Chapter 111- Nothing to Fear if You Have Nothing to Hide

Despite the fact that he thought it was effing stupid, Sirius Black had every intention of cleaning the first floor supply closet. His shiny shoes clattered the whole sulking journey down the winding corridor toward a dead end, with only the tap-dancing gnome (which more closely resembled a potato having a seizure in his personal opinion) to greet him as he approached the last door on the right.

However, as he twisted the rusted silver handle, a sound floated to his ears— not the creaking of the old wooden door, but a sound so faint and muffled, it must have been his mind playing tricks on him again.

Sirius shook his head and took a breath.

He was just being paranoid... He passed room after room of wailing patients down the corridor. For all he knew it was just Doug ordering another healer around. Sirius pushed the door open in one jerky movement then set out to start cleaning.

*

Fifteen minutes.

It only took fifteen minutes cooped up in a stuffy cupboard for Sirius to reach his cleaning limit for the day.

"Stupid Smethwick..." With a flick and a swish, Sirius sent a dingy rag zooming towards an empty vial precariously perched upon a rickety shelf. The vial teetered then—

CRASH!

Sirius slumped further against the door, back of his head thudding against the dark wood. There were crates and crates of random supplies still stacked and shoved haphazardly upon shelves, overflowing into the center of the space through crisscrossed brooms, mops, buckets and now a smattering of shattered glass.

An unexplainable scurrying jostled a few dust bunnies out of hiding, and Sirius, not having the energy to address the broken vial just yet, scratched his head with the end of this wand.

At that very moment there were dozens of patients just down the corridor who needed care... dozens of people just like Doug who deserved to be listened to and tended to... dozens of people that Sirius could have been helping had Smethwick not made it his mission in life to be the worlds biggest prat.

Sirius took a deep breath.

Sooner he got this done, the sooner he could be useful, that's what he kept reminding himself. Problem was, he'd already been cleaning for fifteen (dreadful) minutes and he'd only managed to make more of a mess. Levitating the clutter into place was a hassle and took just as long as tidying by hand... but the only cleaning spell he could think of was scourgify, which did wonders on dirt but was useless in terms of clutter.

Why hadn't he payed more attention to the damn spells James was always using during his obsessive tidying spats? Better yet, why didn't he have a mirror to talk to him like he did for Addy? (He'd have to ask Uncle Alford about that next time he came for dinner.)

Sirius's fingers brushed against the smooth cool metal of the enchanted pocket-watch within his robes. Addy. She knew loads of spells and had books filled with loads more... And she just so happened to have Fridays off.

"Adelaide Rose Fawley."

Sirius knew better than to expect an immediate answer (Adelaide always took forever). He set the open pocket watch on the floor then aimed his wand at a quivering dust bunny cowering just past the rubble of shattered glass. "Bombarda!"

The dust bunny exploded.

It was denser than Sirius had anticipated. Dust and dirt wizzed in every direction, sending him into a fit of sneezes and coughs so violent that he hit his head against the door once more. His ears rang with what he initially thought were the cries of the other dust bunnies mourning their blasted brethren, but after he managed to stop sneezing he realized how ridiculous that would have been.

He sniffled, rubbing the grit out of his eyes, when the sound floated through once more.

His ears twitched, head whipping toward the radiator in the far corner. The sound was soft, isdecernatble to all without super animagus canine hearing— but it was definitely a sound... a real sound this time... not just his imagination.

"Sirius?"

Startled, Sirius jumped, fumbling for the mirror.

"Sirius, where are—" Adelaide gasped. "Sirius, are you okay?"

Sirius sniffled again, trying to not sneeze. "Fine— dust— bunn—AAHCHOO!!"

"Bless you."

"Thanks," he rubbed his nose, finally getting a good look at her. The garden breeze fluttered the lace on her sundress, feathery hair floating around a glowing face of pink cheeks, dark green eyes, and a faintly freckled nose— wait, had she always had freckles? "Shit, Ads— why're you so cute?"

Adelaide flushed (which only made her look cuter as far as Sirius was concerned) and muttered some half-hearted insult about him being a brow-nosed puppy. "Addy, that was a real question— why're you all dressed up?" and, really, were those freckles new?

"Oh... Erm... Well I'm sort of at a tea party right now. Lucky you mirrored when you did, actually. Eloise started crying her head off—burned her tongue on her tea, apparently. Evan and Mum are still trying to patch her up—"

At the mention of Cathryn, a thousand detailed plots of kidnapping raced through Sirius's mind (Thunderbirds, magic carpets, Mummies, decoy chickens) but what had she said about crying? Eloise... that was Evan's sister, wasn't it? Maybe that was the weird sound he heard?

"Why're you having a tea party with Evan and his little sister?"

Adelaide wouldn't meet his eyes. "Just... you know... because..."

Sirius's heart sank into his intestines. It was a date. She didn't say it was, but she didn't have to. It was a date set up by her and Evan's parents'... but it was still a date. She was on a date with someone that wasn't him...

Were there anymore dust bunnies he could blow up?

"Sirius, I really don't have long— is everything okay?"

Nope. Not at all.

"Yeah... well, I was sort of hoping you knew a good tidying spell."

Adelaide scrunched her face up all cute, thinking. "Scorgify?"

"Tidying—not cleaning."

"Right..." she bit her lip, no doubt flipping through her freaky picture-perfect memory for a time when James spelled away Peter's underwear or Remus's socks or something. "Well I think you could use—" Suddenly, her face was replaced with an upside down view of the greenhouse behind her.

"'Princess, Addy! Look! Look! My tongue is all fixed!'" a high-pitched voice hollered in the background.

"Lady Eloise, how wonderfu—" Adelaide snapped the mirror closed before she'd even finished her last word.

Sirius could see his furrowed brow in his own reflection. She was busy. It wasn't personal. She was just busy...

Busy on a date...

Ugh.

He hit the back of his head on the door again.

However, before he could properly wallow in self-pity, a faint sound reached him once more. Maybe Eloise got a splinter? His hands flew to the pocket watch, expecting to see Adelaide and her cute freckled nose staring back at him with an apology at her pouty lips— but it was still only his own puzzled reflection.

His ears twitched and focused on the far side of the room. So the sound didn't come from the mirror after all? Professor Kettleburn said something about pixies liking radiators... or was it doxies? Whatever. Maybe something was stuck?

Carefully, Sirius pushed himself up off the dirty floor, navigated past the jungle of junk. But as he approached the radiator it was clear that the sound wasn't coming from the closet... it was almost as if...

Sirius leaned his ear against the smooth tile of the far wall.

It was faint and muffled and squeaky. But something— someone—was definitely crying.

Crying for, "help."

He bolted, hurtling over a mop, and not even bothering to close the door behind himself, pacing in circles at the dead end. The dancing gnome began twirling in its portrait.

Sirius closed his eyes. It was still muffled, but he was headed in the right direction. He followed the sound, opened his eyes and came face to face with... the dead end wall?

How could that be right?

He was going mad, he was sure, but just as he did in the storage room, he brought his ear to the tile, just to listen, just to make sure he had heard correctly—

Next thing he knew, he was hurtling toward the ground. His hands flew up to catch him, his face mere centimeters away from tile.

He scrambled to stand, trying to gain his bearings. The wall was now... behind him? Could he have really got that turned around in a matter of seconds?

He scratched his head and turned around, expecting to see the twitchy gnome... but there was none. The closet was missing now too.

"What the hell..."

Sirius reached out to the dead end, tile wall—his hand went right through, disappearing on the other side.

The wall and dead end, for that matter, was only an illusion, like the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. An illusion that hid a corridor much like all the other's on that floor.

It had the same drab marble floors and tile walls, the same clinical, harsh lighting. However, there were a few key differences. For one, none of the doors (which were all shut) had doorknobs or handles. Instead, each possessed a sign, mounted at eye level that read, "Authorized Personnel Only," in big, bold, crimson letters the color of blood, with a small name plate beneath. Sirius walked aimlessly down past each of the doors. Each name plate read, "Vacant".

All except one.

The closer the approached the occupied room, the louder the muffled screams rang in his ears. They became more piercing, more heart wrenching with every step.

At last, he stared at the name plate.

OLALLA M.

Sirius wanted more than anything in the world for Olalla to be the name of an angry Mandrake knocked out of its pot, or perhaps a humongous, ugly doxie stuck in a radiator. He wanted more than anything for his instincts to be wrong for once.

His wand shook in his hand. "Alohamora—"

The door swung open with a deafening wail.

Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin, slamming the handle less door behind him, closing him in the room. The last thing he needed was for Smethwick to find him here.

Wincing, Sirius took in his surroundings. It was quite dark, lacking an any form of windows, with only three strategically placed oil lamps scattered around the small room, casting an eerie orange haze over the room's sole occupant.

A little girl, no older than six, laid in bed, chubby cheeks flushed and tear stained, wild curly black hair matted at one side, her arm and legs yanking at the metal chains holding her to the bed. Sirius's stomach churned. Her left side was bandaged from her shoulder down. He couldn't tell if the arm was gone or growing. Either way, she was clearly miserable and with valid reason to be.

Her dark brown eyes met his for a split second and the room fell silent.

A beat passed.

Neither of them dared to breathe.

Then she shrieked even louder and more feral than before, metal chains clanking viciously for freedom.

Sirius stumbled backwards, sore hands catching himself on a table, room spinning. Her bloodcurdling shrieks faded in the back of his consciousness replaced with sobs. Olalla's big brown eyes and wild hair was now a little pudgy faced Regulus, about her age, only 5 or six, crying so hard he couldn't even breathe, holding the burn on his hand as their mother loomed down, wand still raised—

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut.

He hated crying.

He wasn't sure when he walked out of Olalla's room, but the next thing he knew he was down the hall, round the corner, sneaking to the utility stairs, heart hammering.

*

The back left wheel of the laundry trolly rattled down the shiny marble corridor, past countless patients rooms Friday afternoon. Lily sighed, frowning at the giant heap of freshly laundered blankets Head-Healer Smethwyk told her to fold. The task was tedious, yes, and slightly unnecessary when magic was available to do the job for her—but that wasn't what bothered her. The jumbled up blankets reminded her of Petunia.

It was a silly thing, really. When they were little, their mother always made them fold laundry and sheets as part of their chores. Of course, they were too small to fold them all on their own... so they worked together. Made a game out of the monotony. Together they crafted expert level blanket folding choreography and even a little song to go along—hands at the ends, fold in half, and two steps in...

It had been years since they'd giggled over a big basket of laundry... and if Petunia's scathing scowl when Lily offered her a chocolate muffin that morning was any indication, it might be years before they ever did the folding dance again.

Lily's hands gripped the trolly tighter, teeth clinched. Petunia was just jealous, probably, but it didn't make her callousness hurt any less. It was maddening living under the same roof, enduring her sneers and underhand comments. If Petunia would just talk to her like a normal sister she'd know Lily wasn't a freak. If she'd just give her a chance to—

"What'd ya doin' here?" a voice echoed down the corridor behind her.

Lily froze, stomach sinking. Her eyes lifted from the pile of soft woven blue blankets. A giant, smiling, cartoonish dragon mural shimmered on the wall at her right.

Dang it. She was in the children's ward?! How the heck had that happened?

She whipped around to the voice—an elder healer, she noted, by the pointy hat—ready to explain her mistake when—

"I came to see... er... " A tall (and all too familiar) boy in green robes had his back to her. He scratched at his curly black hair with one hand, the other behind him, hidden from the Elder Healer's view, clutching a... teddy bear? "To see Healer... Quilt... dragon... healer Quiltdragon..."

Several questions ran through Lily's mind simultaneously. Why was Sirius Black in the children's ward? Why was he attempting to conceal a teddy bear? And who in the world was Healer Quiltdragon?

Sirius was backing away from the healer, feet shifting as if he would bolt at any second.

He was up to something.

"There's no Quiltdragon here, son," the elder healer man said, wiry white eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

Sirius faked a laugh. Yep. Definitely up to something. "There's not? Oh, silly me," he chuckled, still backing away. "It's only my first week—must have got the wrong floor—"

The healers eyes narrowed to Sirius's hidden arm. "Say, what have you got th—?"

"Sirius!" Lily yelped. The words flung out of her mouth before she realized what she was doing. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Evans?" Sirius swiveled toward her. "Uh... Y-you have?"

"Of course! Healer Quiltdragon needs you on the second floor!" The lie rolled off her tongue with disturbing ease.

Sirius's face was blank for a breath, then like switching on a light, it broke out into a brilliant grin—the same one he used whenever he tried to talk his way out of detention with Slughorn. "Ha! Second floor! Of course! Well I'll just be going... Sorry for the inconvenience, Sir—"

"Not so fast!" The elder healer took several steps forward. Sirius pivoted to keep the teddy bear hidden. "Miss, would you kindly assist this young man to his destination? And perhaps supply him with a map if one is made available along the journey?"

Lily still had a billion blankets to fold... and really didn't want to get pulled into whatever shenanigans Sirius was entrenched in... but it was a little late for that, she supposed.

"Of course, sir!" she smiled, doling out as much charm as she could manage.

They both hustled down the corridor, grinning back at the old healer every few paces. The moment they turned the corner, Lily ditched the laundry, grabbed Sirius by the arm and yanked him into an empty room. The room had a circus theme. The giant clown painted on the wall would haunt her nightmares for the next week.

"Thanks for your help back there, Ev—"

"Explain. Now," she demanded.

Sirius gulped then stammered, looking away. The clown painting definitely was affecting him as well.

"Why are you here? Why do you have a teddy bear? And where were you at tea? I waited with your muffin for ages—"

His eyes snapped back of hers. "You didn't let anyone eat it, did you?"

Of course Black would focus on that.

"No," she answered, hands on her hips, "but I might if you don't explain what you're up to! Black, this isn't school—you can't be pranking people here—"

"I'm not pranking anyone," he said fiercely.

"But you're still up to something."

He looked away again, tapping his hands against the teddy bear impatiently.

"You stole the bear, didn't you?" she stated more than asked. "That's why you were hiding it from that healer."

He scowled at her. "It's not stealing... technically..."

"Those are meant for the children at the hospital, Black. If you're that desperate to get Addy something they sell stuffed animals in the—"

"It's not for Addy," he said cutting her off. "And it's not stealing."

Lily's eyes narrowed. He was making even less sense than before. "Are you trying to say it's for a patient?"

His jaw tightened. "Yes."

"If it's for a patient, why are you being so shifty about it?"

"Look, I told you I wasn't stealing it and I'm not doing any pranks. Now, I really appreciate you helping me out but I need to go—"

"Go where?" she insisted, blocking his exit.

"It's none of your business, Evans—"

"—Sirius, you bailed on me at tea and now you're being all secretive—either tell me what's really going on or I-I'll—"

"You'll what?! Report me to Smethwick?"

She was going to say she'd eat his chocolate muffin. Sirius might have been shifty but she didn't have the heart to get the poor bloke fired.

"I wouldn't do that, Sirius. I just—" she took a breath, trying to figure out how to word it correctly. Her distaste for Sirius and his association with Potter, bully extraordinaire, was no secret... but after what happened when Adelaide had her allergic reaction, after the conversation they had about her and 'love'... Lily thought they'd become friends, sort of. Well, maybe not friends per say, but they were at least allies. That had to count for something. "I just wish you'd trust me enough to tell me the truth."

Sirius's steely grey eyes met hers for a heartbeat then darted away, hands fiddling with the bear's foot. "You can't tell anyone—especially not Smethwick..."

"I figured that was a given."

Sirius didn't seem to hear her, thoughts a thousand miles away. "I-I... I think it might be easier if I showed you."

*

As they made the journey from the children's ward to the first floor, Sirius was suspiciously tight lipped about what he needed to show her, but agreed to help her fold blankets later, which Lily appreciated.

"What have you been doing all day?" she asked as they hopped down the utility stairs. "You can't have been scrubbing cauldrons the whole time."

Sirius groaned then told her about the supply closet Smethwick ordered him to clean.

"Well that doesn't seem fair..." she replied.

"You're telling me..."

Lily looked up at him carefully. His grey eyes narrowed, jaw clenched, his grip tight around the teddy bears arm. "Do you think there's a certain reason he keeps singling you out like that?"

Sirius shrugged by way of answer, walked a few paces ahead, and held the utility door for her to enter the first floor.

They passed room after room of patients, some in worse shape than others, but the corridor seemed oddly empty. "Where are all the healers?" she asked.

"Beats me," Sirius said. "It was a madhouse in the waiting room—that's why I took you the back way."

"I thought you just didn't want anyone to see you with the stolen bear and skiving off on cleaning."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "That's an awful lot of judgment coming from someone who was slacking on their own chores, Evans."

"I was not slacking off!"

"You were talking to yourself and wandering around the children's ward—"

"I wasn't talking to myself!"

"Evans, I've got super hearing," he deadpanned. "I heard you from down the corridor. You were mumbling something about flowers or some shit."

Flowers?

Petunia.

Lily ran a hand through her hair. "Oh."

Sirius slowed his steps and after a moment. "You can talk about it, you know. If you need to vent or whatever... Just don't start crying."

Lily hesitated, then instead asked, "Do you and Reggie get along?"

Sirius snorted. "No. He's an annoying piece of shit. Why?"

"I—Well... I offered Petunia one of the muffins I made his morning and she—" she said that they were probably poisoned with her freaky school ingredients and she didn't fancy turning into a pigeon, "—she refused to even try them."

"Sounds like it's her loss," Sirius shrugged. "But to be fair, I don't think I'd ever eat anything Reg made for me."

The corner of Lily's mouth quirked upward. "Yes, I do remember Adelaide mentioning something about a ill-brewed painkiller potion..."

Sirius stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "She told you about that?"

Lily put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile and nodded.

Shaking his head bashfully, Sirius kept walking. "Unbelievable... They're both little pieces of shit..."

"But you still love them, right?"

"Of course."

*

A few minutes, several wrong turns, and one hearty discussion on the difference between a jinx and a hex later, Sirius and Lily walked past a smirking elderly woman reading a romance novel. Lily blushed just seeing the scantily clad characters on the cover.

"Oi! Star kid!" a voice hollered to their left.

Lily jumped, startled. Sirius ignored her and grinned, arm lopping a lazy wave, teddy bear still in hand, to a young man.

He wore a white t-shirt, his hair a brilliant shade of purple, arm wrapped in fresh bandages with only a hint of red poking through, and there was something familiar about his face, about his eyes... He must have only been out of Hogwarts for a few years, by the look of him, but she didn't recognize him. Maybe he was an old friend of Sirius's?

"You get that closet sorted for Smellywick?" the young man asked, eyes narrowing on the teddy bear.

"Meh... I'll get to it..." Sirius shrugged, walking in the room, as comfortable as could be, not giving a second glance to Lily.

Lily opened her mouth, unsure if she should remind him of their vague mission or ask how in the world he knew this person, when the purple haired man spoke. "So is this the girlfriend?" he asked.

A beat passed.

Sirius and Lily both tried to process the question.

"ME?!" Lily yelped at the same time Sirius all but hollered, "HELL NO!" hands up in defense, jumping away from Lily as if she had dragon pox or something.

The purple haired man laughed so hard that he worked himself into a coughing fit.

"Addy's interning at the ministry," Sirius said in a rush, face flushed, "This is Lily, her friend..." he paused and looked at her then back at the man. "I guess she's sort of my friend too..." he added. "But there's no way in hell we'd ever snog."

Lily was too touched by the fact that Sirius considered her a friend to take any offense that he'd deemed her unsnoggable.

"Thanks for the clarification," the purple haired man snorted as he sat up in his bed. "Nice to meet you Lily, I'm Doug."

Lily gave him an awkward wave and smile. Sirius was leaned against the foot of the bed, perfectly at home, and began chatting away, asking Doug if he had any favorite Quidditch teams (Quiberon Quafflepunchers), if he'd ever read Lord of the Rings (duh), and what his favorite sweets were (ice mice). Meanwhile, she stood a few paces from the doorway, unable to shake the feeling that she was intruding on their reunion.

"You can come in, Evans," Sirius smirked after a while. "Doug won't bite... but you might want to stay away if he starts wielding any quills—"

"Oi! Enough about that!" Doug barked, flapping his bandaged arm in annoyance.

Sirius frowned and sprang forward, leaving the teddy at Doug's blanket covered feet. "Stop that—You're arms still healing—" he said, fussing over the man's bandages.

Sirius could be a friendly bloke when he felt like it and initially Lily figured he'd befriended Doug at school, or perhaps while skiving off. But watching him check the bandages, seeing the attentiveness in his eyes, a horrible thought occurred to her. Surely... Surely Black wouldn't do something so reckless...

Who was she kidding? Of course he would.

"So," she began slowly, inching her way across the tile room. "How are you two so well... acquainted?"

"Kid saved my life," Doug said with a shrug. "Cleaned my shirt too— thanks for that by the way—"

"I'm good at the cleaning charms," Sirius said, brows scrunched up. "It's the tidying ones that I can't ever remember... Say, you wouldn't happen to know a—"

"What do you mean he saved your life?" Lily asked. Her voice was doing that shrill thing Petunia's did when ever she was in the vicinity of Lily's text books.

"I mean I was bleeding, now I'm not."

Sirius stilled.

"Are you saying he healed you?" Yep, she was reaching peak Petunia shrillness. "Black, please tell me you didn't..."

Sirius at least had the good sense to look remorseful. "Lily, I know— Believe me, I know it sounds bad—"

"—No. It sounds illegal—"

"—Lily, he'd already lost a ton of blood and I had to do something—"

"Yeah, like get a freaking healer!"

Sirius clenched his jaw. "I told you they've been swamped all day— Doug said he'd been trying to get someone down here for an hour! And even if I had managed to get someone down here they're all shit at their job anyways! You should have seen the way they dressed his bandages! Mud still caked on— dittany shoved in there without even a hint of silver powder even after he told them that—"

She held her hands up to stop him. "Wait, wait, wait— Silver powder?" she repeated "But he'd only need that if..." Her eyes took in Doug's appearance for the first time. She had a feeling the hair was meant as a distraction... if you were looking at the violent shade of lavender you might not notice the scars, nor the weary lines of premature aging around his deep blue eyes...

"Don't worry," Sirius said to Doug. "She's cool with werew— with lycanthropes. She just doesn't like breaking rules... Which personally, I find ironic considering she helped me and my mates—"

"Sirius, shut up." Lily was having a hard enough time processing without him dredging up her idiot second year logic to help them break wizarding law and turn into a flock of animals.

Sirius was reckless, no doubt about it. But if what he was saying was true... wouldn't she have done the same thing? Wouldn't that have been the ethical thing to do? Ugh. She wished she was folding blankets. Why had she let him drag her into this mess?

She crossed the room to sit at the foot of Doug's bed, hands mindlessly playing with the the red ribbon around the teddy bear's neck. "Sirius do you have any idea what could happen if someone found out you practiced healing without supervision..."

"Well I sort of figured I'd get fired..."

He wouldn't just get fired, he had to know that. Maybe he didn't want Doug to feel guilty?

"Lily, don't stress... Doug's not going to tell anyone about it, are you Doug?"

"Tell anyone about what?"

Sirius grinned. "Exactly."

Lily sighed. What was done was done... at least Sirius knew what he was doing.

"So..." Doug began, directing his attention to the foot of the bed. "Anyone care to explain the bear?"

Lily was curious for the answer as well.

Sirius went back to checking Doug's bandages. "The interns missed a kid when they were passing them out earlier," he shrugged.

Doug didn't look like he was buying that story, and neither was Lily. Sirius wouldn't make such a fuss just to deliver a stuffed bear to a kid with mumblemumps or something, right?

"So, anyways—" Sirius perched himself on a stool that looked far too small for him. It creaked ominously as his shiny black shoe bounced. "You wouldn't happen to know any tidying spells, would you Dougie, ol' pal?"

"First, don't call me Dougie—"

"You got it, Mr. Dougie—"

"Second, it really depends on what you're needing to put away—folding's tricky, you see—especially socks—got to be careful with the wr—"

Doug and Sirius both froze, heads staring at the empty, open doorway.

When Doug didn't continue, Lily said, "Sirius, what—"

Sirius leapt to his feet, shushing her furiously. "Smethwick's down the corridor..." he said in scarcely a whisper.

"What? How do you—"

"And he's not alone..." Doug added, face pale.

Lily suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be folding blankets on a completely different floor... And Sirius—he was supposed to be tidying some storage room not patching up purple haired werewolves.

No matter which way she looked at it. This was bad.

Lily grabbed Sirius by the wrist, rushing to the door, but he wouldn't budge. "Sirius," she hissed. "We have to go—if he finds us skiving off he'll—"

"He's too close. He'll see us for sure if we go now."

"Then what do we—?"

"Get under the bed!" Doug said, readjusting the blanket to cover the gap.

Lily sized it up. It'd be a squeeze but she doubted anyone would see them. She sprang forward at once, crawling on all fours and began the awkward shimmy beneath the frame; however, Sirius didn't move.

"Sirius, what are you doing? Get under here!"

"I'm too tall," he said, shaking his head.

Lily's heart sank. He was too tall. "But—but Sirius if he sees you—" Smethwick hated him, everyone knew it. He'd be fired on the spot. She doubted they gave second chances.

"Cupboard," Doug said suddenly, with an authoritative self-assurance that was strangely familiar. "Get in the cupboard over there—by the counter—"

"If I don't fit under the sodding bed, how do you expect me to—"

"Just do what I say!"

Lily watched Sirius's shiny black shoes stomp to the cupboard, which was really more of a cabinet, technically speaking. The cabinet/cupboard door swung back and forth one... two... three times.

Now she could hear what they had heard earlier. Smethwick spoke loudly, shoes and robes shuffling in the echo of the corridor.

"The door won't close," Sirius breathed.

Not a moment later, Healer Smethwick walked in, green robes billowing, flanked on either side by two people in crisp, matching grey robes with metallic black trim. "Here we are," he announced in his bullfrog voice. "Room 174, Douglass Fredrick—"

The cabinet door squeaked open.

The room fell silent.

*

Sirius had accepted that the universe hated him long ago. He had, truly, the absolute worst luck of anyone he'd ever met. Even worse than Peter (which was saying something considering Peter once managed to accidentally vanish all his left shoes with a powerful sneeze their first year).

Every time things went well in his life he couldn't even enjoy it because in the back of his mind, a voice whispered that it wouldn't last long.

The only thing that he'd ever had any sort of luck with (besides picking out the very best Every Flavor Beans from any given box) was in respect to Adelaide—and even then, the universe was still trying it's damnedest to sod their whole relationship to hell with the blasted arranged marriage...

Anyways, the point was, he'd almost expected for something horrible to happen that afternoon. He'd gotten away too many times already. His number was up.

First, as he stood in the stupid cupboard Doug had all but demanded him into, a spider stared at him with all of its stupid blinking eyes, as if Sirius had intruded upon his afternoon snack (which, he actually had). Then, there was the fact that something had fallen on his head while he was getting in. If he had to venture a guess, he'd say it was some sort of magic egg? Maybe the spider was magic and set some arachnid curse upon him? Who the hell knew.

But then, fate twisted her metaphorical dagger.

The cabinet door creaked open (once again) and Smethwyk's beady eyes narrowed on him.

This was it.

This was then end of his healing career.

Sirius simply stood there, still as a cactus in the desert, resigned to his fate.

"Ruddy hinges," Smethwick grumbled, scribbling something onto the clipboard he was holding. "I'll get maintenance to look into that later—now, Auror Vance, Auror Moody, you may conduct your interview whenever your ready."

That was it?

He was just going to ignore him?

The idea of Smthwick pretending Sirius didn't even exist almost made him indignant.

Across the room, Doug sat up.

Shit. What had Smellywick said? They were going to conduct an interview?

With the cupboard wide open, and himself rendered as good as invisible, Sirius had an uncomfortably good view of the events to unfold.

"Can I help you?" Doug said tersely.

A woman cleared her throat—wait, not just a woman—Emmeline Vance. Addy had just been talking about her the other day... something about a big case she'd been working on involving—

"We have some questions concerning your whereabouts and activities yesterday evening," she said, fingers tight around her notepad. She cleared her throat again. "Would you mind stating, for the record, where you were between 9:05 yesterday evening and 4:37 this morning?"

"You mean during the full moon?" Doug asked hotly.

"Yes, sir."

"Why, exactly, do you need to know?"

"Sir, I'm afraid I can't—"

Another wizard, a large man with a hobbling gate that gave off a very pirate-like aura, let out a gruff grunt of sorts. It could have been a growl, but Sirius was trying to look on the bright side. "Might as well be straight with the lad, Vance—"

Emmeline held up her note book. "But according to protocol were supposed to—"

"A wee lass was nearly killed last night," said pirate man.

Doug didn't so much as blink.

Smethwick looked like he was holding back glee.

Merlin, Sirius wanted to punch him.

"It wasn't me," Doug said through clenched jaw.

"Sir," Vance began. "You're not being charged—we're only trying to place—"

"Trying to place me at the scene of the crime," Doug bit back, voice cold and razor sharp. "I'm telling you right now, whoever did it—it wasn't me."

Pirate man flashed a look at Smellywick then hobbled another step toward Doug. "All do respect, son, you wouldn't technically kn—"

"I'm not your son." Sirius wanted to scream at Doug to calm down. Sass with a teenage intern was one thing, but picking fights with trained aurors? "And I'm not a criminal."

"Funny you should mention that, Mr. Fredrick." Emmeline flipped through her notebook then cleared her throat once more. "Considering the outstanding warrant filed under the french ministry for improper—"

"Those charges were dropped," Doug said. "Judge threw out the case—"

Emmeline was losing her cool. She gave him the same look she used to give The Twins whenever they helped James with a prank. Again, Sirius wished there was a way to warn him... but another part of him wondered... what were those charges for, exactly?

"Well then maybe you can explain the MACUSA citation issued on the 17th of—"

"Clerical error," Doug said.

The pirate man snorted.

"Clerical error?" Emmeline repeated, dubious. "What do you mean? That they somehow lost your wand permit?"

"No. I never filed one."

"So, the citation was justified."

Doug rolled his eyes. "No. I told you. Clerical error."

"But you just said—"

Doug sat up, wincing as he did so. The blue blanket at the foot of his bed lifted up for a fraction of a second and Sirius could see a flash of dark red hair. Thankfully, he was the only one who seemed to have noticed. "I don't own a wand. The headmaster over at Castelobruxo made sure of that when he snapped it in half when I was twelve—right before he kicked me out."

The room fell silent. Even the spider in the cabinet paused its munching upon a horse fly.

Pirate man was first to speak. "Now, now, lets get back to the point—we jus' need to know where abouts ya were last night—nothing to fear if you've got nothing to hide." Pirate man's gnarled face turned and one eye stared into Sirius's soul. He worried he wasn't as invisible as he thought.

Doug hesitated then sighed loudly. "I was out in a forest... near Keswick."

The aurors flashed a look at one another.

Smethwick bounced on the balls of his feet like a pleased Brussels sprout.

Reading the tension in the room, Doug added. "But I didn't hurt anyone. Especially not some kid—"

"Sir," Emmeline said, cutting him off. "Is this your usual location during lunar changes?"

"Well, no. I travel for work, you see—But I always make sure to—"

"You wouldn't mind tellin' us where you were working last month, would you?" Pirate man said. It was really more of a demand than a question.

"I—I was in Edinburgh... but in a forest... ages away from anyone— Now if you don't mind, I'm really quite tired and—"

"That'll be all for now," Emmeline said crisply. "Healer, maybe you should check on the patient— Auror Moody and I need to step out— it'll only be a moment."

Emmeline disappeared out the door with Moody (aka Pirate man), whispering, "Three confirmed in that area... The chances of being in both are..."

Smethwick lumbered to Doug's bedside once the other two were out of earshot then leaned in close. Not good. "Bet you think your slick, huh? Think you can rip a poor little girl to shreds and get away with it, do you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't pull that with me— I see your kind in here every month. Vile creatures, leeching off the government, never facing consequences for the lives you destroy..." Smethwick's lips pulled into a terrifying smile as he leaned closer poking his wand at Doug's still healing arm, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Ow! What the—"

"You know where dogs like you belong, lad? Locked up in cages. Let's see how far that smart mouth of yours gets you with the dementors."

It took every ounce of self preservation in Sirius not to burst out of the cabinet and throttle him.

"Healer?" Moody called, or rather, grunted from the door. "We're ready to see the other patient."

Smethwick froze, then went bumbling off, still ignorant of Sirius and Lily's presence.

They waited in silent hiding for what felt like ages, until Doug finally said, "They're gone. You can come on out."

While Lily shuffled ungracefully under the bed, Sirius reached out to push the cabinet door the whole way open. He gasped. His hand was the exact color and pattern of the wood. "What the—"

"Oh, sorry—" Doug said, shaking himself from his thoughts and flapping a hand absently in Sirius's direction.

Slowly, the proper coloring returned to Sirius's flesh.

"Did you just— did you just do wandless magic?" Sirius asked. It was also non-verbal, but Sirius was trying to not sound too shocked.

Doug didn't meet his eyes, instead doing his best to help Lily up with his good arm. She brushed the auburn hair out of her face and thanked him.

The teddy bear still lay on the bed causing a horrible thought to occur to Sirius.

Olalla. They were there because of Olalla. They thought that Doug was the one that hurt her... but he wouldn't... he was nice, normal, a harmless author for Merlin's sake. But still... a nasty gash like the one he came in with didn't come from curling up in the woods. And what had Doug said earlier? That he was protecting someone? Remus got things jumbled all the time after the full moon. He'd remember being hungry and playing tag, but would forget that he devoured a whole rabbit in one chomp, or that he accidentally peed on Peter in a show of dominance.

"I can't believe what Smethwick said to you," Lily seethed. She was upright and aggressively banishing the wrinkles in her robes. "It was disgusting— completely uncalled for— and... and..."

"And nothing I haven't heard before," Doug said much too calmly.

"But he— and they— you wouldn't— I mean, you were telling the truth, weren't you?"

Lily's green eyes were dewy. Sirius prayed she wouldn't start crying, too.

"Course he was tellin' the truth, Evans," Sirius said, picking up the teddy. "Doug's a lover not a fighter."

Doug rolled his eyes. "Look, you two better get out of here. I've got a feeling they'll be back soon."

Sirius couldn't help but agree. Besides... he still needed to see Olalla..."C'mon, Evans. He's right. We really can't afford to test fate again—"

"No!" Lily protested, yanking her wrist out of his grip. "No! None of this is fair. They haven't any proof— they can't just assume you've hurt someone based on what town you were in!"

Doug smiled sadly at her. "Kid, I'll be fine. I've dealt with people like that bloody healer my whole life— Don't worry about me; worry about keeping this job of yours."

"But the aurors," Lily said desperately. "We know Emmeline from school. She's not like him, we could talk to her, we could—"

"What exactly do you plan on telling her, Evans?" Sirius said, hoping he didn't make her burst into tears. "That we were eavesdropping on their entire conversation? That he helped hide a bunch of minors in his room? How is that going to help anything?"

Lily bit her lip and looked down at the bear. "Adelaide."

Doug's head tilted to the side.

"Addy?" Sirius said. "What's she got to do with this?"

"She's friends with Emmeline," Lily continued. "She works with her at the ministry— maybe if you told Adelaide about Doug— Maybe if she put in a good word..."

"Listen," Doug said, commanding attention. "I appreciate you wanting to help me out, and I truly hope our paths cross again, but I really cannot afford anymore trouble."

"But—"

"Please, don't worry about me—I've gotten myself out of worse scrapes than this. You two need to get out of here, take care of yourselves."

"But we were only—"

"C'mon, Evans," Sirius said, tugging her by the elbow. "He's right."

*

Lily sulked the whole walk toward the storage room.

"He's going to be fine, Evans."

"That's not the point, Sirius," she snapped. "The way Smethwick spoke to him... it was... it was hateful..."

Sirius could only imagine what she'd think if she knew the real reason Smethwick kept giving him the shittiest tasks. "Most wizards don't like werewolves," he explained. "You remember Edelmar? Most don't even see them as real people... just dangerous beasts..."

Lily pondered this for a moment. "Still... it's wrong... I just wish we could do something..."

Sirius frowned as they approached the dancing gnome. Maybe bringing her to see Olalla wasn't a good idea after all. What if she got upset and went all Gryffindor and told everyone they were chaining up children in hidden wing of the hospital, away from their parents? What if she freaked out like he had? What if...

"Is that what you were supposed to be cleaning?" she asked. "Good lord, Black. Did you even try?"

Sirius scowled. The closet wasn't that bad... okay maybe it was still covered in broken glass and dust bunny guts, but he'd done some things. "I did, as a matter of fact! I just couldn't remember the blasted—"

Footsteps.

Footsteps coming from the hidden corridor.

"Shit, get in!" he hissed, ushering her forward into the closet.

"But it's filthy and—"

"Smethwick," Sirius whispered, cringing as the door creaked closed behind them.

"Again?" she squeaked.

"If he comes in here just say you were checking in on me... to give me the muffin or something. He likes you."

Lily crouched by a bucket, regretting her life choices, mumbling something about folding blankets.

"...bring him into the office for more questioning," a voice said on the other side. It sounded familiar, but not like Smethwick or Emmeline, or Moody the pirate. "At the very least, he may be able to give us some more information on what happened—I want a full report of who he was with, why he was there—last thing we need is any more surprises."

"Yes, Mr. Fawley," said Emmeline.

Sirius and Lily met eyes in the darkness.

Filip was involved now?

Doug really was in trouble.

There was a loud crack of disapperation followed by the pirate's grumpy voice. "For the las' time we don't need to sedate the man, you blasted fool. If he tries any funny business we're more than capable of capturing him on our own."

"I was merely offering," Smethwick said in a sickly kind voice. "At least allow me to escort you back..."

Moody didn't protest to this.

Their chattering and footsteps were just out of earshot when Lily sneezed.

"Bless you," Sirius said, standing up and heading for the door. "Ladies first..."

"Sirius... don't you think we should go help him?" she sniffled, brows furrowed.

Sirius looked down at the teddy in his hand. "Priorities, Evans. Priorities."

*

Eloise snored loudly, face first on the plush rug of the front drawing room.

Adelaide tilted her head to the side, wondering how in the world she was comfortable. "She really was knackered, huh?"

Evan coughed a laugh into what must have been the twelfth miniature cucumber sandwich he'd eaten that day. "It was all the biscuits. Mum never lets her have that much sugar... Makes her crash and burn."

As lovely and adorable as Eloise was awake, it was a relief for her to be asleep. She was a handful. The tea party had begun pleasant enough in the beginning. Adelaide and Mimsy had decorated a little clearing in the garden with all sorts of lace and flower wreaths, and garlands. Eloise, of course, wore the princess dress Flora had given her, and Evan was wearing a pastel green, linen suit which Adelaide was sure either his mother or Eloise had bribed him into wearing.

They dined on various sugary confections with all of Eloise's favorite dolls in attendance, and spoke of important current events, such as the time Eloise's dearest enemy, Bobby Bulstrode, "tooted during painting lessons."

However, after an entire afternoon of entertaining a five year old, Adelaide was close to crashing on a rug herself.

"Why don't the two of you run off and have some time to yourselves," a voice said to her left. "I'll watch out for her until Mrs. Rosier returns."

Now, normally, Adelaide wouldn't have trusted her mother within twelve meters of someone so innocent... but Cathryn hadn't exactly been herself as of late...

"Thanks, Mrs. Fawley!" Evan chirped, grabbing another cucumber sandwich for the journey.

Adelaide didn't say anything, leading Evan out of the drawing room and up the main staircase.

"You're mum's been quite nice, don't you think?" he commented as they passed the second floor landing.

Adelaide wanted to tell him that she was probably being drugged or threatened into acting like a normal human by her father, but chose to simply hum in response. Evan didn't keep secrets well.

"Is this the way to the library?" he asked as she led him down the third floor, past a large painting of a snow white horse, galloping through a wooded path.

"Nope." She passed two doors and then breathed a breath of relief, flinging the door open and practically leaping onto her fluffy lavender bed. "Ah... Perfect..."

Evan stood awkwardly at the doorway. "Come on in, Ev. I'm too tired to prank you."

"But... Are you sure your parents won't be cross with you having a boy in here... alone? It seems a bit improper, don't you think?"

Adelaide groaned, propping herself up on her elbows. "Evan, even they know that the only boy I'd ever be in danger of doing 'improper' things with would be Sirius. Stop being a weirdo and come in."

Evan frowned at her insult, but did as he was told, cautiously shutting the door behind him.

The poor bloke still looked horribly out of place shuffling to her vanity. He stared at the framed photo of her and Mary giggling and she wondered how things were between the two of them. Mary refused to tell her anything in her letters and there hadn't been much opportunity to bombard Evan with questions with Eloise always lurking about.

"Merlin's knickers, is this— is this the diadem? From the mean lady in the portrait?"

Adelaide crawled across to the foot of the bed to get a better look at what he was talking about. Roesia's emerald diadem glittered atop her jewelry box. She'd been debating on wearing it that morning. "Oh, yeah. Meant to put it up earlier."

Evan was still in raptures over the little piece of history.

"Did you ever figure it out?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"The secret riddle, from the lady in the painting," he said, turning to face her. "I thought with the book you'd have puzzled it out ages ago."

Adelaide gazed at her messy desk, scribbled notes scattered atop. "Yeah... about that... I may have misplaced the dictionary..."

"Sorry, you what?"

Adelaide cringed. "I'm going to find it—it's—it's probably stuck in a couch cushion or something. I thought Mimsy had moved it but she said she didn't remember putting it away—"

"So you lost it?"

"Misplaced, Evan. Misplaced. It's in the library, somewhere." She quickly explained the evening she'd misplaced it and how she had managed to decode some of it, but how very busy she'd been with the internship, falling asleep early every evening, and how it had slipped to the back burner of her priorities.

Evan ran his hands through his hair, still staring at the diadem. "Did you try asking the portrait?"

"You mean grumpy Roesia? No, why would I?"

"Well, she was there too, in a fashion. She might at least give you a clue where it went."

That thought hadn't actually occurred to her.

"She only talks gibberish, Ev..."

"But you don't need her to tell where it is... only lead you in the right direction."

He had a point. Roesia could answer yes or no questions (only at the cost of Adelaide's patience). "Okay. Okay, fine. I'll ask her later—"

"Why not now?"

Adelaide had the sudden desire to throw a pillow at his stupid happy face. "Because I'm tired and grumpy and have eaten nothing but tea and sugar since breakfast."

"But Addy... if we found it... you could have the whole thing solved before the weekend was over..." Evan got a far away look in his eyes. "An ancient riddle ready to be deciphered..."

Again, he made an excellent point... and maybe with him there it'd be easier to search...

Evan made the single most pitiful face she'd ever seen him make, an unfamiliar spark of mischief in his blue green eyes.

"Fine! Fine, you win, you big nerd!"

Damn riddle better be worth it.

*

While Adelaide and Evan went in search of Roesia and the missing dictionary, Sirius and Lily crept out of the storage cupboard.

"This way," Sirius said, ushering her forward toward the tile barrier.

"Uh... Sirius?" Lily said, rooting her feet in the ground. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Now, a rational, reasonable wizard might have simply explained that there was a hidden corridor concealed behind a clever cloaking charm. But Sirius Orion Black III lacked rational and reason on the best of circumstances and was in no mood to explain his first run in with the stupid wall, which was why he simply grabbed Lily by the arms and frog marched her into the barrier, ignoring her protests.

Her eyes were still squeezed shut when they reached the other side.

"It's over now, Lilith. You can stop freaking out."

"My name isn't—" Lily peaked open one eye, then another, then began walking around in circles, not unlike Wallace did when he was confused. "I— We— where are we?"

"Five feet away from where we were and ages away from where we should be, now come on."

"Wait—But—How—"

Sirius groaned and threw his head back in exasperation. "Secret barrier, Evans. Like at the train."

"How'd you even find this?"

"I guess you could say I stumbled upon it," Sirius said, already headed down the corridor. "I think it's some sort of containment unit—"

"Lycanthropic Quarantine," Lily stated.

Sirius turned around. Her gaze was set to something just above his head. She pointed at it. "That's what it says."

Sure enough, a large sign in the same big, bold, blood red lettering as were on the doors were the words:

ALEXEI LEVSKI LYCANTHROPIC QUARANTINE WING

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

It was sickening enough to think that they had one newly turned werewolf hidden away in here...to think that there was a whole wing devoted to that sort of thing?

What did Olalla's parents think of this? Did they even know this is what it was like for their daughter?

"Sirius, do you— do you hear something?"

Sirius shook himself out of his thoughts, looking around. "What?"

Lily chewed on the nail of her pinky. Gross. "You got all quiet. I thought you heard Smethwick again."

"Oh, no... I just missed the sign the first time. This way."

As they continued down he corridor the cries he'd heard before became more prominent, though it was more subdued. But it was worse than the first time. The first time he could still convince himself that it was all a big misunderstanding. Now, all he could see was Olalla's terrified little face.

When they reached the door Lily froze.

Sirius gripped the teddy bear tighter. He was such an idiot. How could he think that giving her a stuffed animal would make things better? What was he even supposed to say? 'Sorry some random werewolf, who may or may not have been a kind gentleman named Doug, bit your arm off. Here have a teddy? Fun fact: you know the guy who may have attacked you? Yeah, his favorite candy is Ice Mice. Don't you feel loads better now, kid?'

Her sobs got louder and Sirius ran a hand through his hair, cursing. "So effing stupid..."

"It's the little girl, isn't it?" Lily's voice shook, but she held her composure well. "The one the aurors were talking about. The one they think Doug attacked..."

Sirius nodded. He wanted to run away again. He didn't want to see her. Didn't want to see her crying. Shit, just hearing her was too much. "They didn't give her a teddy... I thought— I thought it would cheer her up. It's ridiculous, I know—"

"No," Lily said at once. "It's not."

If she was lying, she was doing a damn good job of it. "How do we get the door open?"

Sirius took out his wand. "Alohamora!"

Lily's hands clasped over her ears and they rushed in, all but slamming the door behind them.

The shackles on Olalla's arm rattled as she began screaming at them, beside herself with anger or fear.

Sirius once again stumbled back, useless.

Lily yanked the teddy bear out of his grip and hustled to Olalla's side. "Shh... Shh... We're not here to hurt you—"

"I WANT MY MUMMY! I WANT MY MUMMY AND MY DADDY!" she shrieked.

"Look at the bear? Don't you like Mr. Bear?"

"NO!" Olalla whacked the stuffed animal clean out of Lily's hands and across the room. "GO AWAY! I W-WANT MUMMY AND DADDY!"

"It's from them—" Sirius said without thinking, per usual. Lily gave him a desperate look. He wasn't sure if he should shut up or keep going. Olalla stared at him with giant brown eyes. "The bear is from them," he said, clearing his throat and fetching the teddy from under a stool. "Your mummy and daddy really, really wanted to see you but the healers said they couldn't or else you— you might get sick. But they knew you'd be scared so they told me to give you Mr. Bear."

"R-really?"

"Mhm..." Sirius carefully switched places with Lily, tucking the bear under Olalla's good arm. "They said, that whenever you're scared or sad, you just hug Mr. Bear and he'll keep you safe."

Olalla stared at Sirius, a giant tear drop falling as she blinked, then, she squeezed the bear as tight as she possibly could.

"Olalla," Lily said. "That's your name, right?"

Olalla was still strangling the bear. "It's O-lie-ya."

"Oh," Lily cleared her throat. "Olalla, are you in any pain?"

The little girl shook her head, dark curls falling over her face. "No. I want to go home."

"What's your home like?" Sirius asked when Lily didn't say anything.

"Its a house," Olalla told him as if he was an idiot. Of course it was an effing house.

Lily stifled a snort.

"What does it look like? What kinds of things do you like to do?"

The little girl beat the hair away from her face. "It's pretty and there's gnomes— and Mummy makes them hats then Daddy throws them really, really far because they eat all our pumpkins and floaty plums and I paint with my bestest friend when her mummy comes over to see my mummy— sometimes Bobby comes over too, but he's mean and says our paintings look stupid. But— but last time he tooted and it was— it was funny."

Olalla was smiling now.

And Sirius had run out of conversation starters. Did little kids like quidditch? Candy. Kids like candy, don't they?

"What kinds of games do you and your best friend play together?" Lily asked.

"Oh, we play dress up and tea party and dollies and Princess— Did you know she met a princess? A real one!"

The more they talked to Olalla (discussing her favorite games, books, candies, etc), the calmer she became, until her tears were completely replaced by giggles as Sirius made 'Mr. Bear' talk and hop around using his best 'Dorris' voice.

"You're nice green people," Olalla decided, hugging the bear, her chained clinking against the bed frame. "I didn't like the other ones."

Lily's eyes met Sirius's. Merlin, he hoped Smethwick hadn't talked to her.

"Why not?" Lily asked calmly. "Did they— did they hurt you?"

Olalla shook her head, then started poking at Mr. Bear's eyes. "They were scary— not nice— the doggy hurt me. He was really mean."

Shit.

"The doggy?" Sirius asked.

She nodded, thumb digging the bear's nose into it's squishy skull. "Ally's turtle was having a sleep over in our pond and I went to give it a carrot...and... and the grey doggy hurt me."

"Did your mummy and daddy find you? Did they save you from the doggy?" Lily asked. She sound so bloody conversational. As if talking about ones trauma was a totally normal pastime.

Olalla shook her head vigorously, then nodded, then shook her head again. "They— they took me to the green people— but the white doggy saved me."

Sirius blinked. "The what now?"

"The white doggy saved me," she repeated, resuming her work at poking at the bear's eyes. "Daddy said so..."

"Did— did you tell the green people that the white doggy saved you?" asked Lily.

Olalla shook her head once again. "No. They weren't nice like you." She stuck the bear in Sirius's face. "Can you make Mr. Bear talk funny again?"

Sirius, being the professional intern he was, made Mr. Bear talk funny again... and again... and again... until Lily finally told Olalla she needed to take a nap.

Olalla agreed.

*

Sirius and Lily didn't say a word to one another until they were safely back on the other side of the barrier and even then, it was too much to process.

"We should clean the storage closet," Lily decided. "Before Smethwick comes to check on you."

Sirius still wasn't in the mood to clean, especially not now.

All he could think about was Doug.

Doug had to be the wolf that saved her. He just had to be. And if he was the one that saved her, that meant the aurors were going after the wrong wizard. Whoever attacked her was still out there. The one that deserved to be punished was just going free.

But even that didn't sit well with him because, how did they know the wolf that attacked her did it on purpose? What if it was an accident? What if they were just in the area at the wrong time or aiming for the turtle? What if the werewolf didn't even know that they did? What it was someone normal? Someone good? What if it was someone like Moony?

Sirius wanted justice and mercy all at the same time and it was pulling him apart.

He yanked the clunky wooden door open, expecting to blow up a few more dust bunnies— but there were none.

There was no dust, anywhere.

No dust, no dirt, no shattered glass, no clutter...

It was—

"Spotless..." Lily breathed, gazing in wonder. Even the vials shone. "It's absolutely spotless..."

"Bloody hell..." Had house elves come in and done the work for him? Had Smethwick sent another intern to make a point? Were the doxies in the radiator of the cleaning variety? "How in the world..."

"Sirius, is this yours?" She lifted a book from where it rested upon an upside down bucket. It was brand new, navy blue with a big red beating human heart on the cover which read, 'Hairy Snout, Human Heart, written by: Anonymous'. She flipped open the front cover, then passed it to him.

Written inside was the following:

Consider this a "Thank You" for everything you did for me, kid.

"That sneaky git..." Sirius laughed. "Doug, he... he..."

Sirius's stomach dropped and he ran out the door, Lily hollering behind him. "Where are you going?!"

But he didn't stop. He sprinted, faster and harder than he'd ever run in his life, narrowly dodging an unoccupied wheel chair and hurtling over some unidentified sludge until he reached room 174.

The bed was made, blue blanket folded neatly at the end, cabinet door shut properly.

Empty.

"Doug?" he tried. "Oi, Dougie?"

Silence.

"If you're looking for that handsome purple chap, he left ages ago."

Still panting, Sirius turned on his heel. It was the old woman across the hall.

Of course he was too late. With as much time as they spent consoling Olalla, Doug was probably huddled up in a cell in Azkaban by that point... So stupid...

"Oh," Sirius mumbled intelligently.

"Caused a delicious commotion," she added, flipping through another one of her naughty novels. "That pompous turd of a healer was all out of sorts when he saw he was gone... the aurors too."

Sirius was just picking his jaw up off the floor when Lily came bolting up behind him. "Sirius! What— in the name of—"

"Wait, so the aurors didn't arrest him?"

The old woman readjusted a gaudy, topaz encrusted cockroach broach on her hospital robes. "I'm sure they wanted to, but no."

*

"She's gone?" Adelaide stared, mouth agape at the portrait hanging above the library mantle. The intricate frame was golden under a weathered layer of dust, the background image of the woodland scenery on full display. Roesia, however, was no where to be found. "How the hell can she just be gone?"

At her side, Evan scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe she was tired of sticking around? You know, one time the portraits at my house all disappeared—turned out they were all have a big party in this painting we have of some dragons playing parcheesi."

Adelaide flopped backwards onto the sofa, rubbing her hands over her face. It would probably mess up her make up, but she didn't care. There were tons of paintings hung up around the manor. It would take ages to check every bedroom, parlor, and corridor—not to mention all the others stored away in the attic and cellar. "I don't understand why she would choose now to leave," she said. "And where would she even go? Her favorite pastimes are napping and making people feel inferior. She doesn't need a dragon parcheesi board to do that."

Evan sat beside her, picking up a few throw pillows then putting them back in place. "Well, we could still look around... We still might find the book without her..."

Adelaide was sick and tired of hearing about that damn book. She looked up, staring daggers into the stupid painting. "Even if I did find it—which, let's be honest, Evan. I didn't misplace the damn thing, I lost it—I can't translate anything without her to help me. It's useless."

Evan's brows scrunched together, foot bouncing as he looked around the library. "Have you ever looked at the portraits in Dumbledore's office?"

"What?"

"The portraits in Dumbledore's office. Sometimes they disappear too... but it's because they have a twin in another place. When I accidentally turned all my toenails hairy my first year he sent Walter Aragon to my mum's office at the publishing house."

"How'd you turn your toenails hairy?"

"I was trying to cut them. I'm not very good at charms."

Adelaide snorted. He wasn't very good at charms, nevertheless, he did have a point. "But Roesia doesn't have a twin painting."

Evan checked under a cushion. "Not one that you know of... Wasn't she involved in some convention—"

"International Warlock Convention of 1289."

"Yeah, that. Maybe there's a twin at the ministry?"

Adelaide watched a snowy white horse gallop in the scenic distance of Roesia's empty frame. Even if Evan was right and she was accosting some unsuspecting ministry worker with middle-English insults, something still didn't sit right.

First the dictionary disappears without a trace then, Roesia, the only possible witness, just so happens to go missing?

The door to the library creaked open and Eloise came zooming in, giggling with a toy crown falling off her head, followed soon after by Mrs. Rosier and Crazy Cathryn.

While Eloise bounced onto the couch bombarding them with questions ("where's the unicorn books?" "Evvie, do you think my tiara is pretty?" "I saw a dead bug on the floor. I named him Cedric Buggington the second."), a horrible thought dawned upon Adelaide.

Cathryn chattered away, as normal as could be... but Adelaide knew something was off. Cathryn had secrets. Adelaide had seen the hidden alcove of her mother's parlor, she'd seen the shelves of memories stashed away in glowing vials (not that she knew what they were at the time).

And now her mother, the mad woman who tortured her, was suddenly the picture of civility and hospitality? Now the woman who had criticized every facet of her appearance for years was suddenly just fine with the fact that she had freckles on her nose and ate second helpings of every supper?

Something wasn't right.

As she continued her conversation with Mrs. Rosier over some happening at the office Mrs. Rosier worked at, Cathryn's hawklike, hazel green eyes flickered around the library. They lingered on the portrait.

What had her father said? That either Mimsy or her mother must have brought the blanket. Mimsy would never lie... but Cathryn? The woman obliviated and tortured her own child, refused to even acknowledge the existence of the other. It wasn't a far leap to start stealing.

But if Cathryn did steal the dictionary, if she did banish Roesia, was it because she knew Adelaide was decoding the riddle?

Was there something in the riddle she didn't want Adelaide to know about?