Chapter 3

A few hours later Sirius landed his broom at the white cliffs of Dover. The ferry would leave in a few hours and he would be able to make it safely back out of England; it would be harder to get out than it had been to get in because now he had Harry. Cassie was old enough to follow basic instructions and knew she had to be quite but Harry was too young, and had always been a loud, boisterous little boy that couldn't sit still for more than two minutes. Rather like his father, Sirius thought absently as he looked down at the small boy. He was still asleep but beginning to stir so he sat down and drew the blankets away from the boy, giving him room to stretch and wake properly. Cassie sat in front of him and began to stroke the little boys hair with a gentle tenderness that he had never before seen her use. As the boy opened his eyes Cassie spoke gently to her sleeping friend ''Shhh, its okay Harry, bad people no hurt you no more.'' the boy blinked in surprise then pulled himself up and hugged Cassie tightly. ''Cassie came back.'' he murmured quietly. Cassie just held him tightly as his body shook with sobs. Sirius reached out to gently stroke the boys hair and her turned in surprise, seeming to have forgotten that Sirius was there. His eyes grew huge as he took in the sight of his favourite uncle and he let go of Cassie and ran into Sirius' arms hugging him as tightly as he had Cassie. Cassie smiled at the sight and joined the hug knowing that everything would be all right now that her friend was back and they were all together.

They stayed like that for hours until the ferry began to board and Sirius knew they would have to sneak on soon. He shrunk the broom he had rode in on and placed it in his pocket before he wrapped Harry in the thick woollen blanket that Cassie had slept in, throwing the old one away and taking Cassie's hand. He led them closer to the loading bay and placed a powerful disillusionment charm on the three of them before walking onto the boat. Once on board they walked into a bathroom on the first floor. Sirius knew his face had been on the muggle news as well as all over the daily prophet so he changed his features until he looked like a brown haired, brown eyed middle aged man. He then changed the children's looks so they would pass as a family. The next item on the list would definitely be Harry's clothing which was clearly second hand and much too big for him. He took the small back pack off his back and opened it to find some of the clothes he had bought for Harry. He had bought the clothes in ages one to two but even those looked as if they would be too big despite the fact that Harry was almost two. He knew they would have to do for now and he would just have to use magic to alter them so he began to undress him. However after he took of the boys shirt he had to take several deep breaths to control the rage currently coursing through him. The boy wasn't just too thin, his ribs stuck out until it looked like he had been starved, there were also several multicoloured bruises on the boys arms and ribcage. Sirius knew that in the first few years of a child's life it was important to give the child plenty of food in order to promote healthy growth but it looked as though Harry had been given the bare minimum in order to survive. Sirius also knew that if this mistreatment had gone on much longer it would probably have seriously affected the boys future development. He knew that the first thing he would need to do to help Harry get healthy would be to feed him so he finished getting the boy dressed and took both children to one of the café's on the first floor.

Sirius was pleased to see that whilst Harry had lost weight, he hadn't lost his appetite and was currently watching Harry consume a healthy breakfast of scrambled egg on toast. Cassie was also tucking into her breakfast though she was eating at a considerably slower pace and not as though she hadn't been fed in days. Cassie was also pleased her friend was eating and she told him so, in her mind of course. It was more fun that way, even if they could talk out loud to each other now. ''Do you like it?'' she thought to her friend. He jumped slightly as he heard her voice in his mind. He hadn't known she would still be there now she was right next to him. He nodded enthusiastically and thought back ''yummy.'' Cassie smiled glad her friend was happy and pushed her plate toward him, seeing that he had finished his own. He looked at her in surprise when she offered him her breakfast and thought ''For me?'' Cassie nodded and smiled encouragingly so he picked up her fork and began to demolish her breakfast as well. Cassie giggled as he rammed the eggs into his mouth and jumped down from her seat to go and sit on her dads knee. He smiled as she pulled herself onto his knee and hugged her tightly, he had been very proud of her selflessness in giving her breakfast to Harry when she had seen he was still hungry and offered her the toast of his own plate which she nibbled on quietly. He sighed in contentment, happy that he had the two children back with him.

As the Ferry pulled away from the docks in Calais Sirius sighed. That had been the easier part of the journey. Now however he wanted to seek help for Harry. He knew there would be precious few people who wouldn't kill him on sight given what they believed he had done; there was however, one person who might help him, of course she might kill him on sight too, you could never quite tell with her. Smiling wryly to himself he apparated to the large manor that belonged to his late wife.

The manor itself was a sight to behold, it was a colossal Georgian manor that contained well over a hundred rooms and had been built by one of his wife's wealthy ancestors. He had been here on several occasions with his wife and had gradually got used to the imposing manor. He stepped forward slowly wary of the extensive wards he knew were in place, but it seemed that whoever was currently residing in the house had decided to let him in as he met no resistance as he crossed the lawns to the door cradling Harry to his chest and gripping Cassie's hand tightly in his own as he walked toward the door. The door opened slowly and standing there in the doorway was the imposing form of his wife's cousin.

Rosalie Lillian Belaqua was not what people would consider a nice person. She was beautiful certainly. Her wavy reddish brown hair flowed to the middle of her back and framed her pretty face and her deep blue eyes were like deep pools of water, but her expression was one of deep unhappiness and her eyes had long since lost the warmth they'd contained as a child. Rosalie had once been a very happy, bright little girl, but the death of her parents when she was only ten years old had broken the girl in a way none could fix. Her face had been marred by a permanent scowl and her eyes had grown cold and unfeeling. She had foolishly thought that she had found something of a kindred spirit in her cousin's husband who had visited her regularly after her cousins death. Christiana had been such a kind, loving soul and had brought such light to her husbands eyes, she had even been able to put up with her cousins moods which few others could claim to do and her death had broken the two people that had been closest to her. Sirius and Rosalie, united in their shared grief had comforted each other and taken refuge in the manner that was filled with memories of her. Sirius and Cassie had stayed in Belaqua Manor for almost six months following Christiana's death and Rosalie and Sirius had grown to become quite close. However with the war waging in England growing worse by the day Sirius had felt it was his duty to return to England and return to his job as an Auror continuing the fight against Voldermort. The two had corresponded regularly over the next two years until he had been forced to go into hiding because he was the Potters secret keeper. Then little more than a fortnight later she'd been opened the Daily Prophet only to be greeted by the news that Sirius was a mass murderer who had betrayed the Potters and killed 13 people with a single curse. No letters had since come from Sirius though she knew he had not been captured. The Aurors efforts to capture the remaining death eaters and Sirius were printed all over the Prophet every morning. So to say she was surprised when after six months of hearing nothing and worrying herself silly over where Sirius and little Cassie had gone, she saw them apparate just outside the main wards, would be rather a large understatement. She immediately lowered the wards, her cousin would not have been happy if she allowed her husband to get deep fried by the wards which were currently charged to full power, and made her way to the front door. Taking a deep breath and carefully schooling her features into the indifferent mask she had perfected over the years, she slowly opened the main doors and stared at her cousins husband, waiting.

Sirius stared at Rosalie, she looked thinner and her hair was limp, he hadn't seen her like this since Chrissie's death. He felt a strong wave of guilt assault his stomach as he realised she must have been worried sick. He had taken little Cassie and he hadn't bothered to let anyone know they were okay. He slowly walked forward and pushing the guilt away to deal with later he spoke softly ''Rosie, I know what they're saying about me and I know you must be furious with me but I swear I didn't do what they say I did. I ran because I knew no one would believe me but I swear i'm innocent Rose. Please I need your help.'' His voice had dropped to a whisper as he stopped a few feet away from her. Rosalie could see the tears welling in his eyes as he begged for her understanding and she saw the care with which he held the small boy cradled in his arms, the boy she now realised was the son of the deceased Potters. Her eyes widened slightly as she came to that realisation but otherwise her expression didn't change. She knew deep in her heart that he wasn't guilty. She had always known, she knew he had a good heart and that despite what his despicable excuse for a family had done to him his heart was pure, so ignoring the common sense that told her that she was nuts, she indicated for him to follow her into the house as the doors closed behind him.

Breathing a sigh of relief that she didn't appear to want to murder him just yet, he followed her into the main parlour. She sat down in one of the large armchairs and gestured for him to do the same. Sirius looked around the room as Rosalie proceeded to pour tea. The room had soft cream walls with white cornicing and the furniture was all made from a light coloured wood. The large window provided a nice view of the lawns outside and the surrounding forests. It was such a contrast to his own home that it had taken a while to get used to. Sirius remembered his own home with a shudder, it had been dark and oppressive, filled with cursed objects and dark magic. Sirius had been surprised to find out that Chrissie had been not only pureblood, but the heir to an ancient and noble house as she was so different to any other pureblood he had met. In many ways she had reminded him of Lily, she was kind and down to earth, she wasn't arrogant or prejudiced, she hadn't been at all judgemental toward Remus despite his lycanthropy and had instead been open and understanding but she had never been pitying, seeming to sense without having to be told that Remus hated pity and didn't appreciate people crowding him. She had told him quite bluntly that she didn't care if he was a werewolf of a vampire or whatever else he could possibly be, he was her friend she loved him and if he wanted to talk about it then she would listen, and if he didn't well, that was his decision, and had then promptly started an in depth discussion with Lily about her wedding dress leaving the rest of the room to digest that in stunned silence. That had been one of the many reasons he had loved her she was so kind and she extended that kindness to everyone she knew. Where he had been shrouded in darkness she had been all light and gently brought him out of the darkness. Neither she nor her family had ever judged him for his family, they had accepted him for who he was. Being back in this house after so long brought back many fond memories of his wife and her family and to his surprise he found he could remember those times without the crushing wave of grief assaulting him. Whilst he still missed Chrissie terribly he was no longer haunted by her death. He smiled at his daughter softly, she had fallen asleep leaning her head against the arm of the chair with her legs curled up beneath her. He lay Harry down next to her careful not to wake the boy and moved over to the armchair next to Rosalie.

Rosalie smiled sadly at the tenderness displayed by Sirius, she wondered how she could ever have entertained the thought that he was guilty. Anyone who looked at the way he was with the two children could plainly see that the man wasn't capable of murder. She handed him a cup of tea as he sat down in the chair next to her. He accepted it and took a small sip before placing it on the table in front of them. He smiled wryly and said ''I take it this means your not planning to kill me then?'' she gave him an amused look before replying softly ''I'm thinking about it, after all you did leave me to worry myself sick over you for six months and then foolishly apparated outside the house with no prior warning. Honestly Sirius if I hadn't disabled the wards you could very well of died. Don't you ever engage that brain of yours?'' Sirius laughed softly pleased that she seemed to believe in his innocence ''I didn't really think about the wards to tell you the truth. I was more worried about you thinking I was a mass murderer and handing me over to the auror's.'' she sighed softly all traces of amusement leaving her face. ''I don't think your a mass murderer Sirius but I would like to know what happened. However,'' she paused seeing the pained expression on his face that reminded her of the man he had been after her cousins death ''I wont force you to tell me if you don't want to.'' Sirius sighed softly, looking over the woman sat across from him, she was so different from her cousin and yet she, like Chrissie, always seemed to know how he was feeling and how to make him feel better. It was one of the reasons they had grown so close during their grief. She had never tried to make him talk if he wasn't ready. However this couldn't just be ignored until he was ready to talk about it so gathering all his Gryffindor courage he drew in a breath and began to tell her all about the events that led up to last years fateful Halloween. How he had told them to make Peter secret keeper, how Peter had betrayed them. When he told her he had found Lily and James' bodies he had been unable to continue because his voice was so choked. Rosalie had gotten up and poured him a glass of firewiskey which he had downed in a single gulp and handed the glass back to her. She frowned in disapproval. Whilst getting drunk was a very appealing prospect right now she knew that wasn't truly what he needed so she sat sown on the lap and wrapped her arms around his shaking shoulders. He stiffened slightly in her arms, surprised by her actions. She had never been overly affectionate and it surprised him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders felt right and he began to relax, his tears beginning to slow as she ran her fingers through his long hair and he lay his head against her chest, accepting the comfort she was offering him. No one had ever held him like this other than Chrissie and he hadn't realised how starved of affection he had become after his wife's death.

They sat there for an immeasurable amount of time with Sirius eventually able to choke out an explanation for what had happened in the muggle street that had led to all the deaths. Rosalie had wanted to swear fluently and loudly after hearing what Peter had done but resisted knowing that it wouldn't help the current situation and would probably just make Sirius angry and liable to do something stupid, which Sirius was prone to doing when he was angry. As Sirius' tears subsided and he became calm she moved off his lap and poured her self a large measure of firewiskey. The alcohol helped to clear her head of her angry thoughts and a contented feeling replaced them. She then offered Sirius another small measure and sat back in her own chair contemplating everything Sirius had just told her. There would be no way of proving Sirius' innocence unless they offered him a trial and used truth serum which she knew the head of British law enforcement wouldn't do. God, she hated the English. Their bigotry and narrow-mindedness drove her up the wall. The French were so much less prejudiced, it was beyond their understanding why the English chose to treat people the way they did, they just isolated their own citizens. It was no wonder they had just had a civil war for merlin's sake!

Sirius meanwhile was watching Rosalie as she thought. Her facial expressions were becoming rather amusing. He had regretted the loss of her warm weight and gentle comfort as she left his lap, but watching her expression change from furious to annoyed to pure exasperation was amusing. He liked Rose when she was like this. When she let go of the anger and sadness she felt over her parents death and allowed herself to simply interact with other people she was a really nice person, but so few got to see this side of her, it was sad.

Rosalie finally broke the silence saying ''I'm glad you're all right Sirius and that your innocent of course but what can I do, you know the English will not give you a trial, that Barty Crouch wont care if you say you're innocent he'll just send you to Azkaban anyway.'' she sniffed and a disdainful look crossed her features. It was common knowledge that the French despised Azkaban. It was a barbaric place and constituted as cruel and unusual punishment. Hell, in Rosalie's opinion the American's sentencing people to death was more humane. Sirius decided to clarify why he had come to her before she started on a rant about how the English government consisted of complete and utter morons. ''I know you cant help me prove i'm innocent Rose but that's not why i'm here. As you've undoubtedly noticed I have Harry with me. Dumbledore in his infinite wisdom decided it would be a good idea to leave Harry with Lily's sister. An absolutely horrible muggle who despises magic in all forms. I saw him just before I left England and whilst I wasn't happy about leaving him there I couldn't take him with me until I had a place to go. I went back to collect him yesterday and he was being kept in cupboard under the stairs and barely fed. If he'd been there much longer he would probably have died.'' the last part he said very quietly as his mind rebelled against the idea that James and Lily's son might have died. The last link to his dead friends. Rosalie sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes flew to the raven haired boy. She stood up quickly and drew her wand finally realising why Sirius had come to her of all people. Her job as a healer meant she had experience with victims of abuse, and she took in the sight of the boy with her practised eye. Her lips thinned as she began a series of diagnostic spells. Her expression grew murderous as she completed her diagnosis. The boy was severely undernourished and his immune system was very weak. The boy hadn't been treated well at all. She strode from the room and into the kitchen pulling a bag of potions from a cupboard in the corner and returning to the parlour. She paused at the door and took several deep breaths to control her anger before entering.

She picked the boy up and lay him on his back on the soft rug that covered a large portion of the room. She slowly lifted the boys shirt, careful not to wake him and pulled a bruise salve out of her bag. She then cast a sleeping charm on the boy so she wouldn't wake him as she applied pressure to the bruises. As she worked she questioned Sirius ''Has he eaten yet today?''

''Yeah, he had some scrambled egg on toast this morning.''

''Did he vomit?'' Sirius frowned at that question

''No, why? Is he ill?'' he panicked wondering if Harry's damned relatives had done something to permanently damage Harry.

''He's not ill no. But he is very underfed. Too much food at once will be an assault on his stomach and make him vomit everything back up. You'll have to be careful. Feed him light broths and things to help his body recuperate. Children are very resilient. It doesn't appear that any permanent harm has been done. His immune system is weak but that can be fixed with certain potions. He should be fine in about a week then he should start putting on weight.'' Sirius sighed in relief. He knew coming here had been the right decision. ''Thanks Rose. I don't know what I would've done without your help.''

''Your family Sirius, family helps each other. I would offer to let you stay here but they've already come looking for you here once, they may well come back. Do you have anywhere you can go?'' Sirius sighed. ''They came looking for me here? But very few people even knew about Chrissie, we married in secret, how can they have known about you?'' It was Rosalie's turn to sigh. This had troubled her as well. Her family had stayed out of the war. They were neutral but if people knew her cousin had married Sirius who came from a supposedly dark family, it may bring them trouble from some very unsavoury people. ''I think Remus told them. Dumbledore did mention him. I told him I had no wish to ever see you again. I think he bought it but he might come back if he thinks you've got Harry.'' she sighed again and muttered ''Interfering old man'' Sirius snorted at that.

''Don't worry about it, i'm staying at a place I inherited. Its well warded, and isolated so no one will be able to find us.'' He sighed at the thought of leaving Belaqua Manor, it was as much home to him as Hogwarts was and he would regret leaving it behind. He would also miss Rosalie. They had become very close and if he went into hiding he wouldn't be able to see her again. That thought overwhelmed him with sadness, but he could never ask her to come with him. After all she had a life of her own and it wouldn't be fair to ask her to leave it behind.

Unbeknownst to him Rosalie was having similar thoughts. She had become very attached to him after her cousins death. He could make her laugh like no one else could and didn't mind the biting comments she often made. In fact his sense of humour was very similar to her own sarcastic wit. Not to mention Cassie, the little girl she loved as much as if she were her own. She knew a life on the run would be hard but if she was with Sirius and Cassie and now Harry she didn't think she would mind. She didn't particularly like her job any more, she had seen so much death and suffering because of the war and didn't think she could stand it any more. In a way running away with Sirius could be good for her. He brought her out of her shell and encouraged her heart to feel even though she had closed it off for so long after her parents death. He challenged her views of the world. He had shown her that you didn't have to close off your heart just because you lost someone you loved, and that the best way to honour those that had died was to love others and to be happy as your loved ones would have wanted. She realised that she didn't want Sirius to leave. She didn't want to go back to the cold and unfeeling person she had been. Gathering her courage she kept her eyes on the small boy as she tipped vials of potion down his throat and said softly, ''I could come with you.''

Sirius was gob smacked. He could not believe those words had actually come out of her mouth. He had to be imagining it. Why on earth would she want to come with him. He stared down at her trying to read her eyes, but she was keeping her head down and as she continued to tend to Harry. He could see the blush on her cheeks though and realised that as unbelievable as it was, she had actually offered to come with him. He genuinely didn't know what to say. On the one hand it wouldn't be fair to take her with him. Black Isle was isolated and they wouldn't be able to leave in case the Auror's found him. But on the other hand he wanted her to come. He enjoyed her company and she made him feel alive in a way he had rarely felt since his wife's death. He didn't want to lose that feeling, he didn't want to lose her. And so despite his head telling him that this was an extremely selfish thing to do, he decided to follow his heart and simply said ''I'd like that.''

Authors note: Thanks for the reviews of my previous chapters. Don't worry I am not abandoning this story. I've just had loads of work for college and limited time to read through this chapter. Hope you enjoyed this latest instalment, ForeverSiriusBlack.