NOTE: This story is primarily focused on SiriusOC and is only written for fun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and the world JK Rowling created. I only own the characters you do not recognize from Harry Potter.

Hello and welcome! First off, an important note. This is the sequel to my story Fate, and I highly recommend reading that first as you will not really know what's going on without it. If you've already read Fate, I'm really glad you decided to follow me over to here. I'm not really sure what to expect from this story as far as length because unlike my last story which I was rewriting, this will be my first time writing this half of it. I'm sure it will turn out much longer than the first, however. I don't have much else to say, so I hope you enjoy. If there's something you're confused over, feel free to ask!

Happenstance

Chapter One

He was running down a hallway that seemed to never end. He didn't know why he was running. What he was running from. Where he was running to. But he ran until his sides ached and his heart threatened to beat right out of his chest. Doors flashed by as he ran, an assortment of colors that passed in a blur. His feet seemed to know where he was going more than he did because they stopped suddenly outside of a plain brown door with the numbers 205 on the front. It was oddly familiar, but he couldn't place it.

For some reason, the door was not quite closed all the way and he reached out towards it. As soon as his fingers brushed against the wood, the door swung opened. Something held him back, telling him not to step inside, but once again his feet seemed to have a mind of their own. After he cleared the doorway, the door slammed closed behind him, but he hardly noticed. His attention was on the room he was standing in. The memories were coming back. He knew exactly where he was.

He was standing in the sitting room of his flat. Everything was just as he remembered it. The bookshelf, the couch and armchair, the coffee table. The kitchen table. He stepped up to it. There was a hardly touched cup of tea sitting on the table.

A part of him didn't want to go any further, wanted to turn and flee. But the majority of him felt a strong longing that drew him down the hallway and towards the bedroom. The door was closed and he hesitated only a moment before he turned the knob and stepped inside.

The stench of blood hit him first. It was so strong, it nearly brought him to his knees. When he saw her, he did fall. How could he have forgotten about her? She was lying in a pool of blood, her blue eyes open and unseeing, her long hair fanned around her head like a halo.

"Sam," he moaned, crawling towards her.

When he reached her, he ignored the blood and cradled her in his arms gently. Her head rolled back, her body limp. He was horrified to realize she was still warm. He had arrived just too late.

Another name came to him, and this one filled him with a burning anger.

"Peter."

Sirius shot up, the anger and horror he felt in his dream still eating away at him. But it was slowly ebbing away, realizing it was just a dream. Only a dream. It took him a moment to get his bearings, to remember where he was. It had been so long since he'd had a place to sleep. But Remus's sitting room was coming into focus, though everything was just shapes in the dark. His breathing was beginning to slow and so he allowed himself to lie back against the cushions of the couch, trying his best to forget about the dream. He couldn't seem to wipe it from his mind, and though he did manage to drift back to sleep, it was a restless one.

When he woke the next morning, it was to the sounds of Remus moving about it the kitchen. Sirius rose wearily and headed towards the noise. Remus was in the process of heating water and making what appeared to be pancakes. Sirius's stomach rumbled. He remembered pancakes.

"Morning," he muttered, collapsing into a chair at the table.

"Good morning," Remus said more cheerfully. "How did you sleep?" He hadn't bothered to turn around or the question would have been unnecessary.

"Terribly."

"Well, at least you slept terribly in a warm house on a couch."
Sirius snorted. That was true.

Remus hadn't looked as surprised as he thought he'd be when he'd shown up at his doorstep the night before. Remus had only taken one look at him before ushering him in. Sirius had then spent two hours in the bathroom. It had been his first shower in nearly eleven years and he hadn't gotten in any hurry. Using Remus's wand, he managed to clean his teeth until there was no evidence of the years they hadn't been taken care of. Last was his hair, a tangled mess down his back. He'd chopped it off so it brushed his shoulders. Remus had apologized, saying his spare bedroom was full of junk and that he'd have to sleep on the couch. Sirius hadn't cared. It beat curling up on the cold, hard ground.

"Here's the Prophet," Remus said, handing him the paper. "In case you want to read it."

The article on the front cover was titled 'Parents Outraged at Dumbledore for Allowing Werewolf Professor'. Sirius snorted again and tossed the paper aside.

"I don't think I need to read another article on how you're a danger to the entire wizarding world, thank you."

"Are you sure? They had a very wonderful vocabulary. 'Detrimental.' 'Infectious.' 'Pernicious.' I think one witch said I would eat her children if I was allowed to stay."

"And here I thought the ignorance of werewolves would have gone away in my absence. But I guess people never stop being idiots."

Remus sighed and placed a plate of pancakes in front of them. "I don't blame them. It could be potentially dangerous. I was astounded when Dumbledore approached me about teaching Defense last summer."

"What did you do for the full moons?" Sirius asked, pouring an unhealthy amount of syrup over top of the pancakes.

"There's this new potion out," Remus told him, setting a plate of his own down on the table and sliding into the chair across from Sirius. "Wolfsbane. It came out a few years ago but it's a very complicated potion so naturally, it's much more than I can afford. But Dumbledore had Snape make it for me and-"
"Snape?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Remus nodded. "He teaches potions at Hogwarts."

"Dumbledore actually hired him?" Sirius was staring at him, mouth hanging open.

Remus rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, Snape made it for me every month. It allowed me to keep my mind during the transformations. I was able to curl up in my office and sleep all night."

Sirius looked impressed. "It's about time they came out with something. What are you going to do now?"

Remus shrugged. "Go back to doing it the old way I suppose."

"How can you knowing that potion is out there, knowing what it does?"
"Well, I can't very well afford it. I'll be fine."

Sirius sighed and pushed a few pieces of pancake around on his plate. "I could-"

"No," Remus cut him off sharply. "Absolutely not. You're still a wanted criminal. You're not going to risk yourself by accompanying me on full moons."

"It's not like anyone would know it was me. How do you think I managed to stay hidden for a year?"

But Remus had that stubborn glint in his eye and so Sirius changed the subject.

"Harry looks just like James, doesn't he?"
Nodding, Remus finished off the bite in his mouth before answering. "I was shocked when I first saw him at the sorting. I thought…." He trailed off, not wanting to say what he'd really thought. That he was seeing things, that it was James come back to haunt him.

"The sorting?" Sirius asked, confusion on his face. "Why would the sorting be the first place you saw him?"

"Oh, ah," he shifted uncomfortably, "Harry grew up with his aunt and uncle. I haven't seen him since before Lily and James..."

"But why? Lily and James made sure that he would have somewhere to go. He was supposed go to S-…he had a guardian to go to."

Remus pretended to not notice the hesitation. "There were complications."

"Complications? What the hell does that mean?"

"The short version is that Dumbledore decided Harry would be better off with his aunt and uncle."

"But that's not what Lily and James wanted. They wanted to make sure Harry didn't end up with those people."

"I know, Sirius. It's very complicated."

There was a finality to his tone that made Sirius reluctantly drop the conversation. They fell silent as they concentrated on the food in front of them. Only when both their plates were empty did Sirius speak.

"I won't stay long. I just wanted to check on you after I saw the article."

Remus drew his eyebrows together. "You're not leaving."
"Moony," Sirius sighed.

"Padfoot," Remus retorted sternly.

"I'm still a wanted criminal. They're looking for me. If I'm caught staying here-"

"Then we'll just have to make sure you don't get caught. You have the perfect disguise, and no one ever comes here. It's too isolated. You'll be safe here. You can stop running."

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair but did not argue anymore. Remus saw this as an agreement to stay and grinned, standing to put the dishes in the sink.

"I'll work on clearing out the spare bedroom. You'll sleep in a real bed tonight."

The thought of sleeping on a bed was enough to chase away remaining doubts he had about staying, at least for a little while.

The more time he was at Remus's, the more Sirius was able to relax. By the time it had been three days, he didn't jump at every little noise that sounded in the cottage. He stopped thinking he was hearing voices outside. He passed the time reminiscing with Remus or reading one of his many books. There wasn't much else to do but after being locked up for ten years and on the run for one, it was nice to relax and have nothing to do, to have his mind free of the torment of the dementors and to not be constantly on the move.

In the afternoon of his third day, Sirius was alone in the cottage. Remus had gone on a walk, and though he'd invited Sirius, he'd declined. He didn't want to risk something like that yet. So instead he was seated on the couch, a book in his lap. It was some odd muggle book and he wasn't quite sure what it was about. He was having a hard time concentrating.

A knock suddenly sounded on the door, causing him to jump, the book nearly flying from his lap, though he managed to catch it at the last moment. Setting the book aside, he rose and turned in a circle, muttering under his breath, unsure of what to do. Remus hadn't be gone long enough to have already returned and besides, it was his house. He wouldn't be knocking. The person knocked again and cursing, he quickly shifted into his Animagus form. Not that it would matter. They would go away when no one answered. But there was only three people alive who would recognize him in this form so he would be safe this way.

They knocked one more time, though it was softer as if they had come to the realization that no one was home. Sirius relaxed, thinking they would leave. But then he heard the lock click and watched as the knob turned. And one of the three people who would recognize him stepped through the door.

She didn't see him, not at first. Her gaze went to the kitchen first. But then her eyes shifted to the sitting room and then to him, and she froze. The color drained from her face and the look in her eyes could only be described as terror. For a long moment, they only stared at each other. Neither one were able to move. Inside, Sirius was panicking. He hadn't asked Remus about her once, unable to bring himself to. Now, he didn't know what he should do. She knew it was him. Should he turn back to himself and talk to her?

Before he could decide, she finally moved, turning on her heel and fleeing and he realized he could not let her leave. She flung open the door, but before she could step outside, his hand closed around her arm tightly. He pulled her back into the cottage and she whirled to face him.

"Let me go," she demanded, though the way her voice shook took away from her commanding tone.

"I can't let you go," he replied gruffly. "Just listen to me."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say." She stopped struggling suddenly and her eyes narrowed. "Where's Remus? What did you do to Remus?"
"What?"

In the shock of what she was implying, his grip on her arm loosened. She was quick to take advantage of it, ripping her arm from his grip. When he made to grab her again, she shoved her elbow into his stomach as hard as she could. The force knocked the breath out of him and caused him to double over.

She spun around to race out of the door and slammed into Remus's chest. He grabbed hold of her to keep her on her feet and her eyes searched his face frantically.

"Remus…"

"Sam. It's alright," he said soft enough so only she could hear before he looked over at Sirius. "Alright, Padfoot?"

"Just dandy," Sirius wheezed, still bent over, his hand on his stomach.

"What?" Samantha hissed, drawing Remus's gaze back to her.

"Just let me explain."

"What is there to explain?" she snapped.

"Hey." Sirius had recovered and began to make his way over to them. "Don't you talk to him like that." He reached out to pull her away from Remus, but she flinched away, stepping behind Remus.

"Sirius," Remus said. When the other man's attention did not shift to him, he called his name louder. "Sirius." Sirius's eyes finally slid to him. "Let us talk alone for a bit."

"What? But-"

"Sirius."

The two of them glared at each other for a long moment before Sirius sighed and stepped back.

"Fine," he said shortly before striding out of the kitchen. A moment later, the door to his bedroom slammed loudly.

"Sam," Remus said, turning to face her. But she was already out the door and striding into the woods. He was quick to follow. She weaved through the trees, every now and then passing through a beam of light that had broken through the canopy. She wasn't walking fast enough to get away from him and so he let her keep going until she finally stopped when they reached a clearing. It was the clearing they had spoken in after his parents had died, he realized. Her back was to him, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why is he here?" she asked, not bothering to turn to face him.

"He needed a place to stay."

She whirled around to face him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "He killed Lily and James!"

"No he didn't."

Samantha laughed bitterly. "Then who did?"

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, stepping closer to her. "It was Peter," he said softly.

"Peter? But he's-"

"Dead? No. I thought so, too. Until last week."

"Last week?"

"Sam." He stepped up to her, gripping her arms in her hands. "He's innocent. Peter was the secret keeper, not Sirius. He convinced Lily and James at the last moment. And when he realized what Peter had done, he went after him and Peter set him up. Peter killed all of those muggles, cut off his own finger, and has been hiding as a rat ever since."

"Remus that's…that's ridiculous. Did he tell you this? And you just believed him?"

"He told me, yes, but it was confirmed by someone else."

"Who?"

"Lord Voldemort."

"What?" she whispered. "But…but he's dead."

"No, Sam. Not quite. He's not got a body or anything. He was leeching off of a wizard, Quirrell. They came to Hogwarts last week to kill Harry. Sirius had heard rumors about it and was there to protect him."

"The Prophet said he was there for the Sorcerer's Stone that Dumbledore had hidden in the school."

"The Prophet lied. Or, rather, Dumbledore lied. He doesn't think the world is ready to know that Voldemort isn't dead."

Samantha stepped back out of his grip before turning her back on him once again. For a long time, she didn't speak. Remus didn't push her to speak. It was a lot to take in.

"I'm not saying I believe you," she said quietly, so quietly he had to step closer to hear her. "But if what you've told me is true…then all this time, he's been innocent? He spent all of those years in jail for a crime he didn't commit?"

Remus swallowed and nodded despite the fact that she could not see. "It's a lot to think about, I know. He's afraid Peter is a danger to Harry. That's why he broke out. He's trying to find Peter. If he does, he can prove his innocence."

She turned slowly back to face him. "That's going to be impossible, finding him while he's hiding as a rat."

He shrugged. "I suppose it's a better thought than knowing you're going to be a criminal your entire life."

"He can't stay with you, Remus. It's too dangerous. What if he's found? You've already been outed as a werewolf. What do you think they'll do to you if they find out you're housing a fugitive?"

"I'm not going to send him back out there, Sam. You saw how terrible he looks. And that's after he spent hours cleaning himself up. He's one of my best mates. I can't leave him to fend for himself."

"He thought you were the traitor."

"And I thought the same of him. We were both wrong, Sam."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before crossing her arms over her chest and glancing away from him.

"How have you been…after what The Prophet did?"

Remus shifted, but did not protest her sudden change in topic. It was likely the reason she had come by in the first place. The least he could do was allow her to ask. "I dunno. It was bound to come sooner or later, wasn't it?"

"Remus, you loved that job."

"We knew it was cursed, knew that I wouldn't get to stay but one year."

"What are you going to do now?"

He shrugged. "I'll figure something out. The pay wasn't great but I managed to save up a little."

She sighed heavily before reaching into one of her pockets. Remus watched questioningly as she drew out a vial. He almost asked what it was but then he recognized it.

"Sam, no."

"Please take it. I know how much it helped you."

"Sam, I couldn't…"

"I know you can't afford it, and I know you don't want to go back to doing it the normal way. Please just let me do this for you."

Sighing, he nodded and stepped closer to take the vial from her. He slipped it in his pocket and gave her a small smile.

"Do you want to come in? I can make some tea."

Her gaze shifted to look over his shoulder in the general direction of the cottage. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

"I ought to go. I picked up an extra shift at work tonight."

"You work too much."

Her lips twitched into the briefest of smiles. "So you've told me before."

"Because it's true. Are you sure you don't want some tea?"

She shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea, Remus. Not yet."

"Alright," he said softly. "I'll come by soon, okay?"

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Okay."

She turned to go, but Remus called out to her, and she turned back to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You won't tell anyone? You won't tell him?"

She hesitated before shaking her head. "No, I won't tell anyone."

When Remus stepped back inside the cottage, Sirius was pacing in the kitchen. He paused when the werewolf returned and scowled darkly at him.

"What, she couldn't even be in the same house as me?"

Remus rolled his eyes and moved to the stove to heat up some water for tea. "It's a lot for her to take in, Sirius. Did you expect her to warm up to you right away?"

"You did."

Remus paused at the sink, the kettle in his hands, before he turned the water on and began filling it up.

"It's different. You don't know what she went through after…"
Sirius snorted. "Yeah, I can imagine it was worse than being locked up in Azkaban for ten years."

Remus slammed the kettle down into the sink and spun to face him. "I know you had it hard, Sirius. I'm not saying you didn't. But it wasn't easy for us either, you know."

"I know," Sirius said softly. He turned and ran his hands through his hair. "I worried about her. Every damn day I worried about her." He turned back to face Remus, who was watching him silently. "Everyone else in there was crazy, out of their minds. Everyone who goes to Azkaban eventually loses their minds. But the funny thing is that dementors can only affect humans. Once I learned that, keeping a hold of myself was easy."

"She missed you," Remus told him. "I don't know if she ever stopped missing you. But after…Adrien tried to find her at your flat when the news broke, but she was already gone. He found her at her old home. She's been living there all these years. She wouldn't get out of bed…wouldn't talk. Adrien didn't know what to do, and that's when he got me. Not that that made any difference. We had to force her to go to James and Lily's funeral. She stayed like that for weeks. I don't know what changed, but one day she got out of bed and went to work."

By the end, Sirius's jaw was clenched tightly. Remus silently watched him unclench and clench his jaw several times.

"She'll be better off staying away from me," he finally said quietly before turning on his heel and making his way to the back. His bedroom door slammed for the second time that day, causing Remus to jump. The silence that followed was deafening and sighing, he turned back to his tea, wondering when life had gotten so complicated.

Remus pulled his cloak tighter around himself, muttering under his breath about the rain that was currently soaking him. He'd gone out job hunting late that afternoon to clear skies, but sometime after dark a rainstorm had moved in. It was a great way to maximize the fact that his job searching had been highly unsuccessful.

It had been a month since he'd come home from Hogwarts, since Sirius had shown up at his door. Nothing much had happened since. Sirius spent his days reading or challenging Remus to games of wizard's chess. There wasn't much more for him to do. Remus visited Samantha every few days, but did not try and convince her to come visit Sirius, since he seemed to think it was not a good idea. She was keeping him secret at least.

He'd just decided to give up for the night and find a secluded place so he could disapperate when something struck him in the head. Crying out in pain and surprise, the force knocked him to the ground. His vision spun, threatening to black out. He could feel blood flowing down his face and he pushed himself to his knees, his hands moving to his pockets to search for his wand. Something struck him hard in the shoulder, knocking him to his back and he groaned. His vision stopped swimming enough for him to focus. There was a brick lying next to his head, and he assumed that was what had struck him.

"What are you doing around here, werewolf?" a voice growled from somewhere above him.

Remus groaned and tilted his head up in an attempt to see his attackers, but his vision still swam and all he could make out were three tall blurs standing over him.

"I was job hunting," he hissed between teeth that were clenched in pain. The dizziness was fading, leaving a sharp ache in its place.

"Who's going to hire an abomination like you? No one wants to risk getting infected," a different voice hissed.

"Dumbledore hired 'em."

"Dumbledore's sympathetic towards scum like him. O' course he hired 'em."

One of his attackers delivered a swift kick into his side, so hard that he was surprised he didn't feel his ribs shatter inside him. As soon as the foot left his side, it was replaced with another at his other side. And then another. And another. Over and over they kicked him, and he groaned at every blow until suddenly, the blows stopped.

"Why won't he scream? Scream, you bloody werewolf."

"We'll get 'em screaming soon enough."

Remus cracked his eyes open just in time to see one of the figures reach into his robes and draw out his wand. His eyes slid back closed, his aching body tensing at whatever they were going to do next. He just hoped it would pass quickly.

Sirius was seated in the arm chair that had been in the sitting room of Lily and James's cottage in Godric's Hollow. The cream colored walls were covered in photographs. Since they were moving to be essentially isolated from everyone they knew, Lily had insisted on hanging them as soon as they moved in before they'd even bothered to buy themselves food. They'd eaten pizza that night, he remembered. The curtains were closed tightly in front of the large bay window to keep prying eyes from seeing into the dimly lit room. Shadows danced across the walls from the flickering flames in the fireplace.

"It's a bit late for a social call, isn't it, Padfoot?"

James and Lily were sitting across from him on the sofa. Their hands were gripping each other tightly, clasped together and resting in James's lap. Sirius leaned towards them, propping his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his clasped hands. He gazed at them gravely, his hair falling into his eyes.

"I'm afraid it's more important than a social call, Prongs," he replied.

James nodded grimly. "I figured as much. What can we do for you?"

Sirius didn't answer right away as he glanced between James and Lily. James fidgeted, growing apprehensive, and Sirius finally provided him with an answer.

"I don't think that I should be your secret keeper."

Shock played across James's face, fear flashed through Lily's eyes.

"Not be our secret keeper?" James asked softly. "Padfoot, we were counting on you. How can you back out now? We're only a week away from casting the spell." His voice had raised and he seemed to just barely be reigning in panic.

"No, no," Sirius replied, voice reassuring. "I'm not backing out. I just think I've come up with a better plan. If you don't agree, I'll still be your secret keeper." Sirius met James's gaze intently. "I'd die before I let you down, Prongs."

James nodded and he and Lily visibly relaxed, Lily's grip on James's hand lessening slightly, though a tenseness remained in the both of them.

"Alright." James gave Sirius a brief nod. "What is it then?"

"I've just been thinking a lot since the two of you asked me. I jumped at the idea because I would do anything for the two of you and I would do anything for Harry. But now I'm wondering if I'm the right choice for this."

"Of course you are," Lily told him. "We trust you more than anyone. You're the obvious choice."

"Exactly," Sirius replied. "I'm the obvious choice. The Death Eaters will know that. The spy will certainly know that. They'll come for me right away. And, Merlin, I don't want anything to happen to the three of you, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to stand up to their interrogating. Not forever."

"So just what are you suggesting, Padfoot?" James asked, his hazel eyes thoughtful.

"You make someone else the secret keeper. Someone they would never think you would choose for such a thing."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Peter." At James's doubtful look, Sirius plowed on. "Think about it, Prongs. No one would ever suspect it would be Peter. He's not particularly good at anything and he wouldn't stand up to the torture Death Eaters would put him through if they ever felt the need. But that's the brilliance of it. No one would think you'd put it in his hands. They'd still come to me first and that would give Peter plenty of time to hide, get out of the country. Whatever it takes for them not to find him. And no one would know. We won't even tell Dumbledore we switched. And I'll keep it from Sam as well. I've got to think about her safety in this, too."

James and Lily exchanged looks and he knew what they were thinking. Either way, the outlook for Sirius did not look particularly good.

"I don't know, Padfoot," James said slowly.

Sirius fixed his gaze on James, silently begging him to understand. James stared back defiantly, but slow, his eyes softened, but he did not seem convinced.

"Think of Harry," Sirius told him softly.

James and Lily exchanged another look and then James turned back to Sirius, nodding determinedly. "Alright," James said. "We'll ask Peter if he wants to be our secret keeper instead."

Sirius shot up, fisting his hands in his hair. It was far from the first time he'd revisited that memory in his dreams. It was the moment when he'd sealed everyone's fate by convincing James and Lily to switch to Peter. In doing so, he'd murdered them. Made Harry an orphan. Given Peter everything he needed to hand the Potters over to the Dark Lord. Remus had lost every single one of them in one night. And Sam. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes and fell back. He couldn't think about losing her. Not now.

Sighing heavily, Sirius removed his hands from his face and turned to look at the clock. It was nearly eleven and Remus still had not come home yet. He'd been waiting for him in the sitting room when he'd dozed off. That was an hour ago. He'd been worried then but now he was even more so.

The door suddenly burst open and Sirius leapt to his feet.

"Moony?" he called hesitantly, making his way towards the kitchen. It was dark, and he could only just barely make out a hunched form silhouetted against the open doorway. Sirius flipped on the switch and the sight he was met with was enough to make him freeze in shock.

Remus was heavily leaning against the counter. Blood was pouring out of his nose, his face was so swollen, his eyes were hardly open. His right arm was wrapped tightly around his abdomen. Sirius snapped himself out of his shock just in time to leap across the kitchen and catch him before he fell.

"Remus," he said frantically, holding him up as gently as he could. "Moony, what happened? Who did this?"

"Don't…know," Remus croaked. "Couldn't…see their faces."

Sirius clenched his jaw tightly. He didn't need to ask why Remus had been attacked. He knew perfectly well why. "I'll kill them," he growled. "I'll hunt them down and kill them."

Remus coughed, and blood splattered onto the floor. Sirius's face went white at the sight of it.

"I've got to get you help," Sirius muttered. Remus made some sort of noise of protest, but it turned into a moan of pain when Sirius hoisted him up.

"You can't…be seen."

"I won't be. I'll take you someplace safe."

By the time Sirius was rushing up the hill towards the large brick home he hadn't seen in years, Remus was unconscious. Sirius was too worried for him to be apprehensive about what he was about to do, but even then, he hesitated when he reached the door for the briefest of moments before he rang the bell. He waited only a moment before he began to pound on the door. It seemed like hours before he heard footsteps, but he continued to ram his fist into the wood until the door was jerked away when it opened.

She looked shocked to see him, but that quickly went away when she caught sight of Remus.

"What happened to him?"

"Help him," Sirius rasped. Remus was heavier than he looked, and hauling him up the hill had his arms and back aching.

"Take him to the back bedroom," she instructed, stepping out of his way. Sirius hurried into the home and he heard the door shut behind him as he made his way down the hallway. He'd only spent the night in the house once, but he remembered where the guest bedrooms were. Turning down the hallway they were located on, he chose the second bedroom. The bed was bigger.

He heard the sound of running water as he settled Remus on the bed. His nose was still bleeding-it looked as if it was broken-but not as badly as when he'd first arrived at the cottage. He seemed to be having a little trouble breathing, which made him wonder about the state of his ribs.

The water shut off and hurried footsteps made their way towards the bedroom. A moment later, Samantha stepped inside, a damp cloth in her hand and her face tight with worry. She held the cloth out to him, not quite meeting his eyes.

"See if you can get some of that blood off of his face."

Sirius took the cloth and set about to wiping the blood off as gently as he could. He watched out of the corners of his eyes as Samantha began to run her wand down the length of his body. The silence stretched between them. She looked as if she were concentrating too much to notice, but he grew more and more uncomfortable the longer it continued.

Finally, she pulled her wand away and looked at him. This time, their eyes met and Sirius had to stop himself from looking away.

"What happened?"

"He was attacked," Sirius said darkly. "You can guess why."

"I'll report it. After he's treated. You might want to step outside. It's going to take a while."

Sirius didn't like being asked to leave Remus, but he knew her well enough to see how tense she was around him. She would take care of him better if Sirius was not in the room. And so he nodded and slipped from the room.

He started out leaning against the wall in the hallway. And then he started pacing the length of the hall. At one point he decided he was thirsty and went into the kitchen for a glass of water. As he drank, he looked out the window at the back garden. The moon was bright enough that he could make out some of the flowers. It was flourishing even nearly fifteen years after Elizabeth's death. He knew for a fact that Samantha had been taking care of it. When he'd been on his way to Hogwarts to protect Harry several month ago, he'd been unable to help himself and had stopped by Samantha's home. He hadn't known for sure if she would be there, but he'd had a feeling, and found it to be right. She'd been working in the garden when he saw her, and he'd watching her for nearly half an hour. Then a young boy had run out of the house and pulled her away from the garden. They both had been smiling and laughing.

Sirius hadn't asked Remus about the boy. He was afraid of the answer. He found himself wandering into the sitting room and to the fireplace. Pictures were lined up on the mantel. A family photo of the Dawsons that they'd had a copy of in their flat. A picture of Adrien and Nichole. And a picture of the boy. He was young in the photo, maybe four. He'd looked at least a year older when he'd seen him in the garden. There was a family resemblance and far from the first time, he wondered who the boy was. There was no sign of anyone else being in the house.

He turned to leave the sitting room to go see how things were going. As he passed the large front window, he looked out just in time to see someone ducking through the gate and starting their way towards the house. He'd worked as an auror long enough to recognize the robes, even from a distance. Cursing, Sirius quickly made his way to the back bedroom, bursting through the door and causing Samantha to jump in surprise. He noticed that Remus already looked a bit better than he had before, but he didn't have time to think about that for long.

"Someone's here. I think it's an auror."

Her face paled. "What? But they don't usually come so late…"

"Did you tell them I was here?" he demanded to know.

"What?" she said again, her face quickly darkening in anger. "Of course not."

"Then why is an auror here?"

"Because ever since you escaped Azkaban, Fudge has ordered my home searched periodically in case I was hiding you. In case you ever came here."

"Well, I did come here didn't I?" he snapped. The doorbell rang and he cursed. "What now?"

"Figure it out," she said, quickly moving to the door of the bedroom. "I have to go answer the door."

She heard him curse again as she made her way to the front door. She briefly wondered who it was at the door before she opened it. Relief flooded through her when she found John Dawlish. He was a friendly face, unlike some of the aurors that were sent to her home. She'd known Dawlish her entire life. Her father had trained with him and he'd been a close family friend ever since.

"Hi, John," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Sam," he replied, running a hand over his short grey hair as he gave her a sheepish look.

"Sorry it's so late. But Fudge was pestering Adrien all day about how it's been almost two weeks since he sent someone out all day and he finally gave in and told me to go, but I just now managed to get away."

"Busy day?" she asked, stepping inside to allow him to come in.

"You know you're brother. He's been running himself down ever since Black escaped."

She shoved the sudden gilt she felt aside. Adrien had been running himself down trying to find Sirius and hiding the fact that she knew where he was from him. "I was about to contact him anyway," she said, closing the door and gesturing at him to follow her. "Remus is here. He's been attacked."

"What?" Dawlish hissed.

Instead of explaining further, she opened the door to the spare bedroom, hoping Sirius concealed himself. He had in a way. Lying beside the bed was a large black dog. Dawlish paid the dog no mind when he stepped into the room behind her. His eyes were glued on Remus.

"You can guess what happened," she said, glancing at him.

Dawlish nodded. "There's likely going to be an uproar over that article for a while yet. It might be best if he lay low for a while." He turned his gaze to her. "How bad?"

"I've almost got him fixed up," she replied. "A broken nose, three cracked ribs, and a lot of bruising. But he's going to be fine."

"Unless he can identify the people specifically, there's no way to track them down. And even if he could, it would be a werewolf's word against his. You know what side is most likely to be taken."

"I know," she muttered.

Dawlish's gaze finally shifted down to the dog lying on the floor. "New pet? Did something happen to your cat?"

"No, Basil's around here somewhere." She lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "He showed up a few days ago. I asked around to see if he'd wandered away from home, but no one had ever seen him. I couldn't bring myself to send him on his way."

"He's awfully quiet for a stray. Hasn't moved once."

She nodded. "That's why I thought he was from around here. He acts as if he's lived in a home all his life. So I suppose I'll keep him in case the owners come looking for him one day. If he's not from the village, there's no telling how far he's wandered."

"Have you given him a name?"

She gave him a sheepish smile. "He likes to sniff around the kitchen a lot so I've been calling him Snuffles." She could swear she saw Sirius throw her a glare, but it was gone too quickly to be certain. She didn't particularly care. That's what he got for putting her in a position like this.

"Adrien will be pleased. He worries about you living by yourself in this house."

"Adrien worries about everything."

"That is very true. I'm going to have a quick look around, and then I'll go file a report on the attack."

She nodded and turned her attention back to Remus as Dawlish stepped out of the room. She could hear footsteps upstairs as she worked on bringing the swelling in Remus's face down. At one point, she felt eyes on her and glanced down at Sirius. This time she knew for a fact he was glaring at her and she ignored him, turning her attention back on Remus. By the time Dawlish poked his head in to say goodbye, he looked almost back to normal. When the front door closed, Sirius was suddenly himself again.

"What the hell kind of name is Snuffles?" he demanded, leaning over the bed towards her.

"If you wanted to be picky about your name, you should have chosen one yourself," she snapped. "Now do you want to stay with Remus or shall I?"

"I'll stay," he replied, dropping into the armchair that sat in the corner opposite the bed.

"Fine. Then I'm going to bed. Get me if you think something's wrong."

Sirius watched her storm from the room before sighing and settling back into the chair. His stomach growled and he realized he hadn't eaten dinner, but he didn't dare wander into the kitchen. So he settled in for what he knew would be a long night.

Remus didn't wake up all night. At first, Sirius occupied his time by wandering around the bedroom and searching the drawers. He found things that appeared to belong to Remus, and he wondered how often the werewolf stayed over. He'd heard Dawlish mention Samantha's brother being worried about her staying in this house by herself. Perhaps Remus felt the same.

Eventually, he dozed off in the chair. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, and he didn't ever completely drift off. At some point after the room was lit by the sun, he finally gave up and opened his eye only to find Remus watching him.

"Moony," he croaked, leaning forward in the chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Like my head got beat in by a brick," Remus replied dryly. "Which makes sense, since it did."

Sirius pulled a face. "Did you see who it was?"

Remus shook his head and closed his eyes. "I never got a look at them."

"Does your head hurt? Should I go get Samantha?"

Remus's eyes opened and he peered at Sirius. It was the first time in the month he'd come to stay with him that he had spoken her name.

"Let her sleep. If you go into the kitchen, she keeps a potion for headaches in the cabinet to the left of the sink."

Sirius nodded and made his way out of the room. The house was dark and quiet and he realized it was earlier than he'd realized. Suddenly exhausted, he wondered how much sleep he'd gotten. Probably no more than an hour.

He managed to find the light, and found the potion right where Remus said it would be. When he went to leave, he caught sight of the kettle sitting on the stove. Quickly locating the tea, he put some water on. It only took the water a few minutes to heat up, and he made Remus a cup of tea before making his way back to the room.

"I was wondering if you'd gotten lost," Remus said when he stepped inside.

"I made you some tea," Sirius told him, setting the cup on the bedside table before handing Remus the potion. He downed it in one gulp, wincing a bit at the taste.

Setting the bottle beside his cup of tea, Remus leaned back against his pillow and closed his eyes. "They didn't even give me a chance to react. It came out of nowhere. I was about to apparate home."

"They left your wand," Sirius said quietly. He nodded where it sat on the bedside table.

Remus made some sort of snorting noise in response. "Because I never even got a chance to draw it."

"They broke your nose. And cracked three ribs."
"So it could have been worse," Remus said with a weak smile. When Sirius didn't smile back, Remus shook his head. "You shouldn't have risked coming here. You could have been caught."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You needed a healer."

"I would have been fine."

"You were coughing up blood."

"It would have stopped eventually." Sirius had no reply and only glared at him. Remus sighed. "What if Adrien had been here? Or an auror? They check to make sure she's not hiding you every now and then, you know."

"I figured that out," Sirius said dryly. "Dawlish stopped by last night."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I hid in my Animagus form."

"And he saw you?"
"She told him I was a stray she took in."

Remus sighed. "You realize that means you have to stay here posing as her dog, don't you? If you disappear, it will most likely raise suspicions."

"Of course I've realized that," Sirius replied. "I'm sure she has, too, if how angry she was last night was any indication."

"I thought she was better off staying away from you?"

Sirius's eyes flashed angrily. "I didn't have much of a choice, did I? And I wasn't expecting an auror to show up while I was here. A warning would have been nice."

"I didn't think it would be necessary since you had no plans to come here anyway."

Sirius remained silent. There was nothing he could say to that. It was true, after all. He'd planned to never come here. Now, he wished he hadn't. Remus seemed to know what he was thinking because after watching him silently for a long moment, he said softly, "Perhaps it will be a good thing."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, right."

"She's been living here alone for so long."

"You say that as if we're going to be the best of friends," Sirius replied darkly. "She'd hardly look at me last night."

"Things change."

"They certainly do," he muttered. Shifting in the chair, he shifted his gaze out the window. He could see one small corner of the garden, and once again, he remembered the sight of the little boy. "Remus…"

When he turned his gaze back to Remus, he found the werewolf watching him expectantly. Sighing and dropping his eyes, he decided just to get it over with and ask.

"On my way to Hogwarts, I stopped by here. And I saw…well, there was a boy. And I wondered…"

Sirius looked back at Remus in time to see his lips turn up into a smile.

"That was Aiden," he said. "Adrien's son. She babysits him all the time."

Sirius tried his hardest to ignore the relief he felt flood through him. The boy hadn't been her son. "So she never…"

"She's not with anyone," Remus said, his smile fading.

"I heard Dawlish say Adrien's been running himself down looking for me," Sirius said, wanting to change the subject. "I see he's finally found a way to channel his hatred for me."

"He's the head auror. It's his job."

"Head auror?" Sirius echoed. "Really?"

"You didn't know?"

Sirius shook his head. "We're cut off from the world in Azkaban. I tried to read the Prophet here and there after I escaped to see if they were on my trail at all, but I never paid attention to actual names. So Moony finally retired?"

"A year after Voldemort…well, disappeared I suppose. There are some that were angry about Adrien being chosen to replace him. Some still are. Since he was so young."

"He's the best for the job."

Remus nodded. "I agree. Many thought so."

A sudden thought occurred to him. "One reason they never found me was because of my Animagus form. They don't know about it. But her brother is the head auror. She didn't tell him?"

Remus shrugged. "I guess not."

Sighing heavily, Sirius ran his hand through his hair, his gaze turning back to the window. "When I saw the boy, I thought she'd moved on. I thought she had a family."

Remus shook his head. "As far as I know, she's never tried."

"Why wouldn't she have?" he muttered, more to himself.

"Perhaps for the same reason she never told her brother about your Animagus form."

Clenching his fists in his hair, Sirius shook his head. "She probably just never thought to," he murmured. Suddenly hating the way Remus was watching him, he stood. "I need to get some sleep."

"Use the bedroom next door," Remus said quietly. Sirius nodded and strode quickly from the room. Remus watched him go before sighing and closing his eyes. He briefly wondered if what he said about them being forced to live together turning out to be a good thing would turn out to be true or not before he drifted back off to sleep.

End Chapter