Author's Note: Here I am again! My muses will just not leave me alone! You know how it is, they leave you for months with nothing to do, and then they come back from their all expense paid vacations and just start throwing ideas at you. Incorrigible little puppies. This is an AU fic, so y'all know. In other words…MY SIRIUS LIVES! I'm just a slightly crazed fangirl, deal with it. Enjoy!

Adios Amigos,

T.F.


She jumped through the cut window nimbly, landing with an inaudible thump on the threadbare carpet. She glanced around carefully, her sea green eyes gazing about the dark hallway meticulously, making sure that no one would interrupt her late night exploration of this strange residence.

Once she was certain that no one in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was up getting a midnight snack, she turned around, using her wand to meld the large glass oval that had been cut out to serve as a door, back into the window frame.

The woman, probably about 27 years of age, smiled smugly to herself. Two simple memory charms, a few shrinking curses, and an obvious lack of a 12 in the number line up was no match for her well honed larceny skills. She straightened up and surveyed the interior of the dwelling, placing the wand in her back pocket and wrapping up her long dark braid into a bun. She wasn't exactly sure what she expected to find of value in this dump. The woman rested her gloved hands on her hips, stopping momentarily to smooth down her ebony pants with the obsidian leather. Well, she thought, might as well take a look around, seeing as I went to all this trouble anyway.

She made her way cautiously down the hallway, her thin cloth shoes sliding a little on the stone floors. By the escalating number of doors she was passing she deduced that she was venturing into the rooming section and took special care to quiet her breathing and dance around the slits of light peering out from under several of the entrances. Several feet in front of her one of the said doors did in fact open. She pressed herself up against the hallway wall and then, feeling the round doorknob pushing into her lower back, she quickly backed up into a room.

Once the door had been firmly shut behind her, she turned around, heaving a sigh of relief. Unfortunately this sigh caught in her throat when she saw 3 pairs of young, inquisitive eyes staring at her. There, sitting on the two beds which occupied much of the space in the small room were a girl and two boys, all in their teens. The first boy had clear green eyes that held a certain amount of pain in them and scraggly hair that seemed quite unruly. The girl had mousy brown hair that waved and curled down to her shoulders, her eyes conveying palpable disapproval that actually made the woman squirm. The third boy, leaning up against the wall, was rather lanky and thin, his fiery red hair falling into cinnamon eyes that stared at the intruder half in surprise and half in fear.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" asked the red head, voice trembling ever so slightly.

After years of walking the crooked and ambling path, she had learned that when you couldn't tell the truth, it was best to go for confusion.

"Ah-ta-cha," the lady said, shaking her finger, "Language, young man." The freckled boy did indeed blink at her several times before the girl had to step up for him.

"You'll have to excuse Ron. But really, who are you?" she repeated, sitting up straight and staring at the oddly appareled women. "Are you a new member?"

"…Yes?"

"Shouldn't you be downstairs at the meeting then?" the girl asked again, her eyebrows rising speculatively. The woman found herself scrambling for excuses.

"I was! That is, ah, they sent me up here to, uh, check on you three." The woman raised her own eyebrow, "Speaking of that, shouldn't you be in bed? Asleep? It's very late you know."

The three teens smiled sheepishly at each other. The prospective thief's eyes were drawn to a silvery object, thrown over the foot board of the bed. She made her way over to the invisibility cloak and was about to pick it up until she noticed the emerald eyed boy staring at her in concern. "Do you mind if I…" she motioned towards the cloak, her eyebrows raised in question.

The boy swallowed back his hesitancy. "No, go ahead."

She picked it up, enjoying the feel of it slithering through her sinuous fingers. "These are very rare, where did you get this?"

"It was my father's." He was actually rather amazed that she didn't know. Then again, she had only just joined…

Suddenly, an idea came to the thief.

Perfect.

"Is that a tear?" she studied the fabric with mock concern, stretching her fingers over the non-existent tear.

"Where?" yelped the alarmed boy crawling across the bed to the woman.

"Right there," pointed the woman. She knew that if she was insistent enough that there WAS a tear, it wouldn't matter that no such thing existed. He would indeed see a small tear. "No worries though," she quickly whipped the material away as to not let the boy get too good a look, "Nothing too serious. I've got some things downstairs that could probably fix it."

"Thank you. Thank you very much!" exclaimed the dark haired boy happily.

"It's nothing really. Now," she scolded, turning to all three of them and shaking her finger, "I want you all to get some sleep. Alright?"

The group of friends sighed, but nodded grudgingly. "Good. Sweet dreams," she sang, making her way out of the bedroom. She shut the door behind her and looked greedily at the cloak, "Pleasant thoughts." Slipping the cloak around her lean personage, she finally achieved what every thief in the world longed for; invisibility.

True, the cloak was a bit small for her, but if she crouched down slightly it completely covered her. She walked down the hallway again and, upon reaching the end of it, made her way down a dilapidated staircase. The woman looked around the entry way and did a small dance when she saw the front door. Freedom!!

Her hand was on the doorknob when she heard raised voices coming from behind her. She whirled around, wand in hand, to find absolutely no one there. Yet, the shouting continued…

She walked slowly back towards the staircase, the voices getting nearer. She peeked her head around the stairs, and saw a large door with light coming out from under it that she hadn't noticed before. The woman berated herself for being so unobservant and then decided to partake in a little eavesdropping. She unlocked the door quietly with her wand. Taking a deep breath and clutching the cloak close to her, she opened the door slightly and slipped in, closing it swiftly and inaudibly behind her. Fortunately, the occupants of the large meeting area were too engrossed in the current argument to notice the door opening and closing by itself.

"We can't just sit here and do NOTHING!!" The man that was currently shouting was tall with dark longish hair tied into a ponytail. He was rather good looking, the woman admitted to herself, with roguish, but comforting dark grey eyes, and strong cheekbones. He might have been even more appealing if he wasn't scowling so fiercely. A few dark strands of hair framed his face, escapees from his ponytail. He wore a long sleeved charcoal sweater, sleeves pushed up around his arms. At this moment, he was standing up from his seat, hands placed flat against the table; the legs of which were still wobbling from the onslaught.

"You're absolutely right," said another man, rising to meet his comrade, "WE have to do something. YOU on the other hand, have to stay here." This man was of medium height with wavy brown hair that fell freely into tired looking amber eyes. His face was of a handsome kind. He wore a green shirt over a red and brown plaid long sleeved over shirt. "You're still a wanted man Sirius and that was a close one last time."

Sirius Black?! Where the hell am I??

"I was fine!" exclaimed Sirius in disbelief.

"You were lucky. I don't want to take any unnecessary chances." The brown haired man sat back into his chair. "Voldemort is gaining strength and gathering his forces. ALL of us have to be careful."

Voldemort?!? She hadn't exactly traveled in the highest of circles, but she didn't travel in the circles of hell either!!

"That's right," interjected a spunky looking lady with bizarre purple hair, "we already have reports from Bristol of members being assaulted by Death Eaters. In broad daylight! Harry's prophecy is hardly helping us."

Alright, things were getting a little too creepy for her tastes. Damning her inquisitive nature with every step, the thief fumbled the door open. The group continued arguing, still not noticing the movement of the portal. She was almost out the door when she felt it happen. The cloak caught on the doorknob and slid off of her.

The room behind her went immediately silent. She stayed in her crouched position, her face scrunched up in agony. So close…

The woman turned around and stepped back into the room. "Oh I'm sorry. I've seemed to have wandered into the wrong house. Terribly embarrassing you know, bothering you people like this. I suppose I should really be off now." She whirled around, ready to make her escape; only to find that her one exit was being blocked by the infamous Sirius Black.

"Its no bother at all, believe me," he sneered at her.

The woman blinked a few times before backing away. "That's very hospitable, what with you being a busy convict and all, but I have several appointments to keep and I really must dash."

She attempted to make her way around him and he pushed her roughly back, so hard that she ran into the head of the table. "Those appointments will have to be canceled." He spread his arms and legs out until he was very literally blocking the entire doorway.

Almost the entire doorway.

"Who are you?" demanded the brown haired man from behind her.

"Me?" she replied cattily, a grin spreading across her face. "I'm outta here." As fast as she could, she ran towards Black and the door. Sirius braced himself for her impact, but at the last moment, she slid down on to the ground, allowing her slippery clothing, the slick floor, and built up momentum to skid right through Sirius's spread legs and out of the room.

Her body slammed into the staircase but she recovered quickly. She vaulted over the railing and sprinted up the steps, taking them two or three at a time. Behind her she heard angry shouting and bodies stumbling after her.

She rushed down the hallway, quickly gaining ground, her long legs pumping furiously. As she sprinted past the rooms, the three teens she had encountered earlier stepped out behind her. All three of them looked very shocked to see her dashing by, the girl even shouting, "What's going on?!"

The thief skidded to a halt and spun around to face them. "Didn't I tell you guys to go to bed?!" she shouted on the spur of the moment, before turning back around to continue her getaway.

At least she WOULD have continued her getaway, but the hallway was now blocked by two young men, both in hastily thrown on sweatpants and nothing else. Their mischevious faces were framed by loose, scraggly red hair, which the thief imagined would look best up in a ponytail. They smiled crookedly.

"What do we have here, George?"

"I'm sure I don't know, Fred. It appears to be an attractive woman in haste."

"How very observant of you."

The first thoughts to scamper through her usually focused mind were Male. Twins. Cute. Half-clothed. Mmmmmm… but she was soon brought back to earth by the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Would you two mind terribly moving out of the way?" she asked, as politely as possible.

The two brothers looked at each other, their grins growing wider. "Well we wouldn't mind SO much-"

"-if you would pay the toll."

She stared suspiciously at them, somehow sensing that they were not to be trusted, but soon abandoned her hesitation when she could clearly hear the angry voices from behind. "Well what's the toll?" she inquired.

The two boys smirked yet again and stepped to either side of the woman. They leaned forward, their intention becoming unmistakably clear to the thief.

Fred and George, being… well, Fred and George… had planned to kiss the alluring lady

-What they hadn't planned on was her ducking down at the last moment.

-And they most certainly hadn't planned on kissing each other.

Once they realized what they had done, they jumped to either side of the hallway, squealing (in rather high-pitched voices) in disgust and wiping their mouths frantically. Now that they had moved out of the middle of the hall, the thief sped off again. Luckily, in their jumping and cursing, they unfortunately managed to trip up the leader of the pursuing posse, thus causing the entire group to trip, stumble, and/or fall face first onto the floor.

Looking back at the melee, the thief chuckled to herself, slowing her sprint to a mere lope. She continued turning down hallways, just to make sure that she had properly evaded her potential captors. Grimmauld Place was a maze of dusty rooms and abandoned corridors; a prime location in which to lose one's vital sense of direction. Occasionally she could hear people looking for her, snippets of conversations, etcetera, but she never saw anyone.

By this time she was ambling along the corridors at a leisurely pace, stopping occasionally to examine several paintings hanging on the walls. She was gazing at one of the afore-mentioned pictures (a rather odd photograph of an upside down pot of flowers) when she turned down a hallway, completely missing the large black dog that stood in front of her.

She noticed it as soon as it growled.

The thief stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the humongous beast with wide eyes. Its white fangs were bared, the fur on its neck bristling warningly.

"Um…nice doggie?"

It gave a low, throaty growl and started to move slowly towards her.

"That's what I thought." She backed up as well, her hands raised defensively.

The fight or flight response kicking in, her body demanded she make a decision. She turned around and ran as fast as she could. However her two legs were no match for the four that pursued her. The animal caught her ankle in its mouth and twisted it, forcing her to spin around. Unfortunately, she resisted the pull for several seconds, building up tension in that area. When she did finally spin and fall to the ground, she could hear the sickening snap and feel the bone grate against bone. The thief was blind with pain and just lay there with her eyes crunched closed in the dingy hallway for several seconds. She felt the dog release her leg hastily and pounce on top of her, making sure she couldn't jump up and escape. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked several times to clear her vision. She found herself looking into the face of Sirius Black.

She blinked several more times. Just for good measure.

Sirius took advantage of her shock and lifted one of his hands from off her shoulders to ruffle through her clothing in an attempt to locate her wand.

"Hey! Watch the hands!"

He ignored her cry and slid the smooth wood out of her pocket. He slipped the wand into his robe and then finally got a good look at the criminal he was holding down. Her body was lean and thin, an aide to a thief, and she was slightly taller than average. Her skin had a pale tinge to it but looked very healthy. Her sea-green eyes were glaring into his smug grey ones. Sirius heard voices approaching.

"I've got her!" he cried. Several exclamations and the sound of hurried footsteps were his reply. He looked back at the thief, smirking satisfactorily.

Oh how that insolent grin pisses me off…

"Yeah," she replied, "You've got me." She punctuated this last point by bringing her knee up into his groin. She was quite delighted with the results as the 'notorious' Sirius Black rolled off of her.

At this moment, an entire group of people, including the teenagers, rounded the corner into the hallway. Two men rushed forward to drag the thief back up. She responded to this rough treatment with a string of expletives.

"You bastards! Goddammit, can't you see my bloody leg's broken, Jesus Christ! What the fu-"

The brown haired man stepped forward and flicked his wand. Her lips were stuck tight. As much as she struggled she could even manage to open her mouth. "Please miss," he said politely, "there are children present."

She might not have been able to speak, but her hand was still in perfect working order. This she made clear by flipping up her middle finger. The man simply nodded respectfully to her and then turned back to Sirius who had managed to stand up.

"Did you get her wand?"

Wordlessly, Black tossed him the wand. The man caught it deftly with one hand.

"Now," began the man, turning back to the thief, "If you wouldn't mind accompanying us to the meeting hall?" He undid the spell so the woman could reply.

"I would be delighted."


A/N: Come on, you know what I want!

Audience Member1: A man?

Well, besides a man.

Audience Member2: Another man?

:glare: Can we please get off of my lack of a social life? I want REVIEWS people! Please, I really want to know what you think of my little thief! Was the chase scene any good? GIVE ME WHAT I NEED!

Audience Member3: Bring in the man-a-pult!

Your Obedient,

T.F.