July 19th, 1993

Harry looked down at the small metal object he had spent the last several days creating. It looked like a small rectangle made of a smooth, dull gray metal. Wrapping around it were several bands of runes etched into the side of it. As he reached down to pick it up, he could feel it almost buzzing like you held something with an active charge.

As he had planned, he had made a Magical Battery. It wasn't too tricky since runes to hold magic already existed. The only difference was that this one was supposed to be compatible with almost anything that needed magical power. That was often an issue, though the idea of batteries, at least in the magical U.K., had not been tried before. Indeed, most of the problems with the concept were with the compatibility.

Harry had solved this by charging the batteries with his own magic. Most runic arrays only usually used the creator's magic to activate the array and then had something in the array or a wardstone to keep it powered. From the start, human magic was often considered the most versatile, which was supported by all the ways it could be used. In essence, it was highly compatible. It did, unfortunately, mean he had to fill them by hand. It wasn't difficult, but it did mean he had to drain himself. On the plus side, the magic inside showed practically no loss, which meant it was unlikely the charge inside would burn out soon.

He was dragged from his thoughts when he heard a sudden noise from somewhere in his home. His face scrunched in confusion as he stilled and went silent. It took a moment, but he was sure he had heard another noise. That was strange. If Albus or Minerva came, the first thing they usually did was announce themselves. Could it have been one of his friends? They weren't meeting today as they had initially planned. Instead, they pushed it back to two days from now because Hermione was returning as well as Ron, and they wanted them to be able to join for this week. Usually, they would immediately come to greet him as well.

Instead of continuing to speculate, he decided to check and see the issue. He left his experiment room and looked down the hallway. Again, he heard a noise; this time, he could hear it coming from downstairs. He frowned as he crept over the stairs and began heading down them. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, looked around, and waited. Was it not a person at all? Maybe an animal got in the house. He had seen wildlife on the property in a wooded area near the manor. Once more, he heard another noise, which he recognized because he heard it every day. It was the sound of someone opening the refrigerator. So, someone was here, and they just wanted to get a snack before coming to see him?

He began padding in the direction of the kitchen, feeling a strange sense of anticipation, almost like the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Something didn't feel right as he got closer and closer, and for some reason, he flicked his wand out of his holster.

As he got over to the kitchen, he heard rustling. Whatever it wasn't didn't seem to be worried about being quiet. He peaked silently from the doorway and froze at what he saw. There was a man in the kitchen, one he didn't recognize.

The man looked terrible. He had long, black, ratty hair that hung down past his shoulders. It was clumped in certain spots and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. The man was tall but hunched over, making him look a little smaller. His frame was hard to get a true read on but it was clear that he was extremely thin, much more than what could be considered healthy. Of course, the most concerning thing was that the man was clearly wearing clothes that looked like tattered rags that once might have been a prisoner outfit. He was shoveling food into his mouth.

Immediately, Harry began casting an illusion to cover himself and his position at the doorway entry. It only took a moment before it was completed, and Harry moved from behind the door frame to the middle of it. Once he was completely hidden within the illusion he brought his wand up and pointed it at the man. He needed to end this fast.

Without a word, a stunning spell launched from his wand and hit the man in the back. Immediately, the man dropped everything and slumped forward before falling to the floor on his side heavily. Harry's heart raced as he looked at the downed man for a moment before slowly walking over to him. He kicked him for a moment to make sure he was out. After a few more moments, his heart rate returned to normal.

He began to think. He had overcharged the spell quite a bit to make sure it took him down, but he didn't consider that the man, with his likely weak physical constitution, would probably not be waking up anytime soon. He needed to get in contact with…

"Harry." He heard a voice call out in his house. He knew that voice as it was, coincidentally, the one that belonged to the very person he wanted to speak to. He immediately ran from the kitchen and went to the room with the fireplace. Within the room, the fireplace was lit, and there was a familiar face.

"Albus, there's…"

"Harry, listen to me very carefully, there is something I need to speak to you about." Albus cut him off. Harry frowned.

"But…"

"Please, Harry. I don't have much time. Just listen for now. Look, there has been a prisoner escape from Azkaban." Albus interrupted once more. As soon as he said the name of the feared prison, Harry froze up, instantly thinking to the knocked-out man on his kitchen floor.

"The man who escaped is named Sirius Black. He was a former friend of your parents and a traitor. He turned them over to the Dark Lord which is how the man found your family once they went into hiding. There is speculation he escaped to hunt you down. Whatever you do, do not leave Potter Manor, do you understand?" Albus continued sternly.

Upon hearing the reason for the man's incarceration, Harry felt his mind go blank. As it began to regain activity, instead of the fear he had been feeling, he felt a hot, cloudy, burning sensation fill his mind.

"This man is responsible for my parent's deaths?" He asked with a strange calmness.

"I shall come tonight where we can speak more about this. The Ministry has summoned me to begin investigating. In the meantime, you will not leave; give me your word." Albus pushed again, sounding stressed. Harry closed his eyes as he tried to think. Unfortunately, it was suddenly very hard to think, and his body felt almost unbearably tense.

"...Harry?"

"Yes. I understand." Harry answered robotically. Albus nodded.

"Good, I shall see you in a few hours." The man answered before disappearing from the fireplace. Harry stared blankly at the smoldering remains of the fire. He stared so long that when he refocused back on the world around him, there was no longer a sign in the fireplace that the call had even taken place.

The haze in Harry's mind had not lifted and instead, had likely become even more firmly entrenched in his head. He calmly looked away from the fireplace and towards the door. It was very likely that the man had played a great part in the death of his parents.

As he had told his friends, it was hard to miss his parents as individuals since he could recall nothing of them for the most part. He often thought about how different his life could have been had they lived how little he would have had to suffer. Even further, it was the absence of love he had felt for so much of his life up to when he had met Ciri that he believed he still felt the repercussions of via his muted emotions.

Without another thought, he left the room and went back down the stairs. He did not go to the kitchen where the man was though. Instead, he went to a door he had only opened a handful of times, which led to the basement of the house. He opened it and headed down the stairs into the stone walled large room.

In recent years, before he arrived, the room had been used mainly for storage. According to journals though, the room was originally used to imprison enemies of the Potters during times of conflict or war. There had once even been cells in it. While that had all been removed quite a while ago, the room was still laced with certain wards that were used for imprisonment. One was the muting of magical usage for those who were not part of the Potter family by marriage or blood.

Harry immediately began moving everything in the room until it was all up against one of the walls. Finally, he pulled out a wooden chair before casting an unbreakable charm on it. Satisfied, Harry went back up the stairs of his home and into the kitchen. As he entered, he paused and looked at the still prone form of the man on the floor. He felt his fist curl in anger as he looked at him, but he did nothing.

Instead, Harry held out his wand and cast a levitation charm on the man. He then floated him through the house and down to the basement. Then moved him to sit on the chair before cancelling the charm. He immediately then cast a charm that wrapped the man in binding rope. Because he was sitting on the chair, the rope wrapped around the chair, tying him to it.

Harry simply looked at the man for a moment before getting close. He reached out and began to pat the man down. He wanted to ensure he had no wand or knife on him. He didn't think he did, but he needed to be sure. A moment later he confirmed his suspicions when he found nothing on the man. With that done he went over to the room's stairs and sat on them wearily.

In truth, he wasn't sure what he was about to do. Looking at the man, he could feel nothing but anger, but what would he do to him? It's not like he could kill or torture him. In fact, he would likely just turn him back over to authorities but..

Harry sat there for nearly twenty minutes just looking at the man. Given the power of the spell and the weakness of the man, he would probably stay asleep for hours. Harry didn't have that much time; Albus would be coming over eventually. Even without knowing what he was going to do, Harry rose from his seated position and walked over to the man. He reached out and cast the Eneverate spell on him. Almost immediately, the man jolted upwards and began to look around wildly. However, it didn't take long for his eyes to center on the wand just a few inches from his face. The man stilled as he looked upward into Harry's face.

The man's eyes were mostly covered by the dirty mop, which the man would call hair, but Harry could still see them shining behind the strands. He even watched as they seemingly lit up in recognition. Harry wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he was certainly taken aback when, instead of anger, he saw tears form in the mans eyes.

"James? Is that really you?" He whispered. Harry paused in surprise at those words. He had to puzzle for a moment on what the man was talking about before coming to the realization. The man thought he was his father. It was pretty strange; he had been told that he looked quite a bit like his father, and in the few pictures he had seen, he could concur. That said, he didn't think he could be mistaken as the man. For one, his hair was several shades darker. Another thing was the he had a much thinner build than his father did.

"Why would my father suddenly have aged down to twelve and changed both his hair and eye color?" Harry asked back rhetorically. The man's brow furrowed, looking genuinely confused, before his eyes seemed to lock onto his own, and it lightened significantly.

"Harry." He breathed. Harry wasn't happy about the sudden realization though, if anything it only made him feel tenser.

"So, you do remember me. Impressive given how young I was the last time you must have seen me." Harry had to keep himself from growling the words out. He had dropped his wand and placed it away, mainly because he was scared that if he kept it out any longer, he might accidently use it.

"I could never forget you. James looks but Lily's eyes. I have a scar on my thumb from where you bit me when teething when I put the finger a little too close." The man tried to laugh but immediately fell into a violent coughing fit as soon as he tried. Harry almost stepped forward to help him but stopped after taking only a step. Instead, he let the man cough himself out. Eventually, he did and seemed to take a few breathes before calming down. He then looked up at Harry.

"Sorry about that. I'm… not doing so great these days. But look at you! You've grown, though you look a little small. How old are you now? You must have started Hogwarts already. Made it into Gryffindor I bet. Just like your…"

"STOP!" Harry yelled taking a step forward glaring down at the man. Had he had more presence of mind, he would have known that the room had started to shake. The man looked startled by his outburst.

"Stop talking like you care about them! Stop talking like you were their friend. You betrayed them! You sold them out like they meant nothing to you. Was it easy? Was the relationship ever even real or had you been fooling them the whole time? Was it money or power? I don't give a fuck about you! I didn't wake you up for a trip down memory lane. The only reason you sit in front of me right now is because I want to know one thing and one thing only. Why? Why did you betray my parents?" Harry yelled as he grabbed the man by his shirt's neckline and pulled him close to the point where they were almost nose to nose.

Sirius didn't answer him at first. Instead, he hung his head down so he no longer had to look Harry in the eyes. Harry said nothing, he took a single step back, but he continued to glare at the man's bowed head. He waited for a minute before Sirius Black finally looked up at him again. Harry felt his eyes go wide at the sight of the man in front of him.

He was crying. Not the teary eyes he had earlier when he thought Harry was his father. No, the tears fell freely and streaked down his entire face. If he didn't know any better, he would say the man looked heartbroken.

"I'm sorry. I truly am. You are right to blame. What happened was my fault. Had I ever thought that… Had I known about Wormtail, I would have never made your parents make the switch and… And they would still be here. I'm sorry Harry. I'm so sorry." The man began to sob; all hints of the joy he had exhibited before had left him.

Harry had no idea what was happening or what was being said. Since the man had awoken, confusion had temporarily taken over the haze of anger. He replayed the words of the man over and over in his head trying to understand them but kept coming up blank. He could feel Ciri's presence in his head, silently nudging him to see if he was alright. He said nothing back as he continued to figure out what was happening.

"What are you talking about? What's a Wormtail? What switch?" Harry demanded. Sirius considered his sobbing though he seemed to be trying to pull himself together. After a few minutes, he had finally calmed down enough to answer Harry.

"I'll… I'll explain. When growing up, your father and I were best friends. The two of us had two other best friends as well, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. The four of us called ourselves the Marauders. We had been best friends since the first year of Hogwarts. I'm… I'm from the Black family, a family notoriously considered to be Dark. When I got to Hogwarts, I was sorted into Gryffindor, the first in my family ever to not be sorted into Slytherin."

"What does this have to do with you betraying my parents."

"Just trust me. You need to understand from the beginning… My family almost disowned me for that, but your father and his family accepted me readily. In fact, almost all my holidays were spent at his house after Hogwarts. Most of my family wanted nothing to do with me…"

Harry said nothing. He still didn't see what this had to do with the betrayal but he was willing to wait.

"Remus Lupin was a werewolf. He had been bitten when he was a child and grew up his whole life as one. We found out in school and all of us decided we would become animagus to join him on Full Moons, which he described as painful and miserable. We managed to pull it off eventually, and each of us had our own forms. I was a large black dog; James was a stag and Peter was a rat. We created nicknames based on each of our forms. I was Padfoot, James was Prongs, Remus was Moony, and Peter… Peter was Wormtail." Sirius almost growled.

"So, what does Peter Pettigrew have to do with this switch?" Harry demanded.

"We maintained our friendship our entire school year but it was well known me and James were the closest. After my fifth year, my family disowned me, and the Potters took me in. James was practically my brother, and everyone knew it. After our graduation, the war with Voldemort began. It got awful. Lines were drawn, and betrayals happened. No one knew who to trust, and lifelong friendships were ended. Our own friendship with Mooney even began to become strained. He was tasked with trying to get the werewolf packs away from Voldemort's influence, but he became increasingly distant, and we heard from him less and less… there was the question if Moony could be trusted."

"Okay."

"Eventually, it became known that Voldemort was specifically looking for the Potter's and Longbottom's. Something possibly due with a prophecy. Both families were placed into hiding for their safety. The Longbottoms said they would take care of their own defense and hid in their manor with the wards at full. The Potter's, however, requested aid from Dumbledore, who hatched a plan. Potter Manor was known, and while fortified, it was believed that someone of Voldemorts capabilities, with the help of his followers. Dumbledore suggested we go to a different place which was decided to be the house at Godrics Hollow." Sirius paused again to see if he was still properly paying attention.

"I'm still listening."

"Alright… Well, Godric's Hollow wasn't as secure obviously, but Dumbledore had come to know of a powerful and obscure warding spell known as the Fidelius charm. A ward so powerful it literally erased the existence of a location under it from peoples minds, save for those who are keyed into the ward. Furthermore, the spell requires a secret keeper, someone who knows the secret the ward hides and could reveal the secrets to others."

"I have heard of the spell. It's not exactly a secret."

"Do you know how to perform it?"

"Well… No."

"Exactly, the words are simple, but the wand movements and the way one crafts the magic are almost entirely unknown. Though, Dumbledore told us, even if people did know it, most would still be unable to perform it. The power and ability to shift one's magic beyond what a wand allowed was beyond most of the population." Sirius recalled. He paused seeming to think of something before continuing once more.

"When the time came to pick the secret keeper, James obviously came to me to be it. The problem was… That it was, in fact, obvious. Everyone would suspect that I was the secret keeper, and while I would never willingly give up the secret, Voldemort was accomplished in legilimency... Er, that's-"

"I know what Legilimency is." Harry cut off, glaring at the man, who looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Right… So, Voldemort was good at getting into people's minds so there was the chance he could get access to the secret if he got to me. I told James not to pick me. Instead, we would do a switch and pick Peter. Meanwhile, I would go around and make everyone believe it was me. We called it the switch. Peter was… well, he was submissive and had a talent of being easily forgotten. Many looked down on him, but he was one of our best friends, so we believed we could trust him. At my instruction, James made Peter the secret keeper instead of me. As far as we knew at the time, the ruse was complete, and everyone we knew believed it. The only people who knew of it were myself, James, Lily, and Peter."

"Not Dumbledore?"

"No, Albus was out on the field too and couldn't take the chance that he would lose at some point, and the secret could be forced from him. Once he cast the spell, he gave us full reign." Sirius admitted. Harry sneered at that but said nothing further on that.

"So… That's it then? You're not the traitor and Peter is? Why would he betray my parents over you?" Harry asked. Sirius suddenly looked very tense and somewhat angry.

"It… It wasn't a secret that Voldemort was winning the war. We were doing our best, but more of our allies were dying, and innocents kept disappearing. Support for the fight against Voldemort was dying, yet we were still fighting… Peter was always a coward. He never stood up for himself and forced the rest of us to solve issues for him when he got into problems. When he was our friend, I thought nothing of his behavior but after…"

"Motive." Harry demanded, tired of the insinuations and just wanted to hear the words.

"He wanted to live. That is what I believe, at least. He knew we were losing and wanted a way out, so he went to Voldemort and offered your family for his own life." Sirius growled. Harry stared at the man as he thought over what he said.

In truth, he didn't believe him. It seemed too convenient that this man rotted in Azkaban and immediately had a story of his supposed innocence. Also, there were still plenty of things that didn't make sense. He couldn't actually check over anything this man told him, which only made this harder for him… Of course, there was a way to check some of the things he said; he just had to wait.

"If what you say is true, why did you immediately come here to where I live as soon as you escaped?" Harry asked suddenly. Sirius just shook his head.

"I had no idea you were here. I just wanted to see if I could get some food and supplies quickly before leaving again. I figured I was still probably on the access list, but Dumbledore probably was too, so I had to beat him here in case he came to check."

"You're not." Harry said. He had seen the warding access list. Sirius Black's name was not on it.

"It's not on the main one; James created a secondary book connected to the main one to put my name on. He did it so he could sneak me in more often when needed. He kept it in his old room, I think." Sirius revealed. Harry frowned.

"The Head of House should have been notified when such a connection was made by the current wards on the house." Harry pointed out.

"Normally, you're right, but James used some sort of spell to confuse the warding scheme not too. He didn't go into how he had performed the spell, and after, I never bothered to really ask. You can look for it. He kept the book in a fake book in his room. Hidden on his bookshelf I think." Sirius pushed. Harry eyed him for a moment. That, at least, was something he could check into. After a few more minutes, Harry came to a decision.

"You'll stay here until I figure out what to do with you. I'll see if I can verify your story. Don't think that means I believe you, though." Harry said as he looked into the man's eyes once more. He pulled his wand out and immediately began to charge a powerful, stunning spell, even more so than the one he had used earlier. He lifted his wand and pointed at the man, which caused Sirius to stiffen.

"Wai-…" Harry didn't let him finish as he cast the spell right in his face, instantly knocking the man out. In truth, he also had an illusion that could force a target to sleep, but there was no need to reveal that to the man yet. Harry looked at the fugitive before sighing. Today was going to be a long day.

That Night

Harry was already sitting down wearily in a deep chair next to the fireplace when Albus finally came through it. The man looked to be both in a rush and incredibly exhausted at the same time. Harry lifted his head to stare at the man silently for a moment before gesturing to the chair opposite him to get Albus to sit. A glass with a brown liquid sitting and waiting on a small table next to said chair.

Albus immediately walked over and sank into the chair himself. As soon as he did, his posture fell away, and he showed how fatigued he was. The man turned his head and looked at the glass speculatively. He picked it up and took a sip before looking over at Harry.

"I thought we took all the alcohol out of the house." He said lightly. Harry shook his head.

"There is a hidden room under the stairs that has been enlarged, and there is a large store of various alcohols. I recognized one as the bottle you keep in the bottom drawer of your desk so I figured you might appreciate it after such a long day. I don't drink any of the alcohol myself, of course, and I can take an oath for that if it would make you feel more comfortable." Harry offered. Albus shook his head.

"No, no… That's fine. And thank you for the drink. You were right, it is sorely needed. Although, please don't mention this to Minerva. She is rather against the idea of the consumption of alcohol in front of children."

"We'll keep it to ourselves then… So, I took the opportunity to familiarize myself with this Sirius Black while you were away so I could understand the situation. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about him?" Harry asked.

"Of course, I assumed you would. Ask anything, and I shall do my best to answer." Albus said to him. Harry nodded as he thought about the man hidden in his basement.

"First, before the reveal of his betrayal, give me your honest opinion of Sirius Black. Try to keep as much bias out of the description as possible." Harry said. His words seemed to surprise Albus, who looked like he wanted to question him about it but seemed to think better of it.

"Sirius Black was an extremely trusted person and a seemingly good man. He wasn't perfect; many thought him to be childish, but I believed he was a man of character despite that. He escaped and fought against peer pressure his entire life and was willing to fight injustice wherever he saw, sometimes overzealously." Albus recounted softly.

"How would you describe his relationship with my parents, more specifically my father?" Harry asked next.

"They were close. Many called them as close as brothers, and I was among them. Where James was, one could usually find Sirius close behind. When James married, Sirius made sure to make Lily feel welcomed into their inner circle and family. I recall him once sweet talking your grandparents about her for James's benefit."

"I see… Thank you. Next, what can you tell me about Peter Pettigrew? How would you describe him?" Harry asked. Now Albus looked even more confused. Again, though, he said nothing, instead choosing to answer once more simply.

"Peter was a quiet boy; some would describe him as shy. He didn't have the same ability as the rest of the foursome, and I believe he often felt inadequate yet still made sure to stay with and support his friends. I regularly said he had a quieter courage about him to subject himself to the tension of the war and not break, all to support his friends." Albus smiled while reminiscing. Harry, though, frowned. He didn't like the fact that what the man had said and what Albus was saying were beginning to line up.

"You were the one who cast the Fidelius on the property, correct? Were you there when Sirius was made the secret keeper as well?" Harry asked. Albus shook his head.

"No no, I thought it best I not know who they chose, though, I was reasonably certain it would be Sirius. This was proved later when he came to a meeting and spoke of it to the other members. He even spoke of it at his place of work. He definitely had a certain arrogance about him." Albus said frowning.

"So, it was an open secret that he was the secret keeper?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. However, with how close James and Sirius were at the time, the general consensus was that Sirius would die before giving up said information to the enemy."

"He was that close to my father?"

"He appeared to be, yes. As I said, they seemed extremely close. Sirius often came to live with James during holidays due to a tumultuous family situation as it were." Albus explained. Harry's frown only deepened the more the man spoke.

"So, it was a great shock when he flipped? It must have been almost unbelievable."

"It was. I refused to believe it actually when he was brought in. If not for his own confession, I likely never would have."

"Confession?"

"Yes. After your parents' deaths, he hunted down Peter Pettigrew and chased him to a muggle street where a spell he cast hit a gas line, causing an explosion that killed Pettigrew and fourteen muggles also on the street. When the Aurors arrived, they claimed he was laughing incessantly and speaking about how he had killed them, the Potters, that is." Albus explained.

Harry said nothing to that as he rolled that information around in his mind. Sirius had not mentioned that part, and it was so far the only inconsistency he could see in his story. That being said, it was something.

"Why did he want to kill Peter Pettigrew? What was the motive? My family makes sense they were a target by Voldemort, but when Voldemort falls why then immediately go after Peter? Why not go right after me to finish the job?"

"Well…"Albus suddenly looked disturbed. Harry looked up and eyed the man curiously.

"What…"

"He did, technically…" Albus admitted causing only more confusion in Harry.

"What do you mean?"

"The night Voldemort fell, Sirius was believed to be the first one on the scene at the Potters. He is actually the one that found you and brought you out of the home." Albus admitted. Harry blinked.

"Then… Why did he not kill me."

"I am unsure. I sent Hagrid to retrieve you, and he told me that Sirius handed you to him and gave the man a motorcycle. He then said he had business to take care of and left." Albus laid out.

"That… That makes no sense."

"I wouldn't look too much into it. Sirius Black was clearly not in his right mind, as was made repeatedly clear in the coming days." Albus reassured. Unfortunately, Harry was anything but reassured. He had spoken with Sirius Black only a few hours ago. The man was many things, but being unhinged was not something he had gotten from him. If anything, he seemed overly emotional.

Of course, although he hadn't spoken of the incident where he had confronted Peter, Harry quickly understood why Sirius would immediately go searching for Peter Pettigrew after the murder of the Potters. It fit with the story he had told. Even worse, Albus's statement that Sirius had access to him before anyone else and was still willing gave him up to Hagrid… Damn it all.

"I don't need to be worried right? He was once keyed into these wards after all?" Harry asked. Albus shook his head.

"I cannot alter the wards of Potter Manor, but I was able to strike his name off the Warding access list. Further, I added a few wards onto the property over the existing ones, one of which is to prevent people with… Less than noble intentions from entering. Have no fear, Harry; he shall not be able to harm you." Albus smiled reassuringly. Harry said nothing to that; instead he was furious. Not at Sirius or himself but just at the situation he now finds himself in. Why did this have to be so complicated?

"Right… Thank you, Albus. I think that's all I have to ask… What happens when he is caught?"

"He will likely be sent back to Azkaban, though there may be calls to have him given the Dementor's Kiss, considering he has escaped Azkaban once. He may be viewed as to dangerous to be kept alive." Albus said sadly. Harry nodded at that.

"I see. Well, I know you are tired and I think I'm satisfied for the night, feel free to go home and head to bed. And yes, I will be keeping to the Manor… Not that I usually go anywhere." Harry pointed out. Albus nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, Harry… Well, I will allow you to get to bed. I'm sure Ciri will begin to miss you should I not." He commented amusedly. Harry gave a half-hearted smile at the just and nodded.

"You're probably right. Goodnight, Albus."

"Goodnight, Harry."

With that, the man was gone. As soon as he disappeared, Harry immediately stalked out of the room right to the door to the basement of his house. He almost ran to it he was moving so fast. When he got to the door, he swung it open and quickly moved to the bottom of the steps where the supposed mass murder was still knocked out. Harry snapped his wand up and awoke the man exceptionally quickly.

"Wha…" Sirius began groggily as he once more began looking around, very confused.

"Tell me about the explosion on the streets." Harry immediately demanded. Sirius snapped to him and focused up a bit.

"Harry?"

"The explosion. The muggles. What happened?" Harry demanded. Sirius went quiet momentarily, looking like he was trying to recall something. Within a few moments, his expression cleared.

"The muggle street… I was a mess. After days of hunting, I had finally caught up with Wormtail. I yelled at him that it was over. I told him I would have hunted him to the end of the Earth for what he did. He could not run. He turned and smiled before pulling out his wand and casting a spell. I scoffed at the notion. He wasn't terrible, but compared to me, I was one of the best wands on the force at the time. I could go toe to toe with any of Voldemort's top lieutenants. I could dismantle Wormtail with no effort. He didn't attack me, though; he cast an explosion charm on the street itself where some muggles were. It hit a gas pipe, but the gas didn't explode; it just began leaking out. I was launched off my feet and was disoriented, but quickly regained my footing. When I got up and looked around, it was chaos. People were screaming. There were bodies in the streets…" Sirius eyes gained a distant look and almost looked to be seeing through Harry rather than at him.

"Go on." Harry prompted. The man's eyes seemed to clear a bit, and he looked to be staring at him once more.

"I looked around, and I saw Peter. He stared at me and pointed his wand at his own hand. He severed a finger before smiling at me and turning into his animal form. As a rat, he scurried into the sewers and disappeared from the world. Then the Aurors arrived. At the time, my head was so fuzzy. I think in combination with the emotions, the lack of sleep for several days, and even the gas that had been leaking all over me… I just snapped. I started laughing and crying. I started screaming about how it was all my fault. My fault that they were dead. I just... I just broke. The next thing I know, I'm sitting in Azkaban in one of the highest levels." Sirius finished looking down once more, seemingly in shame. Harry was focused entirely on something else, though.

"Are… Are you telling me that Peter Pettigrew, the man who you claim really betrayed my parents, is alive and in hiding?" Harry questioned.

"Yes. The little fucker is still out there." Sirius sneered. Harry paled at that. At this point, Harry couldn't deny that the evidence for Sirius was piling up. Everything he had been told was lining up. Perhaps he could put the man through some sort of test to confirm it.

Harry paused at that thought. Maybe there was a way that he could put the man through some a test. He did happen to have a particular ability to create fabricated worlds. He could put Sirius under and illusion and see if he tried anything against him.

"Close your eyes." Harry ordered.

"Er… What?"

"Close. Your. Eyes." He intoned more demandingly. Sirius looked perturbed by the command but complied with Harry's demand after a minute and closed his eyes. Harry closed his a second later before casting the spell.

'Luxendus.' He thought. He opened his eyes again just in time to see the air around them shimmer and a copy of himself appear in his place. He took a step back and waited. While he could still see himself, Sirius should no longer be able to.

"You can open your eyes." Harry had his copy call out. Luxendus was truly becoming one of his favorite spells. The versatility while still maintaining its complexity made it an incredible spell. Harry released the spell he had on Sirius's bindings causing the ropes to fall away from the man. Sirius looked surprised for a moment as he rubbed the part on his arms where the ropes had been wrapped around. Harry just watched.

"So, you believe me then?" He asked hopefully.

"I believe your story, unfortunately makes enough sense that I can't ignore it. And I won't keep you locked up in my basement until I figure it out. Besides, you look like you need to eat, or you're going to die." Harry pointed out the copy of him emphasizing this by looking at the scrawny form of the man. As if by fate, Sirius's stomach grumbled almost as soon as he mentioned it.

"I suppose I could eat." The man admitted sheepishly as he stood up. Harry went up the stairs first and had both his copy and Sirius following him. Sirius seemed not to notice that he was under an illusion, not that Harry was surprised. As they moved to the kitchen, Harry opened the freezer and pulled out some leftovers he had made a few days before. He then cast an overpowered heating charm on it before placing it on the counter. With that, he then moved over to his pantry and reached in to pull out some snacks he had lying around. He brought them over to the counter and placed it in front of Sirius.

"Here, snack on these until the meatballs are done cooking." Harry told him as his copy sat next to the man. The real Harry stood off to the side of the room and simply eyed the man for a bit. Sirius immediately started gobbling up the food.

The man had no decorum or manners as he ate, though he supposes he should have expected that given where he had been staying for more than a decade. Sirius continued to eat before finally slowing down and looking at Harry curiously.

"So… That was pretty impressive with the warming charm. That's a fourth-year spell if I remember correctly."

"The cooling charm is a third year, though, and they have the same difficulty level." Harry said back. Sirius nodded.

"Still, it's impressive. How old are you now?"

"You don't know?"

"Time… Time feels different in Azkaban. There was a date in a newspaper I had read before escaping, but I hadn't paid too much attention to it. I was more focused on the piece." Sirius admitted, looking a little hollow as he said. Harry frowned, wondering what could have distracted the man.

"Today is July 1st, 1993… What was the piece that had you distracted?" Harry asked curiously. The man sudden demeanor completely changed, and a dark look passed over him.

"Do you know of the Weasley family?" He asked. Harry blinked at that but had his creation nod in affirmation.

"I do. Their youngest son is one of my best friends." Harry answered. Sirius smiled at that and nodded.

"That's good. The Weasleys are good people. Anyway, they were in the paper recently. I guess they won some raffle and the Prophet did a piece on them."

"They won a thousand galleons from the ministry and took a trip to see their two oldest sons in Romania and Egypt."

"Right. The picture was of them in Egypt."

"Okay… Why did any of this catch your attention? What is it you apparently have against the Weasleys?"

"It's not the Weasley's. It's the pet one of them has."

"Pet? Do they… Hmm, Percy, one of the middle brothers, has some sort of animal. I've seen it a couple of times. A… No." Harry whispered, horrified, as realization came about.

"I've seen that rat hundreds of times for years. I could pick it out among a thousand rats with no issue on sight alone. It was Wormtail!" Sirius snarled. Harry was in shock at that at that and immediately shook his head.

"There are millions of rats probably in the U.K you can't honestly tell me you saw a familiar rat and immediately jumped to the conclusion it was Pettigrew." Harry frowned in doubt. Sirius shook his head.

"It's not just his appearance. The thing that made me sure was one of his paws. On one of his paws, there is a toe missing. A toe in the same exact place that Wormtail's missing finger would be."