CHAPTER SEVEN: INTERROGATIONS

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," said Icarus.

Sirius had opened his mouth, about to say something, but stopped, confused.

Icarus went and flung himself on the sofa, wincing as a wire poked him in the shoulder. He flicked his wand at the fireplace and it roared to life.

"I shouldn't even be surprised, with my luck," he muttered to himself.

"I - what?" said Sirius, his voice hoarse. He stepped towards the fire slightly and Icarus noticed he didn't have a wand.

"I suppose you were expecting I'd run off to get a dementor?" asked Icarus, "No thanks. I prefer to be as far away from those as possible. Besides..."

He met Sirius' curious black eyes.

"If you were going to kill me, you would've done it already."

"So...you're not going to turn me in?" asked Sirius.

"I didn't say that," said Icarus.

"You're not making any sense."

"I'm drunk. Give me a minute."

Sirius seemed to be searching for an appropriate response to the situation but Icarus simply rubbed the sides of his head, trying to clear his mind a little.

He reached over to pick up one of the newspapers and read the front page quickly.

"You can sit down, y'know," he said, noticing that Sirius was still standing, "warm yourself up. You look like you're getting sick."

"Thank you," said Sirius, still confused. He sat down on the floor, close to the floor.

Icarus read the paper for a couple more minutes before closing it.

"I've heard you're after Harry," he said, "why?"

Sirius stared at him, his gaunt face looking worse in the light of the fire.

"I take whatever people say with a grain of salt," Icarus explained, "besides, if you wanted to kill Harry, you could've done it before now."

"Well, you're not wrong," said Sirius, standing up. Icarus flinched.

Sirius moved slowly, picking out one of the papers and handing it to him. Icarus took it and saw a picture of the Weasley family in Egypt. They waved up at him happily and he frowned.

"You're after the Weasleys?" he asked, confused.

"No," said Sirius, "the rat."

"...The rat?"

Icarus didn't much like rats either, but it seemed like an awful lot of trouble to go through to get to one.

"I didn't kill those people twelve years ago," said Sirius, "he did."

Icarus looked at Sirius in disbelief and the man rolled his eyes.

"He's an animagus."

"Oh," said Icarus, "he's a rat? Ew."

He put the paper down and fiddled a little with his wand, before putting it away.

"You took that...well," said Sirius.

"I have no reason to not believe you," said Icarus in response, "I also have no reason to believe you."

He looked outside the window to see that it had started to get dark.

"How did you get past the dementors?" he asked.

"Animal's have less of an emotional capacity than humans," said Sirius, shrugging, "so dementors can't tell they're there."

Icarus stared at him.

"That's genius," he said.

"Not really -"

Icarus stood up to leave, then stopped at the door. He closed his eyes, frustrated, as Sirius' stomach growled.

"Dammit," he muttered, before opening his bag and emptying it of food. He kept only the things he was going to give as Christmas gifts.

"Here," he said, planting it on the table in front of Sirius, "there's a cave east of here - in the mountains. Take shelter there. The dementors won't search this place for longer than a week."

Sirius stopped mid-chew of a Pumpkin Pasty.

"And make sure to make that last!" Icarus called as he ran down the stairs.

He pulled the wood away, shoved his bag through and shifted - only shifting back to replace the wood - before running back to Hogwarts.

. . .

He arrived at Hogwarts and shifted back just before he reached the entrance hall. From the noise, he could tell that everyone was at dinner and he slipped past the Great Hall like a ghost.

He went down the stairs and was just about to enter the common room when he heard a cold voice behind him.

His shoulders slumped and he turned around.

"Where the hell have you been?" said Snape, pale with fury.

Icarus had expected this.

"Malfoy was panicking when he came back and came straight to tell me that you'd rushed out of the Three Broomsticks - after knocking over the Minister of Magic, mind -"

"That's who that was?"

"- And you obviously just got back, so I'd like to know where the fuck you think-"

"I was held up," said Icarus.

Snape raised his eyebrows.

"Held up?" he asked "By what?"

"Sirius Black."

The silence that fell between them was long and tense.

"Sirius Black?" choked Snape, now pale with a different emotion.

Icarus nodded.

Then he found himself being dragged through the dark corridors until they reached Professor McGonagall's office. Snape had barely knocked before he entered, pulling Icarus inside with him.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge were sat talking around the fire.

"Ah," said Dumbledore, "so Severus finally managed to find you. Good, good."

"There's been another sighting of Black," said Snape.

The minister choked on his goblet of water and Dumbledore's expression turned grave. Professor McGonagall bolted from her chair and guided Icarus to an empty one before summoning a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits.

Icarus briefly thought that he'd never love another Scot more than her.

"Where?" asked Dumbledore, as the minister recovered.

"Near the Shrieking Shack," said Icarus, "after I left the Three Broomsticks."

"Did he - did he see you?" asked Fudge.

Icarus nodded, taking a sip of the tea and putting it down.

"How did you get away? Did he say anything? What-"

"Cornelius," said Dumbledore, his eyes flashing, "we won't know anything if you don't let him speak."

"He didn't say anything," said Icarus, trying to hide his hand in his sleeve. It had started shaking again. "He saw me and ran."

"He ran?" asked Fudge.

"Well, I had a wand and he didn't so -"

"Then why didn't you catch him?"

Snape made a sound that was close to a snarl and both Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall looked at the minister in disbelief.

"Why didn't I -" said Icarus, feeling his heart beginning to race, "that's not my job, Minister. I-"

He faltered and closed his eyes, trying to stop the panic attack.

"Icarus?" asked Professor McGonagall, "Are you alright?"

Breathe, he thought to himself, breathe. He opened his eyes and forced a weak smile on his face.

"I'll be fine," he said, "I just forgot my-"

And it hit him with the force of a bullet. He curled in on himself, trembling.

"Poor boy," he heard Fudge say, "I suppose it must've been quite a shock -"

"Not now, Cornelius," said Dumbledore.

"Icarus?" said Snape, kneeling in front of him and opening a flask, "Icarus, drink this quickly."

Icarus took the flask with a shaking hand and swallowed the calming draught. He pulled himself together and sat up.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"How long?" asked Dumbledore, as Snape stood back up.

"Since summer."

Professor McGonagall looked at Snape, worried. He grimaced.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude...but we really must get back to the issue at hand...he saw Black, the Ministry needs to-"

"Our students safety is our topmost priority," interrupted Dumbledore coldly, "I suggest you give him a moment to recover himself before you start interrogating him again, Cornelius."

"Besides," said Icarus, causing them to look at him in surprise, "there's nothing more to tell."

"Well, how did he get past the dementors?" asked Fudge, "It's been dark for hours already-"

"I got back before it got dark, Minister," said Icarus.

"So why didn't you come straight to inform us -"

"It must've been a shock, Minister," said Professor McGonagall angrily, "he did run into a mass murderer, after all."

"Nevertheless-"

"Go to bed, Icarus," said Dumbledore.

Both Icarus and Fudge stared at him in surprise.

"You've had a long day," he said, "go and rest. I'll speak to the dementors immediately and inform them of you're sighting."

"Thank you, Professor," said Icarus, standing up.

"Now, really, Dumbledore, I must protest-" he heard the minister say as he left, followed closely by Snape.

They walked for a while in silence.

"I'm glad you're safe," said Snape suddenly, causing Icarus to jump.

"Yeah," he said, after a moment, "me too."

He didn't get to sleep until dawn and woke only two hours after, screaming.

. . .