The figures of Harry and Hermione on the tower of the castle got smaller and smaller as Sirius was leaving Hogwarts behind him. He dug his fingers into the feathers of hippogriff's massive neck and shuddered from both the cold night wind and the thought of the terrifying destiny he had just escaped. Earlier today Sirius was sure that the years he spent imprisoned had hardened him to the point where nothing could scare him anymore. That was proven wrong the moment Snape pronounced the words "Dementor's Kiss". Sirius knew he would be fated for such a sentence if he got caught after his escape from Azkaban but as long as he could get his hands on Peter Pettigrew, he felt like nothing else mattered. However, when a possibility became a reality, Sirius realized that he could still be afraid for his life. That he could still feel. He was mad at himself for letting Peter slip through his fingers right when he was minutes away from regaining his innocence. Well, but there was no bad without something good. He had finally met his godson and found out that Harry had inherited his father's heart of gold when they boy spared the life of the bastard who betrayed his parents. For a moment he felt an overpowering wish to return to Godric's Hollow to honor the memory of his dearest deceased friends. But the community in this village was so small that he would be recognized immediately and probably executed as everyone there still believed he was the one who murdered Lily and James. Sirius felt burning tears forming in his eyes when he thought about Potters.
But Harry wasn't the only reason why Sirius wanted so badly to be free. There was something else, something that had lived at the back of his mind all these years. Something that no one else but Sirius and James knew about. This secret that Sirius first thought would be just a little inconvenience, grew into something that tormented him no less than the death of Harry's parents.
Decided that they were now far enough to not be seen from Hogwarts, Sirius patted Buckbeak's neck, urging the hippogriff to descend. They stopped at a small lake in the woods. Buckbeak bent down and started to drink the water eagerly, the long flight had obviously worn the creature out. Sirius sat down, pressing his back against a tree, watching Buckbeak's lean body glistening in the moonlight. Somewhere far away an owl screamed but the night was so quiet he could almost hear his own nervous heartbeat. He raised his eyes to the thousands of stars scattered over the ink-blue sky and sank into memories.
It was the summer of 1978. Sirius was not even 20 years old. A mischievous troublemaker that he was, the young and witty wizard wandered into the Muggle world looking for satisfaction to his unquenchable desire for adventure. It led him to a small, suburban town in the East London where he met the woman he was never able to forget, no matter how hard he tried. Evelyn Morgan. Even after all these years her name still burned into his memory. From the moment he laid his eyes on her, Sirius instinctively knew that this beautiful, dark haired and brown eyed female was a Muggle. She playfully ridiculed Sirius for carrying a wooden stick around with him and his aristocratic clothing contrasted sharply with her Muggle outfits. Evelyn had no idea about the existence of the magical world and Sirius saw no need to tell every single Muggle about his real nature. He liked her just the way she was and the time he spent with her was the most wonderful time of his life. Their happiness lasted for three months only. When the Autumn came, an atom bomb fell on Sirius' world. "I'm pregnant", he could still hear Evelyn uttering those words. He wasn't ready for that. He had no intention to raise a kid. Being too much of a rebel and too young to settle down, Sirius ran away from the town in the cover of a night when his black fur blended with the darkness perfectly. He never said goodbye to Evelyn. He wanted to be as far from her as possible. Sirius knew he could have erased her memory... but he didn't want to. He wanted her to remember him.
A few days later Sirius arrived in Godric's Hollow to visit James. His best friend was the only person Sirius told what he had done. His suspicion that James wouldn't approve his actions was confirmed. He was already living together with Lily planning to have a child that would later become Sirius' godson. James strongly advised his friend to return to Evelyn and take on responsibility for the child that she was expecting. And yet this was possibly the first time when Sirius didn't listen to his schoolmate. He continued to roam the wizarding world, purposely staying away from Muggles as they reminded him of the thing he wanted to forget. If Evelyn was a witch, she would probably send an owl after owl, trying to find out where her lover was. But she wasn't. Magic was just a fairytale for her and she had no way to contact Sirius. He could imagine what she probably thought of him, yet Sirius wasn't sure if he ever wanted a family of his own.
Sirius' world was shattered on 31 October 1981. The unjust deaths of Lily and James drew him to seek vengeance that led the innocent to Azkaban. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, days turned into years. The screams of the prisoners echoed in the walls of the fortress and the gloomy presence of Dementors made everyone want to kill themselves. Locked into his cell Sirius thought not only about Harry, not only about the traitor Peter but also about the child that he chose not to acknowledge. The child he had never seen and knew nothing about. Was it a he? Was it a she? Was his child asking their mother about their father? What did Evelyn answer? Surely nothing good.
So now, when he had finally won his freedom back, Sirius wished nothing more than to see his child. To meet them and get to know them. He or she was somewhere out there and didn't even know they had a father. He had made sure that Harry was alright. Dumbledore wouldn't let anything bad happen to his godson and as long as he stayed in Hogwarts, Harry was safe. Sirius realized that London was the last place where he should show his face now. The headquarters of the Ministry of Magic were located there and Aurors wouldn't hesitate to recapture him. Peter had gotten away, therefore, Sirius' name wasn't cleared. But London was also the place where Evelyn was, where his child was. He had no choice left. He was going to London.
Buckbeak had obviously had enough water and was now looking at Sirius impatiently. The wizard got on its back again and when the first rays of sun touched the tops of trees, they were flying again, closer and closer to civilization.