Chapter Four

Sirius sat at his desk frustrated. Nothing had changed in the past month. He had been put on the Donovan case, but had gotten nowhere. However Rose Donovan had disappeared, she meant to stay gone. The best Sirius could work out is that Rose was living as a muggle because there was no way she could be living in the magical world and be this invisible.

"Come on Black think" Sirius said out loud and caught James' attention.

"Still aren't closer to finding her?" James asked.

"I'm no closer to finding her than I am to finding Theodore and she doesn't have the whole of the Dark side keeping her hidden" Sirius huffed. "Potter, if you were to disappear for the rest of your life where would you go?"
"I'm not going to do your work for you, Black" James responded.

"First this is your work-"

"No I'm looking for Theodore and you're looking for Rose"

"And" Sirius continued "I'm asking because if I had to disappear for the rest of my life I would go to a place I have always wanted to visit." James nodded his head not really paying attention to Sirius.

"So you just have to find out where Rose Donovan always wanted to visit" James responded.

James still had not looked up from his paperwork. Clearly, he wasn't going to get any help from Potter, so Sirius turned back to his own desk. Looking at all the papers he had on his desk, Sirius decided it was time for another round of interviews. There had to be someone Rose trusted with her secret and since Sirius was not trying to kill her; he hoped that they would tell him. He began to compile a list of people that Rose would have trusted with her whereabouts. He came up with four people. Number one was her best friend Constance Slate, who currently lived in Nice, France. She never seemed to be available when Sirius wanted to speak with her. They had corresponded by owl throughout the case, but that was not good enough anymore. He needed to speak with her face to face. Then there were Rose's only living relatives, two aunts living in Surrey. Why Theodore hadn't come after them yet was beyond Sirius. Must not have a direct link to the money, Sirius thought, or Donovan would have taken care of them already. Then there was the long shot Albus Dumbledore. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts and he made a point of getting to know the students. If Rose was half as smart as she seemed she might have confided in the world's greatest, and most trustworthy, wizard. Sirius decided he should start his interviews with Dumbledore.

As Sirius was walking up towards the Hogwarts gates a sense of nostalgia hit him. Hogwarts was the best time of his life. Everything was perfect. He was able to escape his horrible family for nine months out of the year. It was nine glorious months of pranks and hanging with his best mates. Sirius was met at the gate by a house elf. Sirius wondered if he had ever met this elf before.

"Mister Black, Mister Dumbledore, asked Selma to take you to his office." The house elf said. Sirius took Selma's hand and they Apparated to Dumbledore's office. Before, Sirius could say thanks to the elf she had Disapparated. Sirius sat down in one of the chairs facing Dumbledore's desk. He knew Dumbledore liked to make an entrance. As if on cue, Dumbledore came swopping into the room with his ruby red robes flapping behind him.

He took his seat. "Alas Young Sirius Black" Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "What can I do for you on this lovely day?"

"Sir, I was wondering if you remember a Rose Donovan." Sirius asked. He felt uncharacteristically nervous. Being in Dumbledore's office wasn't any more fun now than he had been when he was attending school.

"Ah yes Rose Donovan. She was quite a gifted student. She was in Ravenclaw, just a year behind you if I'm not mistaken." Dumbledore answered.

Sirius looked in Rose's file to confirm the information. He didn't need to of course; he had already memorized the file front to back.

"Yes" Sirius confirmed. "You know all about the murder of her parents by her brother Theodore Donovan."
"Yes, yes such a horrible way to lose one's parents."

"Did Rose ever come to see you after her parent's death?" Sirius asked.

This was the question that could make his case. If Dumbledore said yes then Sirius would have the location of Rose Donovan, but if he said…

"I'm afraid I haven't seen or heard from Rose since her parent's funeral." Dumbledore answered.

Well this interview was a waste of time, Sirius thought. "Thank you for all your help, sir" Sirius made a motion to leave.

"Sirius please stay seated." Dumbledore ordered. Sirius quickly sat back down.

"May I ask why you are inquiring about Miss Rose Donovan? Dumbledore asked.

"Official Auror business sir can't discuss it" Sirius smiled nervously.

Walking from Hogwarts to Hogsmead Sirius crossed Dumbledore's name off his list.

Sirius decided that Constance Slate was the next best candidate to interview.

Whatever business Constance was in must be treating her well, Sirrius thought as he knocked on her front door. Constance lived in an expansive ocean front villa.

"Nice place" he said as the door swung open.

The assistant that Sirius had first encountered when looking for Constance answered the door.

"Hello Ms. Watts. Is Constance Slate home?"

"I'm afraid not" She stepped back to close the door. Sirius placed his hand on the door to prevent her from closing the door.

"I'm going to have to come inside." Sirius pushed his way inside.

"You can't just come in here like this. Constance is not home and this is completely unacceptable."

"What is unacceptable is that every time I seem to want to speak with Constance Slate she is unavailable." Sirius felt like he had hit the end of the line. After a month of no answers and the time he wasted with Dumbledore, he was certain Constance Slate would have answers and he was going to get them, today. "Now I am assuming you have a way to get in touch with her, being her personal assistant. You need to let her know that she needs to get here now and speak with me."

She sighed; she knew she had no choice but to comply. "Fine, I will notify her. You can wait in the living room for her response." She spun on her heels and stomped into the kitchen.

Sirius moved into the living room and sat on the couch. There had to be a reason Constance was avoiding him and he was going to find out today. He stood up from the couch when he heard footsteps approaching. To his surprise Constance Slate stood before him.

"Hello Sirius. I'm sorry it's been so hard to touch base with me. But here I am. Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'm here on official Auror business, so I have a few questions to ask first." Sirius pulled out a piece of parchment.

"When was the last time you spoke to Rose Donovan?" Sirius asked. He saw worry flicker into Constance's eyes. Maybe he'd made the right choice coming to her, she obviously knew something.

"Umm let me think, I would have to say that was at her parent's funeral I believe." Constance fidgeted in her seat. "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"

"No I'm fine" Sirius said. "Have you heard from her since then?"

"I don't believe so. I moved here from London shortly before the incident and we lost touch. I haven't seen or spoken with her since the funeral" Constance was now staring at the back of her hand.

Sirius cleared his throat trying to get Constance attention. "That's a pretty long time for best friends to go without talking."

Constance stood up "I'm just going to the-"

She was cut off by Sirius' shocked expression. Before his eyes Constance transformed. There was a shorter, blond, rail thin woman standing in front of him now, Aveda Watts. He pulled out his wand and stood up.

He pointed his wand at the woman throat. "Who are you?"

"Calm down, calm down I'll explain everything. Just lower you wand" She said. Sirius inched his wand down so it was pointed at her chest. She fell back into the chair.

"Now explain yourself" Sirius demanded.

"Okay I'm not Constance Slate and I am crap at making Polyjuice potion" She said.

"I've got that much worked out"

"Constance Slate hired me to attend to her affairs while she was away"

"What?" Sirius sat down, but kept his wand aimed at the woman's chest. "Away where?"

"I'm not sure. I knew Constance when we were younger. She came to me about a year ago and asked me to come live here and take care of her house. I was very poor when she found me. I was living in a flat that I was about to get kicked out of and no family to help me. She came to my flat one night and told me that she was leaving, but she didn't want people to know she was gone. She told me I could have her house, a generous salary and everything. I just needed to attend to her life and if anyone came and asked about her to say that, she was away on vacation. Then I would just handle everything, so no one would notice she wasn't here."

This was a lot to process for Sirius. That meant that Constance was with Rose, all he had to do was find out where that was. "Did she tell you where she was going?"

"No she just said she was leaving and I didn't ask any questions." Aveda answered.

"If she asked you not to tell anyone then why did tell me everything so easily." Sirius asked.

"The truth kind of just floods out when you have a wand pointed at your chest"

"Okay I have just one last question to ask. Was Rose Donovan with her the night you spoke with Constance" Sirius asked.

"No she wasn't."