MAN IN THE MIRROR
By Rose de Sharon
Disclaimer: any recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling and the Time Warner Brothers.
Author's notes:
- English isn't my native language and I don't have a beta-reader, all mistakes are mine.
- I am a Sirius Black-fan, which means I don't appreciate Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape ;-)
Chapter 1: The escapee
Sirius Black wanted to howl in joy.
Only ten minutes ago he was an imprisoned man, locked up in a room located at the top of one of Hogwarts' towers. He was waiting for the Dementors to give him "The Kiss", a procedure allowing the ghostly-looking creatures to absorb the soul of a condemned wizard or witch, dooming their victim to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his or her life. And now he was riding on the back of a hippogriff, a large half-eagle/half-horse winged creature, flying through the starry sky and under the brilliant disk of the full moon. He was free! FREE AT LAST!
Sirius laughed and he spontaneously hugged the neck of the hippogriff carrying him to freedom. Buckbeak answered with a squeaking sound, as if it was surprised by the man's gesture of affection, but also welcoming it.
"We're free, Bucky!" exclaimed the ex-prisoner. "We're alive and free, thanks to Harry. To think a thirteen-year-old has made us escape the clutches of the Dementors, the Ministry of Magic and even Snivellus Snape… That kid is a genius, plain and simple!"
Dementors were the wardens of Azkaban, the wizards' prison where Sirius had spent the past twelve years after being framed for the murders of his best friends, James and Lily Potter. But no one – including Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts and supposedly the most powerful wizard of the world – had deigned listening to Sirius' claims of innocence, demands for a trial or pleas for an interrogation under Veritaserum. In fact, the Ministry of Magic had considered it as "normal" to jail a distressed twenty-two-year-old man after his best friends had been murdered in cold blood, under trumped-up charges that wouldn't even have fooled a first-year law student.
The whole magic world had turned its back on Sirius, and anyone in his stead would have succumbed to despair. But the young Black had survived his imprisonment by focusing on two feelings: love for Harry Potter, child of James and Lily and his godson; and hate for Peter Pettigrew, the ex-friend who had betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, a megalomaniac wizard with world-dominating ambitions.
Sirius had had an advantage over the Azkaban's inmates: he was an Animagus, meaning he could change into a designed animal at will. Sirius' animagi form was a large, black dog and whenever the Dementors would approach his cell, he would turn into his canine alter ego. As a dog, his thoughts were more primitive and thus his mind had been protected – unlike the other prisoners, who would scream in terror whenever the ghostly wardens would "feed" on their memories, leaving only horror in their wake. No one had known about Sirius' secret talent and it had helped him to resist the Dementors' visits. After he had learned Pettigrew was hiding in Hogwarts, he had slipped out of his cell, travelled all the way up to Scotland on four feet to track down the traitor in the castle's corridors.
Sirius' initial plan had been to kill Pettigrew on sight but Harry and his classmates, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had stopped him to do so, arguing that it would be better to turn Pettigrew to Dumbledore. Unfortunately, two things had impeded their plan: first, Remus Lupin, DADA teacher and Sirius' only remaining friend, got a lycanthropy crisis and in the confusion, Pettigrew had fled while Black was protecting the children; and second, the Dementors had launched an attack near the Forbidden Forest's Lake: wounded by the werewolf and too weak to transform, Sirius had been captured and he would have fallen prey of "The Kiss" if not for Harry's intervention.
Harry… The souvenir of the boy's face flashed in Sirius' mind and for a moment, he smiled at the stars sparking in the sky. The flight of the traitor had ruined Black's hopes for rehabilitation but at least he was alive, free and in good company with Buckbeak, the mighty beast who was flapping its huge, silver-and-white coloured wings in the winds. Harry had fetched the hippogriff and blown the window of Sirius' cell, just before handing him Buckbeak's reins minutes before his execution – all this to save a man he had thought to be a murderer just an hour before. Harry was truly his parents' son, with his Dad's face and courage, and his Mum's eyes and heart.
Sirius smiled at the Heavens, imagining the look on Cornelius Fudge's face after he had heard of him escaping once again.
"And greasy-haired Snivellus must be so furious," said the young man out loud. "The jubilation gone from his gutter-coloured eyes after hearing the news I haven't been "kissed" by the Dementors! Snape can nurse grudges like a mother feed her children, and he wouldn't have been bothered at-all to see an innocent man destroyed by those ghoulish creatures as long as it'd satisfy his twisted and ridiculous sense of revenge. But his wax-coloured face must be purple of rage by now, thanks to Harry!"
The ex-prisoner silently vowed to legally adopt his godson and offer him a real home. No one would prevent him to save Harry from his horrible Muggle relatives. Sirius clearly remembered Lily Evans, Harry's future mother, returning to school each September with red-rimmed eyes because her sister Petunia had made her summer holidays a living Hell by calling her "freak", "monster" or "abomination" in public and once, she had proclaimed "people like Lily" should be burned at the stake. Petunia had refused to attend Lily's wedding with James Potter and hadn't even bothered to answer the announcement of Harry's birth. To think the boy had lived under that awful woman's roof for ten years… The poor kid!
Visions of a nice cottage in the country flashed before the escapee's eyes, where Harry would be allowed to play Quiddich all day along without being spotted by Muggles or spies from the Ministry of Magic… And maybe Remus Lupin could live with them? He was the kindest man on Earth but he could never find a steady job because of the terror provoked by his lycanthropy. It was time the guy had a good home, too! A cosy cottage with lots of rooms, roaring fires in the hearth, shelves loaded with books… and a windowless basement with heavy locks on a door made of solid metal – for Remus, during his "bad hair" night. Not to forget a barn filled with hay and food for the hippogriff.
Sirius patted Buckbeak's feathered neck, but then he suddenly grimaced: he hadn't escaped Hogwarts and the Dementors unscathed. Remus Lupin as a werewolf had bitten him many times, and he had several lacerations on his back and his forearms. The worst injury was on his right side, where Lupin's claws had slashed him deeply and he could feel blood seeping under his ruined Azkaban-issued shirt. During his imprisonment at the Hogwarts' tower, Black hadn't received any kind of medical help: why tend to a soon-to-be-executed man? After Harry and Hermione had gotten him out, he barely had the time to say good-bye to the kids before fleeing like a criminal… which he wasn't.
He knew by experience that werewolves' bites were dangerous three to four hours after their metamorphosis. Remus had attacked him right after his transformation, consequently the bites Sirius had received won't turn him into a full-moon-fearing monster – still, he was hurting bad! He also hadn't had anything edible to eat for hours. The recent events were taking their toll on him and he had went through a roller-coaster of emotions – fear of the Dementors, anger in his pursuit of Pettigrew, joy at meeting Harry, pain during his fight with Remus, utmost despair in his Hogwarts cell, hope from Harry – leaving him in a great state of great tiredness.
He felt like sleeping for a month but unfortunately the circumstances didn't allow him to do so; Sirius was a wanted man in all England and he had to flee as far as he could from his homeland. If he got caught by the Aurors (dark wizards' hunters), he would be submitted to an interrogation under Veritaserum, meaning he'd confess the name of his very young accomplices – including his beloved godson. If the Dementors ever caught up with him, Sirius wouldn't have to worry about getting Harry in trouble!
At first, Sirius had directed Buckbeak to fly north; it had meant less British ground to cover, and fewer chances to be detected by Aurors or the Ministry of Magic's representatives. Black glanced downwards and the moonlit sky provided sufficient illumination for him to make out the shiny contours of the Shetland Isles. The salty smell in the air confirmed to him they were indeed above the sea. Now was the good time to change direction and head for Ireland, before leaving for the Atlantic Ocean and then… the Caribbean.
"We're going west now, Bucky," said the escapee in the hippogriff's ear, tugging at the reins while repressing a grunt. "Once we've reached Ireland, we'll be safe. The British Aurors won't be allowed to chase us there. We'll rest for a few hours before flying to a warmer climate. Would you like to see the Caribbean Isles?"
Buckbeak screeched and Sirius was sure the beast had understood him plainly. Trust Harry to pick an intelligent hippogriff as a getaway car for his godfather! But then, the young man doubled over in pain and he nearly dropped the reins. Buck turned its head towards its rider, an unspoken question shining in the creature's golden eyes.
Sirius moaned loudly; blood was seeping through his left hand pressed on his right side, and he was starting to feel very cold in spite of the sweat covering his body. His heart was thudding against his ribs and his forehead was hot to the touch. Shock, he decided, coming from blood loss, lack of food and extreme stress. In Ireland he'd have to find medical help, otherwise he wouldn't be strong enough to reach their sunny destination. But he was penniless, dressed in rags and in company of a less-than-discreet creature. Going to a regular hospital was out of the question: his portrait had been shown at the Muggles' "Teeleeveeshion" to increase the Aurors' chances of finding him, so chances of being recognized by a doctor or nurse were too great.
Sirius gasped again, and then he gritted his teeth; no matter how bad he was hurting, he had to get away! Otherwise, Harry would be in terrible trouble, as well as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Fudge, that pompous incompetent, wouldn't listen to the children's pleas and maybe – Sirius' heart twisted inside his chest at the thought – the Ministry of Magic would sentence the three teenagers to Azkaban for aiding a criminal!
That very idea revolted the young man, and he kicked at the hippogriff's flanks to direct him in the direction of Ireland. Buckbeak understood the silent order and inclined its left wing to turn west, but then the beast made some sounds before becoming agitated, inclining its huge head towards the ground.
"Whoa! Easy, Bucky. What is getting to you?"
The hippogriff obviously wanted to land, even though its rider had great reserves about doing so. They were still above the Shetland Isles and it would be too damn infuriating to get caught by Aurors just before finally reaching freedom. But the ex-prisoner knew, from his Care of Magical Creatures' classes during his Hogwarts time, that it was quite unsafe to upset a hippogriff.
"Down there? That is where you want to go?" asked Black, "But why?"
Realizing it was useless to ask questions to an animal, Sirius sighed and then he let his mount flap its wings to descend. Soon, they were spiralling towards the dark land and the ex-prisoner glanced down to make sure no one was on sight. Of course, it was difficult to see if anyone was hiding beneath the bushes in the middle of the night, but Sirius trusted Buckbeak's instincts and the sooner the hippogriff would do its business, the sooner they would take off again and fly to safety. He dragged on the top rein to give Buck the signal that they could land.
TBC...
