Sorry for being later than usual, I wrote it once and didn't like it, had to start over again... :)
Hope you enjoy the return of "Master Flirt"...
Disclaimer: I own nothing linked to Harry Potter, apart from my own wand and my Slytherin scarf, but I still have the receipts... :p
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Chapter eleven: Cats and dogs.
Arleen walked as silently as possible to her old door in the walls. Her disappearing charm was powerful it seemed, as Mrs Norris didn't see her pass Filch's office.
Once she got outside, she knew that being silent wasn't an obligation anymore as the wind was strong in the chilly air. The moon was hidden by heavy clouds, but she knew that it wasn't time yet for her new friend to climb to the astronomy tower.
Getting under the Whomping Willow had been a childish game, lifting a branch wasn't that difficult for a teacher, and it wasn't the first time she visited the Shrieking Shack.
A long time ago it seemed, she had decided to see where the Pottergang was spending so much time, and she had chosen a safe night, far from the full moon. She had lifted a branch just like today and she had gone pass the tunnel to enter a small house, moving with the wind. A wave of pity fell on her as she saw the broken furniture, traces of teeth and claws all around them. A lot of pieces of fur were scattered here and there, and she knew that all of them didn't belong to a werewolf. Some were darker and she knew they belonged to Patfoot. The boys had been fighting.
She had gone home shaking that night, and promised herself never to go back to that haunted place.
When she entered it for the second time in her life, Arleen recognized some broken things that hadn't been moved since Remus last occupied it. The soil was covered in thick dust, apart from the stairs where she could see dog footprints. When she looked up, she nearly jumped out of her skin. He was standing there, just looking at her as if she was a nightmare.
Sirius made a growling sound, and she didn't know whether it was because he wasn't used to talk anymore or if he was about to attack her. She chose to play safe.
- Hello, Sirius, she almost whispered though she knew no one else was there.
He got down the stairs in the time of a blink and jumped in her arms, squeezing her so hard she couldn't breathe. She returned the hug, either because she was relieved he didn't want to kill her or because she had been right all along...
Once he stopped hugging her, he took her hand and drove her to the bedroom, where he sat on the old bed where he was apparently spending most of his time. Old newspapers were lying on the ground, and red fur was showing in some places. She didn't know whose it was.
She sat beside him and looked carefully at her former friend. His eyes, who were so alive when they were still at school, were now dead, their blue darkened from pain. His face was dirty and she could see that he wasn't eating a lot, his ribs were showing under his chest skin.
He took her hand and she looked up.
- ... I didn't? he said, the first part of his question swallowed in his growling voice.
She understood what was the question and squeezed his hand.
- This is one of the advantages to have a former Death Eater as a best friend, she said merely smiling.
He looked away and then his voice seemed to lighten.
- I never thought that someone would believe me. Nor that it would be you.
- I never thought that you could have done it. But what you did tonight was very foolish.
He looked straight in her green eyes and tried to see past them. She smiled more widely.
- I know who you are looking for, and I know whom he has been adopted by.
- How? he asked squeezing her hand harder as impatience flew on him.
- Remember our first Sorts class?
He nodded to say "no". She sighed and smiled.
- I didn't think you would. Pr Flitwick then said that I wasn't as daft as the other Gryffindor. At first I thought he was lying, but after a while I talked with the Sorting Hat and he said that I could have been good in Ravenclaw because I was strangely intelligent for someone of my condition.
He looked strangely at her, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't.
- Anyway, I'm not here to play Lucius Malfoy, she said, provoking him to growl a little at the sound of the name. I'm here to tell you I'm going to help you if I can.
- How? he asked for the second time.
- Harry, she said.
The only sound of the first syllable made him stand up and walk in the room, tearing his hair off his head. She got up at once and took both his hands, making him sit in the old sofa where even more red fur was lying.
- I don't think he knows yet that you are linked more than he could imagine. But...she said seeing that he was about to try and hurt himself again, but he is intelligent, and most of all he has a friend who is even more intelligent that all of Ravenclaw. I'm sure they will find out one day or another. You just play safely and stay here for a while. You should be all right, she said getting up again.
He looked up at her.
- And Remus? he asked pain in his voice.
She sighed again.
- He doesn't want to believe me until I have evidence. And I know where to find it, but I don't know where to find what I need...
She looked up at the ceiling. The image of a map draw itself before her eyes.
- What do you need? he asked harshly. I can find it for you.
- No, you just stay here, I told you, she said using the same voice she used to shout at Severus. I know you don't like it, but it's the only way. You can't get into the castle until I've found the map, she said turning at him.
- The map? he said without understanding.
A couple of seconds passed and his eyes lit.
- The Marauders Map?
She nodded.
- I know what you think. It had been confiscated by Filch years ago, but it appears that some students have found it while being in detention. And I think I know who. The thing is, I still don't know how to get it as they are clever and as they aren't my students...
He growled again.
- Don't worry, Patfoot, it will get better.
At the sound of his nickname, he got sad again.
- The last time someone called me like this, it was...
- I know who it was. I'm not him, and I will always remain your friend. D'you hear me, Sirius bloody Black? Always!
He looked at her as if she just appeared in front of him.
- Thank you, he said before hugging her again. You'd better go now, the night will be over soon and I bet you have classes tomorrow.
He took her hand again and drove her to the entrance of the tunnel. Before she got in it, she turned at him once more.
- Sirius? Just promise me to be careful. It was hard enough to convince Sev not to kill you years ago, just don't give him the opportunity to do it now...
And she walked back to the cursed tree, smiling widely as she had retrieved her friend. And she knew that a certain somebody wouldn't like it...at all...
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A shorter one, excuse me, I just couldn't talk about something else after a talk like that... And I quite like this version, the other was too...childish in my sense. Too many cries and hugs to be honest... ;)
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