Before I knew it, the trip had arrived and dad had left instructions on where to meet him outside Hogsmeade, also asking us to bring food. Harry and Ron had snuck what they could from the lunch table whilst I'd just walked straight into the kitchens and politely requested a great deal of food. The house-elves were more than happy to comply, bringing me everything I wanted neatly wrapped and folded in various cloths, paper and packaged neatly, stacked up so I could tuck them away in my extendable bag which easily fit everything inside.

So with bags heavily laden with food and drink, as well as some new clothes that I'd purchased in order to gift to my dad because I had no idea what state he could be in right now, I set off with the others in anticipation so eager I hardly knew how I was able to maintain a straight face. At the very least, I wanted to know he'd be warm and comfortable, hence the clothes and supplies, but I also wanted to know everything there was to be known about him and every minute and second was counted off as the time of our meeting drew closer. I was eager for two o' clock to hurry up and arrive, and even whilst walking to the meeting place the flutter of eagerness refused to subside. We walked a fair way out of town, past the border of the village and towards one of the mountain ranger until finally, I saw a big black shape in the distance. "Dad!" I ran to him first and heard him bark, tail wagging in his animagus form standing on the other side of the stile.

Grabbing the top beam, I vaulted myself over flawlessly then dropped down in order to throw my arms around him tightly as I heard him give a simpering whisper, nuzzling into me with his wet nose until I giggled. "I missed you." I said quietly, giving his ears a scratch as he looked at me lovingly, eyes focusing on mine until the others caught up.

"Hello Sirius." Harry smiled at his godfather who sniffed his bag and then mine, his stomach rumbling hungrily before he then led the way to wherever it was he was currently hiding. He took us closer to the mountain and when the ground became uneven with rocks and boulders, I dropped down onto all fours and effortlessly padded over them as a lion, the catlike agility enabling me to walk over them without stumbling like the others, following dad until we started to climb up a winding path before we found ourselves in a cave.

I stood up, adjusting the strap of my back and tossing back my hair in order to look around. The cave was a fair size with a small opening, perfect for hiding in, and there at the back was Buckbeak himself, the hippogriff who was also on the run from the law. Bowing low to him, Harry and the others did the same once they were inside, waiting until Buckbeak bowed back before entering further as dad stood up, turning himself back into a human. Just as I thought, he was wearing the same tattered robes as before, but for now I pushed that thought aside and instead, walked straight over to him. His arms were already opening to admit me, coming around me to grip on tightly in a firm hold as I burrowed myself into him and, for the first time, received my dad's embrace since I had been a small child. "Mia."

He was stroking my hair, fingers lightly pulling at the curls which were identical to his, though mine were much fuller and wilder. Looking up I could see his smile and his eyes damp with tears as he then peppered my cheek and face with kisses until I was laughing. "Alright, alright, enough of this mushy nonsense. You must be starving so come and eat something." Pulling free I tugged him over to sit down then began to unpack the numerous collections of food we'd all brought and dad wasted no time into tearing into the chicken drumsticks.

Since there was plenty, I fed some of the meat to Buckbeak who thoroughly enjoyed the strips of beef and an entire hock of ham to himself. "What are you doing here Sirius?" Harry finally asked as we all sat down, though out the corner of my eye I saw Ron reaching for a tart so I slapped his hand away and shot him a glare. He could have all the food he wanted up at the castle, he can go hungry for now.

"Fulfilling my duties as a godfather." Dad answered bluntly as he practically inhaled the first drumstick, gnawing it down to the bone before reaching for another. "Don't worry about me, I'm pretending to be a loveable stray." He joked, though Harry remained utterly serious and concerned. "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter…well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried." I groaned slightly. Did that mean dad had seen the articles about me, and also now Hermione? Not good.

"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" Harry pressed, still clearly unsettled with dad putting himself at risk on his behalf.

"It'll be fine, Harry. It's not like we're going to rat him out, are we?" I reasoned calmly, rolling a stone I'd picked up between my fingers just for something to do. "Besides, it's not like anyone else knows that my dad is an animagus."

"Apart from Dumbledore." Dad quickly corrected so I amended myself.

"Apart from Dumbledore." Now we all looked at the papers that dad had been carrying before, the front page plastered with anti-ministry articles, focusing on Mr Crouch still being ill with a mystery illness and that the witch missing since summer still hadn't been found. Harry read silently for a moment before dropping it down, allowing Hermione and Ron to read next.

"They're making it sound like he's dying, but he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"

"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant. He says Crouch is suffering from overwork." Ron supplied for dad as he continued to eat ravenously, now tearing through a large porkpie.

"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close. The night my name came out of the Goblet."

"I think everyone felt a little off after that, Harry. It wasn't supposed to happen." I reasoned with him lightly as Hermione huffed haughtily.

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" She said with a clear tone of disdain. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now, bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him." I'm confused, did Hermione want to free house-elves or send them back to work? It's rather unclear here. Ron explained to dad that Hermione was obsessed with house-elves, seeing his confused expression which now snapped into surprise.

"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup." Harry then supplied the entire story of what happened, including meeting Winky in the top box, then in the forest after the Death Eaters attacked, as well as the Dark Mark and that Winky was then found with his wand in her hand, the wand used to conjure the mark which had made Crouch furious enough to give her clothes. Dad started to pace at this point, continuing to eat and think until the pie was gone and he was only pacing.

"Let me get this straight." He finally said, swooping down to grab another chicken leg. "You first saw the elf in the top box, she was saving Crouch a seat, right?" Confirming that this was true, dad then continued. "But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No, I think he said he'd been too busy." Pacing a few more times, dad then looked at Harry and asked him if he'd checked his pockets for his wand after he'd left the top box. "Er…no. I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest, and then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars. Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the top box?" He asked incredulously, staring at my dad who solemnly nodded his head.

"It's possible." Hermione firmly defended Winky, insisting that she hadn't stolen Harry's wand but dad ignored her protests for the moment. "The elf wasn't the only one in that box. Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people." Harry frowned, thinking back and starting to list them off. "Some Bulgarian ministers, Cornelius Fudge, the Malfoys…"

"The Malfoys!" Ron yelled abruptly, making me jump as I had become distracted by the abandoned newspaper. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!" Dad asked Harry if there was anyone else there but he couldn't think of anyone, but then Hermione pointed out that Bagman had been there too.

"I don't know anything about Bagman, except that he used to be beater for the Wimbourne Wasps. What's he like?"

"A dirty cheapskate." I answered immediately with an angry frown, thinking of how Bagman had swindled Fred and George out of their entire lives' savings. "Even so, as much as I would like to pin Harry's wand going missing on him, he was commentating the entire match. There's no way he could have taken it. He does seem to have an interest in Harry though, keeps on offering him help." I added as an afterthought as Harry nodded in agreement.

"Says he's taken a liking to me." I laughed shortly.

"He's probably got his own agenda. I bet he's got money placed on you winning and doesn't want to lose out." This gave everyone something to think about, but we focused on the original point, dad now asking what Crouch did after the Dark Mark was conjured.

"Went to look in the bushes, but there wasn't anyone else there."

"Of course…of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf…and then he sacked her?" Dad murmured at first before then turning the question on the trio of friends, eating between words.

"Yes. He sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled…"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" Ron groaned in exasperation but dad dolefully glanced to him with a sigh.

"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." That made Ron fall quiet for a moment, Hermione allowing herself a small smirk of victory before both turned back to focus on dad. "All these absences of Barty Crouch's…he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too. It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak." The hippogriff looked up suddenly, as if understanding the threat.

"Do you know Crouch then?" Harry asked but almost immediately a shadow passed over dad's face, his mind turning back on a clearly dark time in his past.

"Oh, I know Crouch alright. He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban – without a trial." Clenching my jaw I struggled not to react, letting the anger and fury wash over me with a calming breath as Hermione gasped, both she and Ron exclaiming loudly together, Harry also voicing his disbelief. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?" I have a feeling Percy might have mentioned it once or twice in one of his many longwinded biographies about his boss's life. "He was tipped as the next Minister for Magic. He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical – and power hungry."

"Enough to tip him over to the wrong side?" I asked almost hopefully, wanting something I could peg on Crouch to get him back for sending my dad to prison for twelve years without a trial whilst he was completely innocent.

"Oh, he was never a Voldemort supporter." Dad answered and I caught sight of Ron giving a shudder at the name. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side…well, you wouldn't understand…you're too young."

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup. Try us, why don't you?" Ron insisted then pointed out that I was technically an adult since I was of age. This made my dad grin, cheering him up considerably so he agreed to give us a try, continuing his pacing back and forth across the cave.

"Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing…the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the muggles, but meanwhile, muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere, panic, confusion…that's how it used to be." Ron had now gone shockingly pale.

"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people, and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning – I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The aurors were given new powers, powers to kill rather than capture, for instance, and I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without a trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you – plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamouring for him to take over as Minister for Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job, but then something rather unfortunate happened…" Dad said to us, not mincing his words as even he winced. "Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently, they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione and I shared an equal amount of shock from the news.

"Yep. Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while, got to know his own son." I couldn't help but feel that the bitterness in his voice towards Crouch owed a lot to the fact that because of him, my dad had not been able to get to know me at all until now. Giving him a smile, I reached out and took his hand in mine in order to squeeze his fingers lightly and he immediately brought his other hand to cover mine.

"Was his son a Death Eater?"

"No idea. I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters, but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf." When Hermione asked if Crouch had tried to get his son off, dad gave another bitter laugh before reminding us that Crouch was ruthless, and anything that threatened his prospects was dealt with harshly and without mercy, including his son. He then revealed that Crouch's son died in Azkaban, and Mr Crouch's wife also died soon after due to grief.

The conversation continued with Crouch as a central focus before it then shifted onto Snape, Karkaroff and briefly, Bertha Jorkins. By the time all had been said, it was nearing half past three and it was getting late, meaning soon we'd have to head back to school so dad stood himself up. "You'd better get back to school. Now listen, I don't want you lot sneaking out of the school to see me, alright? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd, but you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission, it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you." He said mainly to the other three quite sternly as I stood there grinning behind his back.

"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple grindylows." Harry pointed out, making the grin vanish from my face.

"Well then Harry, that just means that we're not in the endgame yet. There's clearly a reason your name was entered into that Goblet, perhaps the time just isn't right yet." I pointed out, which didn't exactly improve the mood of the situation. Dad agreed, once more ordering them not to do anything reckless.

"I'll breathe freely again once this tournament's over, and that's not until June." He sighed heavily before reminding the three of them to refer to him as Snuffles in case someone overhears them. The others started to leave but I stayed behind, wanting to talk to my dad alone for a little while since this was the first real opportunity I'd gotten since we'd met last year. "You won't get in trouble for being late?"

"I'm a prefect, it means I'm allowed to bend the rules." I shrugged, sitting back down and helping myself to a little tartlet. "You know, you could always just follow me back to the castle. I'll say you're a pet or something, no one would question it if you just stayed in your animagus form." I said to him as the others left and he sat down with me in order to talk.

"As much as I would thoroughly enjoy that, someone has to stay and look after Buckbeak. He's a fugitive too, after all." He joked lightly as he took to watching me with a sort of half smile on his face, like he were only partially concentrating, the rest of his mind wandering in a daydream.

"Very well then, I'll be sure to send food when I can. I'll figure out a means to get it to you without anyone noticing. I won't be able to sleep at night if I know you're out here freezing every night and living off rats of all things." Giving a shudder, I then smiled as I pulled my bag around then handed it to him. "I bought you some clothes to change into, I thought they would be more comfortable. Think of it as a belated Christmas present, I'm sorry it's not more…I'll get more supplies for you next time. You can keep the bag, there's an extendable charm on it so you can fill it with pretty much anything you'd need."

"It's perfect, thank you Mia. Now, tell me everything." For a moment I wasn't sure by what he meant by 'everything', but when I saw his face and that same, slightly dazed smile as he gazed at me, I realised he meant it literally. He wanted to know everything, so I filled up every second with me talking about all that I remembered and had experienced in the past thirteen years of his absence, trying to condense it all as much as possible so that I wouldn't run out of time, but before I'd even scratched the surface, we had been talking for over an hour.

The latest I could be back at the castle was five, so I was pushing for time but I didn't want to leave. I'd much rather stay here in this chilly cave with my dad and Buckbeak, talking to him instead of going back alone. "You really should go now, Mia. I know, I don't want you to leave either, but from what I understand, you can't afford any more trouble." Dad said to me as he gave me a tight armed hug, kissing the top of my head. "Oh, but before I forget, that letter you sent to me, the one covered in blood…do I want to know what that was about?"

"Ah…no. Probably not." I winced, glancing up to see a rather ominous expression on his face and I knew if I told him the truth, he'd march right into that castle and murder Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle and damn the consequences. "I'll see you soon. Come and visit when you can, though don't go near the lake with the Durmstrang students there. If you happen to see Crookshanks, tell him to come get me and he'll bring me to you. If not, I'm usually somewhere in the grounds…"

"I'll do my best. Come on, I'll walk you back." He said with a soft chuckle, kissing my head again but I made him wait so that I could draw my wand and put some spells around the cave. I insulated it so that it would stay warm as well as turning a rock into a bed complete with cushions and covers, then also provided some security measures at the mouth of the cave. Anti-muggle wards, shield barriers, sound mufflers, the works. Only once I was satisfied that I had provided the best protection and comfort I could for the time being, dad smilingly gave my hand a squeeze before turning into his animagus form and started to walk me back to the outskirts of the village, where I hugged him one last time before leaving him, feeling oddly happy yet disconcerted at the same time.

Thankfully, I had the long walk back to Hogwarts to muddle through my thoughts, placing everything I had learned in a safe place to keep for later, instead focusing on replaying the past few hours I'd spent in my dad's company, and thinking of his face, smiling and cheerful at me, any negative feelings were washed away like a spring morning sweeping aside the chilly night air, leaving me feeling refreshed and giddy all the way back.