DETERMINATION OF A STAR
Summary: Sirius escapes from Azkaban to try and find the then only 6 years old Harry Potter. Just as Harry has begun to find true love and friendship, Sirius is taken away from him.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Below
~~~~~~
CHAPTER 1 - DETERMINATION OF THE PAST
Moonlight shone through the window of the quietest cell in Azkaban. A glistening tear rolled off a very hairy face onto a photo ... a photo of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Sirius Black raised a bony hand to wipe off his tears. ' You must be strong,' he told himself. 'You must be a man. Face the truth - your friends will never be with you anymore.'
But the tears seemed to have minds of their owns, and kept rolling down. Sirius knew that it was no use trying to stop them. No one would ever care, anyway, whether he was manly or not. No one cared about him. Every one thought that he was a murderer, which he was not. 'Which is why you must be manly.' The voice came back again. 'The truth will always reveal itself.'
Sirius knew this was true. But still ... Sirius flipped through the pages of his photo album again. That was James and Lily during their wedding. And there was Remus, and then James yet again ... several memories burned through his head as he looked at the photos again. Then he stopped to take a look at his favourite picture. The most recent picture taken. The couple was carrying their baby, Harry Potter.
Sirius looked at Harry closely once more. The little hair he had was jet black, and was promising to be as untidy as James'. Well, James never combed his hair, so it would be less so. His eyes were his mother's eyes - big bright green eyes. He imagined the lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead that he had heard about before. The imagination made Harry look more special, which Harry was.
The feeling that Sirius knew so well hit Sirius again. Sirius could not describe the feeling fully. The feeling was one of longing, one of love ... and it also made him feel very guilty. Sirius wanted to see Harry again. Now he had to be six years old already. It had been about five years since Sirius last saw him, just after Voldemort tried to kill him. And Sirius wanted to hold Harry, to take care of Harry, just like what his job as a godfather was.
Sirius sighed. Hoping was no use. 'You must face the truth and not hope your life away,' Dumbledore's voice played in his head again. Dumbledore had said that to him when he caught Sirius staring at the Mirror of Erised.
Sirius closed his photo album as the Harry in the picture started crying for some unknown reason. The longing to see Harry was back in his heart. It was stronger now. He could feel the disappointment and pain James would suffer if he knew that the one he had trusted to take care of Harry was now in Azkaban, wasting his life away.
All of a sudden, the cell that Sirius was in faded away. Sirius felt as though he was sugar dissolving in a cup of water. He hadn't experienced this feeling for many years. He quickly stuffed the photo album in to his pocket so that no matter what happened, he could keep it with him. He was aware that he was floating in mid-air. He closed his eyes tightly. He knew what was going to happen. A whirlwind suddenly picked up. He was spinning around ... then just as he was getting dizzy, he felt hard ground under his feet. He opened his eyes and looked around him. He saw Azkaban behind him. He was astonished, but delight quickly overcame it. By some unknown way, he had apparated out of Azkaban! He was elated, but he knew he had to escape quickly before the dementors found out that he had escaped.
He quickly changed into his canine form and paddled down the sea. He paddled for fifteen minutes, but besides getting his four paws wet, he got no closer in reaching land. He consulted a map of Britain that he kept with him all the time. The closest place to go was Shetland Islands. And that was already very far from Azkaban. He didn't want to think how long he would have to travel to reach Harry's house.
At that moment a little voice at the back of his head scolded him, 'Are you a wizard or not? Use your brains!' It took a moment or two before Sirius realised that he could apparate. Being unable to do magic for such a long time, he had completely forgotten about doing any at all.
But where could he go? His first thought was to where Harry was, but it was almost midnight. Harry would be asleep. He looked around him for an idea. He couldn't go back home because it wasn't his house anymore and there was probably someone staying there already. He wanted to go somewhere that someone he knew would be, someone who would trust him to be innocent. Then he saw it. The full moon. He knew where he could go.
Once more, he apparated to the Shrieking Shack, a place he knew well. Remus wasn't there yet. As Sirius waited for him, he hoped that Remus wouldn't curse him. His plan had little chance of working if Remus did curse him. He wanted to try and make Remus believe him by communicating when he was a werewolf. As a werewolf, Remus understood Sirius' barking. In fact, he understood most animals. He didn't understand James though. Sirius laughed silently. He remembered the times when James got so frustrated because a werewolf never understood a stag.
The doggy grin vanished suddenly as Sirius heard footsteps, breaking the silence in the Shrieking Shack. A moment later, the door to the Shrieking Shack opened and Remus walked in. He didn't notice Sirius as he turned around to close the door. At that moment, a tingle of excitement went up Sirius' spine. It was Remus Lupin! His old friend! He was so overjoyed he barked, then realised his mistake.
Remus whirled around and gasped in shock. "Padf ..., no, Black, wha ... how ... I ... You traitor! You thought killing James and Lily and Peter and a whole bunch of muggles was fun, did you? Well, now ... now you are going to die yourself!" And he turned his wand on Sirius.
***
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. The few pedestrians on the streets of Little Whinging, Surrey were hurrying back home. However, the occupants of Privet Drive, Number 4 had no knowledge of the storm outside; All of them were sleeping peacefully.
Except for one little boy. In the cupboard under the stairs, young Harry Potter was lying awake. He had no idea what was going on many miles north. He had no idea there was a place called the Shrieking Shack. He had no idea that there were two people named Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
However, he was aware of many other things. He was aware of his own problems. He had been sent to bed at 9pm, but still could not sleep. This was largely due to the wounds that Uncle Vernon Dursley's black leather belt had given him.
As he tossed and turned in bed, Harry knew that this was going to be one of those sleepless nights. He didn't know why Uncle Vernon had beaten him. Hadn't Uncle Vernon seen with his own eyes that it was Dudley who broke his very precious, very expensive compass? But he, Harry, was the one who was beaten.
But Dudley never got beaten anyway. He was Uncle Vernon's own son. Uncle Vernon obviously loved him more than Harry.
This thought made Harry's young heart ache once again. Harry had always longed for love more than anything else. He wanted to have someone that would love him and he could love back. Someone he could have an exceptionally close friendship with. 'But that someone will never come,' Harry told himself bitterly, with tears trickling down like a mini- waterfall. 'There is no such person on earth, so forget about it.'
***
Although it was expected, Sirius couldn't believe that one of his closest childhood friends had just turned his wand on him and was about to kill him. He watched fearfully as Remus opened his mouth to say the curse.
It wasn't like Sirius was scared to die. Far from it. He just wanted to live with Harry, and if he was dead, it was a very hard thing to do.
Sirius' immediate response was to yap, "No! I'm innocent!" But as a man, Remus could not understand Sirius.
Sirius closed his eyes and prayed silently that if he died, he would at least be sent to wherever James was now. Then he waited anxiously for the curse to come.
But it never did. Sirius opened his eyes gradually, one eye at a time. For a moment he didn't see anything. The next, something landed on his back. Remus wasn't Remus anymore. He was Moony.
Padfoot turned around hastily and jumped on Moony. In response, the werewolf fought him back. The two fought for a while before Padfoot, panting noisily, admitted defeat.
Padfoot had realised something when he and Moony had been fighting. His idea of making Moony's mind less wolfish and more human wouldn't work. When he had been in school, it had taken Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail a few months to make Moony trust them. Now, Padfoot only had one night all by himself. It wasn't going to work. Furthermore, he wasn't very strong. He might die any moment.
Moony growled again for another match. Padfoot inwardly sighed. At least he didn't have any wounds. Not yet. He barked back a reply of agreement and decided that if he died, it better be quick.
After losing matches 6 times in a row, Padfoot could barely stand anymore. He had scratches and bruises all over and a wound on his left hind leg. And Moony was still uninjured and, if possible, had more energy than before he had fought.
Padfoot barked back a reply to Moony's question that Padfoot dreaded: Do you want to fight? He waited impatiently for Moony to pounce on him, wondering if this would be the last time he would ever see another living creature again.
The werewolf howled, then it all happened in a flash, Sirius didn't see it, but in place of Moony was Remus!
Sirius' heart skipped a beat. He was both shocked and relieved one moment. The next, he could feel the transformation from dog to human.
The second he changed to human, the wand was at his head.
Sirius took a step back as he said, "Remus, I'm innocent. Cross my heart."
However, Remus obviously did not believe him. "Prove it," he said, without a note of emotion in it.
Sirius faltered. He hadn't thought this out yet. He racked his brains for a solution to his problem. Then he finally hit on it. He rolled back the sleeve of his left hand. "If I am a Death Eater, there will be the Dark Mark burned into my hand."
Remus' eyes glared at him coldly, as if he wished Sirius had not said anything so that he could be sent back to Azkaban. Then he looked down and examined every inch of his hand. After checking it, he still did not believe that Sirius was a Death Eater. It could be invisible.
Sirius, beside him, seemed to read his mind. "Use Aparecium," he helped.
Remus used the spell and checked the hand thoroughly. 'He isn't a Death Eater!' Remus realised. Relief washed over him. His closest friend alive had just proven he wasn't a Death Eater! Remus was so glad he dropped his wand and collapsed onto Sirius. "I missed you, Padfoot, I missed you so much," he sobbed into Sirius' black hair.
"Ow! Get off me!" Sirius yelled good-naturedly.
Remus stopped hugging Sirius and laughed. "You are just the same old person I ever knew," he said, healing Sirius' injuries.
"Old? What do you mean by that?" Sirius spluttered in indignation.
Remus didn't answer his question. He couldn't. He was laughing so hard in happiness that he couldn't say a word.
"Chill, boy, chill. I'm not going to stand here and do all the talking for you," Sirius said, but he was chuckling too.
Remus wiped off his tears of joy and said, "Come with me to my house. You can tell me your story there." And both of them disapparated.
***
Harry felt a tingling sensation go up his spine. He felt sure that very soon, something good would happen to him. 'Maybe that person is coming!' Harry thought excitedly. He sure hoped that whoever the person was, he would be Harry's best friend.
***
Sirius held up a set of pyjamas. "Remus, do I have to wear this?"
"Of course! I only have 3 sets of pyjamas, one of them is in the laundry basket, and I'm wearing the second set now, so you have to wear the third set. Anyway, what's wrong with it? I personally like it. Isn't it nice?"
Sirius glared at him. "Are you turning out to be gay? Everything's wrong with it! It's frilly, it has little flowers for buttons and it is pink and white! Need I say anything else?"
Remus sighed. "Nobody's going to see you! All my other guests I have had before had to wear that, so now it's your turn!"
"I'm not wearing that! Ever!"
"Then wear your clothes! They won' t be very comfortable to sleep in though, they're all sticky with blood and sweat. You haven't changed them since the first day you entered Azkaban"
Sirius heaved a sigh in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll wear this ... thing. But DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
"I won't. I'm going to bed now."
Sirius made a big effort to wear the set of pyjamas. When he was done, he quickly switched off the lights, threw his clothes on the floor and crept under his blanket.
Half an hour later, Sirius still couldn't fall asleep. He looked over to where Remus was lying. Remus wasn't snoring. He couldn't be sleeping yet.
"Remus? Are you sleeping?" He broke the peace of the night.
"No. Too many things are on my mind. I can't help but think: Why did you kill Peter if you are not a Death Eater?"
Sirius snarled at the mention of Peter's name. In a tone that froze Remus' blood, he answered, "I didn't. He's still alive."
Remus was shocked. He had expected any answer but that. Sirius was a man who always told the truth. If he said that Peter was alive, Peter was definitely alive. "But many people saw you kill him!"
"Remus, answer my question. Who was the smallest of us all? I mean among me, you, James and Pettigrew?"
"It was Peter ..." Then it dawned on Remus. Peter was the one who killed all those people! He had placed the wand behind him, killed all those people, chopped off his finger and transformed into a rat!
The clouds covering the moon moved, and moonlight shone through the window, lighting up Remus' face. Sirius could read his face perfectly. "Exactly. You got it," he said, and proceeded to explain everything to Remus.
***
"Done." Remus dusted his hands and watched his owl fly off towards the clouds, carrying the letter he had just written to Dumbledore about Sirius being innocent. "Rise and shine, Sirius!"
Sirius rolled over and yawned. "Give me 5 minutes to stretch." And he promptly fell asleep again.
"Sirius, wake up! No 5 minutes for you!" Remus said, poking Sirius in his ribs.
"Ow!! Fine, fine, I'll wake up!"
Remus went down the stairs and prepared breakfast for Sirius. He noted that he had to buy more food.
"That's all I have?" Sirius groaned, staring at the bowl of cereal on the table.
Remus looked up and grinned. "Well, I had a lot of food yesterday, but some ghost unfortunately came and ate it all. So now that's what you have."
"Okay, whatever," Sirius grumbled. He had snuck down the previous night and raided the refrigerator.
When Sirius had finished breakfast, something struck him. It really hurt, but ... he turned to Remus. "I ... I have to go now. I have to go see Harry." A big lump formed in his throat.
Remus turned to him. The same thing had just hit him too. "Yes, you have to. Don't think too much about me. Have fun with Harry," Remus replied, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. This was too much for both of them. The next moment, they were hugging each other tightly, tears running down their cheeks. "I never thought I'd say this to you, Remus, but I will miss you. Forever."
Then they pulled away from each other. The reunion was over. Sirius turned into a gigantic black dog and apparated to Privet Drive.
***
Sirius walked around outside Privet Drive, Number 4 in his canine form. He had no idea how to get into the house. Lily had talked to him about her sister's family before. "They live in Little Whinging, Surrey on Privet Drive, Number 4," she had said in disgust. "Never go there. They are horrible Muggles."
Just then, he became conscious of the sounds of laughter coming from his right. He realised that it was coming from the playground near the house. Many children were playing there. Maybe Harry was among those children. He sprinted to the playground on all four limbs.
When he reached the playground, he groaned. He would never be able to find Harry among all these children. Firstly, there were so many of them. Secondly, many of them had black hair and green eyes.
As Sirius walked back, he noticed a boy sitting one the bench, obviously left out of the group of children.
He too had black hair and green eyes. But unlike all the other children, there was a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
The boy was Harry Potter.
~~~~~~
A/N: Well, that was the first chapter! It was on the short side, only 6 pages long. ::sigh::
This may not seem to be in the right categories at first. However, in the later chapters (somewhere around the middle), the categories it is in (Action/Adventure and Romance) will be more right..
Can you see the drop-down menu on the bottom-left? That is where you review. Guesses, Constructive Criticism, Comments, Suggestions, anything else except for flames are welcome. Any flames will be ignored (You won't even get a reply back when I post my replies to your reviews in the next chapter.)
Summary: Sirius escapes from Azkaban to try and find the then only 6 years old Harry Potter. Just as Harry has begun to find true love and friendship, Sirius is taken away from him.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Below
~~~~~~
CHAPTER 1 - DETERMINATION OF THE PAST
Moonlight shone through the window of the quietest cell in Azkaban. A glistening tear rolled off a very hairy face onto a photo ... a photo of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Sirius Black raised a bony hand to wipe off his tears. ' You must be strong,' he told himself. 'You must be a man. Face the truth - your friends will never be with you anymore.'
But the tears seemed to have minds of their owns, and kept rolling down. Sirius knew that it was no use trying to stop them. No one would ever care, anyway, whether he was manly or not. No one cared about him. Every one thought that he was a murderer, which he was not. 'Which is why you must be manly.' The voice came back again. 'The truth will always reveal itself.'
Sirius knew this was true. But still ... Sirius flipped through the pages of his photo album again. That was James and Lily during their wedding. And there was Remus, and then James yet again ... several memories burned through his head as he looked at the photos again. Then he stopped to take a look at his favourite picture. The most recent picture taken. The couple was carrying their baby, Harry Potter.
Sirius looked at Harry closely once more. The little hair he had was jet black, and was promising to be as untidy as James'. Well, James never combed his hair, so it would be less so. His eyes were his mother's eyes - big bright green eyes. He imagined the lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead that he had heard about before. The imagination made Harry look more special, which Harry was.
The feeling that Sirius knew so well hit Sirius again. Sirius could not describe the feeling fully. The feeling was one of longing, one of love ... and it also made him feel very guilty. Sirius wanted to see Harry again. Now he had to be six years old already. It had been about five years since Sirius last saw him, just after Voldemort tried to kill him. And Sirius wanted to hold Harry, to take care of Harry, just like what his job as a godfather was.
Sirius sighed. Hoping was no use. 'You must face the truth and not hope your life away,' Dumbledore's voice played in his head again. Dumbledore had said that to him when he caught Sirius staring at the Mirror of Erised.
Sirius closed his photo album as the Harry in the picture started crying for some unknown reason. The longing to see Harry was back in his heart. It was stronger now. He could feel the disappointment and pain James would suffer if he knew that the one he had trusted to take care of Harry was now in Azkaban, wasting his life away.
All of a sudden, the cell that Sirius was in faded away. Sirius felt as though he was sugar dissolving in a cup of water. He hadn't experienced this feeling for many years. He quickly stuffed the photo album in to his pocket so that no matter what happened, he could keep it with him. He was aware that he was floating in mid-air. He closed his eyes tightly. He knew what was going to happen. A whirlwind suddenly picked up. He was spinning around ... then just as he was getting dizzy, he felt hard ground under his feet. He opened his eyes and looked around him. He saw Azkaban behind him. He was astonished, but delight quickly overcame it. By some unknown way, he had apparated out of Azkaban! He was elated, but he knew he had to escape quickly before the dementors found out that he had escaped.
He quickly changed into his canine form and paddled down the sea. He paddled for fifteen minutes, but besides getting his four paws wet, he got no closer in reaching land. He consulted a map of Britain that he kept with him all the time. The closest place to go was Shetland Islands. And that was already very far from Azkaban. He didn't want to think how long he would have to travel to reach Harry's house.
At that moment a little voice at the back of his head scolded him, 'Are you a wizard or not? Use your brains!' It took a moment or two before Sirius realised that he could apparate. Being unable to do magic for such a long time, he had completely forgotten about doing any at all.
But where could he go? His first thought was to where Harry was, but it was almost midnight. Harry would be asleep. He looked around him for an idea. He couldn't go back home because it wasn't his house anymore and there was probably someone staying there already. He wanted to go somewhere that someone he knew would be, someone who would trust him to be innocent. Then he saw it. The full moon. He knew where he could go.
Once more, he apparated to the Shrieking Shack, a place he knew well. Remus wasn't there yet. As Sirius waited for him, he hoped that Remus wouldn't curse him. His plan had little chance of working if Remus did curse him. He wanted to try and make Remus believe him by communicating when he was a werewolf. As a werewolf, Remus understood Sirius' barking. In fact, he understood most animals. He didn't understand James though. Sirius laughed silently. He remembered the times when James got so frustrated because a werewolf never understood a stag.
The doggy grin vanished suddenly as Sirius heard footsteps, breaking the silence in the Shrieking Shack. A moment later, the door to the Shrieking Shack opened and Remus walked in. He didn't notice Sirius as he turned around to close the door. At that moment, a tingle of excitement went up Sirius' spine. It was Remus Lupin! His old friend! He was so overjoyed he barked, then realised his mistake.
Remus whirled around and gasped in shock. "Padf ..., no, Black, wha ... how ... I ... You traitor! You thought killing James and Lily and Peter and a whole bunch of muggles was fun, did you? Well, now ... now you are going to die yourself!" And he turned his wand on Sirius.
***
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. The few pedestrians on the streets of Little Whinging, Surrey were hurrying back home. However, the occupants of Privet Drive, Number 4 had no knowledge of the storm outside; All of them were sleeping peacefully.
Except for one little boy. In the cupboard under the stairs, young Harry Potter was lying awake. He had no idea what was going on many miles north. He had no idea there was a place called the Shrieking Shack. He had no idea that there were two people named Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
However, he was aware of many other things. He was aware of his own problems. He had been sent to bed at 9pm, but still could not sleep. This was largely due to the wounds that Uncle Vernon Dursley's black leather belt had given him.
As he tossed and turned in bed, Harry knew that this was going to be one of those sleepless nights. He didn't know why Uncle Vernon had beaten him. Hadn't Uncle Vernon seen with his own eyes that it was Dudley who broke his very precious, very expensive compass? But he, Harry, was the one who was beaten.
But Dudley never got beaten anyway. He was Uncle Vernon's own son. Uncle Vernon obviously loved him more than Harry.
This thought made Harry's young heart ache once again. Harry had always longed for love more than anything else. He wanted to have someone that would love him and he could love back. Someone he could have an exceptionally close friendship with. 'But that someone will never come,' Harry told himself bitterly, with tears trickling down like a mini- waterfall. 'There is no such person on earth, so forget about it.'
***
Although it was expected, Sirius couldn't believe that one of his closest childhood friends had just turned his wand on him and was about to kill him. He watched fearfully as Remus opened his mouth to say the curse.
It wasn't like Sirius was scared to die. Far from it. He just wanted to live with Harry, and if he was dead, it was a very hard thing to do.
Sirius' immediate response was to yap, "No! I'm innocent!" But as a man, Remus could not understand Sirius.
Sirius closed his eyes and prayed silently that if he died, he would at least be sent to wherever James was now. Then he waited anxiously for the curse to come.
But it never did. Sirius opened his eyes gradually, one eye at a time. For a moment he didn't see anything. The next, something landed on his back. Remus wasn't Remus anymore. He was Moony.
Padfoot turned around hastily and jumped on Moony. In response, the werewolf fought him back. The two fought for a while before Padfoot, panting noisily, admitted defeat.
Padfoot had realised something when he and Moony had been fighting. His idea of making Moony's mind less wolfish and more human wouldn't work. When he had been in school, it had taken Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail a few months to make Moony trust them. Now, Padfoot only had one night all by himself. It wasn't going to work. Furthermore, he wasn't very strong. He might die any moment.
Moony growled again for another match. Padfoot inwardly sighed. At least he didn't have any wounds. Not yet. He barked back a reply of agreement and decided that if he died, it better be quick.
After losing matches 6 times in a row, Padfoot could barely stand anymore. He had scratches and bruises all over and a wound on his left hind leg. And Moony was still uninjured and, if possible, had more energy than before he had fought.
Padfoot barked back a reply to Moony's question that Padfoot dreaded: Do you want to fight? He waited impatiently for Moony to pounce on him, wondering if this would be the last time he would ever see another living creature again.
The werewolf howled, then it all happened in a flash, Sirius didn't see it, but in place of Moony was Remus!
Sirius' heart skipped a beat. He was both shocked and relieved one moment. The next, he could feel the transformation from dog to human.
The second he changed to human, the wand was at his head.
Sirius took a step back as he said, "Remus, I'm innocent. Cross my heart."
However, Remus obviously did not believe him. "Prove it," he said, without a note of emotion in it.
Sirius faltered. He hadn't thought this out yet. He racked his brains for a solution to his problem. Then he finally hit on it. He rolled back the sleeve of his left hand. "If I am a Death Eater, there will be the Dark Mark burned into my hand."
Remus' eyes glared at him coldly, as if he wished Sirius had not said anything so that he could be sent back to Azkaban. Then he looked down and examined every inch of his hand. After checking it, he still did not believe that Sirius was a Death Eater. It could be invisible.
Sirius, beside him, seemed to read his mind. "Use Aparecium," he helped.
Remus used the spell and checked the hand thoroughly. 'He isn't a Death Eater!' Remus realised. Relief washed over him. His closest friend alive had just proven he wasn't a Death Eater! Remus was so glad he dropped his wand and collapsed onto Sirius. "I missed you, Padfoot, I missed you so much," he sobbed into Sirius' black hair.
"Ow! Get off me!" Sirius yelled good-naturedly.
Remus stopped hugging Sirius and laughed. "You are just the same old person I ever knew," he said, healing Sirius' injuries.
"Old? What do you mean by that?" Sirius spluttered in indignation.
Remus didn't answer his question. He couldn't. He was laughing so hard in happiness that he couldn't say a word.
"Chill, boy, chill. I'm not going to stand here and do all the talking for you," Sirius said, but he was chuckling too.
Remus wiped off his tears of joy and said, "Come with me to my house. You can tell me your story there." And both of them disapparated.
***
Harry felt a tingling sensation go up his spine. He felt sure that very soon, something good would happen to him. 'Maybe that person is coming!' Harry thought excitedly. He sure hoped that whoever the person was, he would be Harry's best friend.
***
Sirius held up a set of pyjamas. "Remus, do I have to wear this?"
"Of course! I only have 3 sets of pyjamas, one of them is in the laundry basket, and I'm wearing the second set now, so you have to wear the third set. Anyway, what's wrong with it? I personally like it. Isn't it nice?"
Sirius glared at him. "Are you turning out to be gay? Everything's wrong with it! It's frilly, it has little flowers for buttons and it is pink and white! Need I say anything else?"
Remus sighed. "Nobody's going to see you! All my other guests I have had before had to wear that, so now it's your turn!"
"I'm not wearing that! Ever!"
"Then wear your clothes! They won' t be very comfortable to sleep in though, they're all sticky with blood and sweat. You haven't changed them since the first day you entered Azkaban"
Sirius heaved a sigh in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll wear this ... thing. But DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
"I won't. I'm going to bed now."
Sirius made a big effort to wear the set of pyjamas. When he was done, he quickly switched off the lights, threw his clothes on the floor and crept under his blanket.
Half an hour later, Sirius still couldn't fall asleep. He looked over to where Remus was lying. Remus wasn't snoring. He couldn't be sleeping yet.
"Remus? Are you sleeping?" He broke the peace of the night.
"No. Too many things are on my mind. I can't help but think: Why did you kill Peter if you are not a Death Eater?"
Sirius snarled at the mention of Peter's name. In a tone that froze Remus' blood, he answered, "I didn't. He's still alive."
Remus was shocked. He had expected any answer but that. Sirius was a man who always told the truth. If he said that Peter was alive, Peter was definitely alive. "But many people saw you kill him!"
"Remus, answer my question. Who was the smallest of us all? I mean among me, you, James and Pettigrew?"
"It was Peter ..." Then it dawned on Remus. Peter was the one who killed all those people! He had placed the wand behind him, killed all those people, chopped off his finger and transformed into a rat!
The clouds covering the moon moved, and moonlight shone through the window, lighting up Remus' face. Sirius could read his face perfectly. "Exactly. You got it," he said, and proceeded to explain everything to Remus.
***
"Done." Remus dusted his hands and watched his owl fly off towards the clouds, carrying the letter he had just written to Dumbledore about Sirius being innocent. "Rise and shine, Sirius!"
Sirius rolled over and yawned. "Give me 5 minutes to stretch." And he promptly fell asleep again.
"Sirius, wake up! No 5 minutes for you!" Remus said, poking Sirius in his ribs.
"Ow!! Fine, fine, I'll wake up!"
Remus went down the stairs and prepared breakfast for Sirius. He noted that he had to buy more food.
"That's all I have?" Sirius groaned, staring at the bowl of cereal on the table.
Remus looked up and grinned. "Well, I had a lot of food yesterday, but some ghost unfortunately came and ate it all. So now that's what you have."
"Okay, whatever," Sirius grumbled. He had snuck down the previous night and raided the refrigerator.
When Sirius had finished breakfast, something struck him. It really hurt, but ... he turned to Remus. "I ... I have to go now. I have to go see Harry." A big lump formed in his throat.
Remus turned to him. The same thing had just hit him too. "Yes, you have to. Don't think too much about me. Have fun with Harry," Remus replied, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. This was too much for both of them. The next moment, they were hugging each other tightly, tears running down their cheeks. "I never thought I'd say this to you, Remus, but I will miss you. Forever."
Then they pulled away from each other. The reunion was over. Sirius turned into a gigantic black dog and apparated to Privet Drive.
***
Sirius walked around outside Privet Drive, Number 4 in his canine form. He had no idea how to get into the house. Lily had talked to him about her sister's family before. "They live in Little Whinging, Surrey on Privet Drive, Number 4," she had said in disgust. "Never go there. They are horrible Muggles."
Just then, he became conscious of the sounds of laughter coming from his right. He realised that it was coming from the playground near the house. Many children were playing there. Maybe Harry was among those children. He sprinted to the playground on all four limbs.
When he reached the playground, he groaned. He would never be able to find Harry among all these children. Firstly, there were so many of them. Secondly, many of them had black hair and green eyes.
As Sirius walked back, he noticed a boy sitting one the bench, obviously left out of the group of children.
He too had black hair and green eyes. But unlike all the other children, there was a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
The boy was Harry Potter.
~~~~~~
A/N: Well, that was the first chapter! It was on the short side, only 6 pages long. ::sigh::
This may not seem to be in the right categories at first. However, in the later chapters (somewhere around the middle), the categories it is in (Action/Adventure and Romance) will be more right..
Can you see the drop-down menu on the bottom-left? That is where you review. Guesses, Constructive Criticism, Comments, Suggestions, anything else except for flames are welcome. Any flames will be ignored (You won't even get a reply back when I post my replies to your reviews in the next chapter.)