Disclaimer: I'll own it someday, after I'm a multimillionaire. For now, Harry Potter is Miz Rowling's.
PrologueThe large black dog known to a select few as Sirius Black padded determinedly down the sidewalk of a busy London road. His head turned from side to side as he carefully watched the pedestrians as they passed him by, searching for a familiar face. Or at least he hoped it would be familiar. He hadn't seen the person it belonged to in sixteen years, after all. With good reason… his subconscious whispered to him. He shook the thought away. Now was not the time to be dwelling on an old quarrel.
His ears perked up as he heard a muffled laugh and a familiar voice.
"Snuffles! There you are. C'mere boy!"
'Snuffles' grumbled silently to himself at the undignified name and shot an irate glare at the muggle-dressed woman who was calling him. She looked much the same as he remembered. Black clothes, long black hair, stark silver eyes, delicate features. And entirely too amused for his liking. Still, he trotted obediently over as she opened the door of the car she'd been leaning against.
"In you go, puppy. We've places to be."
Feeling what was left of his dignity sliding away like sand from a beach, the animagus sighed and clambered into the vehicle, waiting patiently in the passenger seat as the disguised witch slid into the car and turned the key. He waited until they were well on their way before resuming his human shape. "I see you got my owl."
"Yes. Though I wasn't too happy with the contents of your letter. Snuffles."
Sirius scowled. "I'm not a dog anymore. You don't have to call me that anymore. And I wasn't exactly pleased that I had to write you that letter, by the way. Getting it out undetected was a pain."
"But it's such a cute name! And it suits you so well, too." His companion sniggered gleefully. "Since I can't very well call you 'Sirius' in public, after all."
"Excuse me for being wanted for the murder of my best friends." Sirius snapped.
There was a moment of tense silence. "I apologize. I hadn't meant to bring that up." She went on to change the subject. "I am glad you wrote me, Sirius."
"Doesn't mean I've forgiven you, LaCroix." Sirius muttered.
She sighed. "Leave it, Black. We have more important things to tend to before we can deal with old issues."
For a moment, Sirius stared suspiciously at her, just a little startled. Years ago, his comment would have been the beginning of a spectacular fight. In a moment of insight, he realized that though the woman next to him had changed little on the outside, her attitude had undergone a transformation. He nodded once. "Agreed. For the moment. So how exactly are we going to go about this?"
"There are some papers in the console. Have a look at them."
Sirius spent a few seconds figuring out how to open the compartment, then extracted a sheaf of official looking documents. He frowned as he studied them, then gaped as he realized what they were. "Alexiel, are these real?"
"Yes, they are."
"But how did you get them so fast?"
Alexiel glanced over at him and raised one eyebrow sardonically. "Let's just say I have friends in high places."
"This will make things much easier." Sirius grinned. "Suddenly I'm incredibly glad I got that owl past Dumbles."
"You and me both. I still can't believe it's come to this." Alexiel said. "You know, if you're right, we're still going to have to deal with the old goat. Legal or not, he won't let this go without a fight."
"I know." Sirius growled. "But we can't let him stop us."
"We won't."
"I'm still curious how you managed to work so fast. How long have you been back in the country?"
"Two weeks."
"And you just now got around to contacting me!"
"I wanted to see how things were, first." Alexiel replied. "I don't like walking into potentially dangerous situations blind. And even with my contacts, dealing with the Ministry took the better part of a week. I wanted that taken care of before we did anything else."
"Oh."
Alexiel stared hard at the road, frowning slightly. "Sirius, before we go any further with this plan, there's one thing I have to know. Why did you choose me, of all people?"
"I thought we weren't going to get into this now?" Sirius stalled.
"We aren't. But this is relevant. If you don't trust me, things could fall apart."
Sirius thought for several minutes before speaking slowly. "I still haven't come to terms with what you do, with the decisions you made after school, but you made a vow to Lily and James. And I think—I hope—I know you well enough to know that you'd cut off your own arm before breaking it. That's why I'll trust you with Harry."
"I see." Alexiel replied evenly. "You should change back to Padfoot. We're nearly there."
Short, yes, I know. The next chapter will be longer, though. Promise. Constructive criticism is immensely appreciated.
