AN: Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.
A Tail of War
AlwaysPadfoot
Sirius Black wasn't afraid to admit he hated being on duty in Diagon Alley — particularly this early in the morning. The only thing that made it just a little better, he wouldn't admit to anything more, was that he and James were on their first patrol together. If they were lucky, they'd make it through the morning without dying of boredom.
Nothing ever happened this early, and besides, Diagon Alley wasn't exactly a beehive of activity at five o'clock in the morning. In fact, to see anyone around would be suspicious.
The best view of the Alley from all angles was outside the Magical Menagerie. He and James had walked up and down three times before positioning themselves outside the pet shop, James musing about how he was considering getting a cat. Sirius thought that was a stupid idea.
"I'm thinking of asking Lily to marry me."
James' voice cut through the faint chatter of the animals that could be heard from inside the shop, disturbing the morning darkness of the Alley.
Sirius turned to him from where he'd been leaning against the warded shop door, a large grin on his face. "That's brilliant, mate."
James clamped his hand down on Sirius' shoulder and Sirius' eyes focused on the alley ahead of them. He'd been waiting for James to tell him ever since he'd seen the ring hidden in his bedside drawer, and for the first time in a long time he felt a pang of jealousy.
"Thing is, what if she really doesn't like me? What if she says no?" James turned to Sirius, who was shuffling his feet slightly in thought.
"She won't; Lily loves you Prongs."
James observed him quietly for a second, "You're jealous."
"Am not!" Sirius gasped feigning horror, James grinned slightly and twirled his wand in his hand, conscious that there was a figure at the bottom of the street.
"C'mon Padfoot, what are you jealous of?" he smirked, nudging Sirius' shoulder slightly even though both of them were watching the figure with great interest now.
"When have I ever been jealous of anyone or anything?" Sirius retorted, his own wand now tapping against his leg in agitation.
"You clearly are." James sang.
All the animals fell silent, as though they sensed the danger a split second before it happened.
Before he knew it he was throwing himself at James. Both of them were on the ground in an instance; the killing curse smashed against the window. Sirius spun around to check the wards had held before he was yanked onto his feet and dragged to some cover that James had transfigured from seemingly thin air. The man at the end of the alley was a Death Eater, that much was now obvious. James spun his wand above his head and cast a patronus, calling the order to battle as the cracks of Apparation split the air further down the cobbled street.
"Shit, what the hell do they want?" Sirius hissed, peering round conjured wall they were behind and gripping his wand tightly in his hand.
Two Death Eaters were heading towards the pair of Aurors now. They had to move fast, think fast, in case the number of cracks matched the amount of Death Eaters. It probably would — maybe it already had.
"Stupefy!" yelled James as Sirius ducked a particularly nasty looking orange curse.
He fired off a Stupefy to match James' and they both found their target. It was unfortunate though that as soon as they did another Death Eater shot a spell at a nearby shop and the whole bottom floor exploded outwards. Then another followed.
That was when people started screaming, woken by the shouts and explosions. It was extremely lucky as chaos began to ensue, back up arrived, both from the Ministry and the Order.
"POTTER! BLACK!" Moody appeared directly behind them. "Get any survivors out of those flats and stores."
The two men exchanged a fleeting glance before they apparated into the first floor of the shop behind them. But it was too late. No sooner had their feet hit the ground, when flames seemed to erupt out of nowhere, the air ringing with the sound of yet another explosion. The first thing Sirius felt was the fire licking at his feet through the flimsy floorboards. Next, his throat burned, the smoke lying thick in his trachea, and he coughed and spluttered. Swearing under his breath he automatically crouched to get himself lower to the ground, his eyes dry, as they searched for James on the thick smoke.
James came out of nowhere knocking Sirius out of the way of a falling beam above them. The roof was ablaze as well.
"That was fucking close."
Both their heads snapped up at the sound of a child crying and screaming. They exchanged a quick look and then Sirius was on his feet heading in the direction of of the sound.
"Someone help! Please someone. Please."
He frowned. Sirius knew that voice; he knew it from school and it was definitely familiar. He pushed blindly forward and the suddenly the putrid smell of burning animals filled his nostrils. Sirius gagged and he heard James wretch as the smell continued to rise up through the floorboard.
"Fuck." James spluttered. "What's the chance any of the animals -"
He cut himself out and Sirius pulled him towards the sound of the crying. They reached the door of what was probably a bedroom and Sirius pushed down on the handle.
The door was blocked.
"Is anyone there?! Please help. Please."
Hayley. That was her name; Sirius remembered now. Hayley Rowle had been two years below them in school; she would be in seventh year in the coming September. They'd crossed paths before.
"Hayley!? Hayley. It's Sirius Black; what's blocking the door?"
"It's a beam; a beam is blocking it." she yelled back over the screaming. "We're trapped!"
James and Sirius shoulder-barged to door in unison; it took three tries before the door feel open and the two stumbled inside. There was less smoke — although not for long — and Hayley was crouched in the to her chest was a small child perhaps not much older than three.
She turned to them, her body shaking, tears streaming down her face. The toddler was screaming and without another thought she stumbled towards Sirius, thrusting the toddler into his arms.
"My parents, they were downstairs." she stammered.
Sirius' body froze for a second; if it had been the same as the other shops, and judging by the smell alone, the bottom floor had been absolutely devastated. There were going to be no survivors down there. It seemed Hayley could tell that by the look of their faces because the noise that left her mouth was inhumane. She bolted for the door. Sirius yelled out and thankfully James captured her solidly round the waist before the four of them disapparated. They reappeared in the secure point where the Minister and Order had holed up. As soon as they hit solid ground, though, Hayley started kicking and screaming at James.
"No." she yelled. "No I have to help them!"
"Hayley, please," James held onto her tightly. "They're gone. I'm so sorry, but they're gone."
"No... please no. What about all the animals? What about my parents? I can't —"
The girl broke down, sobbing heavily against James, and Sirius had to bite his lip in anger. The Death Eaters had just destroyed a family — just like that.
"Haywee?"
The small soft voice came from the child Sirius was carrying and he placed the toddler down on the floor so he could walk over to his sister. It was at that moment that Lily appeared, her face a picture of relief when she realised James was still alive, before her expression became worried when she saw Hayley clinging on for dear life. She approached them, talking softly to Hayley and her brother, before drawing her wand to heal them.
Sirius watched in silence — his jealously back once again. That's all he wanted; he wanted someone to be that relieved when they realised he was still alive.
His eyes lingered on Hayley, who had succumbed to shock and silence, sadness seeping into his heart.
"Black." Alastor Moody shouted gruffly. "We need your sorry, scrawny behind back over here. We need to get rid of this scum."
Sirius sucked in a breath, turned, and got back to work.
After the attack on Diagon Alley, James and Sirius weren't posted there again, and yet Sirius ended up visiting it far more often.
It was five months later when Sirius found himself standing outside the Magical Menagerie — newly reopened. He wondered who owned it now; he'd heard rumours that Hayley had dropped out of school after what had happened. It seemed like very bad luck considering Sirius only ever ran into her when she seemed to be in trouble.
Being cornered after a party at Hogwarts; crying in the library; and then the Death Eater attack.
He exhaled and then stepped forward to push open the door. The intention was to get in and out as quickly as possible.
"Just go in and buy the surprise cat for your best mates wedding." Sirius muttered to himself.
Inside the whole shop had been renovated; it was nothing like it had once been before. There was a cacophony of pygmy puff squeaks to the left; a multitude of fuzzy colours bouncing up and down in a glass pen.
The building was bright, well-lit, and it seemed somewhat happier than the dark shell it had been left as back… back after the attack.
There was a cool breeze coming through the open window and Sirius veered to the right towards an intricate system of small tunnels built into the wall. The plethora of cats were chasing each other through them and then mewling through the mesh their open enclosure at Sirius.
He crouched down peering inside.
There were so many to choose from that Sirius wasn't sure he could actually make a decision. He was about to stand back up when something landed on his shoulders and fur touched the back of his neck. There was a purr against his left ear and he turned his head to come face-to-face with a black kitten. The kitten promptly licked his nose and meowed loudly.
"He likes you."
Sirius stood up fast, the kitten clung to his shirt, and pulled itself back onto his shoulders. He turned to the voice; one hand went up to steady the kitten. Finding himself lost for words, Sirius opened and closed his mouth when Hayley smiled at him.
"That one is a menace as well; he barely gets on with me. It's only because I feed him that he likes me." she said.
"I'm sure it's not just that." he replied. "How're you? Don't tell me… you're not running this place?"
"Cleaned, redecorated, advertised, and reopened." Hayley confirmed.
"Wow. That's… amazing. It's absolutely great in here."
He couldn't quite believe how much effort — both physically and emotionally — it must have taken to do all that on her own. She thanked him for the compliment and put the small bowl of food she was carrying inside an owl cage behind her. The cat on his shoulder kept licking his ear and Sirius kept brushing him lightly away; the cycle continue anyway.
"So Bagheera seems to like you; are you looking for a cat?"
"Bagheera?"
"From The Jungle Book?" Hayley replied.
Sirius was confused; he wasn't sure what she was talking about.
"It's a children's film, but I'm in love with the book. Bagheera is the name of the Panther in it." Hayley continued.
As if on cue to prove his resemblance to a large cat, Bagheera bit Sirius' ear and made him jump. He lifted the cat off of his shoulders and into his arms, pulling a face.
"You are a little menace aren't you, Bagheera?" Sirius said.
The black furball just turned over in his arms and exposed his belly. He was clearly trying to look appealing as Sirius rolled his eyes, smiling. He actually quite liked Bagheera, and if he was being honest with himself, he didn't want to give him to James.
Could he look after a cat? It was ridiculous. Why was he even considering this?
Hayley offered him a tea, claiming that the shop wasn't that busy after it started to get dark these days. That he understood; they were living under a black cloud in the Wizarding World right now. They sipped tea and wandered round the shop looking at potential cats for James and Lily. Bagheera stalked them closely, getting under their feet and demanding attention. When SIrius and Hayley finally picked out a large ginger cat for the wedding present and he went to pay, Bagheera meowed so loudly they both turned.
"What's wrong, little man?" Hayley said softly, crouching down.
The kitten continued to mewl loudly and then finally when SIrius picked up the cage with James' present inside, Bagheera shot towards him and ran up his leg.
The two exchanged a look and then Sirius looked across at Hayley and sighed. "How much for the crazy panther cat?"
She laughed and smiled. "He's a stray. No cost."
Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked down at the cat currently gripped into his trousers.
"FIne. C'mon then you little menace."
The kitten climbed up his jumper and onto his shoulders again, gratefully licking his ears once more. Hayley handed him a piece of paper with an address to owl her if he had a problem and SIrius found himself promising to come back before leaving the shop.
How in Merlin's balls he just acquired two cats?
Competition: QLFC Round Two
Prompt: Write your Fic using the setting - Magical Menagerie
Word Count: 2340 (including AN's and titles)