quickly after that.



Remus


It's the end of February. There is still a lot of snow outside, which pleases Barb. She tells us that there has been a shortage of snow for several years and that this has become a rare event, even on this altitude. There are some small ski resorts which are really in trouble, because they can't run their ski lifts due to the lack of snow.

I'm getting an owl post from Minerva, in which she tells me about the procedure for the OWLS for my students:

"Dear Remus

We have come to a decision about the OWL tests for the students in your care. All of them will be properly tested here at Hogwarts. We will be able to Portkey them over several days before the tests take place in the last week of May and the first week of June, the first exams will be held on May 27th. I suggest to Portkey them on Friday, May 24th.

Please make sure that they are up to standard in all of the subjects they will be taking. Also please send me a list of the subjects for each student and the level of it. As I understand, they do not have the same level in all of their electives. I will then be able to send you a schedule for each of them for the exams.

Since you have trained Ginny Weasley in the fifth year syllabus she has the chance to sit her OWLS as well. If she performs well we are willing to promote her to sixth year next year. As soon as the exams are over you and your students should return to the safe house. So far there's no evidence that the danger over them has lessened. This means that you and Sirius will have to stay there as well, as you will guard over them. There will also be several Aurors who will work with you two in this endeavour.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me any time!

Fondly

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

I'm quite relieved that we don't have to do the tests here. They should be well up to the demands, as we're doing a lot of revision now, of everything they've learned or should have learned in the past years. They're all studying like crazy in their free time, too. Luckily we are getting such great weather that they can take their stuff outside and work in the sunshine on the terrace. It's still cool, but during the midday hours the sun comes down hard and it warms up a lot. We give them time to study then and drape the lessons around when it's too cold to sit outside. The fresh air and sun is so healthy for them while they have their heads in the books. Siri and I take our tests and essays to grade outside as well.

In my next lesson I tell the students about Minerva's letter and the program:

"Well, there's some news about where and how you will sit your OWLS: we will have Portkeys and you will be sitting the tests together with the others at Hogwarts. That means you'll be there for about two weeks and a few days. And it means that you will have Sirius and I as your watchdogs at all times, as we know that it's not impossible to charm anyone out of the school - even though it seems impossible to go very far. There will be a group of Aurors as well."

They take the news quite easily. I give them a spoonful of sugar as well as I tell them about my next plan of an outing:

"We'll go to Basle for the 'Fasnacht', the carnival. It's the last one to be celebrated in Switzerland and one of the very famous ones. We'll attend the 'Morgestraich', the opening of the carnival on Monday morning at four o'clock. And you thought we got up early for the Zibelemärit? HA! Well, we'll practically be away from midnight on that day to midnight. You will be able to follow the first large procession of the 'cliques' the masked groups of people, then we'll take it a bit easier in the afternoon and wander the smaller alleys and go through the restaurants in the evening. This is a bit dangerous and we'll have to really stick together, but it will be fun, you'll see."

"That sounds like fun," Ginny says.

But until then your heads will be smoking! And it will only be a short break, I'm afraid, because right after coming back you'll be back studying. On the other hand I think, that these breaks are so much needed. We're all cooped up in this house together and that's not healthy if we cannot allow ourselves such little intermissions.



Harry


I think it's my brain that must be inflamed or something! I find myself unable to even put anything else in there anymore. We're treated with practice OWL tests. Those are really good for knowing what to expect, but they're also scaring us out of our pants! Today it was Potions. I didn't even realise we had so much theory! I think I'm not afraid to brew a potion for a test, but the theory really scares me. Sirius says from now on it's practice tests until we get to the real thing. In Potions, that means theory tests one week and brewing the next. Poor Siri and Remy, they will have to correct all the tests...

HA! They make it easy on themselves! Should have known that there is some Marauders left in them. How very clever. Everyone gets to correct their own tests in class. We shift the parchments along, so no one has one's own and then we go through them - we read the answers given and Sirius marks them. Hm. Quite an economising method, must have been Siri's idea.

We do it like this in all the subjects. We spend some more class time together and a little less revising otherwise, but the tests are good and we know how they will look when we get them. I think, I'm a bit more confident now. Especially after finding that some really important questions show up again and again in the tests.



Padma

Tests, tests, tests! Oh, they are getting to me, but I know we need them. I'm not so scared anymore, now that I at least know how the tests will look. And we have two teachers who allow us to do the practice tests outside on the long table, where it's sunny and amazingly warm. It's so much easier to learn this way. Barb passes by to start early spring gardening. Remus grins and tells her to be careful, or he'll spring a test on her as well. She only laughs.

I can't but wonder how Muggles do without magic, but Barb's garden is already in bloom! It's the end of March and the daffodils are all out, the tulips will follow soon, snowbells and crocus are already almost over. She's preparing the vegetable beds now, weeding and digging and then smoothing the earth. I watch her while I think about one of my next replies.

"Okay, I think, you're all through, so let's correct them," Remus says.

When we're done we're marking the tests and everyone has passed, between P and A, no one got an O yet. But there were mostly E's and A's. That means we still have a lot of work to revise. We profit from the fact that Remus and Sirius have sped us through the fifth year syllabus. Now we have class time to do this.

Then both of them quiz us. We don't have to answer in written, they just hurl questions at us from tests and we get to see very quickly where we need more studying. And they make us demonstrate spells, charms, curses. We have to react fast or the chance is over. Within several seconds they pass the question to the next student. It's very exhausting! But I think we'll probably be the best trained group of students as we're gaining confidence every day.



Draco


By gosh, those two are working us down! I don't think it would be as exhausting to study for OWLS at Hogwarts. But Merlin, I think I stand a chance to pass better than average in at least all the main subjects. Granger will put me far behind, that's for sure, the little Weasley might be up for it, too, and I expect Padma and maybe even Mandy could be better as well. As for the guys... I'm not so sure, but Potter looks very determined, I think he'll do well. Blast, I really hope, we all do well, I do think that the way we've been taught by Lupin and Black was pretty good. Wouldn't have thought I like Potions with anyone but Snape. Black makes it much more fun and at the same time teaches us enough to be able to brew correctly. He can be almost as exacting when it comes to the preparation of ingredients as Snape himself! Actually I would have expected them to favour their stupid Gryffs, after all I've heard about them, but no, they do not play favourites.

Well, I knew before that Lupin didn't, but Black isn't exactly known to like Slytherins. Seems he actually can make a difference. I did get the impression that he isn't as bad as Snape makes him look like. I've never cared for schoolwork more than what Father asked for, but now I find it quite fun and interesting. It's also like the whole pressure has fallen away from me. The group doesn't single me out either. I was scared shitless of that, but I consoled myself that Blaise would be here and the MacDougal girl. But I find I'm not depending on them.

Would like to know what Father would have to say to me being together with one of the Patil twins. Only four generations or so of wizards... I don't give a shit - she's turned out to be caring and nice. Right now she sits next to me immersed in the Charms essay we have to write. One of the last bits of homework like that, Remus said.

I'm getting used to call them all with their first names. I haven't allowed myself any slip-ups, since I came here. They in turn have taken me in somehow, given me a second chance so to speak. So there might be no friendship, but I feel I'm accepted. After being afraid to be a total outcast I'm happy enough. The ski trip was great. It was also great to go on other occasions. Mother would be outraged about my tan! Parvati says she loves it. Parvati loves other things about me, too. I'm pretty glad Remus and Sirius don't check on who sleeps where.