Harry Potter

The Aftermath

Chapter 10

Magnolia Crescent

February 16, 2018

"Sirius tomorrow is Harry's birthday wouldn't you want to see him then?" Marie questioned Sirius curiously. "You could return your stolen wand, and lead the moron's of the Ministry in the wrong direction, just don't actually get caught." she said curiously as she sat on her bed watching Sirius pace back and forth it was close to what Marie called bed time but Sirius was itching to get started.

"Marie I have to find that family and kill that rat." Sirius said as he continued to pace back and forth at the end of the bed. He was feeling uncomfortable to sleep beside her again more or less actually on a bed he'd slept on the cold hard floor for so long he wasn't sure he could sleep on a bed anymore.

"Sirius...Sirius... Stop and look at me." Marie said as she crawled to the end of the bed and reached out and grabbed his hand. "Listen I know where the Weasley's live, Harry spends most of his summers there. Peter wouldn't dare harm him now it would blow his cover so calm down." she said softly as she made him stop pacing and look at her.

Sirius had to admit laying beside her wasn't going to be a draw back as he looked down at her. "Marie I..." he started then looked away almost sheepishly.

"Sirius come on I'm not expecting a lovers reunion here. Lay down and rest dear that's all I ask of you. Well that and don't disappear in the middle of the night." Marie said with a sweet smile as she pulled him over to the bed then leaned up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. "If you feel that uncomfortable I can set up the other room for you." she said softly as she hugged him understanding his uneasiness to be honest it had been a very long time since anyone had shared her bed too.

"No I'll be just fine by your side, it's been a long time I'm used to sleeping alone and on the floor as a dog." Sirius said with a slight pink tint to his cheeks.

"Why don't we try it as a human first for tonight." Marie said with a soft laugh as she released him and led him over to his side of the bed. She pulled back the covers and patted the bed for him to sit down. "You used to just sleep in your boxers do you want sleep clothes though?" she asked curiously as she got up and walked over to the dresser pulling out a pair of his old sleep clothes she had bought him for his birthday a long time ago.

"Did you keep everything of mine?" Sirius asked curiously as he took off his shirt and tossing it on the floor by his night table.

"Yes and it's spread out through the house like you've always lived here." Marie said softly as she sat back down on the bed placing his sleep clothes beside him she couldn't help but look at him, he was so much smaller than he used to be he was definitely not fed properly in that damned prison.

Sirius leaned over and pulled off his shoes and socks tossing them to the side of the night table as well. He stood back up taking off his pants making sure to keep his boxers up. He heard Marie move and he looked at her curiously to see her getting his sleep pants ready for him and he smiled over at her. "What did I do to deserve you?" he asked softly as he began putting his sleep pants on.

"Pranks or not Sirius you are a fundamentally a good person, you're sweet, caring, loyal, and just plain lovable." Marie said with a sweet smile as she handed him the shirt to put on.

"Had you not said person I would have thought I was a great dog." Sirius said and laughed as he tossed the top down on the night stand then laid down realizing how comfortable the bed really was.

"Awe do you want to be scratched behind the ears?" Marie asked in a babyish voice with a wicked grin on her face. "No Sirius honestly you are a wonderful man who doesn't deserve the awful nonsense the Ministry has put you through." she said as she turned out the light with her wand and laid down with her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest. She felt him tense slightly but he didn't push her away so she laid there still letting him get comfortable to being touched again.

Sirius slowly moved his arm that she was laying on so that his hand was resting on her side and she smiled. "I've not been this happy or felt this good in over a decade." he whispered softly as he leaned his head over and kissed the top of her head lightly.

"Me either. I've missed you and I love you." Marie said softly as she hugged him with a natural smile on her lips.

"I've missed you, and I love you too." Sirius said as he hugged her lightly. He was tired the day had been long and hard so he was already starting to drift off to sleep his breath evening out long slow breaths.

Marie laid there and listened to him for a long time before she began to doze off she was so happy to have him home again but she knew it would only be for a short time. Students were due to return to Hogwarts shortly. They had to get that rat away from Harry at all cost and prove Sirius' innocence if at all possible. Plus had to keep Sirius out of the hands of those ruddy Dementors and a plan was starting to take shape in the back of her mind and he wasn't going to like it.

Marie woke the next morning with Sirius curled up against her with his arm around her waist and she smiled softly as she listened to his quiet snores against the back of her neck. They had a lot to do today but she was unwilling to wake him to get it started, one reason she knew he wasn't going to like her plan to keep him out of the Ministries hands. She rubbed his arm gently with her thumb as she laid her hand across his forearm.

Sirius stirred in his sleep he was so comfortable for the first time in over a decade his subconscious was fighting to stay asleep as his body pulled her closer to him, this soft warm body was a huge comfort to him as he buried his face into her hair. A soft giggle finally broke through his subconscious and his eyes fluttered open with a yawn then a kiss on the back of her neck. "Good morning." Sirius said softly as he hugged her to him.

"Good morning." Marie said softly as she turned slightly to look at him. She looked over her shoulder to meet his grey eyes. "Sleep well?" she asked softly with a sweet smile.

"Always when I'm with you." Sirius said as he sat up propped up on his elbow so he could look down at her.

"Lets get our day started I've got to work tonight." Marie said as she rolled over to look up at him with a smile on her lips.

"I think the day can wait a few more minutes." Sirius said with a small smile as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

Marie giggled again as she reached up and cupped his face. "Come on Sirius that poor witch or wizard you took that wand from is probably going crazy by now." She said softly as she stared up into his eyes lovingly.

"Oh yeah I'm sure she's went nuts by now." Sirius said with a small laugh he'd always had a warped sense of humor. He leaned up and moved over to the edge of the bed grabbing his sleep shirt and put it on. "Time for breakfast right?" he asked curiously as he looked back at Marie who was watching him intently.

"Of course." Marie said with a huge smile as she got out of bed and walked around the end of the bed to the door. "I'll get it started, you get your prison clothes ready you'll show yourself down south away from Hogwarts today before we go do a long distance visit of Harry." she said with a smile before the ducked out of the room.

"Long distance visit... I guess she means spy on the poor boy." Sirius said with a shake of his head and a laugh. He walked down to get his clothes which Marie had hanging in the spare bathroom on the first floor the smell coming from the kitchen made his mouth water so he left the clothes there and walked into the kitchen. "Smells good."

Marie laughed as she used her wand to put the food she had ready on the table, being magical, food takes so much less time to prepare. "Go ahead I'm almost done." she said with a soft giggle as she placed two plates on the table while the rest of their breakfast was doing itself.

On the table was scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and tea. Being finished was hash browns and English muffins. Sirius sat down and loaded his plate ready to eat when the last of breakfast was sat down in front of him his eyes lit up like a child on Christmas, he hadn't had food like this in such a long time.

Marie giggled again at the look on his face, "Go on eat." she said as she sat down and began loading her plate up as well. They sat there and ate quietly until they were full and when Sirius sat back from the table looking happy Marie spoke again. "Come on let me show you how to get in and out through the tunnel and my enchantments."

Sirius got up and followed her curiously. "You know the Ministry will be watching your house and all your interactions with people right?" he asked wondering if it was a good idea to return here.

"I know. But they don't know I have a secret way in and out of the house." Marie said with a wicked grin as she looked back at him while she opened the bathroom door.

"Marie they will be watching this house from all angles." Sirius said with a frown as he followed her into the bathroom.

"Yes dear I'm well aware of that, I had the same training as you. They will be watching the house closely. We are going 3 miles away before we exit the tunnel they don't watch that far away. I'll come back and leave like normal." Marie said as she pointed to his prison clothes. "Get changed I'll clean up the kitchen and bedroom then we'll leave." she said then walked out of the bathroom pointing her wand at the kitchen so it would clean itself. She walked up the stairs as he began to change. He had just finished when she returned knocking on the door.

Sirius opened the door then walked over to the sink and looked at it. "Ok lets see if I remember this." he said then pressed in on the center of the cold water handle then the hot water handle, he pulled the stopper up and finally turned both handles on and the same time and the sink jumped out of the way revealing the secret exit.

"Congrats now lets go." Marie said with a smile as she lit her wand and entered the secret passage once Sirius was inside as well with is wand lit she touched a rock on the side of the wall to close the entrance way.

"You've thought of everything." Sirius said as he watched her turn and walk in the direction she had pointed out to him the day before.

"Of course I wasn't going to be stuck in here after what happened in Diagon Alley and with the Ministry if I needed a quick escape I was going to have one." Marie said as she ignored several turn offs.

"Where do all those go?" Sirius asked as he looked down one of them curiously.

"Mostly no where. Anyone following me would eventually find themselves in a maze of dead ends until they finally found the correct route by which time I would be gone, or they would exit the tunnels at a different place than myself either way I would get away." Marie said turning into a different path to the right and winding her way thought a snake tunnel.

"And you wanted me to find my way through here yesterday?" Sirius said looking at her like she was nuts.

"Well I have it set up that if it's you the tunnels will guide you, Nox." Marie said as she stopped then turned off her wand light and she looked at him expectantly. He turned his wand light off as well to find glowing rocks in the center of the roof.

"So the glowing won't happen for anyone other than you and me? Why me I was in prison?" Sirius asked confused as he looked from the roof over to her curiously.

"Yes just the two of us and I knew if Peter was alive you would find a way out of that prison." Marie said with a bright smile then lit her wand and was again leading the way. It took them about an hour to traverse the winding tunnels when they reached the end Marie waited for Sirius to come up beside her and tapped four stones in a specific order to get the wall to separate and open up for them to leave. Once outside she smiled up at the morning sky.

"Ok so we've made it out how do I get back in?" Sirius asked curiously as he watched the wall close behind them without a trace of it being an actual secret doorway.

Marie smiled as she looked around to make sure no one was watching then turned around, kneeled down, and tapped her wand on a large half buried rock three times. The doorway reopened for them to go back inside. "You think you can manage?" Marie said sarcastically as she looked up at him with a huge grin.

"I believe I can." Sirius said with a raised eyebrow.

"Great. Now return that wand, show yourself where ever you want down south well away from Hogwarts then meet me in Little Whinghing Surrey there is a small park close to Privet Drive please keep safe Sirius." Marie said seriously as she stood up and walked over to him.

"I'll be safe, don't you worry about me." Sirius said with a smile then leaned down and claimed her lips as his own.

"When you get back to the house I'll be at work, pay attention to the enchantments. I'll come and go like I always do you should stick to the passageway here. I'll find a place for you near Hogwarts out of sight but close by to try and get that rat tonight." Marie said as she looked up at him then pulled him into a hug.

"Marie don't do anything out of the ordinary don't draw attention to yourself." Sirius said worried as he pushed her back slightly and looked down at her.

"I'll be fine Sirius don't worry about me I won't do anything that could risk your capture. Now go on I love you." Marie said with a final hug as she repeated his words back to him with a smile.

"I'm going. I love you too Marie." Sirius said with a soft smile then put his hand behind her head and pulled her face to his to give her a most passionate kiss before stepping back and disappearing with a twist.

"Tease." Marie whispered to herself as she smiled then turned and made her way back to the house. After she resealed the secret exit she left her house through the front door going to Diagon Alley to buy what she needed for her plan to work.

Marie bought an advanced potion making book when she found the potion she was wanting to brew, it was a good thing she was a pretty good potion maker. The ingredients needed are Lacewing flies stewed for 21 days, leeches, powdered bicorn horn, knotgrass, fluxweek (picked at the full moon), shredded boomslang skin, but the final ingredient was something she couldn't buy in the store she had to get that from the source hair and he wasn't going to like it at all.

Marie returned home with her shopping putting it on the counter in the kitchen. She pulled out her new book and reread the instructions and began putting the potion together. She bit her bottom lip then decided to put a small note beside it that said do not touch. Then she left the house to join up with Sirius in Surrey just ask dark was beginning to fall. She appeared in the lengthening shadows of the buildings leading into the suburban area. 'Now to get to that park...' she thought making sure no one was watching she transformed into her owl form and took off.

Marie circled around the small park curiously then noticed a big black dog laying on the ground in the bushes across from the park and she turned towards him landing beside him moments later. The dog huffed blowing a small amount of dust up in front of his face. The owl hooted softly and kicked it's foot out at the dog tapping it in the ribs lightly with the top of its foot. Obviously having a small conversation about her taking too long to get there, and her telling him to hush.

Marie hooted softly then took off angling around the park to make her way into the alley heading towards Magnolia Crescent which lead to Privet Drive. About half way through the alley Sirius perked up he could hear something being dragged up the street and he growled lightly up at Marie who landed at the end of the alley on a trash can. They could just start to see a young boy looking remarkably like James Potter pulling along behind him his Hogwarts school trunk and an owl cage the boy was obviously angry striding purposefully along his wand gripped tightly in his hand down at his side, then he looked around slightly confused with a frown on his face. Young Harry pulled his trunk up to the curb and started rummaging though it looking form something.

A soft hoot told Sirius that was Harry in front of them and he growled back at her, he couldn't help himself he had to get a better look at the boy so he slipped a little farther out of the alley then froze. Harry was up on his feet with his wand drawn in a flash looking at the big black menacing dog as it growled again telling the owl to hush as it hooted softly again at him trying to get him not to scare the young man.

Harry lit his wand which seemed unusual and out of place, he was a miner and wasn't alowed to use magic especially right here on a muggle street. Harry startled by the big black dog moved back tripping over his own trunk then there was a bus in front of him blocking him from Sirius and Marie's sight, which Marie took advantage of as she fluttered down in front of Sirius making him return to the shadows of the alley out of sight. Once Harry and the bus was gone Marie hooted again telling Sirius to go home she had to go to work. Sirius huffed but left none the less.