AN: Thanks for the encouragement from everyone! I think I answer maybe one question in this chapter, but chapter three answers quite a few more. Also, I obviously don't own Harry Potter. If I did, would I be writing AU-AU-fanfiction? Right, that's what I thought. On with the chapter!
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"Flat number 124," Danger muttered, looking from the piece of paper with the address to the excruciatingly normal looking London apartment building. She and Sirius had gotten close to nowhere interpreting her poem—they'd come up with answers, but the answers seemed impossible. Sirius had finally given her his address, telling her to come visit once she'd had some time to mourn. A week later, and here she was. Every night she dreamt the poem again, and there was an increased feeling of urgency, if a poem could be urgent.
Emerging from the lift Danger spotted Sirius' flat to her left at the end of the corridor and started towards it. But as she got closer she heard raised voices. One was obviously Sirius; the other was a strangely familiar feminine voice.
"You need to get your act together, Sirius Valentine Black!" the female voice was yelling.
"I am!" Sirius practically roared back. "I'm working again, in case you haven't noticed!"
"Well congratulations, you've learned how to get yourself out of bed in the morning, go and mope around work, then come back here and drown your sorrows in firewhiskey." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.
Sirius' next statement was much quieter. "I haven't touched firewhiskey in two weeks."
But the woman was apparently too angry to notice the change in tone. "What do you want, a medal?"
"No, I want James and Lily and Peter and Evanie back!"
He probably could have gotten the same shocked and hurt silence by slapping her. "Well, you can't have that," she said coolly after a moment. "Because your best friend betrayed them."
"Remus was your friend too, and James and Lily's," Sirius said wearily.
"He was...or we thought he was. Why couldn't I have been the Secret-Keeper?" she said quietly.
Sirius snorted. "I know why I couldn't. James and Lily thought that I was the spy. Do you know how much that hurts? Knowing that if I'd just done something, anything to prove I was trustworthy, that maybe they'd have believed in me, and they'd be alive."
"Are you sure about that? Would it really have changed who died?" she pressed.
"No," Sirius responded flatly. "Because they might have done to you what they did to Evanie. So I feel even more guilty, because a little part of me is glad that I wasn't the Secret-Keeper, because it kept you just a little bit safer."
"Sirius, you shouldn't feel guilty because the two of us are alive." A moment of silence. "Why have you been avoiding me? Why did I have to practically break into your flat to see you for the first time in months?"
Sirius was silent for a much longer moment. "Because it hurts too much," he said finally. Whenever you're around I remember all the times we all had together. And not just us, everyone. Our first date, where James was the waiter, Peter and Evanie cooked, and Remus played the violin for us while we ate in the candlelight. Harry's first birthday, when you thought it was so hilarious when Harry was trying to feed everyone his birthday cake, with his hands. James and Lily's wedding, you looked so beautiful next to Lily, and couldn't believe you'd be interested in me."
The woman tried to interrupt, but Sirius wasn't finished. "But as it turned out, everyone but me knew it was true, and everyone worked together to get us together. Being around you brings up hundreds of memories of our friends. And when you're not around, I miss you. I think of the memories that are just the two of us. The way we could practically read each other's minds while playing Quidditch. Our first kiss. The night I took you out to the Quidditch pitch and introduced you to my relatives, because the constellations are warmer than they are in person. I don't want to be without you, but being near you just hurts so much…" Sirius trailed off, and an awkward silence seemed to fill the room.
Danger stood outside the door a moment, trying to decide what to do. She was glad that she'd brought a stroller in spite of her belief that toddlers should walk, as she hung around the door eavesdropping. When the conversation didn't continue, Danger knocked on the door.
"Just a moment," Sirius said gruffly, and she heard footsteps. The door opened and an obviously depressed Sirius stood on the other side. Before she even said anything, Danger put her arms around him in a comforting hug.
"Who's she?" the female voice asked, with a hint of jealousy. Danger peeked over Sirius' shoulder at the dark-skinned woman standing in the doorway between two of the rooms in the flat—the familiar dark-skinned woman.
"Aletha?" Danger asked incredulously, pushing away from a confused-looking Sirius.
"Danger?" A magnet seemed to pull the women together. In the space of a moment, they were hugging and squealing girlishly.
"Danger?" a small confused voice said from the corridor.
"Oh, Neenie, you're up!" Danger rushed back into the corridor and picked up the toddler girl.
"Yours?" Aletha asked Danger, looking between the two similar-looking girls.
"No, she's my baby sister. Although, I guess she is mine now…" Danger's voice trailed off, and she slipped back into her melancholy mood momentarily.
"Why?" Aletha asked. "What's happened?"
"Her parents were killed by deatheaters," Sirius explained as Danger pulled herself together.
"No," Aletha whispered, shaking her head. "That's awful. They were always so kind, so good...why them?"
Sirius shook his head. "I could ask the same thing about the two of you. How do you know each other?"
"We were best friends when we were younger," Aletha explained. "But I left for Hogwarts, and while I was away at school Danger and her family moved, and I lost touch with her."
"What's Hogwarts?" Danger interrupted.
"It's a school, for special people like me," Sirius said, carefully.
"For m-magicians?" Danger asked, "Magic is real, right?"
"It's real," Sirius reassured her. "But I'm not a magician, I'm a wizard."
"And you're a wizardess?" Danger asked Aletha.
"Witch," Aletha corrected, smiling, "but yes, I can do magic too."
Neenie started to squirm, so Danger set her down, and turned towards the still open door to get the stroller. "Well hey there green-eyes! You were so quiet I didn't know you were awake!" She scooped him out of the double stroller and turned to face Sirius and Letha.
"Pa-foot! Letha!" Harry squealed. Danger set him down and let him toddle towards his stunned Godfather. Harry reached him, and put his arms up in a 'hold-me' gesture. Sirius snatched him up into a hug with a sob.
"Pa-foot, no c'y," Harry said, touching Sirius' face.
"I have to cry, Harry," Sirius said, smiling at his godson. "But I'm not sad. I'm happy."
Harry looked confused. "No c'y," he repeated, looking as if he might cry in a moment.
Sirius pulled himself together, took a deep if shaky breath, and wiped his face. "All right, Harry. No cry. Better?"
"Pa-foot, where Mooey?"
It was a natural question for the boy to ask – Remus and Sirius had seldom visited the Potters separately – but it caught Sirius by surprise. Aletha pulled a chair over to him quickly, and he sat down and got himself under control before he answered. "Moony's away on a trip, Harry. But I think he'll come home soon. And then he can play with you."
"Yay, p'ay wif Mooey!" Harry said, wiggling. "Where Mama and Dada?"
He would have to ask the hard one. Sirius looked over at Danger and Letha and mutely appealed for help.
"Oh, Harry," Danger said, coming into the apartment and pulling up a chair for herself. Neenie climbed onto her sister's lap and stuck her thumb in her mouth. "Your Mama and Dada had to go away."
"Go 'way like Mooey?"
"Well, yes and no. They did go away, but Moony is coming back. Your Mama and Dada aren't going to come back. They're watching over you from far away, and they love you very much, but they have to stay where they are."
Harry considered this. "Pa-foot," he finally declared with true toddler logic, bumping his head against Sirius' chest. "Dayger." He pointed to Danger. "Neenie." He indicated the girl. "Letha." He pointed at her too. "An' Mooey come back soon."
"That's right," Danger said. "You've got it now."
Harry wiggled his way off Sirius' lap to go play, with Neenie quickly following.
"There's nothing bad that they can get into?" Danger asked apprehensively.
"Of course there isn't…" Sirius trailed off, because at that moment Neenie had grabbed a long thin stick, and waved it, sending a shower of sparks that threatened to set Aletha's robes on fire.
"Well, look at that," Aletha said with a grin, stamping on her hem and deftly removing the stick from Neenie's grasp. "It looks like your little sister's going to be a pretty powerful witch some day."
"You can't be serious," Danger said, looking at Aletha incredulously.
"You're right, I can't be. He's Sirius," Aletha said, grinning.
Danger rolled her eyes. "But Neenie can't be a witch."
"She can," Aletha said. "Here, this wand will only spark for witches or wizards; a muggle would get no results. Try it."
Danger rolled her eyes and waved the wand carelessly. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as a shower of sparks threatened to set fire to Sirius this time.
"That's what I though," Sirius said, satisfied.
"What do you mean, that's what you thought?" Danger asked, rounding on him, "Are you guys trying to say that I'm a witch?"
"Yes," Sirius said simply, "I did some research after I saw you. Only witches or wizards can see dementors. Not even squibs can see them. And, you might not have noticed it, but after your parents' death, nearly every piece of glass in the house was shattered. It was the sort of thing magical children do accidentally while throwing a tantrum. You might have done it when you found out your parents were dead."
"But then why wasn't I sent to your school; why haven't I ever noticed this before?" Danger asked, looking between the two.
"Maybe you didn't display magic," Sirius offered, "so it was never picked up, but this tragedy sparked your magical ability, making it stronger. I've heard stories of people who thought they were squibs until some traumatic incident caused their magic to manifest itself."
Aletha shook her head. "As amazing as it is to hear Sirius Black talking about theoretical magic, I have a million questions. Danger, why do you have Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived; why are you here; and what is this about Remus Lupin, the deranged murderer, coming home soon?"
For some reason that Sirius and Aletha could not yet fathom, Danger bristled up. "I baby-sit for Harry, and I thought that Sirius might want to see him, so I brought him along. I'm here so that Sirius and I can discuss poetry and justice. And Remus Lupin is not a deranged murderer—he's innocent."
Aletha stared at her. "It's sad that Sirius discussing poetry and justice is the most plausible thing on that list."
"I'd be offended, if it weren't true," Sirius commented dryly.
"Obviously I baby-sit for Harry," Danger said, hands on her hips. "Otherwise, why would he be here?"
Aletha shrugged. "All right, that's plausible too. Get to the last bit."
In as few words as possible, Danger explained her dreams and what she'd worked out about them.
"You're telling me that Melanie betrayed Lily and James?" Aletha asked, stunned.
"Yes," Danger said simply. "And that means that an innocent man is in prison."
"Let me hear this poem of yours," Aletha demanded.
Danger closed her eyes to recite.
"Black to red and red to brown
Shall surely bring the darkness down.
The lion brought down by a mouse
Who will be found in the rodent house.
The dark one's freedom was costly bought
With framed lover in jail to rot.
The brightest star will see him through
After the truth returns to you.
The wolf that runs in brightest dark
Of fear in danger strikes no spark,
For she is maid of warrior soul
And by her touch his mind is whole.
Take lion's son and sister too,
For they truly belong to you.
When they who saved the savior twine
The freshest blood with founder's line,
Then has the age of hope begun,
And peace comes to the man who won."
Sirius handed Aletha his copy of the poem. "Does it make any sense to you?"
"Maybe," Aletha said absently, "My name means truth, and Sirius the Dog Star is the brightest star in the sky, so maybe these two lines are about us?"
Danger nodded. "Before Sirius left the other day we decided that the mouse is Melanie, and her framed lover is Remus."
"And I think the lion means James, because he was the uber-Gryffindor, I suppose," Sirius interjected.
"The brightest star will see him through, after the truth returns to you," Aletha muttered, "If we're reading this right, with this being us, then I've returned now, haven't I? I mean, this is the first time I've seen you in six months, Sirius." She turned to Danger. "And the first time I've seen you in what, ten years?"
Sirius nodded. "Sounds right to me."
"So Sirius has to do something to help Remus," said Danger. "But what?"
Sirius shrugged, "Let's try to figure out the rest of the poem first. Let's look at the next two lines."
"Well," Aletha speculated, "if truth was me, maybe wolf is Remus, because of the legend and everything."
"And because he's a werewolf," Danger muttered distractedly. "And Danger would obviously be me."
But Aletha wasn't paying attention to the second half of Danger's statement. "Wait—hold on—Remus is what?"
"How do you know that?" Sirius exclaimed at the same time. "Only I should know that. Well, and the Hogwarts professors, and Snivellus." He sneered at the name.
"Severus Snape knows that Remus is a werewolf, and I was never told?"
"Severus Snape knowing that Remus is a werewolf is a long story," Sirius said with a sigh. "What I want to know is how Danger knows it, when she's never even met the man."
"My dream," Danger said softly.
"The dream with the poem?" Aletha looked down at it. "Nothing here really says that Remus is a werewolf…"
"My other dream, the one with the wedding," Danger said, blushing slightly.
"Whose wedding?" Sirius asked, his eyes flickering towards Aletha questioningly.
"Mine," Danger said, blushing more. "And Remus'. And when we kissed, I knew everything about him. Everything!"
Sirius looked at her calmly. "I'd question that, but just the fact that you know he's a werewolf shows it has to be true."
"I ask again, why wasn't I told?" Aletha interjected.
"Because no one was told. James and Peter and I figured it out on our own. Snape… Snape nearly died because I was stupid enough to tell him Remus' location on a full moon night. I just wanted to scare him, I didn't think it through, I seriously regret it and will for the rest of my life, but that's not important right now, let's just try to figure out this bloody poem!" Sirius leaned back in exasperation, clearly avoiding eye contact with the two women.
"So, Remus shouldn't scare you," Aletha said awkwardly, looking at the poem again.
"If I'm meant to marry him, I would hope not." Danger tried to speak lightly, but the worry in her voice was audible.
"I don't know if it'll be that easy, Danger," Sirius said nervously. "You saw how his last relationship ended..."
Aletha shook her head irritably. "I'm not sure what the rest of this means, but lets concentrate on two things. What is this rodent house, and how is Sirius supposed to see Remus through? What does that mean?"
"Obviously, we have to get him out of prison," Sirius answered.
"Without Melanie to prove Remus didn't do it, how're we supposed to do that? I think we should find this 'rodent house' first."
"We can't wait to figure out where the mouse is—he'll go mad in there! We should tell someone what we know."
"And they'll think we're mad, and throw us in St. Mungo's, or think we're conspiring to break a criminal out of jail, and we'll be thrown in jail too!"
"We're supposed to break him out!" Danger declared suddenly. Sirius and Aletha both turned to stare at her incredulously, then locked eyes in a clear 'who wants to handle this one' bout. Sirius lost.
"You can't break out of Azkaban, Danger. Those things that you saw in front of your house, the dementors? They guard the prison. A single person who went there would be overwhelmed by the dementors immediately, and any more than a single person would be noticed, and would probably still be overwhelmed by the dementors."
"A single person…" Danger muttered, before looking up hopefully, "Sirius, do animals have the same sort of emotions as humans?"
"They're different from human emotions – less advanced," Sirius replied.
"So maybe the dementors wouldn't sense an animal," Danger said. "Or not as easily."
Aletha nodded. "So an animal could get in, but I don't see..."
"A full moon," Sirius said, snapping his fingers. "I'll go. During a full moon, in Animagus form. They won't sense me, because I'm an animal, but I'll have my human mind, so I'll be able to avoid them. And Moony will be the werewolf. He should be weak enough from the prison that I can control him alone."
"You're an Animagus?" Aletha said flatly, putting her head in her hands. "Sirius Black, I'm starting to think that I don't really know you."
Sirius ignored the statement, "I like the plan, but what do we do once he's out?"
"We'll have to hide," Danger said. "So we're going to have to take care of things before we can get him out. We probably won't have time for this next full moon. We need to know what kind of locks they have on the doors there. Is it a simple catch, something you could undo with your paws, Sirius, or are they key locks? Those would be hard to open without hands."
" I can find that out," Aletha said, looking. "I'll do some research tomorrow." She smiled. "I can't believe we're actually planning on doing this..."
The excitement in the room was almost tangible. Sirius could scent it, even with his limited human sense of smell. "What about Harry?" he said. "We can't leave him with the Muggles."
"Harry's easy," Danger said, waving a negligent hand. "In and out, just take him and vanish. If we're going to liberate a criminal, we're going to need to hide out anyway, so we might as well hide two people as one."
"True enough," Aletha said. "Have to give some thought to where to hide them, and how. Everyone'll be looking for Remus, and Harry, as soon as it gets out that they're gone."
Danger looked over to where Harry and Hermione were playing together, holding a black box and admiring something shiny. They put it back into the drawer they were exploring, and Danger decided to keep quiet about her speculations about the object. Then something about the way the two stood together hit her.
"Wait a second," she said. "Look at us." She indicated Harry and Neenie and herself. "We look alike, right? Or we would if Harry had brown hair instead of black?"
Aletha looked between Danger and the children and nodded. "He could almost pass for Neenie's brother. Non-identical twins, whatever they're called."
"Fraternal," Danger said, getting excited. "My children. Fraternal twins."
"Who's your husband going to be?" Aletha asked, glancing at Sirius apprehensively.
"Remus, of course," Danger retorted, forgetting how odd it would sound to proclaim herself married to a man she hadn't met. "I don't want that." She pointed at Sirius.
"Thanks a lot," Sirius muttered. "Does loads for my self-esteem."
"Your self-esteem doesn't need any help, trust me," Aletha said, chuckling. "It might work, Danger. All you'd need is a house somewhere, or an apartment. Might be tough to find one that's child friendly, though. Rents can be pretty steep."
"Money's not a problem," Sirius said dismissively. "I inherited a good amount of money from one of my uncles, and being the heir to the House of Black means that I have access to the family vaults, in spite of being the black sheep of the family."
"We'll figure something out," Danger replied, glancing at the clock. "But right now it's time for the children to eat."
Sirius looked at the clock, startled. "And I'm late! I promised her I wouldn't be late." He jumped up and started looking for his cloak.
"Her?" Aletha's voice contained jealousy once again. "Who are you talking about?"
Sirius noticed her jealousy, but apparently felt like tweaking her nose. "A beautiful brunette," he said, snatching up his cloak, "with gorgeous eyes. They're so blue, you feel like you can swim in them."
Danger thought that Aletha would scream at Sirius, but was surprised to see her relax and smile. "Abby. You spend time with Abby?"
Sirius nodded. "She needs people in her life, after everything…" He trailed off. "But I'm late, and I promised I wouldn't be, so I have to run." Sirius grabbed his wand and disapparated on the spot, leaving Aletha and Danger alone in his flat.
