Chapter One
Once There, Now Gone
He turned on his side and saw that she was sleeping peacefully, dreaming
of wonderful things, not a care in the world, a smile playing upon her face. He
smiled, thinking of what she could possibly be dreaming about. He had no doubt
in his mind that it was of their future wedding, as she was always dreaming of
it; he smiled again. Slowly as not to wake her, he slipped out of under the
sheets and off the bed; dressing without a sound, he watched her fondly as he
went about gathering his cloak and wand. Slipping on his boots, he kissed her
forehead lightly and turned silently leaving the room. He was careful to miss
the step that creaks while walking down the stairs to the front door, and then
with a final glance up the stairs towards his bedroom, he departed.
Outside the sky was crystal clear,
exposing the millions of stars that showered the heavens, and the wind was
blowing a gentle breeze, it was the perfect night; he didn't want to go. But he
knew; that for life to go on as it should, he must to force himself to leave
what he had waited so long to have. He walked to the edge of the forest that
surrounding the little cottage that he had learned to call home; and with the
whisper of a single word, and a swish of his cloak, he disappeared.
*
Larissa turned over in her
sleep and reached out a hand to pull Sirius closer but her hand landed on empty
sheets. She awoke with a start, looking around curiosity running through her,
then panic, and then the realization that maybe he just couldn't sleep; she got
up, wrapped a robe around her and made her way downstairs. She hated not
knowing where he was.
There was an eerie silence about the house, she thought as she went down
the steps. Something wasn't right. She
could feel it. The panic began to set in again as she reached the landing, and
went to the kitchen, only to find it empty. She went to the living room, but he
wasn't there; so finally, her hopes of finding him diminishing, she went out on
the front porch. "Sirius!! Where the hell are you?!" she yelled
desperately into the calm night's air.
There was no reply.
She
sat down in the kitchen, he wasn't in there of course, but she needed a coffee,
her nerves were acting up. She didn't know what to do; he had never left
without telling her where he was going, and now all of a sudden he's gone. She knew she
was stupid to think it, but what if he had left her? She tried to put this
thought out of her mind, but it was impossible. She could feel her eyes become
damp. What if something had happen to him? He could be dead, lying in some
gutter down a dark street? She couldn't hold it in anymore, she cried.
She
couldn't let herself breakdown like this, there was no point in it; he wasn't
dead, she told herself, she was going to find him. She got up and got dressed,
with plans to go to Albus Dumbledore. He was, after all, the expert on these
things. She drained the last of her coffee before marching out the door and
apparating.
She
re-appeared in front a large castle, walking through the gates and up the
winding road. Once inside she went straight to Albus Dumbledore's office door,
and knocked. "Hello, Larissa, what a pleasant surprise?" he was dressed in
a white nightgown and a long nightcap, "But I do say your hours are quite
strange for visiting friends." he stopped when he saw the look upon her
face, "What's wrong dear?" he asked.
"He's
gone..." she said with desperation and extreme pain, "Sirius is
gone..." she told him walking into the room.
"Larissa,
what do you mean he is gone?" he asked not understanding.
"He's
gone..." she repeated, sitting in one of the chairs which adorned the
room, then standing again, "He just disappeared," she told the man that
sat in front of her, as she paced the room.
"Now,
now Larissa, I think you're over reacting..." Albus said in a soothing
voice.
"No
I'm not. Something bad has happened to him. I know it. I can feel it. And...
He's gone..." she whispered the last words croakily before she couldn't
hold back her tears, and broke down completely falling in the chair that
appeared magically behind her, "He's gone!! I woke up in the middle of the night
to and he's not there! He has never left without telling me before!! I'm
positive something has happened to him, or... unless he's left me..." she
said sounding very depressed, putting her head in her hands.
He looked at her and said
very calmly, "Oh come now; he wouldn't have left you! And you know
it."
She smiled a little at his
reassuring, but then resumed her saddened face. "But that still
leaves us with the assumption that he has been murdered. And I'm afraid he has!
I got that feeling when you just know something isn't right when I woke up.
Something's happened, I know it has." She said returning to the other
possibility.
"Now don't think that. I'm sure he's all
right. Now, I will look for him in the morning, but I think its time you went
home in case he comes back with a carton of eggs and a milk jug." he
smiled, "It was nice seeing you again Larissa. Try not to worry. I'm sure
he's all right." Larissa smiled as he walked her to the entrance of the
castle, then said goodbye thanking him, and apparated away.
*
Larissa
was trying her hardest to get to sleep, but it was proving to be impossible.
She couldn't sleep without Sirius next to her. She couldn't concentrate
not knowing where he was. With each increasing minute she was getting more
worried and angry. She was worried that something might have happened to him.
She was angry with him because he was gone and she didn't know where he was. Damn him, she thought, if only I didn't care so much, I could
have gotten to sleep by now, and lord knows I'm dead tired; this is entirely
his fault. She knew her thoughts weren't true and that it wasn't really his
fault, but whom else could she blame? The possibility that he could have just
left her, and she was here worrying abut him because of it made her all the
angrier. She gave up. She got up out of the bed and too the kitchen to get
something to eat.
Once she was done getting her cookies and milk she brought
them to the living room and started watching old reruns of 'I Love Lucy'.
4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 had come and
gone. So when Larissa got up off the
couch, the sun was just coming over the horizon, casting a warm through the
windows of the cottage. She pulled off the quilt that had been wrapped around
her; immediately the sense of safety it had provided was washed away, and the
emptiness that was welling up inside of her showed its true colours. She could
scarcely remember the last time she had been away from Sirius this long. She
felt lost without his arms wrapped around her protectively, his soft voice, soothing;
telling her it would be alright; like she was a small child. But she knew that
she had to force herself to go on, what if he needed her? What if he was hurt
and if she didn't find him he would die? She knew she couldn't sit there and
cry, not while there was a chance that he was still out there, she needed to
find him. So with a determination that didn't
match the way she truly felt; she went up stairs and got dressed.
She left for Albus Dumbledore's office, again. She knocked on
his office door, and heard a faint "come in". She opened the door. Albus had
changed from his nightgown and into his wizarding robes by now, his hat upon
his head.
"Hello,
dear." He said, "You look dreadful, have you gotten any sleep at all?" he asked
concerned
"No.
I've been up all night watching old reruns on the telly. He hasn't come back
yet. Have you started looking? Have you found him?" Larissa asked eagerly
"Yes
I have started to look for him, and no I haven't found him." He said sounding
very sorry that he hadn't found Sirius.
"Oh
okay. Well, I'm going to start looking for him. He has to be somewhere." She
said crestfallen.
"All right," He said and he walked her to the
door, opening it for her, "I'm sure he'll turn up. I'll keep looking for him."
"Okay.
Thanks." She said walking out of the castle just as the students began to make
they're way to breakfast.
She
disapparated to Remus's place from the outside the castle gates. She was
determined to find Sirius, no matter what. She knocked on the door of Remus's
small cottage. She heard the sound of feet moving around inside; soon enough
Remus's face appeared in the doorway.
"Larissa,
what a pleasant surprise! Come in, come in!" he said once he had saw who was at
the door. She walked in. Remus's cottage was a small one but cozy; from the
outside it looked like a hut, there was not much to it; but inside it was huge,
there was a spacious living room, with plush furniture and a fireplace that was
blazing in the corner, the two bedrooms that were the upper floor were nicely
decorated with interesting things that he had gathered on his travels.
He
escorted her to the living room and sat in a large plush chair, she followed
suit, sitting across from him, "So Larissa, what brings you to this neck of the
woods?" he asked cheerfully, as he always did.
"Have
you seen Sirius?" she asked eagerly.
"No;
not lately, why?" he asked puzzled, "What's wrong?"
"Sirius
disappeared last night." She told him bluntly.
"He
what?!" Remus looked astounded, and maybe even a little irritated.
"I
said; Sirius disappeared last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and
he was gone. I went straight to Dumbledore. He told me he would search for him
in the morning and that not to worry and that I should go home in case he comes
back. Well, he didn't. So now I'm out looking for him. So you have no idea
where he could possibly be?" she said, her hopes of getting information out of
Remus disappearing.
"Oh
my…. I'm sorry Larissa I have no idea." He said concerned. "I want to help you
search. I'll get my cloak and start right now. He can't have gone far."
"Thanks
a lot Remus, I appreciate it." she said, "I'm going to go home now and owl
Harry, to see if he knows anything."
"Okay. That's a good idea." He
answered walking out the door with her and apparating away.
*
When
Larissa walked into the house it felt like there was a void missing, it was so
quiet; it was so unusual not to hear Sirius walking around, a file in his
hands, trying to concentrate on work; he always failed miserably though. She
shook the memory out of her head, walking to the backdoor where Pickles; the
sooty owl Sirius and her had found on their trip to Australia; was hooting
softly in her cage. Larissa opened her cage, letting her hop onto her shoulder,
nipping at her ear. She then grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and
began her letter.
Dear Harry,
How are you
dear? I hope school is going well for you; you have your NEWTS coming up soon,
don't you? Well I hope you're not studying too hard, it takes the fun out of
everything. Have you done any evil slaying lately? I hope you whip his arse by
the way; he needs to learn that his place in the scheme of things is six feet
under, in a wooden box. But I'm getting carried away with myself here; you know
how to deal with slime like him, so I'll leave it up to you. Sorry if I'm
interrupting your Quidditch practice with this letter, I'll let you go now.
Larissa
P.S. Have you
seen Sirius lately, he seems to have disappeared, and no one know where he is.
If you see him please tell him that I'm worried sick, and that when he gets
home he's in for biggest lecture of his life.
Larissa carefully
rolled up the parchment, tying it to Pickles' leg with a green ribbon, "Get
this to Harry, at Hogwarts." She told the owl, who promptly flew out of the
open window.
*
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall
with Ron and Hermione eating lunch when the black owl flew through the open
window above their heads.
It was Hermione who first noticed it,
"Hey, Harry; isn't that Pickles?" Harry looked up from his soup in the
direction that she was pointing.
"Yeah it is. I wonder what Sirius
wants this time?" With that, Pickles landed on Ron's head, causing him to spit
out his pumpkin juice, all over Seamus who was sitting across from him.
"Thanks Ron, I needed a shower today,"
he said sarcastically, wiping the juice off his face with a napkin.
Ron ignored Seamus' glares, and turned
his attention to the bird perched on his head, "Ger off," he said, shooing
Pickles onto the table, where she began eating his sandwich, 'Does he train her
to annoy me?"
Hermione tried to calm Rom down, "She's
just found of you, she thinks you're sweet."
Ron's ears went pink, "Well someone
tell her that eating my lunch will not get my affection."
Hearing this Pickles snapped at Ron's
fingers and hopped over to Harry, sticking out her leg for him to take the
letter. Harry opened the letter, a smile
appearing on his face as he read the first line, "It's from Larissa." She was
the only one who made him feel like having to destroy the dark lord was no big
deal; but his smile quickly faded into concern as he finished reading.
"That doesn't make sense," Hermione
told Harry after he explained what the letter had said, "Sirius loves her, why
would he just up and leave?"
Ron looked up from Pickles, who was
trying to get her beak in his soup, "maybe he didn't," he shrugged.
"But he's gone," Hermione said like it
was the answer to every question in the world.
Ron shook his head in disbelief, "What
if he was taken; you know, kidnapped."
"But he's an Auror, he wouldn't let
himself be kidnapped, they're trained to avoid things like that," Hermione
tried to reason, but both Harry and Ron were looking sceptical.
"How do you avoid being kidnapped if
someone comes up behind you and knocks you out?" Ron pointed out; and Harry
laughed at the look failure that appeared on Hermione's face.
Harry tuned out the argument that had
erupted between his friends about whether or not Auror's were capable of
overcoming the Stupefying charm; to write back to Larissa.
Dear Lar,
I hope you
aren't going crazy about Sirius' lack of being. I know it's not like him to
just go off like this, but I don't think you should kill yourself over it, like
I know you're doing. We're getting a free weekend, so if you like I'll hop on
the train and come see you.
Harry
P.S. I'm coming, whether you like it or not!!
He
tied the letter around Pickles, who was enjoying Ron's not forgotten soup, and
told her to go to Larissa.
Later that night, while the three of
them were sitting around the fire, doing potions homework; Harry stood and
looked at his watch, then walked out of the common room. Hermione glanced up as
the portrait closed behind him, "Where's Harry going?"
Ron shrugged, "Dunno," then went back
to the long sheet of parchment that lay in front of him, blank.
Hermione rose from her chair, and
walked up to the boys' dorms, to Harry's bed. Opening his trunk she pulled out
the old, yellowing parchment, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," she
muttered and the sheet came to life. She quickly found Harry's dot on the
Marauders map, it was heading for the front entrance, "Mischief managed," the
parchment when blank, and Hermione ran out of the common room.
When she reached the entrance hall
Hermione saw the train pull up, and Harry get on, "Harold James Potter!!! Just
what do you think you're doing?" she yelled at him as he leaned out of the
doorframe. He just shrugged, "Don't you know that if leave school You~Know~Who
is going to be able to attack you!?!?" Again Harry shrugged, and the train
began to move.
"I'll be right back," and the train
rolled out of sight, leaving Hermione standing alone on the platform.
"Humph, one of these days he's going
to get himself killed," she muttered, walking back to the common room.
*
The
train ride was long and boring, but eventually Harry arrived at Godric's
Hollow. He walked up the steps to Larissa and Sirius's cottage, paused for a
minute in thought when he reached the door; then finally, he knocked.
Larissa
appeared at the door. Her normally sparkling blue eyes were dull, and had dark
circles under them; it was obvious she hadn't gotten any sleep. Larissa was a
tall woman, her medium brown hair had blonde highlights that shaped her face;
her thin body was well built, making her quite beautiful. But her eyes were
always the first thing that people noticed they were on most occasions, full of
energy and life. But at the moment she looked dreadful.
"Hello, Harry. It's nice of you to
visit." She smiled, sounding welcome, but unenthusiastic.
"Hello,
Larissa. Thanks for the warm welcome.
Can I come in? I hope you don't mind me saying, but you look dreadful;
you haven't been sleeping, have you?" Harry greeted her somewhat formally.
"Sorry...
Yes you can come in." she said smiling meekishly. She moved aside allowing him to
enter; he passed her and sat down at the kitchen table. She followed suit.
"So what brings you all the way out
here?" she asked cheerfully, Harry could tell it was an act, for the smile did
not reach her eyes.
"I want to know exactly what
happened.' He said bluntly, he knew beating around the bush would do no good.
"Oh," she sounded disappointed, "I
thought that you might have know where he was."
"Well, I might not know where he is,
but if you tell me what happened I may be able to help." He replied, resting a
hand gently on her shoulder trying to comfort her.
"Well; okay, here goes nothing. Where
do you want me to start?" she asked.
"At the beginning, when did he go
missing?" Harry enquired.
"While I was asleep, it was the night
before yesterday." She explained slowly as if trying to find some hidden
message in what she was saying.
"Okay, so start from that night, tell
me what you did?" he told her.
"Well, that day Sirius had taken me
out for a romantic dinner; he was being so sweet. When we were ready to call it
a night, we walked home and," she paused, trying to think of anything she might
have missed, "went to bed." Harry smirked.
"Okay, so then what?" he asked; she
eyed him suspiciously, before continuing on.
"Well, sometime around three in the
morning, I reached out for him in my sleep and he just wasn't there. I woke up
to look for him. I looked in the kitchen; he wasn't there. I looked in the
living room; he wasn't there. I searched the whole house; I even looked outside
and he wasn't there; so I went to Dumbledore immediately." She said as if she
was recalling the memory to herself, trying to make Sirius magically reappear,
and tell her it was all a bad dream.
"Okay, so what do you think happened
to him? You knew him best." He asked her, then immediately wished he hadn't.
"Oh god Harry; anything could have
happened to him! He could have been kidnapped; murdered; he could have left me
for some floozy; he could have just vanished from the face of the earth; Hell,
he could have gone to Venus for all I know!" she said, her eyes getting bright
with tears.
"Shhh," Harry tried calming her,
"It'll be alright, we'll find him."
*
The forest was dark and smelled
strongly of pine; when the dark mark shot out of the trees, clouding the forest
over in a thick green smoke, it sent animals scattering from their homes, the
only being that was in the forest willingly, was Ethan Crabbe.
Crabbe was staring at the lifeless
body of Sirius Black. It was stabbed at least twelve times. The site was
disgusting.
So Crabbe grabbed the dead body around
the waste, not caring if his robes were bloodied, and apparated away to tell
the Dark Lord of his good deeds.
Crabbe walked up to his master,
carrying the body in his arms, smiling behind his mask.
"Here you are master." He said bowing
down and dropping the body at his feet
"What is this?" said Voldemort kicking
the body, looking down upon it
"It is the body of Sirius Black,
master."
"You killed him, did you?" he said,
eyebrows raised that Crabbe, of all people, would kill Sirius Black
"Yes I did, master." He said
"Good work. You shall be rewarded."
"Thank you, master." Said Crabbe
gratefully
*
Dumbledore was sitting
at his desk, filling out some Ministry papers, when there was a "tap tap" on
his window. He looked up. There were 12 owls, flying just outside his window,
carrying probably the largest package Dumbledore has ever seen.
He got up and let the
owls in. They flew through the window
and past him. Immediately they dropped the package and a letter on the floor,
once they did this, they flew back out the window. Dumbledore picked up the
letter, curiously, wondering what on earth this was.
Dear Dumbledore,
I have
a little present for you. I thought you might like it. One of my loyal Death
Eaters gave it to me, and I didn't much care for it, so I thought, Why not give
it to Dumbledore? Here you are. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Lord
Voldemort
He didn't want to, but Dumbledore knew it had to be done;
he walked over to the package and opened it. He gasped and took a step back in
horror. Inside was the body of Sirius Black. He turned from the sight. The stab
wounds that covered the body made nearly unrecognizable; it was a bloody mess.
Dumbledore was beginning to feel nauseous. He closed the parcel back up and
called for McGonagall.
*
Harry and Larissa were sitting in complete silence, both of
them pondering on what their next course of action would be; when Harry broke
the silence.
"Well, I didn't come here for nothing. I'm going out to
look for him," he said grabbing his cloak from the hat rack by the wall.
"All right, I'll get my cloak." She said, awaking from her
zone out.
"No, you're staying here where you can't get yourself
killed," Harry said pointing to her seat.
"Looks who's talking, Mr. I have to kill the Dark Lord
before I can live a normal life," She said putting her finger in Harry's chest
to add more emphasis on her words, "I'm going with you whether you like it or
not!!"
Harry dropped his shoulder in obvious defeat, "Fine, but no
heroic stupid stuff!"
Five minutes
later, Harry and Larissa were in the forest just north of Kent searching for
Sirius, when a woman suddenly apparated in front of them. Larissa jumped.
"Who are you?" Larissa asked in surprise.
"I'm Lindsey Baldwin. I'm a special Auror detective; I used
to work with Sirius. I'm here to give you some bad news," the look on the
woman's face was one that showed that this was no joke.
