AN: Greetings! This is the sequel to my story Krista. If you haven't read that one, you might want to before reading this. I hope you all enjoy this continuation! Do let me know what you think before you leave.

Chapter 1

It was July 31, 1993. I woke up that morning with an odd feeling I couldn't place. Why did I feel like this date was important? Did I wake up like this every year? With my eyes still closed, I thought back to last July. I couldn't remember any strange feelings, but I also couldn't remember last week.

Opening my eyes, I looked around the room, squinting at the bright light coming in through the window. I stretched out my body from a long night's sleep and I swung my legs over the bed, slipping my feet into my slippers. The air conditioner had kicked in, sending a cold breeze through the house that chilled my toes.

I padded quietly to the kitchen and leaned against the counter. 'Mum?' I heard a soft voice call from the hallway down by the bedrooms.

'Yes Grace? I'm in the kitchen.' Leaving the counter, I turned to the coffeepot, filling the filter with coffee and the pot with water. I hit the power button and watched as hot coffee dripped down into the pot. The smell was amazing, pure heaven.

'Mum, there's a special broadcast on the news. You should see.' I left my lovely smelling coffee and followed the sound of my daughter's voice into the living room. She was staring at the telly where the news broadcaster was babbling on about something awful. Wasn't it always something awful? When was the last time you saw a positive, happy story on the news?

'This just in to the Channel 4 News Centre. A mass murderer has escaped from a local prison. This man, Sirius Black, was imprisoned for the brutal murders of James and Lily Potter, and Peter Pettigrew on Halloween night in 1981. He is considered armed and dangerous. If you see this man, please alert the local authorities.' A photo of the escaped criminal crossed the screen and I felt my heart stop in my chest. He escaped.

'Mum?' Grace's worried voice shook me from my terrified thoughts.

I took a deep breath and shook my head slightly before turning to my daughter. She was looking up at me expectantly and I realized she must have asked me a question. 'Sorry love, I wasn't listening. What did you ask?'

'Do you know him?' She asked exasperatedly, as if annoyed she had to repeat her question.

I was shocked she would ask such a question, how could she have guessed?'Why would I know a murderer?' I replied, snapping back at her. I knew I shouldn't snap at her, it wasn't her fault. She didn't know.

Grace stared at me with her jaw hanging open. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered. 'He just looks like the man in your pictures.'

Biting my lip, I closed my eyes and nodded. 'You're right, he does. Once upon a time I used to be friends with him, but he changed an awful lot.' I opened my eyes and forced a smile. 'Why don't you go shower and I'll fix breakfast?'

She eyed me warily, but nodded. 'Okay.' She headed quietly down the hallway and when I heard the bathroom door shut, I collapsed onto the couch.

How did he escape? Mass murderers weren't allowed in with petty thieves; he should have been in a maximum-security prison. Furthermore, which prison was he in? The newswoman didn't mention and thoughts raced through my head.

What if he came to find me? I told the police exactly what happened that Halloween night, including how nervous he had been. What if he wanted revenge for the information I gave police?Sirius didn't know he had a daughter; what if he came and found her? What if he kidnapped her? What was I going to do? I couldn't lose her, not now, not ever.

The sound of the shower turning on shook me from my thoughts and I slowly made my way into the thoughts raced through my mind as I poured cereal into bowls and placed the milk and sugar on the table. What could I do to keep her safe? Mum was living in the same house as before, and he had been there a few times. He might come looking for me there. What could I do? Where could I send her?

I sat at the table and played with my cereal, lifting up spoonfuls of milk and then dropping them back in the bowl.

'Mum, I'm through with the shower,' Grace said, walking into the kitchen.

When I looked up, I couldn't hold back my smile. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a long braid and her fringe framed her face. She was wearing her favourite Backstreet Boys tee shirt and jeans. Except for her eyes and curly hair, she was a spitting image of me when I was her age. She had Sirius' eyes, grey and sparkling.

Every time I looked into her eyes, I could see Sirius. When she was first born, it bothered me. While I did love her very much, it took me a few days to actually look at her. She reminded me too much of her father.

'What time are we going to Grandma's?' Grace asked as she sat down in her chair. Pulling the bowl towards her, she began eating her breakfast as I sipped my coffee.

'After my shower. You don't mind spending the day with her while I write?' We had a routine every other Saturday morning. We would eat breakfast together and then I would drop her off at my mum's so I could spend the day writing. The girls would go shopping, clean the house or watch a movie, enjoying girl time while I worked. Grace loved spending time with her grandma and I liked knowing Mum wasn't alone.

I finished my cereal and deposited my bowl into the sink. 'Would you clean this up while I shower?' I gestured to the milk and sugar, and Grace nodded. 'I'll be out in a few minutes.'

Heading back towards the bathroom, I gathered my clothes for the day and shut the door behind me. I leaned against it and struggled to calm my pounding heart. What if Sirius came to find me? What if he found out about Grace and tried to kidnap her?

Sirius would know Grace was his probably the moment he laid eyes on her. Not many people had eyes that shade of grey. Where could I send her? Maybe Alan or Kate would take her for a while, but they would silently judge. And then I would have to explain to her why she was leaving my house.

I shook my head and turned on the tap, reaching a hand under the spurt of water to check the temperature. Climbing in, I let the water rush over me as my mind raced with thoughts. Over the past twelve years, I had often wondered what would have happened if he hadn't murdered James, Lily and Peter. Would we have gotten married? Maybe we would have had more children and a dog. It doesn't feel like a home until you have a dog. Unfortunately, the manager didn't allow dogs.

Sirius liked dogs. I laughed to myself as my thoughts wandered. Quickly, I washed my hair and shaved my legs before turning off the water, shivering as the cool air washed over me. I dressed quickly and brushed my teeth before opening the bathroom door.

I headed to the kitchen, surprised to find Grace doing the dishes. 'Thank you. I really just wanted you to put the milk and sugar away.' Pulling the towel off the counter, I began drying the dishes.

'I know, but I didn't think you wanted to do the dishes later.'

'That was awfully nice of you, Grace.' I smiled and quickly finished drying the dishes in the rack. 'Why don't you gather your things to bring to Grandma's? I'll finish up here.'

'Okay!' She dropped the washrag into the soapy water and skipped off, down the hall and presumably into her room.

Shaking my head, I plunged my hands into the warm water and washed the remainder of the dirty dishes. My mind wandered as I mechanically finished the task. It had been twelve years since I had seen Sirius, twelve years on Halloween. Mum, Kate and I cleaned out our flat just a few days after I found out I was pregnant. We boxed and donated most of the items, and I only saved a few things. There were a few items of his clothes I kept, along with a few boxes of photos.

Mum and Kate left the bedroom for me to take care of and when I had searched through his dresser drawers, I found an engagement ring. He had planned on proposing. It hadn't been a complete shock to me, I'd been thinking about it for a while. But I never expected him to think about it.

'Mum? The water's drained out.' Grace said from next to me and sure enough, the sink was empty.

'I must have been off in dreamland.' With a quick shake of my head, I rinsed and dried my hands before turning to Grace. 'Are you ready?'

'Yep!' She held up her backpack with a large grin. 'I'm ready!'

I tossed the towel onto the counter and ushered Grace from the kitchen. 'All right. Let me get my purse and then we can leave.'

Grace headed out the door and I followed after. I locked the door before walking down the driveway to the car, letting Grace slide into the passenger seat rather than the back. It was a rare privilege, and I allowed her today so that she wouldn't mention the escaped prisoner.

The drive was nearly silent, Grace humming quietly to the radio as I drove. Her favourite song, Dreamlover by Mariah Carey came over the radio and she sang loudly, belting out the lyrics. I shook my head, laughing as she sang. Her voice wasn't bad; she just couldn't hit some of the high notes Mariah could.

When I pulled into Mum's driveway, Grace unbuckled her seatbelt before we were even parked. 'Grace, do me a favour,' I said, pulling my key from the ignition and turning towards her. 'I need you to not mention the escaped prisoner to Grandma.'

'Why?' She asked, eyeing me curiously.

I paused, wondering which lie to tell my daughter. I opted for the smallest, white lie, one that wouldn't hurt as bad. 'Because that sort of thing always upsets her. We don't want Grandma sad, do we?' It was partially true, Mum did get worried over those things, but this one would upset her more so because of Sirius. She always liked him and how he treated me, even going as far to say he must have been framed.

Grace shook her head slowly. Having Grandma upset would mean questions and stories Grace really didn't want to hear. 'Good,' I said with a smile. 'Let's go see her.'

Grace grinned and quickly opened the door. She jumped out of the car, slammed the door and ran to the house. 'There's my Gracie-girl,' I heard my mother exclaim as she opened the front door. The two hugged tightly while I slowly made my way up the sidewalk. By the time I reached the step, Grace had already raced inside looking to see what treats Mum had baked.

'Hi Mum,' I said, hugging her.

'How are you, Krista? Is everything going all right with the novel? Anything new and exciting? Have you spoken to any nice men lately?' As I pulled away from her tight hug, I rolled my eyes. Leave it to my mother to bring up men every single time I see her. Ever since I went to University, my love life had been my mother's top concern, even though it had been practically non-existent for twelve years. Not many men wanted to date a woman with a daughter.

Shaking my head, I stepped passed her and into the house. 'No Mum, no nice men lately. I'm a bit too busy with Grace and writing to date.'

I stood in the living room, smiling at the familiar décor. It had barely changed in twelve years. Sirius and I sat on this very couch; Grace learned to crawl on this very carpet. There were so many memories in this home.

'Oh, well you'll find someone. Sirius was a good, hardworking man,' Mum said absentmindedly, obviously forgetting the fact that he was supposed to be in prison for murder.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my temper before I exploded. 'Aside from the fact he killed several people, certainly. He was a terrific gentleman,' I replied sarcastically.

Mum looked at me reprovingly. 'Are you positive he did it? Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?'

'What?' I exclaimed, dropping my purse onto the end table. 'How could you ask that? He was convicted! Not a problem with the jury, nothing! Of course he did it.'

'He just seemed like such a nice man. I never would have guessed…' she trailed off as she fluttered out of the room and into the kitchen.

Rolling my eyes, I followed her. 'Sure, a wonderfully nice man,' I said under my breath. 'Grace, don't climb on the counter!'

She blushed before climbing down, fresh baked chocolate chip cookie in hand. 'Sorry, Mum.'

A small smile played across my lips that I struggled to hide. I did the same thing when I was her age, I couldn't fuss too much. 'All right, Mum. I'm off to the coffee shop. I have quite a bit of writing to finish. Gracie, take care and mind your Grandma.' I hugged Grace tightly and kissed the top of her head before turning to my Mum. 'Bye ladies.'

When no one answered, I left the kitchen, picked my purse up from the end table and walked quietly out of the house. Coffee would be a good thing to get, especially if I was going to knock out at least half the necessary pages before I came back to pick up Grace. My goal for the day was 3000 words or roughly seven pages typed, difficult but doable.

The coffee shop was buzzing with the news of the prison break. Strange people wandered around in what looked like long cloaks, talking about Black's escape. After ordering my coffee, I paid and hurried back to my car. There was way too much discussion about the prison break for me to work quietly. I couldn't concentrate when all anyone could talk about was him.

Upon arriving back at the house, I pulled the large stack of papers from out of my briefcase and sat on the couch underneath my favourite blanket. It was unusually chilly for the end of July. But I wouldn't complain, the heat from the summer always bothered me. I was more comfortable in the winter with the snow.

It took me five hours to finish the additional writing I needed to make my goal. It was pure torture to force the words out, but it was wasn't supposed to be picked up until five and left me two hours to herself. The spare room needed to be cleaned out, so after packing up my draft in a plain manila envelope, I made my way to the back room. There were boxes left over from years past, filled with photos, letters, even clothes.

I sorted the boxes into two piles, ones to keep and ones to throw away. After separating them, I began sifting through the papers and photos. There were photos from birthday parties, Christmases, Halloweens, even a pile leftover from when Ian and I were still together. Those should be ripped up and thrown away, but I would keep them, for the memories if nothing else.

One package in particular caught my eye. It was small, maybe ten pictures, but they were from the year before Grace was born. One specifically was of Sirius and me at a Halloween party. I remembered the costumes and the party but I didn't remember where the party was held. It must have been someone at work, either mine or his. Sirius dressed as James Bond and I as Queen Susan of Narnia. I stayed up for three nights trying to sew that costume, and in my opinion, it turned out beautifully.

I reached up to wipe my eyes, surprised to find my fingertips wet.A tear slid down my cheek and I hastily wiped it away,sniffling. He not only lied to me, he betrayed his friends and killed them.

What could I do if he decided to come looking for Grace? What if by some strange occurrence, he found out about her? What could I do? The Bobbies could only do somuch…

After wiping away the last of my tears, I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Sirius Black was not worth my worry or tears. He couldn't possibly know about Grace and he would leave us alone. If not… well I would deal with it when I got there.