I looked at the owl tapping at my window. "Sirius, it's the middle of the night!"
Mother shrugged, laughing. "Let the poor thing in."
I sighed, stood up, and opened the door to let the bird in.
Dear Azalia,
I'm don't know how to put this, but I'm desperate.
Help a bloke out and visit me soon.
Can I get an update on the project?
Your formerly Slytherin mate,
Sirius Orion Black
I looked up. "Mother, Sirius wants to know when we can go rescue him."
"Tell him as soon as Walburga will let us visit. I'll make up some excuse about helping discipline him," she said absently.
I nodded, dipping my quill in the inkwell closest to me.
Dear Sirius,
Mother says we'll come as soon as your mother lets us visit. If all goes well, we'll be able to borrow you for the rest of the summer to 'discipline' you. I don't know how it'll go through with Walburga, but I think it's worth a try.
I paused, debating what to write next.
The project is fine. Godfather still hasn't written back, but any day now, right? Though I worry that Damocles, his work partner, stole the potion and will use it to get an O.M.
I don't know. As far as we know, we could be steps from getting it right.
The other project is coming along perfectly. I need to meet with James to talk about it to figure out when we start, and I'll need to make sure there's a way Pete doesn't screw up the steps. Maybe charm the ingredients?
Anyway, I've cast a charm on you so you don't die... yet... but it's not foolproof, so please don't do anything life-threatening.
Sincerely,
Azalia Baines
I rolled the note up and tied it to the owl. "Send it back to Sirius. Make sure no one else reads this."
The owl screeched, and prepared to take off.
"Wait!" Mother said, handing me an owl treat. "If that owl will be coming here often to deliver notes from Sirius, then you want him to like you. Here."
I held the treat out to the bird, hoping my hand would still be intact. The owl looked at my suspiciously, but grabbed the treat and flew off.