It was the third time the cat had come to meet Sirius on his own.

Sirius had been hiding in the midst of a rocky slope on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, where he could see the homely lights of Hogsmeade shining in the small village to his far right, and he could see Hogwarts hulking outline on his far left. He was eating some candy he'd stolen from Honeydukes (he figured he'd earned it, buying so much of Honeydukes' merchandise as a student...and even sometimes after he had graduated), and with a wave of nostalgia from the taste of the candy, had started contemplating what could have been.

Watching Harry grow up, helping James teach Harry to fly, being yelled at by Lily for teaching Harry to fly a real broom at the age of three, spending time with the Marauders (which always has and always will include only three true Marauders...obviously), teasing Lily, having fun (without any rats), playing Quidditch (without any rats), being actually happy (especially without any rats)...

Sirius had just started thinking about ways for the rat to die in the could-have-been future (stabbing the rat in the back with the Marauder knife and then feeding him to the crows after mashing him into gravy...all accidentally, of course) when a familiar growl sounded and an orange tabby jumped up onto a rock, holding a scrap of parchment in his jaws. His mashed-up face looked shadowy in the evening light.

"What now?" Sirius groaned, sitting up. The last two times the cat had bothered to climb up the slope and speak to Sirius, he'd only been there to ask what was taking so long with the next plan and to hurry it up. Sirius had tried to explain the tactic of waiting for Hogwarts to let their guard down, but the cat just didn't really care.

The tabby had asked if he could help Sirius make the plan, but Sirius had wanted to do this alone. He was sure he would get the rat if he had the right plan. The trouble was waiting for an idea that could function on their limited resources.

The cat leaped down and, with a growl, dropped the parchment in front of Sirius.

"This is what you came here for?" Sirius murmured, staring at the parchment. "And I thought you last two visits were pointless!"

The cat impatiently shoved the parchment in Sirius's direction.

"Fine," Sirius rolled his eyes, picking up the parchment. He cleared his throat. Tonelessly, he announced, "This Week's Passwords for the Gryffindor Common Room. Monday - Wait, what!?"

Sirius reread the words. "This is amazing!" clutching the paper, he turned to the cat. "How did you get this?"

The cat flicked an ear, which, from previous occurrences, Sirius knew to be a noncommittal shrug.

"Be that way," Sirius said, too happy to really care. "For now, let's get to work. Actually," he added, "You can help. A little. The rest is all my job, got it?" When the cat didn't reply, Sirius sighed, and got up to transform into his animagus form.


They had the perfect plan. There was no way it could go wrong, not if everything went according to plan.

And Sirius was sure that everything would run smoothly.

They went through the Shrieking Shack this time; you could never be too careful, and Honeydukes had probably increased security since the last attempt (which was also the day he'd stolen that candy, on the way back - he'd had a feeling that it would be the last time he could do so that easily), and the security at Hogwarts was most likely looking for a full-grown man, not a Grim look-alike.

Dumbledore clearly had not expected Sirius to be an animagus. Not a single alarm went off as he quickly poked his hand out and pressed the special knob on the Whomping Willow to freeze it in place (it wasn't really moving anyways, but it would have been if they had just stepped out of the hole, and that would have given them away), then quietly slipped out with the cat on his tail.

Not a single person came looking for him. He slipped in easily through an open window. Dumbledore must have also thought that Sirius would not get past the front gates, which was really quite insulting (despite that fact that he hadn't even went through the front gates) since supposedly he was a crazed Death Eater who had probably stolen a wand from a someone and had an arsenal of spells at his disposal.

Leaping down into the room, Sirius thought it looked like just another classroom, but Sirius didn't want to risk staying there.

Staying in his animagus form, Sirius slipped down the hallways, sticking to the shadows and keeping him and the cat hidden from sight.

Step One complete, Sirius thought as he stopped right before rounding the corner and revealing himself to the Fat Lady.

Is the Fat Lady still there? Sirius wondered. He felt a little guilty about slashing her portrait, but it was for a good cause...kind of. Well, either way, the portrait would have to let me in since I have the password.

Sirius transformed, and slowly turned the corner, towards where the Fat Lady's portrait was supposed to be. As he inched forward, he got a glimpse of the portrait in the Fat Lady's place.

"Sir Cadogan?" Sirius whispered. Sir Cadogan was the new Gryffindor portrait?

Sirius was suddenly glad he wasn't still in school. Sir Cadogan was the absolute MOST annoying portrait in all of Hogwarts.

At that moment, Sir Cadogan froze in place and called out, "Who's there? Have you come to duel?"

Sirius sighed and stepped forward, into the portrait's line of sight.

"You, sir," Cadogan swiveled on his pony, thrusting his sword at Sirius. "I remember you! Badfoot, wasn't it?"

Sirius's mind flashed back to that fateful event, when he had accidentally tripped a group of girls (Lily Evans included), causing them to fall into a very angry pile, and then tripping himself and falling on top of the pile. The rest of the Marauders wouldn't let it go, especially after they found out that it wasn't just an accident and someone had actually managed to jinx him. They had called him cheesy names like Badfoot for at least a week after the incident.

"Yes, that's me," Sirius grumbled. "Now - "

"Ohoho! Not so fast! You're Sirius Black! Well, you can't come in here without the password, so I assume you're here to duel! What is your weapon of choice?"

"Actually - " Sirius started.

"No weapon? Shame, you'll be dead in seconds!"

"I have the password," Sirius growled. He yanked the piece of parchment from his robe pocket and began rattling off passwords.

Cadogan froze. "When you come out we will duel!" he proclaimed, before swinging the portrait door open.

Sirius sighed in relief, and he motioned for the cat to come inside with him.

Slipping silently upstairs, Sirius immediately went for the door marked 'Third Year Dormitories' and pushed it open as quietly as he could.

He carefully crept past each of the four-poster beds, until he reached the one labeled 'R. Weasley'. Throwing a wistful glance at the trunk labeled 'H. Potter', Sirius pulled out the Marauder knife and swiftly pulled the curtains to the Weasley's bed open.

Of all the things to fail in his plan, the kid actually waking up had been the last one on his list.

Sirius stared at the Weasley kid for a second. Then, just as Sirius was about to look for the rat, the kid's eyes opened.

For a moment, they stared at each other, and then the kid let out a scream that had probably awoken the entire Gryffindor House.

Sirius cursed and instinctively ran, banging the door open and transforming as he bounded down the stairs.

The cat's gaze seemed to follow him as he ran through the common room. He seemed to say, 'I told you, you should have asked for my help.'

Sirius had no time to retort.

He burst through the portrait hole, to the shouts of Sir Cadogan.

"Who is it?! Have you come to duel, Badfoot!?" he shouted, but by the time he had closed the portrait hole to see who it was, Sirius had already disappeared.


Hermione jolted awake to a very faint scream. After a moment, however, she passed it off to her imagination. She sometimes woke up for no reason, so it wasn't that big of a stretch.

After a few moments of lying in the dark, she felt a small creature hop onto her bed and curl up beside her.

"Crookshanks," she muttered, her throat dry from lack of use during the time she'd slept. "You been up for a bit?" Her cat purred.

As she stroked his fur, her hands caught ahold of...dead leaves?

"Outside again!" she tried to sound stern, but she was too sleepy. "You really should be more careful."

Crookshanks snorted, as if he knew something she didn't and found it ironic.

"I'm glad you're safe, at least," Hermione said with a yawn. "We'll clean you up in the morning." And she leaned her head back on her pillow and let sleep claim her once again.

The next morning, Hermione didn't remember a thing, and Crookshanks's fur was completely leaf-and-dirt-free.


It feels so anticlimactic after the previous chapter, to me. But it's not for me to decide if it was good or not, so let me know what you think!

(This, for whatever reason, was hard to write, which is why I'm posting it so much later (basically I suck). Hope you enjoyed anyways!)