Okay! This is the sequel to Shades of Grey, the story I wrote with my best friend, Julie whose penname is SilentSeer. Julie started writing this with me – the first chapter is hers – but stopped after two chapters. I haven't written much and I don't know if I will continue it, but read if you want.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except, that is, for Cara, Rose, Liz, Will, Lily Black, Beth, James Lupin and Dan.

Chapter One – Cara

A New Life and an Old Friend

I smiled at Charlie, who was still playing with the small dragon – it was a Swedish Short-Snout with silvery blue scales – and jumped down from the fence to join in. The baby was eager to play and we were all too eager to comply; after all, we had been playing with her all day. She had no mother; the egg had just been found and brought here to us. We had been raising her and had even named her. She was called Flacără, a name that seemed to fit her personality perfectly. She was ever so sweet, and I had been hand rearing her with Charlie for the last three weeks. Between her, Norberta (a Norwegian Ridgeback Hagrid had sent over a couple of years back.) and a very feisty Chinese Fireball, Sânge, we were rushed off our feet. We all worked in partners, and each pair looked after two or three dragons verified in age, gender and breed.

I worked with a young man named Charlie Weasley, which I enjoyed; he had a passion for the dragons to rival my own and was great fun to be around. We always had a laugh and we had become really good friends over the last few years, since he joined and I became his mentor. He was a fast learner and was just as good as me already, despite the fact that I had worked here for going on twelve years. I grinned at him and sat cross legged on the ground as Flacără came over to play.

A few hours later, we finally left her and gave the Norberta and Sânge one last check, before we headed home for the night. "Charlie, are you coming over tonight?" I asked, grabbing my bag from the office before we left.

"I was planning on it. Why, don't you get enough of me here?"

I laughed. "More than enough, but Beth and the twins really like you for some unknown reason."

"Is that so? Well, I'll come over in a bit – I just want to get changed first."

"Okay. I'll see you later. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Of course," Charlie yelled before he jumped in to the green flames. I followed suit, arriving instantly in my own fireplace.

Before I had even stepped out I heard yells of, "Mum," followed by the footsteps of my three children, Beth, who was now fourteen, and my twin eleven year old boys, James and Daniel, running in to greet me. I stepped out of the fireplace, brushed myself off, and wrapped them all in a huge hug. As much as I loved the dragons, they did mean I had less time with my kids, and that was something I needed to sort out. I let them go and walked into the living room, where Remus was sat reading the Daily Prophet, the same as always.

"Hey honey, have a good day?" I asked, sitting down next to him. He seemed unreasonably grim. The full moon was still two weeks away, so I had no idea what might have been bothering him. That was until he spoke.

"Well, it was until I saw this," he said, pointing to the newspaper in his lap.

'BLACK ESCAPES AZKABAN,' the title read.

"'Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, has escaped from Azkaban prison. Escape is unheard of and we urge you to report any possible sightings of this dangerous individual. "Black is deranged and dangerous," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm." Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Confederation of Wizards for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis. "Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it - who'd believe him if he did?" While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered fourteen people with a single curse, two of which were his friends. Full story on page 3-'" I read aloud horrified. "Sirius broke out? But how – that's impossible! How are we going to tell Rose? She needs to know – and what about Lizzie, Will and Lily?"

"I don't know, Ca, I just don't know."

I looked at my heartbroken, confused husband and took charge. I thought for a moment, then said, "Right, first we tell Rose and the kids, then we need to find him. That might mean moving back to England and finding work there. I'm sure we could manage that. Then we need to find him and find out the truth and a way to clear his name; Rose can't lose him again. She barely survived the last time." With that said, I sent a quick note to Charlie saying he couldn't come tonight and I'd talk to him tomorrow, before heading to find Rose, despite the fact that Remus looked uncertain. I knew that he was still unconvinced that Sirius was innocent, or that he had switched with Peter, despite Rose's assurances. I reached her bedroom nervously and knocked.

"Come in, Ca," she called cheerily. I opened the door to see her in the middle of cleaning up; Lizzie and Lily were sat on her bed painting their nails.

"Hi guys. Where's Will?" I asked, trying to stop my voice from cracking.

"In his room I think. Why?" Rose asked.

"I have something to tell you and I think its best I tell you all at once." Rose just stared at me, sending Lily to grab Will. Once they were all in the room, I turned to face them. There was no easy way of saying this, so I took a deep breath and dived in the deep end.

"Sirius escaped from Azkaban; it was in the Prophet today. We need to decide what to do – we need to find him. I'm sure he's looking for you and the kids, Rosie, so we need to make it easier," I said hurriedly, before looking at my sister, nieces and nephew. They all looked stunned and, I'm pretty certain, were unable to speak. I waited patiently, walking over to my sister and wrapping my arms around her as she collapsed to the floor in a heap of tears – as she had so many times since that dreadful day, all those years ago. I held her close, rocking her gently, watching the kids, who were now sat, staring at the wall, looking petrified.