The latest attack would have been bad enough on its own, but with Dumbledore suspended as well, a heavy pall of fear descended over the castle. Outside the summer weather had truly begun to take hold, but the sun seemed unable to pierce the gloom inside the castle. Conversation was frequently hushed and tense, and everyone wore a pinched worried expression. Even the professors began spending increasingly more time together in the staff room, rather than alone in their own offices.

Altogether there couldn't have been a better time for the news of the first day of Sirius Black's trial to come exploding across the front page of the Daily Prophet.

It was ideal looking at it from both directions, really. The story helped break up the tense atmosphere in the castle, and the pre-existing tense atmosphere kept the reaction to the story among the student body from getting too out of hand. Though Remus did catch Minerva sending concerned glances toward Severus down at the end of the staff table the morning of.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Remus told her. "While this is happening a lot sooner than he would have preferred, Severus has had a while to accustom himself to the idea of Sirius's trial."

"The both of you knew about this?" she asked him, brandishing the paper in one hand.

"The both of us and Harry," Remus said, nodding in the direction of the boy in question. Harry had risen from the Gryffindor table and with Ron and Neville trailing after went to sit next to Draco Malfoy at the Slytherin table, presumably to discuss the news. Minerva watched with raised brows, but she didn't stop the trio, and shortly students all over the hall were getting up and swapping tables in order to gossip with friends from other Houses.

"And how exactly did that come about?" Minerva asked, though she sounded less surprised than Remus might have expected her to be.

"I was the one who realized Sirius's trial had been… overlooked initially and realized the potential for alternate explanations given the limited amount of evidence that had been originally obtained. I brought it to Dumbledore's attention and he took over in ensuring Sirius got the trial he deserves. Actually, I wonder if Lucius Malfoy realizes that by suspending the Headmaster, he gave Dumbledore the free time to help this trial come along." The thought cheered Remus immensely, possibly more than the trial itself, as he still had a fair amount of trepidation about the possible outcomes of the latter. "I told Harry because he deserved to know ahead of the media circus, and I couldn't tell Harry without telling Severus first."

"I suppose not," Minerva agreed. She cast one last look down at Severus. "You're certain he's fine with also this?"

"He isn't happy, but I doubt he'll kick up any sort of fuss," Remus said.

So really, Remus very much deserved the ironic look Minerva sent him later that afternoon when Severus was in the staff room, kicking up a fuss.

After he'd been going on for a few minutes the other members of the staff started to break off into their own separate conversations, leaving Severus directing the entirety of his tirade at Remus. Remus didn't mind; it was rather nostalgic, actually. Listening to Severus rant with one ear while he graded papers was very reminiscent of listening to Sirius and James plot with one ear while he helped Peter with his homework.

"Besides which, the man was already guilty of attempted murder," Severus snarled.

"And I suppose that would make me the murder weapon," Remus said, much sharper than he intended to.

The room fell quiet, and it was difficult to tell who looked more uncomfortable, the professors who knew what the two of them were referring to or those who didn't.

"Never mind, it's fine," Remus said, turning back to his papers as Filius and Pomona both made a concerted effort to reengage the rest in conversation. Almost immediately Remus's head shot back up and he fixed Severus with a stare. "You know what, no, it's not," he said in a hushed voice so as to not disturb the others again. "For one thing, Sirius wasn't trying to kill you."

"Right, my mistake. It was just a harmless little prank," Severus snapped back.

"Of course it wasn't, no matter what he said about it afterward. Not even Sirius, and not even as a teenager, was he ever that reckless and stupid. I'm sure he was hoping I'd turn you into a werewolf; that way you wouldn't be able to out my secret without risking your own. He was trying to protect me, and he was using me as a tool to do it, without telling me or giving any consideration for how I might feel about it. I didn't talk to him for a month after that."

Severus didn't pull off gape-mouthed the way Sirius and James had, but it was clear he was no less surprised that Remus might object to being used than those two were. In fact the only one it had occurred to without prompting was Peter, who a few years later had turned two of Remus's friend over to be killed and framed the third for it. Sometimes Remus really had to wonder about the company he kept.

He sighed. "Just try to remember I am still a person, even when I'm not."

"And yet you forgave Black eventually," Severus observed, looking at Remus contemplatively.

"Yes, after he'd spent a month grovelling and then promised to never…" Never betray Remus or any of the Marauders trust like that again. Despite that promise, despite Sirius's complete and utter sincerity when he made it, Remus had still let Sirius rot in prison for eleven years on the belief he had betrayed James – James of all people. All of Remus's righteous anger died out in an instant, leaving only a writhing mass of guilt behind. "Anyway, it was a very convincing apology," he concluded before burying himself in his grading again.

He could feel Severus eyes on him for a few moments longer, practically boring holes in Remus's skull. Then, without another word to Remus, he turned and joined Minerva's conversation about scheduling for the evening patrols.

Remus strode out of the front door of the castle and purposefully down toward the front gate. There was a figure stood there just inside the grounds that after a moment Remus recognized as Severus. It wasn't surprising to see him there, precisely, as Remus had known Severus was being called as a witness for the defence same as him, but it was odd the way he was stood there not moving.

"Were you waiting for me?" Remus asked as he approached him.

"Hardly," Severus said dismissively, and it was true that even though Remus had now caught up to him, Severus still wasn't moving. "This is asinine," he continued after a minute. "Witness for the defence of Black? Why would I ever be a witness to that man's defence?"

"Why are you here?" Remus asked. True, Severus had stopped at the threshold and appeared to be trying to talk himself out of going on, but part of Remus, a large part really, was surprised he had made it this far.

"Albus has asked – required it of me. He says I should do it for Harry. As though having that mangy mutt around could ever be in Harry's best interest," he said.

"The Sirius I know, presuming he is still the Sirius I know, would be willing to kill or die for Harry. I don't say that as hyperbole, I mean that if at this very instant, after Sirius hasn't even seen Harry in over eleven years, if you told him he needed to die to protect Harry, or kill someone, he'd do it, no questions asked."

"If I'm not mistaken it's your belief in his willingness to kill 'no questions asked' that got Black into this position in the first place," Severus sniped.

Remus held back a wince. "Yes, well, you take my meaning. Sirius loves Harry and would do anything for him. Given what we fear is to come, I can't see how having someone like that on his side could be anything but a benefit to Harry. But don't listen to me."

"Excuse me?" Severus said, taken aback.

"That's what I think, but it doesn't matter what I think, does it? You're Harry's guardian, you should do whatever you think is in his best interest, whether that's helping Sirius go free or going on the witness stand and saying everything possible to get him locked up again."

"And you aren't going to threaten hound me relentlessly until change my mind?" Severus asked, a bit of dry wit sneaking into his tone.

Remus smiled. "Not this time. There wouldn't be much point in it after you've already given your testimony."

"True. All right, let's get this over with." Severus walked through the open gates and Disapparated with a loud crack.

Remus followed after, appearing in the entry hall of the Ministry for Magic. The pair of them headed down to the courtrooms beneath the Ministry. Those particular courtrooms hadn't been used in years to Remus's understanding, but he suspected the Ministry and the Wizengamot – because of his bias on the matter, Dumbledore had stepped aside as Chief Warlock in matters relating to the trial – were attempting to make some kind of point. Given the articles in the Daily Prophet over the past three days, they were failing spectacularly. It was amazing how many different subtle ways Rita Skeeter had come up with to call both bodies incompetent.

Outside the courtroom Severus was pulled aside by Sirius's barrister – a man in his mid-thirties with slick tawny hair by the name of Brantley Boyle – as he would be the first one to give testimony once the court had reconvened for the morning. Remus was directed inside to an area where he could wait and watch the trial until he was called. He immediately spotted a familiar figure in the stands – really, it would have been hard not to see him – and made his way over.

"Hello Hagrid," Remus said, taking a seat next to the man. The wizard on Hagrid's other side gave him a brief suspicious look before going back to scrutinizing the courtroom. Presumably he was Hagrid's guard since as far as Remus knew he was still under arrest. "Glad to see you here."

"Glad to be here," Hagrid said feelingly.

"I can imagine. How are you here?" Remus asked. "I thought they had sent you to…"

"They did, but Dumbledore named me as a witness for the defence for Sirius. I musta bin the last ter see him before he went after Pettigrew. He showed up at Lily an' James's house when I was fetchin' Harry. White an' shakin', he was. Shoulda known then he never coulda hurt them."

Remus bit back a grimace. Hagrid wasn't the one who ought to have known Sirius better than that. He changed the subject, "What about you? Have they scheduled a trial date?"

"Dumbledore's bin puttin' 'em off on it. Says there's too much ter worry 'bout with Sirius's trial." Hagrid glanced over at his guard then leaned in closer to Remus. "Between you an' me, I'm thinkin' he wants ter get back to the school firs'. Poke around fer evidence an' such. There's no proof that it weren't me that did it, an' the Wizengamot's not inclined to look kindly on folks like me. But I suppose yeh've had more than yer fair share of that too."

Before Remus could reply to that, the courtroom was called to order. There were a few preliminaries gotten out of the way before Severus was brought in to give his testimony.

"Mr. Snape, Mr. Boyle says you've been brought in as an expert on Death Eaters," said Amelia Bones. As the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she was acting as prosecutor. "Could you please elaborate as to what qualifies you as an expert?"

"Professor Snape if you please, and that is a matter of public record," Severus drawled.

"For the members of our jury who might not be familiar with those decade old records, could you please state your qualifications. Professor."

Severus gave her an icy glare. "I was a Death Eater, before I realized the Dark Lord's goals did not align with my own. I contacted Albus Dumbledore and served as a spy for the last year and a half of the war," Severus said.

"How old were you when you joined that group?" Boyle asked.

"Seventeen," Snape said.

"That's very young," Boyle observed with an affected air of sympathy.

That too received an icy glare. "I fail to see how that's relevant."

Boyle smiled tightly. "Well. In your time as a Death Eater and as a spy, were you ever aware of Black being a member of that group?"

"The list of the names of every Death Eater I was aware of is also a matter of public record. However, since apparently no one has bothered to do their homework, for simplicity's sake I will tell you the name Sirius Black was not on there," Severus said.

"Mr. Black has claimed Peter Pettigrew is guilty of the crimes he has been accused of," Madam Bones said. "Does Pettigrew's name feature in your list of known Death Eaters?"

"No, it does not," Severus answered.

"So may we then assume that as you were aware of neither of them as being Death Eaters, it is equally likely that either of them could have been one?" asked Madam Bones. Severus was silent for a long minute, long enough that Madam Bones prompted him again.

Finally he spoke. "It would be equally likely provided one does not take into consideration the characters of the two men."

Boyle pounced on that. "Are you saying you consider one of the two of them to be less likely to have become a Death Eater?"

"Both Black and Pettigrew have qualities that would have served them well as members of that organization, and joining it is something I could easily believe of either of them. That said, Black is loud and brash and rarely passes up a chance to be the centre of attention. Pettigrew is a shirking, cowardly follower who was often overlooked even by his own supposed friends. Either of them might have joined, but that does not mean they are equally likely to have done soon without having drawn my attention."

"You're saying you don't believe Mr. Black was a Death Eater?" Boyle prompted.

"Are you incapable of pushing up his robe sleeve and seeing for yourself?" Severus returned.

Madam Bones interjected. "This court has already established Mr. Black does not bear the Dark Mark, and has further established that this does not preclude him from having passed information along to You-Know-Who or his followers."

"Perhaps I should rephrase," Boyle said. "Is it your expert opinion as a reformed Death Eater that it is unlikely Mr. Black was ever allied with that group?"

"It is my expert opinion as a former spy that Black wouldn't last a day in that profession without crowing about it to all and sundry," Severus said.

"Thank you, professor," Boyle said looking a bit as though he'd rather be strangling Severus than offering him gratitude. "No further questions."

Madam Bones agreed that she too had no further questions, and Severus was dismissed. He got up and rather than moving up to the stands swept out of the courtroom altogether.

Then it was Remus's turn to give testimony. For the fourth and hopefully last time, Remus related the story of how he'd come to suspect Sirius's innocence. Madam Bones and Boyle were less interested in the details of what Remus believed to have happened, having already heard the story from Sirius. Instead they focused their questions on issues surrounding Scabbers – who still had yet to be caught and it was doubtful he ever would be at this point – and on Remus's assessment of Sirius and Peter's characters. Finally, after what was probably a much shorter time than it could have been but still much longer than Remus would have liked, Madam Bones declared she had no further questions for him.

"I do have one last point of clarification I would like to make," Boyle said. "You said that in addition to Pettigrew, Black and Potter also took on Animagus forms, correct?"

"Correct," Remus said.

"We've already established Pettigrew turns into a rat," Boyle said, a faint distaste colouring the words. "Could you please tell the court what animal Black turns into?"

Remus narrowed his eyes at the man. There was no question that he already knew the answer to that, just as there was no question as to what he was really up to.

Remus's initial impulse was to snap at the man. Just because a person turned into an animal on occasion didn't give him any right to suddenly make sweeping generalizations about their character. People were more than the stereotypes others forced upon them, and furthermore what right did this man have to bring such gross oversimplifications into what was supposed to be a hunt for the truth?

Almost involuntarily Remus's eyes flickered up to the one space in the room he'd been studiously avoiding. There he was. Sirius. It was clear someone – likely Dumbledore or possibly Boyle – had arranged for Sirius a chance to attend to his personal grooming. His robes were well-fitted and clean, his hair brushed, his face clean-shaven, and his whole appearance generally tidy. But the good fit to his robes only made apparent how unhealthily thin he'd become, the tidy neat brushing of his hair couldn't hide how stringy and lank it was, and the lack of a beard emphasized the gauntness of his face. And his eyes. Sirius's eyes had always been bright and full of laughter. Now they were sunken and hollow. Sirius's eyes shouldn't look like that.

The only thing about Sirius that wasn't thin or wan or haunted was his expression. He looked to be just as offended by Boyle's question and insinuations as Remus was. In fact, he rather looked like he was offended on Remus's behalf, and would like to hit the man with a good Stinging Hex. That, more so than anything, was what pushed Remus over the edge.

Very quickly and quietly, not sure if this was bravery or cowardice, Remus said, "He's a dog. A very large friendly dog. Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you." Boyle's smile made Remus sick to his stomach. Definitely cowardice, he decided. And yet as he swept out of the courtroom – unable to stand being there for another minute – he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

To his surprise, Severus was still standing out in the hallway, keeping the gathered reporters at bay by the force of his glare. "Were you waiting for me?" Remus asked, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"Hardly," was Severus's once again reply, but this time Remus's arrival did seem to be his cue to continue onward.

Remus thought it best not to mention that, but once they were far enough away from prying ears, there was something that he felt he needed to say. "Thank you. For defending Sirius with your testimony." Because despite the snark and bluster on exhibit, that is what Severus's words worked out to at the core of them.

"I did no such thing," Severus said. "We told Harry the purpose of this trial was to find the truth of the matter. Rather, you told him that, but I was present at the time and did not disagree and I doubt a twelve year old, no matter how bright, would make that distinction. I decided what was in Harry's best interest was providing consistency in words and actions, so I told the truth. Whose interests the truth serves has nothing to do with me."

"Ah," Remus said, grinning. "Well, whoever it is that's responsible for that, I am grateful to them."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Noted."

The next few days passed interminably slowly. Remus existed in what seemed a constant state of worry, fluctuating between worry about the trial and worry about the attacks on the school. His brain was so preoccupied with the two that there were times when his body seemed to go on automatic and function without the rest of him for a while, so that times he found himself suddenly in the middle of something without any clear recollection of having started it. This was manageable when it was merely eating dinner that he had worked his way through without thinking, but it was a bit more troubling at times like these, when he had been escorting the first year Gryffindors back to their common room after class and had no specific memories of anything between leaving the classroom and arriving at the entrance to the Tower.

The children climbed in through the portrait hole, looking unconcerned – or at least no more concerned than they all did these days – so Remus assumed things had gone without incident. Granted, he didn't think it especially likely that he would remain in his fugue state had they actually been attacked, but he really needed to get a handle on things. Or preferably matters needed to resolve themselves so he didn't have to wander around in a constant state of worry anymore.

After the rest of the students had returned to the common room, Ginny Weasley lingered, standing with her back to the opening and twisting her hands before her. She looked pale and almost frightened. It wasn't an uncommon look for the students these days, but it was so markedly different from the bright little girl she'd been on Christmas morning – furiously arguing with her brother about the new rat, beaming with joy when Harry received her impromptu gift with genuine enthusiasm, and even burying her face into her pillow with vivid embarrassment – that Remus couldn't help but add worry for her onto his growing list.

He knelt down so he could look her in the eye. "Is something wrong?" he asked her as gently as possible.

"I have to tell you something," she mumbled. Her eyes wouldn't meet Remus's, but that didn't hide the haunted look in them. Remus knew who she reminded him of – Sirius, sitting in the courtroom on trial after eleven years of being tormented by Dementors.

Remus's alarm ratcheted up even higher. "What is it?"

Ginny's mouth opened, but no sound came out. She snapped it shut and began rocking back and forth. After a long minute she opened her mouth again.

"Remus!" Dumbledore, of all people, came striding down the hallway from behind them. "What a fortuitous coincidence; I was going to come to find you after I spoke with Harry."

Ginny gave an "eep!" of surprise and after a fleeting, frightened look at Dumbledore she scampered through the open portrait hole, the painting swinging shut behind her.

"Oh dear," Dumbledore said after watching Ginny's retreat. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything important."

"I'm not sure," Remus confessed. It was possible Ginny was only feeling the same acute stress they all had been feeling lately and wanted to talk to someone about it, but something about the encounter suggested to him there was more to it than that. "I'll talk to her later. Hello, Headmaster."

"Not at the moment. I'm merely here on a brief visit with permission of the Acting Headmistress. I wanted to deliver the news in person," Dumbledore said.

Remus's brain twisted around, catching up with the oddness of the situation. Dumbledore was right, he wasn't the headmaster right now, and he shouldn't be here at all. He should be at the Ministry. Unless…

"The trial?" Remus asked.

"Finished and judgement passed." Dumbledore smiled. "Sirius has been found innocent of all charges."

Relief crashed through Remus, leaving him staggering with the sudden weightlessness of the feeling. "Thank…" anything, everything, "goodness. Where is he?" Remus asked, peering behind Dumbledore as though he expected Sirius to come ambling down the hallway any second now. Part of him did.

"Still at the Ministry. It's not been that long since the verdict was passed and there is a fair amount of processing to be done. I've left him Madam Bones' very capable hands," said Dumbledore.

"His prosecutor?" Remus asked.

"A task she was assigned and carried out in a thorough but unbiased manner. Now she is being required to see to Sirius's release, a job which I am certain she will carry out with equal professionalism," Dumbledore said. "That allowed me time to arrange other matters. Sirius is not in the best health, and he needs somewhere to recuperate."

It was like a wash of cold water over Remus. The trial was over, but that didn't mean things were now resolved. Sirius would still be recovering for a long time yet. "Of course. Will he be going to St. Mungo's?"

"I suggested that to him, but he had something else in mind. He was quite vehement about it, and I did have to concede St. Mungo's was likely more than what he needed. So I'm here to arrange for it." Remus stared at him uncomprehendingly. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Sirius will be coming here to stay in the Hospital Wing. Minerva and Poppy have already given their permission for him to stay and special dispensation for Harry to visit him after classes tomorrow if he likes. I was just coming to tell Harry the good news."

"Not to mention the Hospital wing is for children, not for grown adults. It's ludicrous."

Remus glanced up at Severus. He had thought the man had been done with his tirade earlier when he had gone from pacing the length of Remus's office to sitting down in one of the chairs on the other side of Remus's desk, but after a breath he'd kept going. Now though he seemed well and truly done.

"It's not all that surprising they would choose to make an exception given… everything," Remus pointed out reasonably.

Severus scowled. "It may be their prerogative to do so. However, I don't recall giving permission for my ward to run off cavorting with him."

"Cavorting might be a strong word for it," Remus said.

Severus's scowl deepened, then it faded as a questioning look passed over his face. "And what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be down in the Hospital Wing as well, taking part in some joyous reunion, slobbering all over each other or something?"

"I…" The writhing mass of guilt in Remus's gut seethed.

Suddenly the door to Remus's office burst open to admit Harry and Sirius. Severus sent Remus a dry look. "Cavorting."

Harry brightened at the sight of both Remus and Severus, while Sirius noticeably paled – an impressive feat given how pale he was already. "Remus, Uncle Severus! We figured out the Chamber of Secrets!"

Remus and Severus exchanged a look. "What did you figure out?" Remus asked.

"It's a basilisk!" Harry cried. "It's been traveling through the pipes, and the voices I've been hearing is it talking in Parseltongue. The reason people have been getting Petrified is because they've all looked it in the eyes, but not directly: Colin saw it through his camera, Justin saw it through Nick, who's already dead, and Hermione and Penelope used Penelope's mirror to look around the corner first and saw it in there. And Mrs. Norris saw its reflection in the water outside the flooded bathroom. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and she must be the girl who died the last time the Chamber was opened and just never left the bathroom. That's where the entrance is!"

There was a long moment of silence as Remus and Severus processed the information just thrown at them. "You may well be right," Severus said. "A very astute observation, Harry."

Harry looked thrilled at the compliment, but Sirius seemed like he was offended on Harry's behalf. "Astute? It was bloody brilliant. This kid's a ruddy genius," he said, ruffling Harry's hair.

"Language, Black," Severus said.

"Don't tell me what to do, Snape," Sirius snapped back.

Remus cleared his throat. "I believe there's a basilisk we need to attend to."

"Right you are, Moony. Now, how are we going to wrangle this thing? I'm thinking…" Sirius rambled on with ideas as though he was going to be helping. As though he, still pale and thin and trembling from over a decade spent in prison being constantly tormented was going to be assisting in fighting a basilisk.

"Stop," Remus commanded. He slammed his hands to the desk, trying to hide how hard they were shaking. He'd only just got Sirius back; he couldn't lose him again. "Just stop. You are not going to be coming with us, Sirius. You are going to escort Harry back to the Hospital Wing and stay there. Someone will be by later to escort you back to your common room, Harry. Severus and I will alert the rest of the staff and we will handle the basilisk."

Sirius visibly deflated. "Right. Okay. C'mon Harry, let's get out of the way."

Harry's gaze darted quickly between the three men. "All right. Be careful Uncle Severus, Remus."

"Have you ever known me to be reckless?" Severus asked.

Harry grinned. "Nope. See you later," he said, and headed out. Sirius cast one last long look at Remus, then followed.

Now Severus was giving an assessing look at Remus. Remus could feel the knot of guilt in him growing with each passing second. After a moment, Severus stood. "I'm sure everyone else is in the staff room."

"I'm sure they are," Remus agreed. He stood as well, and they went to rouse the rest of the staff to kill a basilisk.

Their plan was quite simple once they'd put it together. The likely entrance to the Chamber was found in the girl's toilet, as Harry had suggested. It required the use of Parseltongue to gain access, but it was a simple matter to have Harry teach Severus's pet snake to say the word "open" on command. The basilisk was also easily dealt with, now that they knew what it was they were facing. All the roosters at the school had been killed earlier that year, but Minerva would be able to go out and procure one for their use the following morning. Then Minerva and Severus, with rooster and snake in hand, would head down to the Chamber and make short work of the creature. In the meanwhile the students would be kept in their common rooms, guarded by a staff member at all times.

It was a very good plan. So good that Remus went to take the first shift guarding Gryffindor Tower convinced that by this time tomorrow all he'd have left to worry about was how to apologize to Sirius for everything he'd done wrong that afternoon and over the past eleven years. Then a first year girl ran up to him near to tears in a panic, and before she'd even said a word Remus realized he had completely forgotten to follow up with Ginny Weasley.

A new plan was needed. Since they could no longer afford to wait for morning so a rooster could be fetched, Filius agreed to assist Severus and Minerva in taking the basilisk down. A basilisk was a dangerous creature, but it wasn't beyond the abilities of a group of well-trained wizards prepared for what they were dealing with. Remus was given the responsibility of going with them, finding Ginny, and protecting her if she was still alive. Finally Gilderoy – who had been "accidentally" excluded from their previous planning session – insisted on coming along too. With a quick exchanged look the other four decided the hindrance of having him along was worth the time saved by not trying to convince him to stay behind.

The five of them set out, traveling through the secret entrance in the girl's toilet down an absurdly spacious pipe to a long stone tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there was a stone wall carved with two entwined serpents with glittering emerald eyes. Severus tapped his snake twice on the head and she hissed at the wall. The serpents parted at the two halves of the wall slowly slid open.

The next thing Remus remembered he was standing in a long dimly lit chamber, Ginny Weasley hugging him about the waist and crying. In front of him was a very, very large dead basilisk and behind him was Gilderoy Lockhart sprawled unconscious on the ground with both Minerva and Filius pointing their wands at him. Severus looked as though he might have been doing the same, had his hands not already been full with a small black book with what appeared to be one of the basilisk's fangs stabbed through it.

"Memory Charm," Severus said to Remus by way of explanation.

"Ah," Remus said as he rubbed Ginny's back in attempt to soothe her. It did explain a lot. Quite a lot, actually, more the more he thought about it. He surveyed the room again – dead basilisk; alive Ginny, who appeared unharmed, if distressed; Severus, Minerva, and Filius unharmed; and a very thoroughly and deliberately destroyed book, which Remus was tentatively also classifying as a positive development. "I take it everything worked out all right? Aside from us needing a new Defence professor again."

Minerva snorted in disgust. "That would be part of everything working out all right, I should think."

Remus inclined his head in agreement. "Well then, I think we ought to get Miss Weasley back up to the safety of the main building. You can fill me in on the rest later."

Remus leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily, feeling emotionally exhausted. He'd just spent a long time talking to Ginny, helping her to sort through her emotions after what she'd been through. He had offered to do it – who knew better than him what it was like to have something dark hiding inside of you, to wake up to great dark patches in your memory, terrified of what you might have done – but he had underestimated how taxing he would find the conversation. He wasn't sure he was up for anything else at the moment.

It was also possible he was making excuses not to do the one thing he really wanted to, but was terrified of facing.

Just then his door opened, making any meditations on the matter something of a moot point.

"Sirius," Remus said, getting up out of his chair.

"Hey there, Moon – Remus," Sirius said. He stood awkwardly in the doorway. Remus suspected Sirius wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be here at all.

"Are you okay? That is, should you even be out walking around right now?" Remus asked. Sirius had been admitted to the Hospital Wing for a reason.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, mother. I managed to walk here and back yesterday without any problems, didn't I? I've not been chained to the bed yet. Besides I wanted a chance to talk to you when Sniv – Snape wasn't around. Sorry, I know the two of you are friends now." He looked as though the words had physically pained him to say.

"We aren't…" Remus paused mid-sentence, considering. "Huh. You know I think we actually are friends. How odd."

Sirius grimaced. "Now I wish I hadn't said anything."

"He's much better than he was when we were kids, you know. Well, he's better anyway," Remus explained. He quirked a half-smile, more to himself than anything. "He's not mean, that's just the way he talks."

Sirius was openly incredulous. "Are we sure you're not the one that been driven crazy by a decade in prison?"

Remus blanched. He knew it would come to this. He'd failed Sirius so utterly, left him to rot in prison for years. There was no way Sirius would ever forgive him for it. It was too deep a betrayal; he was –

"I'm sorry," Sirius blurted.

"You're… what?"

"Look, I've been thinking about it a lot and I think I've figured out why you're angry. It's one of three things. Well, four, but I'm pretty sure you can't be mad at me for my barrister being an arse since Dumbledore was the one to hire him. So it's got to be either running off after Wormtail without telling anyone what was going on, or abandoning Harry to do that, or for not telling you about the switch in Secret-"

Remus hugged him. He held on tight, like Sirius was a brother finally returned from long years away at war. Actually, that was almost exactly what it was like. "I'm not angry; I was sure you would be. I should have known you never could have betrayed Lily and James like that."

Sirius barked out a laugh and squeezed Remus back just as fiercely. "We're idiots, aren't we? The lot – the pair of us."

"The lot of us," Remus corrected. "Harry's clever for his age, but he's still only twelve, and Severus definitely has his moments."

"Oi," Sirius said, giving him a playful punch in the arm. "Don't put me in a group with that git."

"You might not have a choice about that if Harry has any say in the matter," Remus said.

"Yeah, I've been pretending not to notice that, thanks," Sirius said. He sprawled out in one of the chairs, looking perfectly at ease now. "Is true Snape and Lily were cousins?"

"Second cousins, and yes, apparently," Remus said. He took a seat opposite Sirius.

"I guess that explains why she put up with him for as long as she did," Sirius mused.

"I don't think she ever knew about that, actually. I'm fairly certain Severus only discovered the connection last year when he was trying to find alternative living arrangements for Harry. Lily and James did want him to go to family if possible," Remus said.

"And now Harry's living with 'Uncle Severus,'" Sirius said, sounding resigned to the matter. "It's a weird world I've come back out to, Moony. Did you know I spent an hour this morning being interrogated by Cissa and Lucius Malfoy's son about what I did to get kicked off the Black family tree? The little bugger was calling me Uncle Sirius the whole time too."

Remus chuckled. "He and Harry have become good friends. Is Draco hoping to follow in your footsteps do you think?"

"That or he's trying to bring me back into the fold, still not sure on that one," Sirius said.

"Well, if the worst thing we have to worry about for the next while is an invitation for you to a family dinner at the Malfoy Manor, then I will count us lucky," Remus said. The past year had been busy and stressful enough for two years at least. Probably more.

"There's still the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor to hire. Any idea what Dumbledore plans to do for that?" Sirius asked with a casual air.

"He hasn't had all that much time to think about it yet – it hasn't even been a full day since Lockhart was arrested," Remus pointed out. "I do think he was maybe thinking about reaching out to some of his old Order contacts to see if he could call in a favor with one of them."

"I'm one of his old Order contacts," Sirius said.

Remus blinked a few times. "Did you want the position?"

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "I'm good at Defence, and I was exonerated so technically I'm not a felon anymore. I can take the summer to finish recovering, and then I'd have a good excuse to come back here next year and spend more time with you and Harry."

"And Severus and your new protégé Draco," Remus added wryly.

"You're playing a dangerous game there, Moony," Sirius shot back. "I know you haven't told Harry any the embarrassing bits of your stories.

"Any of them more embarrassing than the time you tried to impress Marlene McKinnon and-"

"Okay, okay, you win," Sirius said.

Remus grinned, but soon the expression shifted to something more thoughtful. "You really want to become a professor?"

"Not for forever, but if I take the Defence position it'd only be for a year anyway. You figure if I put that in my contract the curse will pass me over? I think it will. So just a year then. It'll give me something to focus on." Sirius was looking down at his hands in his lap, his fingers twitching nervously. Remus thought it was less about having a focus and more about a having a distraction. He couldn't deny that Sirius might need one right now.

Sirius visibly forced his fingers to still, then scruffed one hand through his hair. "Why, don't you think I'd be good at it?"

Remus made a show of considering the question carefully. "I think in very short order you would become all of the students' favourite professor."

"Thanks," Sirius said, flashing a grin.

"Of course," Remus said. "Now, as to whether or not you'd be any good at it…"

Sirius laughed uproariously, and for just that moment, it seemed like all was right with the world.

AN: Alternate titles for this story include "And Also There's a Basilisk" which is a bit of nonsense I came this close to using, and "Harry Has Two Daddys" which is definitely the most accurate title, but I had to leave it off because I didn't want to mislead any of the slashers.

For those of you who are wondering as to Pettigrew's fate, I did leave it ambiguous on purpose. Partially because I wanted to get away from the false sense that Sirius can only be free if Pettigrew is captured, and partially because I wanted to leave my options open in case I ever did come back to this series. That being said, if I don't ever come back to it, then I leave my lovely readers with this quote from CoS, taking place as Harry, Ron, and Lockhart are making their way to the Chamber: "the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Harry lowered his wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones."