Four years earlier

Beth took a deep breath once outside. Her brother was visiting and had practically shoved her out of the house, insisting she go outside for an hour while he made her dinner. Her son was spending the night at a friend's house and she felt relaxed with the prospect of a long weekend ahead of her. It was a beautiful evening in early summer. The air smelled of freshly mown grass, the sun was warm as it descended towards the horizon and the shouts of children playing baseball in the cul de sac battled with a stereo blasting from a nearby backyard. She wandered into the patch of lawn framed by her prized rhododendrons and azaleas, heavy with blossoms. She was startled when she turned and saw a large dark dog sitting on the grass, his eyes watchful.

"Oh," she jumped slightly and put her hand on her chest. "You startled me," she scolded the dog. "Are you lost?" She kept her distance. She'd never seen this dog before and he was huge.

The dog didn't stand up, but his mouth lolled open and he eyed her with friendly eyes. Beth walked closer, emboldened by his air and bright, happy gaze. She tentatively reached out to pet him and the dog enthusiastically licked her hand.

"You're just the sweetest thing," Beth gushed, scratching his head and bending closer. "Do you belong to someone?" Her hands moved to his neck, searching for a collar. There was no collar there and she frowned as she inspected him.

"Hmm," she mused. "You're a little skinny and shaggy but seem mostly healthy." The dog stood up, his tail waving. He gave a short bark when her hands fell away from him and she laughed and started petting him again.

"I want to keep you," she told him as her fingers worked their way down his back, stroking. "My son would love you."

She could swear the dog understood her. He looked as if he was smiling, as much as a dog could smile that is. She looked in his eyes which continued to regard her with an almost human-like expression. "You look familiar," she told him. "But I don't think I've seen you before."

She walked over to a bench on the edge of the lawn and the dog followed. Beth sat down and the dog put his head in her lap and gave her the patented lovable-beseeching-dog-eyes look. Beth stroked his head and back, relaxing in the fragrant air. A deep contentment filled her as she felt the dog affectionately lean his weight against her legs. For the next hour, she allowed herself to live in the moment and not think about anything but the warmth of the dog's fur under her hands.

"Beth!" Her brother's deep voice boomed from the house. The dog stiffened and lifted his head, his ears up as he listened. "Dinner's almost ready."

Beth reluctantly dropped her hands from the dog and stood up. "Do you want some food?" she asked the dog. The dog just looked at her. "Let's go get you something to eat." Beth walked across the lawn and towards her front door. She looked back to call the dog to follow her and was shocked when she saw he had disappeared. She looked around confused. She hadn't heard the dog pushing his way through the bushes and she couldn't see him in the open area. She walked to her driveway and looked down the street both directions. There was no sign of the dog. Beth wandered her yard searching for a few minutes, but he was gone. She was surprised how disappointed she felt. With one last concerned look, she turned and went into her house.

Notes (some back story that I could not work into the fic):

-I was trying to stick to HP canon, at least on the main points, with this story. It was important that Sirius never knew he had a son and that Beth was waiting for him. In the HP series, Sirius' allegiance is to Harry. For it to remain that way, he had to think Beth had her own family and was better left alone in her safe muggle world.

-I kept Bellatrix from ever learning about Beth because I thought her character would do exactly what Sirius feared. Beth would have been an easy target for Bellatrix and she would have been incensed her pureblood cousin was with a muggle. I wanted Sirius and Beth to have as much time together as possible, and for that to happen, Bellatrix could not find out.

- Lily would never work on anything that would be used for harmful purposes for her potion project, but she did not think about the Sanare potion's potential to do just that as Snape did. Snape was the one who immediately saw how it could be used to help Voldemort's cause; Wilkes was not that smart. Wilkes and Rosier were working under Snape's instructions. However, Snape insisted Lily could not be hurt. Once Lily had successfully figured out how to make it, the directions on how to create the Sanare Potion had to be destroyed or it could have been used to help wizards such as the Longbottoms in HP.

-I made up the "plane hopping" Sirius came up with to be able to make his way to visit Beth. It seemed like something Sirius would do.

-Sirius never questioned that Beth's uncle might be misleading him about her marital status to try and protect Beth by keeping her from rejoining him. When he visited Beth as Snuffles, Beth mentioned her son and Sirius assumed her brother's voice was her husband's. Sirius' son was not there when Sirius visited or Sirius would have recognized him as his son.

-Beth lost contact with Remus before he learned the truth about Sirius (in PoA). If she had still been communicating with Remus after he reconciled with Sirius, he would have told her Sirius was out of Azkaban. He did try to write her after the end of PoA, but Beth had also moved a couple of years earlier from the last address he had. His letter was not forwarded.

-Dumbledore had a history of not telling information he did not think needed to be known (he kept a lot of information from Harry throughout the series). He knew Beth would come back to the U.K. if she learned Sirius was out of Azkaban, and he chose not to tell her, partially out of deference to his friend, her uncle John and partially for her safety. He also continued to warn her that it was not safe for her to return. Beth's uncle did not tell Dumbledore that Sirius and Beth had a son.

-Remus told Sirius once they were working together again in the Order of the Phoenix (Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts) that Beth wrote him and others for years trying to persuade them of Sirius' innocence and that he dissuaded her from coming back. Sirius was touched but not surprised; he knew Beth would be sure he would never have betrayed James and Lily. He did not think it strange Beth continued to write even after supposedly having her own family knowing that Beth was intensely loyal. He did not expect her loyalty to extend to waiting over 12 years while he was in Azkaban, especially as he had a life sentence and she would not have expected him to ever get out.

-Although Sirius did not attempt to see Beth again after his visit as Snuffles, he planned to visit her once Voldemort was defeated. He would have persuaded himself it was okay to make a friendly visit once Harry was safe and at that time would have found out about his son and that Beth was waiting for him.

-Beth doesn't know it yet (at the end of this story) but McGonagall guessed who Sirius' father was when she received Beth's inquiry about her son attending Hogwarts (his name was a good clue and McGonagall remembered Beth and Sirius Black's relationship when they were at Hogwarts together). McGonagall's guess was confirmed when she obtained Sirius' transcripts which included a photo. McGonagall made room for Sirius at Hogwarts in homage to his father. Beth will find this out when Harry and Ginny take her and her son for a tour of Hogwarts before the new term begins.