Sirius hid in the Shrieking Shack, looking out of the smudged and mud caked windows as he stared up at Hogwarts, relieved to see the Dementors leaving at last. It seemed someone had finally managed to talk some sense into Minister Fudge about his recklessness. He had heard about Ruby and her friend, Rice, was it? Getting attacked by the soul sucking demons, and almost a week later they were finally being herded away from the school by a mixture of handlers and Patronuses. He sighed in relief knowing that they wouldn't harm him or more importantly, his goddaughter anymore while they were there.
Ah yes, his goddaughter, that brought him to a point that made him feel rather conflicted. On one hand, his goddaughter was here, and she seemed to be happy, especially when he'd seen the sneaky stolen kisses between Ruby and her friend. He was happy for her, and proud of her, even if she preferred that huge scythe and sniper combination to her wand, and she went by Rose instead of Potter, he would always approve of her, as that was his duty as Ruby's godfather, to support her.
Even if it didn't look like he was actually needed.
He'd seen Ruby's sister, Yang, and her uncle, Crow was it? She had a happy life, and a family, the thought made the selfish part of him inwardly sag, as he had so looked forward to raising Ruby as soon as he found a way to clear his name, even if he had to capture Bellatrix herself to do so.
Or he could find the rat, but that would be like looking for a specific piece of hay in a pile of hay. So instead, he would content himself to following her around in his animagus form, occasionally walking up to her to be petted or fed some kind of table scraps that the girl had brought out to him the other day.
He'd finally met Ruby once again four days ago as he was walking around familiarizing himself with the grounds once again and had been almost immediately petted and scratched by his goddaughter which to him was both amusing and at the same time saddening, as in order to spend time with her, he had to pretend be her pet. Which while fun for now, would quickly become boring and degrading the longer he pretended to be an actual dog.
Speaking of which, he looked at the watch he'd found on the streets of Hogsmeade and noticed it was almost time for his goddaughter to be walking around the grounds of Hogwarts, she'd probably be looking for "Drei" as well. With a small grunt, he stood up from his leaning position against the wall and transformed into Padfoot before bounding down the stairs and through the secret passage that lead out of the Whomping Willow, giving him access to the school grounds, and by extension, an easy line to Ruby.
He ran across the grounds, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he ran towards the courtyard where he had met the girl the last few days, where he would hopefully see his goddaughter sitting on a bench waiting for him. His tail involuntarily wagged faster as soon as she walked out of the castle, holding her girlfriend's hand with a big smile on her face that only grew bigger when she saw him.
"Drei!" Ruby called out happily, inadvertently dragging Weiss with her as she ran across the empty courtyard to greet the large dog she'd met a few days ago. He seemed far more intelligent than most dogs and had became attached to her almost immediately. Ruby just figured it had something to do with magic, either way it didn't make the dog any less awesome to her. "How are you boy?" She asked him, the dog responded by nuzzling his snout into the girl's hand. She smiled wider and pulled a brown paper sack from under her cloak and opened it up in front of him. The dog immediately stopped nuzzling his head into Ruby's hand and sniffed at the bag, once he realized what was in it, he laid down in front of the girl and looked at her with pleading eyes, causing Ruby to roll hers as she reached into the sack and pulled out a few pieces of bacon along with some slices of sausage and ham. The dog went at them immediately, lapping them up with his tongue and eating them quickly. He finished the food and licked Ruby's chin happily, his tail wagging so quickly it fanned up some snow behind him.
Ruby smiled at the dog before looking back up at Weiss, the same stupid grin on her face. "See Weiss? I told you he was a great dog! Granted, he's nowhere near as cool as Zwei..." if Ruby didn't know any better, she would have said the dog looked insulted, "but he's still really smart and incredibly well behaved, isn't that right Drei?" The dog wagged his tail and nodded at the girl. Weiss looked at it with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a flea ridden, dirt matted, savage looking mutt!" Weiss said as she got closer to Drei, she patted it's head hesitantly, to which the dog slowly nuzzled it's snout into the heiress' hand, causing her to smile softly as he licked the side of her hand with his tongue as she did so. "He's also adorable and loveable and he's going to live with us forever and ever! Yes he is! Yes he is!" Weiss said as the dog looked up at the girl, exuding a downright feeling of smugness at Weiss' heart melting to the "dog's" charms. Weiss went back to petting him contentedly as she coughed and tried to reign in the blush on her cheeks as she attempted to look composed again.
Ruby giggled slightly next to Weiss, looking at her with a large smile. "I told you you would love him Weiss!" Ruby said happily scooting into her girlfriend as she scratched the dog's head. "See Drei? I told you she wasn't that bad." Weiss looked at her with indignation at this remark.
"That bad!? Ruby Rose are you implying I'm not bearable in some way?" Weiss asked with a slightly shrill tone. Ruby could have sworn she heard the dog laugh at her.
"What!?" Ruby asked, sounding like she was panicking at the thought of offending Weiss. "No! It was a joke Weiss!" She grabbed the heiress' free hand and smiled as she gripped it tightly, but not uncomfortably. "See?" She asked nervously, Weiss smirked at the girl's reaction, causing Ruby to sag in both embarrassment and relief. "You were joking weren't you?" She asked in a miserable tone. Weiss nodded in triumph. "You're mean, you know that?"
Weiss just smirked back at her.
Drei just looked confused, yet amused at the exchange in front of him.
Ruby really needed to figure out how he did that.
Many miles away.
"Barty?" A man with a serpent like hiss to his words asked the man kneeling in the middle of them room. "How goes the plan to bring me Ruby Potter?" His servant bowed even lower as he answered.
"Excellent, my Lord. She is advancing through the tournament nicely, even with her muggle weaponry. You should have no problem dealing with her come the night of the Third Task." He said with his eyes locked onto the floor, as if so much as looking at his Master was against the rules.
"Good, good, have you been dropping hints on how to figure out the egg's riddle Barty? We would hate for Miss Potter to be...unprepared, wouldn't we?" He asked with a slight chuckle. Barty nodded quickly from his place on the floor.
"Yes my Lord, I have been "suggesting" to the mudblood Granger that she should be assisting her friend rather than hold back because of school pride, or anything as inane as that. She should be helping the girl understand the riddle soon. Your will shall be done my Lord, even if I have to Imperius the girl to do it." He stated with conviction. His Master made a sort of hissing noise in agreement.
"Of course it will Barty, or my name is not Lord Voldemort. I shall have a new body and my reign over the Wizarding World shall be supreme, you are dismissed Barty. Bellatrix! I require your assistance!" He bellowed as his loyal spy rose and left the room, moving to the side as a woman with gray eyes, curly black hair, and a gaunt frame shouldered past him into the room.
Yang watched the Dementors disappear over the horizon with a great sense of relief. When she had heard what had happened to Ruby, and what had been the cause of it, she had ran out and began shooting the demonic guards with Ember Celica, surprisingly injuring a few them as she did so. She had only stopped when her semblance ran out, and her hair had simmered down, signifying her aura's exhaustion. Now however, she was feeling elated. Her sister had a girlfriend, she was healthy again, and she was learning about her birth parents, which made Yang feel rather happy for her little sis.
Yang had spent years wondering about her mother, and still did even now, but Ruby finally had a link to the two people who had given birth to the best sister ever, it made her happy knowing James and Lily weren't just names on a piece of paper anymore.
She turned away from the window where she had been standing and ran to catch up with Hermione who she had been following/escorting to class.
"Yang, are you okay?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow as she focused on climbing the great staircase. Yang simply smiled and nodded, using Ember Celica to jump onto the next set of stairs.
"Of course I am! Why do you ask that 'Mione?" Yang asked as she stood on the floating staircase that was slowly making it's way back over to Hermione.
"Because, you were just staring out of the window Yang, doing nothing, when normally you're boisterous and loud. It's odd to say the least." Hermione replied as she stepped onto the staircase that Yang had flown up to.
Yang shrugged, "I was just watching the Dementors leave, even though some of them were limping." She smirked slightly at the memory of the floating demons that had clearly been favoring one side of their bodies to the other. "They're about as close to the Grimm as you get here, and they hurt my sister, so of course I was going to hurt them, seeing them actually leave makes it even better. I just wish they had left before they tried to suck out Ruby and Weiss' soul." She said, her tone going slightly darker as she mentioned last week's incident.
Hermione put a hand on her new friend's shoulder. "Yang, she's fine, she managed to somehow injure the Dementors with her weapon and run them off before their demoralizing effect overcame her, she's talented. Didn't you say Ruby got into Beacon two years earlier than anyone else?" Hermione asked with a cocked eyebrow, Yang nodded, confused as to what this had to do with anything.
"I mean, in order for that to work, she has to be extremely talented, right?" Yang nodded in a proud manner, yet was still slightly confused as to where this was going. "Then why are you so worried about her all the time?" Yang's eyes widened a bit, finally realizing what Hermione was getting at, she sagged slightly as she looked at Hermione, who looked a little ashamed to have done that to a person she could call a friend. However, Yang smiled slightly at seeing the girl's embarrassment and put a hand on the girl's hair, ruffling it in a manner not unlike what she did to Ruby.
"It's alright Hermione, you didn't know." Yang sighed sadly as she took a breath to begin her story of growing up with her sister. "You see Hermione, Ruby and I, she only had one person she called Mom, I had two, my birth mother Raven, ran out on us not long after we were born, and left Dad to raise me alone until Summer came along." Yang smiled slightly at the memory of her adoptive mother. "She came along and helped Dad raise me, and eventually the two fell in love, and Dad was happy again, he moved on from Raven and devoted himself to Summer. One night while she was out on a mission however, she found Ruby in a basket with a note attached to it on the stoop of a destroyed home. She brought her home for the night, and almost instantly fell in love with her. I don't remember much about the time since I was only three, but I do know I almost immediately accepted her as my little sister" Yang smiled at the thought of Ruby. "We grew close almost immediately, and Summer and Dad adopted her as soon as they could, assuming she'd been born outside the Kingdom in the Badlands and that the Grimm had killed her parents. So, we took her in and Summer loved her like she was her own flesh and blood, just like she loved me" Yang's smiled became slightly watery at the thought of Summer's love. She shook her head slightly to get herself back on track.
"But Summer was still a huntress, so when she wasn't baking cookies, telling us stories, or just spending time with us, she was out on a mission for the Kingdoms. She would always come back with some of the most amazing stories of her fighting off hordes of Grimm with our Uncle Qrow, or taking out smuggling rings or crime lords, it was inspiring, and it made Ruby want to become a huntress just like her." Yang took a deep breath as she stopped for a moment, but soldiered on before Hermione could say anything. "However, a huntress isn't invincible, she got killed in action not long after Ruby's fifth birthday, and it absolutely crushed Dad and Ruby. I tried to be strong for Ruby, since Dad basically shut down, so I became Ruby's protector so to speak" she laughed slightly at the thought. "After Mom died, Ruby and I did everything together, we learned how to bake, we played, I helped her with schoolwork, I was with her when Uncle Qrow unlocked her aura. We just sort of grew together, and I being the older sister, became over protective of her to the extreme. It seems silly now, but there was a time when Ruby needed me to protect her, it's just an old habit, you know? She's one of the last bits of family I have left, so I'll protect her till the end." She said, smile returning to her face as they stopped outside of Professor McGonagall's classroom.
"Well, here we are 'Mione! I'll see ya after class today, right? Blakey will meet you after this class, see you at lunch?" Yang asked, Hermione nodded quickly before she walked into class minutes before class actually started. Yang turned towards a window and looked out to see Ruby and Weiss playing with a stray dog of some kind. She smiled and jumped up onto window sill. "Hey Ruby, Weiss! Wait for me!" She called out as she hopped out of the window, propelling herself with Ember Celica to land near the three and meet the dog that Ruby had been spending so much time with the last few days.
Author's Note: So, slightly shorter than normal, but I did manage to get another Sirius interlude in there, and some Yang Pov. I'll probably put in a team JNPR or Qrow interlude section in the next few chapters leading up to the Second task. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see ya Sunday! Merry Christmas!