Chapter Two

Now This Is Strange

(Sirius)

"So why exactly did you decided to do this Kayleigh?" I asked. We had been sitting in silence for five minuets now. I was looking at her as she looked out across the little park we where sitting in just around the corner from Mundugus hospital. We where sitting on the swing set, swaying very slightly. She frowned.

"I have told you that already Sirius. You lost, well you will lose over a decade of your life, and you didn't deserver it. It er, wasn't just. So this is me trying to give you a second chance. Another shot at life. A chance to travel. To live the years you will lose. And for the tenth time, it's Kay, not Kayleigh" she said never looking away from the park.

"Yes Kay but, why me? There have got to be hundreds, no thousands of people who have lost chunks of their lives, so, why me? Out of all of them? And don't just say cos I'm your godfather" I pressed. I heard her sigh, as she turned to look me in the eye

"Because I owe it to you. All right? This last year I have relied on you so much. You have saved my life, and you have saved me from making some huge mistakes. I owe you. Big. So this, well, this is my way of saying thank you. Okay?" she said her eyes narrowing slightly as she spoke.

"Oh" was all I could say. She groaned, glaring at a pair of kids running around shouting at each other.

"Let's get outta here. I hate kids" she said standing up. "Let's go somewhere more private so I can show you how to work the Vortex Manipulator" I nodded and followed suit.

We walked in silence for a long time. We went past parks and houses and into fields. We where well out off London before we finally stopped. Kay turned to look at me.

"You ready to give this a try?" she asked while she untied the Vortex Manipulator from the wrist. I nodded. "Okay, give me your wrist." I did as I was told and held out my arm to her. She pushed up my sleeve and tied the device onto my wrist. "Now do remember what I told you?"

"Top row is date, second row is time, third destination" I said automatically. Kay had explained how it worked in detail on the walk.

"Good, so programme it now"

"Where?" I asked

"Anywhere you want. Its your decision" she said smiling at me. I quickly typed in the date, time and place. Kay's time. "Now let me get my hand on it. There. Now press the button when you are ready" I did.


We materialized and looked around our surroundings. Kay snorted.

"Hogwarts. How original" she said sarcastically looking bord. I grinned and looked up at the towering castle before us.

"Not just Hogwarts. Your Hogwarts" I clarified. She rolled her eyes at me. "Come on. I wanna see if this place is still the same as ever" I grabbed her hand and pulled her up the steps and towards the massive front doors..

"Slow down moron. It may be the summer holidays in this time but there may still be teachers around. Plus, those will be locked" she said indicating to the doors. I tried them shit I thought to myself. She was right.

"How can we get in?" I asked. She rolled her eyes at me again.

"I thought you where the marauder" she muttered pulling me down back down the stairs. And heading around the side of the castle, across the sunlit grounds.

"Where are we going?" I asked stupidly. She laughed at me. And led the way, completely ignoring me. She cut down towards the whomping willow.

"Can you get the button?" she asked me knowingly. I looked at her startled. She knew about the button? And was she hinting at knowing I'm an anamagus. The glint in her eye said that she did. I quickly changed into dog form and slipped between the branches to get the button. The tree froze and Kay slipped smoothly into the tunnel. I quickly flowed her in. changing back into human form as I did.

"how did you know about all this?" I asked realising the answer instantly. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket, which I recognised at once. I flashed her a grin as she slipped it back into her pocket. "So what are we doing? Cant we just materialize into the castle?" I asked as we wandered down the dark tunnel towards the shack.

"Well, we could do but it's…risky. There could be someone in the room that we appear in and that would be to hard a situation to sort out and plus I'm not completely convinced you can materialise into the castle. Lots of little reasons really" she explained. I nodded. I hadn't thought of that

"So what are we doing?"

"Well, I'm thinking, going out of the shack, down into Hogsmeade and sneak into Honeyduckes and take the tunnel back up to the castle and well were in"

"Oh you geniuses. You are so James' kid" I said laughing. She flashed me a grin. We where in the shack then. We silently slipped outside and started walking towards the village.

"So, did James teach you about all these passages? Oh I bet he is such a good dad, isn't he?" I said grinning. Her face turned slightly dark, something she tried to hide. The grin slipped of my face "what? What is it? Is James a bad Dad or something?"

"I really wouldn't know. He died when I was toddler" she said darkly. I froze.