The ancient, abandoned house felt just a bit less hostile than any time before. It was dusty, and the furniture had been vandalized as if the house-elf had spent his free time throwing something indestructible against them. The air was thick, as the windows had not been opened for a decade.
Sirius looked around in the house that he hated, but where nothing bad could be done to him anymore. The silence was welcoming. The paintings on the walls showed empty landscapes and abandoned rooms, without any portraits peeking out at him. This was the first sign that someone else was living here.
"Daire?"
On all four, Sirius sprinted upstairs, following an icy current. His sensitive dog-ears picked up a familiar rattling breath, and the noise led him to his own room's door. A mixture of disbelieving relief and puzzled caution greeted him as he entered.
On his own bed, barely a yard from the secret hatch to the muggle world, Sirius found a large pile of dark cloak. When the animagus took back his human form, the icy pile rose, so that his hood was almost at the same level as the wizard's head.
"I see you're doing better."
A silent question was breathed into the air instead of an answer.
"Of course, you can stay as long as you need to!" Sirius replied softly. "Maybe not in my bed, but… All right, my bed, I'm not making amends!" The wizard laughed. "My home is your home, and that's final. I'm glad you're doing better."
With that, the wizard turned around, and went to check on the travel trunk of his late grandfather. To his surprise, the seemingly weak, huffing dark cloth rose ten feet high from the bed, and shyly asked if he could follow him.
"You, social creature! You want me as food or as company?"
Daire didn't reply. He of course wouldn't take more joy than what the wizard was willing to share.
Sirius found out almost immediately that he had made the right choice: to get into the room with the spare wands, one would first need a wand to open the locked door. Daire, however, opened the lock with a handwave. No magic could rival centuries of experience.
They entered the room. The dementor immediately got sidetracked by a collection of magical items, while Sirius headed straight to the travel trunk. He turned to dog form to bite his own dog-paw, then rose back to human form, and touched his still-bleeding finger to the lid of the trunk. The blood sacrifice didn't stop him from talking.
"Everything in here belonged to Great-Grandpa Cygnus," he explained to Daire. "When he travelled to the US, he had to get his wand registered, which was a horribly bureaucratic process. He sent the MACUSA the application forms for no less than three wands he had bought just for the purpose. Then, of course, all his stay he was using the fourth one. So!" Sirius looked up from the trunk victoriously. "I have three wands here to choose from."
First, he took an aspen wand with unicorn hair. It was reassuring to the touch: the first wand he could hold in twelve years. But he felt something missing, maybe not from the wand, but from his own self. Perhaps it was a memory related to it: as Sirius remembered, he had learnt some spells from his great-grandfather well before school age.
"You can't give happy memories back, can you?" the wizard suddenly asked. "I know… It was worth a try."
He put the aspen wand back to the trunk, and tried a long mahogany piece, but he placed it back almost immediately. It reminded him too much of James Potter.
The third one was sycamore with dragon heartstring. He couldn't quite say what was wrong with it, until Daire had called it 'unedible'. In that long wait, packed away in the travel trunk, the wand had lost its interest in magic. The other word describing it would have been 'dead'.
With so few to choose from, Sirius picked the aspen wand. Then, after little hesitation, he also took the useless sycamore piece. He set it alight with the aspen, and threw it into the cold fireplace. The dry wood caught fire immediately.
"To the memory of all adventures that will never happen," he said, staring into the warm colors of the rising flames. The aspen wand felt to be hesitating in his hand, unsure if they could work well together on the long run.
Daire stayed upstairs. Sirius, however, decided he would stay in the main room, and open all the windows in his reach.
"Alohomora!"
He had waited twelve years to use that spell again.
The orange flames danced beckoning in the fireplace with the September night winds freeing the abandoned house from the decades-old sick air. Then, all of a sudden, they changed green, indicating that someone was approaching. Sirius hoped it would be Moony: there was so much to be discussed, and even more to be thanked for.
To little surprise, Remus Lupin was only the second wizard to visit him. The first was Albus Dumbledore.
"Good evening, professor," Sirius greeted the aged headmaster as he stepped out of the fireplace. "Sorry I can't invite you for dinner, but it took me the entire afternoon to convince the aurors I'd need an owl if they want me to do my shopping by mail order. I have excellent brandy, if you want, from my grandfather's collection..."
"Thank you, Sirius. I heard you're doing better than expected, but your inner strength has always been peculiar," the old wizard smiled. "I'd heard you already made progress before your release."
"What exactly do you know about that?" Sirius asked while casting a Tergeo charm on two glasses. He didn't expect a complete answer, but Dumbledore's half-truths had always been entertaining.
"Remus told me you have somehow gained the dementors' trust and have been roaming Scotland with them." Dumbledore seemed to be searching the convict's mind for details, because dementors trusting their prisoners was about as rare as a broom-riding muggle. However, Sirius was certain the headmaster wouldn't find anything, as he hadn't gained anyone's trust; rather, the dementors had gained his. But why had a supposed mass murderer, a partly-sane werewolf, and three dementors ended up hunting an unregistered animagus on the seventh floor of the left wing during classes in Hogwarts? Just because somebody had to…?
"If I talk too much about that, it would mean someone can't keep secrets. Again," Black reminded him in a bitter tone.
The professor nodded. "Then let me continue with an even more interesting moment. In September, those monsters with you found the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, and…"
The headmaster's face turned sorrowful. This was the point where half-truths and jokingly belittling the gravity of a situation couldn't help. Sirius decided to finish the sentence for Dumbledore.
"Kissed something akin to a soul out of it. Is that all that Remus has told you?"
"Yes, and…" Again, Dumbledore paused. This wasn't like him. He looked as if a bad memory had flown through his mind, too quickly for him to notice, but deeply enough to leave an impression.
Sadness appeared on the old face behind the long white beard and the half-moon spectacles.
"He told me that you swapped roles twelve years ago, to throw Voldemort off your tracks. I wish I had known that detail."
"We were living in a war where trust is the scarcest thing, and the most dangerous," Sirius pointed out as he filled the two glasses. He greatly appreciated Daire's precision with which he'd brought that memory to the great wizard without giving away his own presence. The windows were open, letting fresh air in for the first time in over a decade, so coldness could be blamed on the evening wind anytime, but the sudden reappearance of long-forgotten memories just couldn't have been explained.
The last thing Sirius needed was for the great wizard to find a wounded dementor in the heart of London. He hastily changed the topic.
"So, that jewel was Ravenclaw's famous diadem indeed…"
Dumbledore nodded. "I had it checked for authenticity. Oddly, we couldn't find any other wizard's traces on it – I suppose it was sucked out completely."
"You don't seem too relieved," Sirius commented. Was the old wizard concerned with the fate of his nemesis? Did he worry about the soul fragment We-Know-Who had cut apart for himself? So this was why this visit was so urgent. At least, Sirius told himself, Dumbledore didn't come to fake an apology. He was too focused on his own problem.
"I remember Voldemort attempting to steal the sword of Gryffindor," the headmaster continued, "and I heard he did succeed in acquiring the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. This leads me to think he wanted to infest an object from each Hogwarts founder."
"Beyond me to understand why," Sirius sighed, and downed his drink.
"Because he was unable to see the dangers in doing so."
"That's not a motive," Sirius pointed out. "Why would anyone consider leaving their own soul around? Except, of course, if he didn't intend to."
"Which, I fear, might have happened at a point," Dumbledore injected. "But it clearly wasn't the case with the diadem."
Something quite unusual flew into the room through the open window. A small black owl, with satisfied hooting, dropped a pizza box on the table.
Sirius opened the package hungrily. "Where would we be without squibs?" he smiled, "Real food!", and offered a slice of salami to the tiny owl. The bird observed the item suspiciously, then accepted it out of politeness. "Professor?"
"Thank you, Sirius, my own dinner is waiting for me at Hogwarts. I just wanted to make sure you're all right ."
"I just have severe trust issues," Sirius admitted. Right now, he couldn't imagine that he would ever follow this man again. After all that fighting in the name of the Order of the Phoenix, its leader's only apology had been squeezed out of him by Daire. "Professor, thank you for coming. Would you please do me a favour?"
"Anything."
"Tell Snape that I'm out of Azkaban. If he has the guts to abuse either my godson or the Longbottom orphan, he is messing with me."
The elder wizard shook his head. "So it's on again? Severus already offered to make a bet with anyone that you'd be back in Azkaban within a year."
"It's not me who would fit into the deatheater collection hoarded there, professor."
The headmaster looked the younger man straight in the eye. Sirius, who had been among eyeless creatures for over a decade, couldn't bear his piercing gaze for long.
"Severus Snape is an adult wizard now, Sirius Black, and so are you. And remember: the night you lost your friend James Potter, he lost his love Lily Evans."
After the headmaster left, Sirius dropped on the widest sofa, with the full pizza box in his left hand. The tiny owl settled on his right shoulder, looking longingly into the pizza box, and when Sirius lifted the first slice to his mouth, the bird hooted excitedly.
"So, it took one bit of salami, and you gave up that conservative diet of yours?" Sirius laughed, as the owl jumped to his right hand, and took a second salami into his tiny beak. "All right, just leave some for me, too. Do you have a name? My brother had an owl just like you, and she was called Eyeball. Sadly, now, Eyeball is a girl's name, and you're a boy. Male. Whatever. Is there a delivery service I could name you after?"
The owl blinked up, then flew away with a third piece of salami. "All right, then. How about something fast and manlike? Daimler? Bentley?" The bird didn't seem to approve the ideas he came up with. "Royal Enfield? Triumph?"
The owl turned his back at the wizard.
"Oh, come on!"
The owl suddenly hooted in panic. He must have felt something that Sirius didn't notice, or rather, what he already got used to. Daire was floating down the stairs, careful not to hit an object he could not perceive. He bent over, and soon collapsed into the armchair Albus Dumbledore had occupied previously. The sight of his wounded keeper immediately drove the wizard's mind from shiny muggle vehicles.
Daire's breathing was still rather quiet instead of the rattling sound that was normal for his species. The air around him was icy, but moved gently like a breeze. The flames in the fireplace didn't go out, only flickered, and this gave away the lack of his former strength. The cinder was glowing like dusk. But the stab-wound wasn't visible anymore, and the dementor's aura reflected Sirius' own hope and happiness.
"I was wondering if you could give the owl a name he might like," Sirius said. "I know you can talk."
But he didn't want to, the dementor breathed. He preferred being safe with the ability instead of growing too accustomed to it, and making a mistake. He had been communicating quite comfortably with those who would pay attention, and he always trusted those mightier than him to handle the aurors. He asked Sirius to respect his point, and never to bring up vocal talking again.
"All right," Sirius said, picking up his dinner again. The formerly hot pasta was now covered in a layer of frost. With a smug smile, Sirius pointed the aspen wand at it, and warmed his dinner with an effortless spell.
He blinked at the shadow-like creature in the armchair, and continued eating. His own meal was the crisp round pasta with tasty, nutritious tomato sauce, Daire's was all his joy over it. There was something reassuringly familiar, yet festively ceremonial in this arrangement. It had been how they had survived in Azkaban. Together.
"I always loved muggle food," the wizard said, ten minutes later, when he was done with the entire pizza. By then, the little owl had retreated to the kitchen, and settled on the top of the cupboard.
Before long Remus Lupin stepped out of the fireplace, then immediately retreated as the first thing he saw was a bulky, eleven feet high dementor raising from the armchair.
"SIRIUS!"
"Hi, Moony!" The animagus jumped up right behind the non-being. "Thank you so much for exposing Peter! You're the best... Daire, would you please let Remus out of the fireplace? I'm allowed to have visitors, if you wouldn't remember."
Meanwhile, Remus Lupin's wand was already out, although at the tip he was holding a small ball of fire, nothing silvery like a half-conjured patronus. Still, Sirius didn't want the situation to escalate.
Daire backed away, more disappointed than hostile. Remus appeared more hostile than disappointed.
"What's the matter with you both? You were formally introduced two weeks ago! Daire, this is Remus Lupin, my best friend alive. Moony, this is Daire, my support for the past twelve years, currently in recovery after he was stabbed by Peter in an attempt to clear me. Sit down, both of you!"
To both wizards' relief, the large cloaked figure (or more like, the large cloak, as if it were empty) collapsed on a sofa by the room's far side. Daire let out one last unhappy sigh, and fell silent.
"You caught him unaware," Sirius apologized. "Dementors don't like being observed, to start with, and he's not yet in top form."
His friend, currently not a werewolf, looked at him from head to toe."Dumbledore was wrong, you DO have some problem right up here," Remus finally stated. "But maybe it's from before."
The next moment, they warmly patted each other's back, then the newcomer's gaze fell on Daire again. "Does the Wizengamot know you took a tiny little souvenir from Azkaban? Of course, they don't, no need to tell. Do you have any idea what they've all been through because of you in the past two days?" He sat down and continued. "Immediately after Buckbeak's one-man show, aurors flooded Hogsmeade to gather evidence. Then Fudge came and ordered every witness to be obliviated before Peter's survival could get out and he'd have to publicly admit to being an incompetent git. The obliviation of the entire village went, of course, as smoothly as you can imagine. And, while this kept the Ministry busy, Mrs. Pippin, you know, the potions-maker, sent the photo to the Witch Weekly. Straight into the hands of Rita Skeeter!" Moony's shy smile was echoed by Daire's equivalent of a thumbs-up, of which Remus only perceived that he wasn't being exposed to his own nightmares. Black could have translated it into a lengthy praise. Lupin continued.
"You know the rest of the story. Witch Weekly came out with the special issue yesterday, and I swear on Merlin, the reactions exceeded my wildest dreams. The Ministry was forced to call a full retreat. Rosmerta gathered the villagers and the obliviators together, and for five hundred galleons per head, they agreed the obliviation ordeal never happened. I wouldn't like to be in Fudge's shoes today, Padfoot."
Sirius just grinned first, then burst out laughing. Obliviators were trained to alter the memories of harmless muggles, of course they failed against an entire wizarding village. What hit Cornelius Fudge in the head to think they should even try? Apart from a paranoia-level attachment to his power, of course.
"I haven't seen the Witch Weekly extra," he admitted. With a self-satisfied smile, Remus handed a copy over to him. Sirius put it aside for later reading. Remus was more important to him – the only true friend he had among the wizards.
"Moony, I would be so lost without you."
"Don't mention it, Padfoot. It was you who decided to learn to be animagus for me. Besides, I had help from Albus. And that cat who drove Peter out from the dormitory. And, of course, Buckbeak. Guess what, no less than five hippogriff owners have booked him for their breeding mares - I'd say his calendar is full for this year. He's the only one in the story who enjoys being the poster boy."
Sirius could imagine.
"And do you have any idea where Wormtail might be hiding?"
Lupin nodded. "He's in the Shrieking Shack, presumably surviving on the food we stocked up in seventh year. Without a wand, he can't break the reinforced spells on it, and I caved the passage. But we will only have one chance to catch him. Once we go in, he will also be able to come out. And I don't want Ministry aurors to get involved in hunting an animagus. Snatchers, even less."
Daire took a loud, rattling breath, the first one since Remus Lupin's arrival.
"You stay put and heal!" Sirius snapped. He went closer to the dark creature, and continued in a lot milder tone. "I understand you want to help, but I'm not taking chances. I will make sure you get the last laugh out of Pettigrew, I promise." He put a calming hand on the black cloak right above the wound, and the dementor leaned into the touch. "You or Vaqqu, I leave that to you. Peter betrayed us enough that I don't care what you do to him. Just don't get yourself killed for me."
"The Ministry went ridiculously crazy over your case, they even dug out some muggle regulation for this house arrest, just to get you out of Azkaban. And here you are, cuddling with a dementor," Lupin remarked.
"The werewolf speaks." Sirius turned back to his guest, with a wide smile on his pale face.
"Now what's your problem with me being a werewolf?" Lupin protested. "I'm at least still classified as a being!"
In reply, Daire breathed on him. Not hard, not in search of memories, not even to take too much of his joy. But it was a very clear threat that he could do any of those.
"Enough, you both!" Sirius shouted as he stepped between dementor and wizard. He lifted his temporary wand, although he could not think of any spell that would be effective against both guests, if they really meant to attack each other.
Daire straightened up as much as he could, and slowly floated towards the open window. There was no body language to read, but to Sirius, he still seemed insulted.
"Don't go," his host pleaded with him. "Just behave. Moony, please, the same applies to you. Let's talk about Hogwarts! Has it changed much since we've left? I didn't have time for anything last time. And how's Harry? When will they play the yearly match against Slytherin? Merlin, I'd love to see him in a match. Or in training. Do you think they would throw out a stray dog if I went to see a Gryffindor practice?"
Remus Lupin scratched his head. "We've managed worse." He took one last glimpse at the other guest, then decided they should leave each other alone. He tried to think positively. What was Sirius asking about…? "Hogwarts is just like it was in our days. The quidditch grounds were restored, and Hagrid has started breeding thestrals. The Forbidden Forest is full of centaur foals this year." He tried to remember if they'd met any of those during Sirius's visit, but his memories were cloudy because he hadn't been quite himself at the time. "The Weasley twins have our map, I've yet to ask how they figured to operate it. Do you think I should tell them it's from us?"
"Do you want them to ask why you signed it as 'Moony'?" Sirius asked.
"Then... Maybe I'll wait for the opportunity."