33

SIRIUS thought for certain his eyes were playing a sport of his mind as the sun rose above the horizon, signaling the start of a new day, what he was seeing had to be some sort of phantasm, a figment of his imagination.

It just had to be.

He never thought he'd see the day when Moony would be leading a woman out of the Whomping Willow away from the Shrieking Shack and back towards the castle, no doubt having spent the night together if his eyes weren't deceiving him.

He snorted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, thinking before too long, he was going to have to reveal himself to Tonks.

The goblin whose red hair he had more or less stolen strands of when the cretin would stagger out of the Hog's Head too bloody drunk to see straight (what little was left of it on top of his head, that is) was starting to growl frail and weak in Arym's old age.

Black supposed it wouldn't be too long before the accursed wretch collapsed and keeled over from a heart attack in the Hog's Head in his weakening, aging state.

He had enough of the creature's hairs for maybe one more appearance in front of both Tonks and Lupin in his disguise, and he wanted to make it a good one and to count for whatever he could.

That being said, his time spent in his disguise was drawing to a close, and sooner rather than later, he would have to make his presence known to his cousin.

He let out a haggard sigh at that pleasant mental image, not knowing how she would take it.

Knowing that soon, he'd have no choice, carding his fingers through his thick mane of dark brown hair, wincing as his fingers entangled themselves in the sticky, dirty locks.

But Merlin, what he wouldn't give for a hot bath. Warm food, a roof over his head that didn't leak.

All wishful thinking, really.

He had a goal, and the only thing standing in the way of that was, well, pretty much the entirety of Hogwarts itself.

Not to mention Moony, my cousin, and Dumbledore, Sirius thought bitterly to himself. He inhaled slowly, a heavy effort by appearance as he stalked behind the tree lines that led deep into the Forbidden Forest.

Merlin, he wished he had a watch. His contact was late. Perhaps the only person left alive who still believed in him, and he'd only met her once.

His pupils contracted as Black lost himself in thought as he forced himself to tear his gaze away from Moony and the girl's fading silhouettes as they headed back up to the castle to get on about their respective days.

He frowned, not even bothering to turn around the moment he heard the snapping of a twig underfoot and did not acknowledge the witch.

"Were you followed? Did anyone see you come, witch? Does he know?" he barked hoarsely, of course, referring to the blonde witch's husband.

He flinched at how rough and grating his voice sounded, though considering he'd spoken as little as possible in the last twelve years, Sirius supposed he should be bloody amazed he could even speak at all, for that matter. Where it hurt.

"Answer me, woman!"

"No," she whispered, sounding nervous and rather timid, as though she were starting to second guess her decision for agreeing to meet.

"It stays that way, girl. I won't have you getting in trouble on my account," he snapped, finally turning at the waist to regard the young blonde witch with the short blonde hair cut into a shaggy layered chin-length pixie cut, eyeing the girl's form in her black lace dress appreciatively, thinking if she weren't already bloody married, then maybe….

No, he thought to himself. Don't go there. Taken, she's taken, and you don't forget that.

Black had seen for himself what Brennan's temper was like, firsthand the last time the handsome raven-haired, blue-eyed chap had come into Azkaban and one of the prisoners had dared to mouth off to the young Auror.

A somewhat temperamental bloke and a former Slytherin, but he liked Ollie Brennan well enough.

The man had escorted more than a few prisoners to Azkaban throughout his career as an Auror and always stopped to chat with Sirius, giving him his copies of The Daily Prophet.

He paused to study Nymphadora Tonks' friend, wondering what his dear cousin would say to the blonde witch and she-wolf if she could see the werewolf now, about to engage in conversation with the likes of him, a mass murderer, though he was innocent, the rest of the world didn't know it yet. But they would.

"You came, it was…good of you to come, really," he breathed, not ashamed to admit that he had been half-hoping Norah would.

He remembered the girl's sister from their time at Hogwarts and had met Norah a couple of times.

Though her sister was long since dead now, dead at the results of Peter himself.

Norah's sister was one of the first on scenes the moment the argument between the two men had started in her efforts to stop it before things escalated to the dangerous level that it had, and had sadly lost her life, caught in Peter's crosshairs.

She had been a young witch, and her death had affected Jameson greatly, but Norah faithfully visited Sirius once a month during his stint in Azkaban and learned the truth.

Norah, as the owner and manager of the Magical Menagerie shop in Azkaban, was in charge of institutionalizing a new recreational program for the inmates of Azkaban Prison.

Once every month, she, alongside her husband, Ollie, brought in a different species of magical creature, some of them affectionate and kind, others Dark and deadly and dangerous, but each animal or beast different than the last one, and gave entire talks on how to care for the creature, or in some cases, learn to defend yourself.

Norah had always a kind word to say to Sirius, despite the rest of the prison inmates and guards shooting her dirtied looks for her growing friendship with the man accused of murdering Peter Pettigrew, dozens of innocent Muggle bystanders, and having sold the Potters to Lord Voldemort.

Alongside her and her husband, Ollie, the two were perhaps the only ones on Merlin's green earth to believe what he was telling was true and were willing to help the man whatever way they could.

Sirius felt a surge of affection for Norah.

The she-wolf merely proceeded to look at him with raised eyebrows in alarm, her face taking on an offended look, as though his words to her just now had cut her deeply, thinking she wouldn't come to him when he needed a friend the most.

"Good of me? Of course, I come, Black. My husband and I are rather fond of you, you know. We've always known you were innocent, and I would be willing to testify on your behalf in court if it comes to that, my friend."

Her blue eyes were bright and alight with intrigue as she gave Sirius's thin, ragged frame a once-over.

Her pale features did not immediately convey any one particular emotion, which in Sirius's case, made the man feel somewhat more at ease, not knowing what the witch was thinking.

It meant Jameson was thinking carefully about what she was going to say and how exactly to best phrase her words.

She let out a tired-sounding sigh and tucked back a stray wisp of her bone-white hair behind her ear before turning behind her and procuring a small bag that immediately made his mouth water.

"I swiped it from the kitchens. That one little house-elf, Dobby, is eager to please. I told him it was all for me, since, well…do I really need to say it?" she snorted, a light little giggle escaping her lips as her hand rested to the flat of her stomach.

Sirius blinked in surprise at her silent revelation, though his pale grey eyes softened at her news.

Norah, she-wolf or not, was sure to make an excellent mother, as was Brennan would surely make a wonderful, protective father, to any children they would have.

"Merlin bless you, Norah," Sirius groaned, letting a hoarse little moan escape his lips, and before he lost his resolve, took the young blonde witch's head in his hands and kissed either side of her cheek before diving into the bag and pulling out a chicken drumstick, tearing the chicken off with his teeth. "I can't steal too much food from the trash cans in Hogsmeade in my Animagus form without drawing attention to myself," he quickly explained, noticing the blonde's cheeks flush pink with color at the kisses he'd just given her, resisting the urge to let out a moan of satisfaction as he ate hungrily.

Along with the half a dozen or so carefully wrapped drumsticks, looked to be a wedge of Brie cheese, a loaf of bread, and a container of what appeared to be pumpkin juice when he uncorked the lid and sniffed it before taking a hearty swig, relishing as the drink went down his throat.

Norah waited to speak until Sirius had finished eating, tossing the sack by his feet before collapsing against a particularly large rock.

The same boulder, as it so happened, that he had stood upon when he'd accidentally laid eyes on his cousin, on Tonks, swimming in the Black Lake.

"What will you do, Sirius?" she asked.

Sirius merely grunted in response. Jameson was an intelligent young witch at the ripe age of thirty, smarter than Tonks, he hated to admit it, not wanting to think the ill will of his dear cousin.

She was, of course, referring to the fact that Arym, that little whelp, that prat, was dying, and as a consequence, his masquerading as the goblin to fool Tonks into talking to him of her own accord could no longer continue as it had been.

Soon, he was going to have to face his cousin just as he was, and alone. He did not want Moony present for this conversation.

That was a conversation he still had yet to have, him and Remus. A pang of fear tugged at his heartstrings at just the thought.

Would Lupin believe him?!

"I have to talk to her. To Tonks. Alone, Jameson, if that can be arranged."

Norah blinked owlishly at Sirius, clearly not expecting the escaped convict's desire to manifest so suddenly.

"Now?" she stammered, her almond-shaped pale blue eyes widening in shock and surprise. "That's a bit soon, don't you think? What about Lupin?" she pressed, furrowing her thin eyebrows into a frown as she pursed her lips. "Don't you think you owe it to yourself to come up with a more concrete plan other than storming into Gryffindor Tower with your knife? Do you have any idea what your life means? Running off like that, putting yourself at risk of getting caught? It's pretty damn stupid of you," Norah snapped, causing the heat to rise to Sirius's cheeks as he flushed angrily before looking away, suddenly not wanting to meet the Magical Menagerie's manager's piercing gaze.

Sirius bristled, gnashing his teeth together in anger, balling his hands into fists.

He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately not wanting to alienate and offend the young woman, perhaps the only one alongside her husband, who believed him.

He did not want to pick a fight with Jameson. Not now, or any other night, for that matter. He inhaled slowly, dropping his hands as he nodded with the young blonde witch in silent agreement.

"It was," he mumbled, casting his gaze down to his boots, not sure what else to say to Jameson.

Norah paused, biting down on her bottom lip before taking three steps forward and closing off the gap of space in between the pair of friends.

This close together, the height difference between the two could not have been more obvious.

Norah was a spritely little blonde, with Sirius towering over her, with Jameson barely coming up to the center of his chest, though the fact that he had a good several heads over her did nothing to quell the blonde's fiery temper.

Size was no guarantee of power, after all. Norah's hands gently came up to rest on either of his shoulders as she gave them a light squeeze.

"Please don't do anything stupid, Black," Norah pleaded, lowering her face, and casting a nervous glance to the left and right, as though half expecting someone to materialize from thin air in the thicket of the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "You escaped Azkaban Prison once before. Are you trying for a second time, my friend? Please. Think about what you are doing."

Sirius scowled, though it was less at Norah herself and more the point she was trying to make, not wanting to admit Tonks' friend was right, Merlin damn her.

"With the Dementors, not to mention Tonks and Lupin, and the entire staff of the castle looking for you after that last little stunt you pulled, you aren't going to be able to just…waltz right up to the castle through those doors, Black, and you bloody well know that! You know how well that would fly. Like a wet paper airplane. It's not going to work, Sirius."

"This is my freedom, Jameson!" he bellowed, flinching as he had managed to startle a couple of nearby pigeons roosting in the tree above their head to take flight, cooing their displeasure.

Sirius flinched at the startled look of hurt and surprise on Norah Jameson's face as she staggered backward, seemingly put off by his little outburst.

"I did my waiting. Twelve years."

Norah's heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she huffed in frustration and folded her arms across her chest, resisting the urge to stomp her foot, praying to Merlin, somehow, she could get the man whom she had grown to consider much like an older brother figure to her, of sorts, to listen to her, to implore him and his hot-headed temper to see any semblance of reasoning, no matter how small. It would be a shame to see the man chucked back in Azkaban after all of this.

"Is this really how you want things to end, Black?" Norah asked, her voice soft, quiet, and deadly.

She offered the escaped, ragged convict a deep frown of disapproval, her lips forming a rigid line.

"You're causing no small amount of strife. Not just for yourself, but for me and Ollie, too. We want to help you, but we can't do that for you unless you're willing to be patient, Black."

He stiffened, catching the briefest glimpses of anger in Norah Jameson's bright blue eyes, which had darkened and narrowed, almost now cerulean in color the angrier the witch became.

This was getting dangerous, and fast.

Still, Sirius's temper was threatening to implode to the surface, rising to dangerously boiling levels.

"It's my life, Jameson," he retorted sharply, meeting the woman's icy-cold stare head on. "I'll decide what happens to me, Norah. I can do this on my own and I can do it without your help."

"I see," Norah said slowly, not sounding at all convinced, uncrossing her arms, glaring at him.

A bad sign. A truly, awful, horrible sign. Sirius felt a cold feeling sink to the pit of his stomach.

"Then…if you won't let me help you, then I guess, Black, that you're on your own. But what if I want to help you? Why won't you let me in?"

"Because I don't want you or your husband taking the mickey for me if I get caught," he barked hoarsely, ducking his head and a lock of his long dark hair fell in front of his ashen face like a curtain. "Both of you, are kind to me when you didn't have to be, Jameson, you lot are the closest things I have to friends these days, and…I appreciate it," he managed to croak out in a hoarse groan. "More than you know. I won't have you in trouble," he growled, lifting his head, and meeting the blonde witch's hard gaze head-on.

Norah's expression changed only ever so slightly. She straightened her back and folded her hands tighter over herself, smoothing skirts of her black lace dress, almost as if embarrassed.

Her brilliant blue eyes were sparkling with a new intensity Sirius hadn't seen in them before.

He shifted nervously. Then a thought occurred to him.

Yes, she was his friend, and her husband as well, but…why had she come to him?

"It's nice to see you again, but…"

He was unsure whether to ask Jameson or not why she had taken this little unexpected jaunt through the Forbidden Forest, he didn't want to offend the young witch who was more or less his friend.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself.

"Why are you here, Jameson? If you're smart, and I know you are, you'll turn the hell around and go home to your husband, Norah, and never see me again if…things go wrong," he finally blurted out.

Norah stiffened, straightening her posture by way of response, though she did not immediately offer up a verbal answer to his query.

Well, of course, she knew Black would ask. Hell, Ollie didn't even know she had come.

She knew she wanted to check on the man, see how Black was faring and find out what the man's next move was, perhaps find a way she could help nab the rat that Norah felt incredible guilt towards.

It had been her day to stock the back shelves, and as a consequence, she had been at the back of the shop when the youngest Weasley boy had brought in his rat for an examination, leaving old Mundy, a part-time worker, an elderly witch, to deal with the customer at the front desk.

Her eyesight had failed her in her aging years, but Norah knew if she had been the one to examine the rat that day, she surely would have seen the telltale markings of an Animagus.

Not to mention, surely her wolfish sense of smell would have been able to pick up the human pheromones emanating off the wretched little worm that day, no problem.

"Because…it's just my problem as much as it is yours, Black," Norah said at last, after much difficulty of struggling to find the right words.

Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes.

Clearly, her response wasn't good enough.

Norah sighed in frustration, pinching at the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, heaving a groan in exasperation as she felt a vein in her brow give a painful twitch.

"I can get her to you, Black, if you really insist on speaking with her alone. Tonks. She'll listen to you as long as I stay by her side. I can guarantee it, almost. She likes me. Trusts me."

Sirius gave a start at her words, swiveling his head to the left so suddenly to meet hers that the witch had to jump backward in order to avoid their heads connecting in what would have been a painful blow. It sounded too good to be true.

"H—how?" he stammered hoarsely, the disbelief in his voice seeping its way to the surface.

He stared at Norah Jameson as though the she-wolf had sprouted antlers atop her head.

The edges of Jameson's thin, pink lips curved upwards and she shot him a bright white smile as she turned on her heels to leave, her wand clutched tightly in her hand as she stomped off towards the castle, no doubt in search of Tonks.

Sirius returned the smile, albeit nervously. He never could tell what the werewolf was thinking.

He had no idea if her plan to get Tonks on her own and out of Moony's sight for a while was going to be a good thing or a reckless plan at all.

"Trust me, I think I'll be enlisting some help from the Giant Squid in the Black Lake for this favor of yours, Black, I wanted to check on it anyways, see how it was faring after one of its tentacles got attacked by a mermaid, or so Dumbledore told me on the way down here to visit you," she called out over her shoulder, though Ollie Brennan's wife did not dare glance back over her shoulder, on the off chance that someone had, in fact, followed her to the Forest.

Sirius looked a little less shocked but less so than he had expected to be, and as his back rested against the trunk of a gnarled old elm tree, the smile that ghosted across his gaunt, almost emaciated features was genuine, perhaps his third real smile since escaping from Azkaban. It felt good to know that Norah was on his side.

That she trusted him enough to believe that he was telling the truth, that she believed him.

He couldn't have asked for a better woman to confide him, and hoped, when he was free, when all over this was over, that he would be able to call her a different title, not just as an acquaintance.

But as a friend.