It had been an odd afternoon for Harry. Snape gave him a necklace that can bring back his parents temporarily. He hoped to have a longer chat with his parents but his father said his friend Ron's rat wasn't a rat but a man that was supposed to be dead.

Next thing he knew people who he assumed were Aurors were in his dorm room taking what was once Ron's rat to the Ministry. He wanted to talk to his parents some more but he could never get the chance.

During the excitement, he let go of the stone in the necklace and before he knew it, the lunch hour was over and he had to go back to class. Now, the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, wanted to see him and his friends in his office.

Harry and his friends arrived at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Harry found it odd that someone would use a type of candy as a password. When they went inside, they found Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape sitting down. There were three empty chairs and Harry and his friends sat down in them.

"Now that we are all here, I guess we can begin. Lemon drop anyone?" Dumbledore said calmly. Ron was the only one who accepted a lemon drop. "After lunch, I received a floo call from the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that you five were involved in the discovery of a man who, by all accounts, is dead. Madam Bones was able to give me a report but I, as the saying goes, would like to hear the story straight from the horse's mouth."

Harry looked at Snape before speaking. He felt a little nervous but decided to start speaking. He didn't know where to begin.

"My dad said that Ron's pet rat Scabbers wasn't a rat..." Harry nervously said.

"Your dad? I beg your pardon, but your father is dead and he did not come back as a ghost as far as I know..." Dumbledore said, puzzled.

"Professor Snape gave Harry a necklace with a stone in it that was able to bring Harry's parents back as long as he was touching the stone." Hermione added.

Dumbledore's expression changed. It was now that of intrigue. "Can I see this necklace?" Dumbledore asked. Harry reluctantly handed over the necklace to Dumbledore. Snape for a second seemed to want to say something but decided not to. Dumbledore held the necklace up and stared at the stone, almost hypnotized by it.

Snape just knew what was going on in Dumbledore's mind. Dumbledore's portrait confessed that in life, he plotted to unite the three hallows when he was younger and was still obsessed with the Deathly Hallows when he died. He found the wand in Grindelwald's possession in 1945 and kept it. It made sense now why in the old time line the foolish man decided to handle the ring. He recognized the stone as the Resurrection Stone. All he needed was to get the cloak and he would have all three. At least this time, Snape didn't have to worry about killing the foolish man for handling something without testing for curses. However, that didn't stop Snape from stopping Dumbledore from touching the stone and the elderly headmaster was about to do.

"Headmaster? Are you alright?" Snape asked, hoping to get bring Dumbledore back to his senses.

Dumbledore quickly handed the necklace back to Harry. The headmaster appeared to be a little shaken.

"I'm quite all right. Just I never thought I'd ever see that stone. It appears to Mr. Potter, you have the Resurrection Stone. I might want to warn you about using it. There is no spell that can truly bring back the dead. People have been driven mad hoping to bring back those who they care about only to discover that part of them is still on the other side of the veil that separates the living from the dead. While I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind being pulled from the afterlife to chat with you, I strongly suggest you restrain yourself from using the stone. You may end up wanting to be with them and lose your will to live." Dumbledore advised to Harry.

Now that was unexpected. Snape thought to himself. Dumbledore's portrait said he that wanted all the Deathly Hallows. Even if he just wanted to study them and not use them for nefarious purposes as he had in the past, Snape would never have imagined Dumbledore to give the stone back to Harry so easily.

"Another word of advice, Harry, do not tell anyone you have the stone or what it does. The stone is part of a set of three extremely powerful magical items. The person who manages to get all three is said to be able to invincible. This is a great deal of nonsense but there are always those who believe that to be true. Those people will do anything to get those items into their possession. Only tell people you completely trust you have the stone. The less people who know you have it, the better. In fact, it's best to keep it somewhere safe and out of site such as your vault at Gringott's." Dumbledore continued.

"I understand sir." Harry replied, a little scared now.

Dumbledore then looked at Snape. "Where did you find that necklace Severus?"

Snape needed to come up with a quick explanation.

"I found it years ago on the ground near my parents home and kept it in my desk drawer. I found out I still had it while searching for quills had it and decided to give Harry it." Snape lied.

"Did you use it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Once while trying to figure out what it was. My mother ended up appearing." Snape replied honestly.

Dumbledore looked a little surprised. The man is probably wondering why I'd didn't use it to try and bring back Lily. Snape thought.

The meeting went on for a few minutes more discussing the events of earlier that day and then Snape, McGonagall, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left Dumbledore's office.

The next day, before noon, Snape snuck into the Shrieking Shack with his Pensieve to meet with Remus Lupin. Snape put in it all the important memories he had of the old time line into his Pensieve as well as some memories of the new time line. He wanted to show Lupin that things weren't happening the way they did the first time around (he even included the memory of his chat with McGonagall). Snape just hoped that Lupin would believe him and not think this was some elaborate prank. Snape also hoped this wouldn't take too long. Snape had one too many bad memories about the Shrieking Shack.

A few minutes after noon, Lupin showed up with his wand in his hand. The werewolf apparently wasn't taking any chances considering their past. Harry's father's gang which Lupin was a part of, loved to prank Snape and Snape would always try to come up with some way to get them into trouble and most of the time, it worked.

"What is this all about? I get a letter from you to meet me here. I assume it's something you don't want other people to find out otherwise you would say more than its urgent. I hope this is not some kind of trick." Lupin spoke up as he came into the room Snape was in.

"I think it will be best if I show you." Snape replied as calmly as he could, escorting Lupin to his Pensieve. "I believe you know how to use a Pensieve."

Lupin nodded and entered the Pensieve. Snape waited a few moments. When Lupin came out, the werewolf looked ashen and clearly shaken by what he saw. Snape would have been surprised if Lupin wasn't. After all, Snape needed to show his bloody and painful death at the hands of a snake in the building the two of them were now in to his old enemy.

"I don't know what to say Snape...I doubt you would have better things to do than to find a way to fake memories and place them into Pensieve. It can't be a prank. I have to believe you." Lupin managed to get out.

"Good. As you saw from the last memory, Black should be released and sent to St. Mungo's once the Ministry admits its holding the wrong man in Azkaban. I need your help in convincing Black I'm telling the truth about being from the future and one of Voldemort's horcruxes is in his cousin's vault." Snape responded.

"I see. I can see why you want my help. Sirius can't stand you and given he's spent almost 10 years in Azkaban, I doubt he'll be rational for at least a few months... At least as rational as he was before he was arrested." Lupin trailed off.

"Indeed." Snape replied. Then something occurred to him. "Do you think Black will take Harry in?" Snape asked after a few seconds.

"As you know, Sirius doesn't exactly like Slytherins, the exception being his cousin Andromeda. But I know him well enough that his greatest fear is turning into his parents. His parents more or less disowned him for being in Gryffindor. I would doubt he would not want Harry to live with him. Especially if Harry's life is bad like you claim it is. I'm almost afraid to ask, but just what exactly did they do to the poor boy?" Lupin asked thinking.

"Locked up him up in a cupboard...withheld food from him...hit him with a belt repeatedly for accidental magic...forced him to do chores that no child has any business doing. And they also turned blind eye when their son beat him up. Not to mention calling him a freak and telling him lies. They wouldn't even allow him to be a child and went so far as to try to stop him from attending Hogwarts. They were, or still are, bent on making his life as miserable as possible. In the old timeline, next summer they would try to starve him to death after finding out he didn't tell them that wasn't allowed to do magic. If it weren't for the three youngest Weasley boys, I believe on Sept. 1st, the headmaster would send some person to the Dursleys' to see why Harry wasn't at school only find his skeletal remains decomposing in his bedroom..." Snape said, trying not to get angry at the thought of someone doing such things to Lily's child.

Lupin, however, was fuming. His eyes were turning yellow and for a moment, Snape feared he would transform into the vicious mindless monster that almost killed Snape years earlier.

"It's bad enough that Dumbledore would not do anything to save Harry's life, but to place Harry with such people! I think I might just forget when the full moon is and pay Petunia and her husband a visit...maybe even Dumbledore as well... NOBODY HARMS JAMES' CUB!" Lupin yelled.

"Lu-Lupin, it would do the world no good if you give in to revenge. Sirius needs you. Harry needs you. The Dursleys will be punished. I will see to that. As for the headmaster, if I fail to prevent Voldemort from returning to power, we'll need him to keep the students safe at the school. We just need to make it clear to him that Harry is not some sacrificial lamb." Snape said as calmly as he could.

He knew werewolves can do partial transformations when extremely angry. They wouldn't turn into a wolf with the exception of their eyes and mind. Lupin was well on the way for such a transformation and Snape hoped he could calm down Lupin to stop it. If he couldn't, well, Snape had his wand where he could get at it quickly. He wouldn't kill Lupin. Just knock him out but he hoped it wouldn't come to that. That would be a lot better than to run out of the building for all to see.

"Alright...I won't harm the Dursleys or Dumbledore..." Lupin snarled, disappointed. His eyes were starting to turn back to normal. "Anyways, what is the progress on the potion you found?" Lupin asked getting a hold of himself.

"I have the complete instructions for it. I just need to get some of the ingredients from Knockturn and Diagon Alleys. I will be going there this afternoon."

The next morning, Harry woke up and joined his friends at the breakfast table. Many of the students were reading the paper and whispering among themselves. Several turned and stared at Harry.

"What is happening?" Harry asked, curious.

"Sirius Black has been released from Azkaban! It's in today's paper!" Ron exclaimed as he passed a copy of the Daily Prophet over to Harry.

"Ron, that's not surprising after what happened the other day. I'm surprised the Ministry didn't announce it yesterday..." Hermione said disappointed.

Harry looked at the paper and saw the top page headline:

Sirius Black Released From Azkaban Prison

 

Discovered To Be Innocent of All Charges

 

Sirius Black, long thought to have been a Death Eater, mass-murder, and responsible for You-Know-Who learning the hiding place of the Potters, has been found innocent of all charges after the discovery of the fact that Peter Pettigrew is alive and well.

Pettigrew, long thought to be killed with 12 Muggles by Black, was discovered at Hogwarts pretending to be a student's pet rat. Pettigrew, under Veritaserum, admitted to being an unregistered rat Animagus, committing all crimes which Black had been accused of, and placing a laughter charm on Black which convinced the first responders to the murders Black was insane. Pettigrew was promptly tried and found guilty of murder and sentenced to a dementor's kiss.

Black, who has spent nearly ten years in Azkaban, was sent there without a trial. Under the laws at the time, he should have been granted one 60 days after being arrested.

"Somehow he was overlooked." Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Law Enforcement, said in a press conference. "It makes me sick that that such thing happened. He wasn't even questioned and his wand was illegally snapped by Aurors before he was even brought to the Ministry the day of the murders. It was a complete and total breakdown of policies. My predecessor, Mr. Crouch, who is known for going by the book, has a lot to answer for. Mark my words, heads are going to roll."

"Black is guilty. He was found at the scene of the murders laughing. Besides, Albus Dumbledore said Black was the Potters' secret keeper. That is, he was the only person capable of telling anyone where the Potters were hiding. I refuse to believe we had it all wrong." Bartemius Crouch, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time of Black's arrest and current head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, denied the new evidence which proved Black's innocence. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge promptly asked for Crouch's resignation after hearing of Black's innocence and Crouch's statement. No word yet as to yet if Crouch has resigned.

"This is also Albus Dumbledore's fault. As head of the Wizengamont, he should have demanded a trial for Sirius Black after 60 days and the truth would have been exposed then. One has to wonder if he getting senile in his old age. The fact that he not only didn't know the Potters had switched secret keepers, but that Pettigrew was a spy and attending Death Eater meetings while a student at Hogwarts, shows it." Lucius Malfoy, member of the Wizengamont and advisor to Minister Fudge, said.

Albus Dumbledore, in response, said he cannot possibly know the actions of every person in the world and that he was informed by Crouch that Black was tried by an emergency war time court. Five members of Wizengamont (Albert Abbott, Edmond McMillan, Prya Patil Guinevere Prewett, and ironically Dolores Umbridge) confirmed Crouch had said that to Dumbledore.

Black has been sent to St. Mungo's Hospital and is expected to make full recovery from his stay at Azkaban. He has been compensated one million galleons for his time spent in prison. With the death of his grandfather, Arcturus Black, and as the last direct heir of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Black was also given the title of Lord Black and a seat on the Wizengamont. Also, in a surprise move, Black was granted sole custody of his Godson, Harry Potter, better known as The-Boy-Who-Lived. Healers expect Black to be recovered in time for him to spend the winter holidays with his Godson.

For a list of people implicated in the wrongful imprisonment of Black, turn to page 3

For Crouch's rumored torture of prisoners in the 70's and early 80's, turn to page 4

For Crouch's late son's involvement in the Death Eaters, turn to page 5

Harry couldn't believe it. He didn't have to go back to the Dursleys' for the winter holidays. He could spend it with someone who was a close friend of his parents. Maybe the Dursleys will let him live with Sirius Black, he hoped as he set the paper down. Just then, an owl dropped a note for Harry.

Harry,

Please meet me in my office after you finish lunch. The potion will be ready by then.

Professor Snape