Sirius looked back over his shoulder as Hogwarts became smaller and smaller. Buckbeak continued to fly away, putting distance between themselves and the dementors. He steered the hippogriff north, thinking that going into the less populated parts of the country would be a good place to lay low for now. They continued to fly for an hour, when Sirius spotted secluded, heavily wooded area.

"Down there," He said, pointing Buckbeak towards the hidden area.

Buckbeak circled the area twice, eyeing the clearing as he did. They landed, and Sirius dismounted, looking around warily as he did.

He grabbed the rope around the hippogriff's neck and led him to the mouth of the cave, tying him to a small stalagmite and scratched him on the top of the head.

"You're a good boy, you can rest right now… It will probably be dawn soon… I'm going to see if I can't find some food somewhere," He said to the beast as he began to walk out of the cave and changed into his anamagus form. As he did, he saw a flash of white and red out of the corner of his eye. He thought it looked like a snake, but dismissed it as he followed his nose on the trail to food.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A little while latter, Sirius returned with two large ferrets in his mouth. He came into the cave and gave one to Buckbeak and went over on his own and began to eat his. Buckbeak gladly accepted the offering and began to tear into the animals fur with his sharp beak, gingerly tearing himself little strips of meat, and finished his meal as the sun was beginning to creep over the horizon.

Sirius finished his and morphed back into his human form and went over to where Buckbeak was starting to settle down for some sleep. He bowed to Buckbeak. Buckbeak gave a curt nod as Sirius asked, "May I use you as a pillow?"

In response, Buckbeak lifted a wing and allowed Sirius to curl up under his wing, and drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sirius! No, it's a trap! They're using me to get to Harry!" He looked into her eyes as Pettigrew applied pressure against her neck with the dagger in his gloved right hand. A hand that should have only had only four fingers, but instead, had the normal five. He took a step closer to them as a trickle of blood dripped down her neck, her eyes tearing up in pain.

"Sirius! Go! I can handle myself! They can't afford to kill me! Trust me! Run!" She screamed as more blood began to flow from beneath the blade.

"But, Asy…"

"Sirius run you bloody idiot!" She cut him off.

He turned to run, but stopped cold, and turned back again to see her being dragged into the mansion.

"Sirius! Go tell Dumbledore!" She managed to scream before they disappeared into the door.

"Asy…" His voice trailed off as he turned and ran. He didn't know if he could stand handle losing someone else to him. He couldn't help but think that Peter had a personal mission to take everything he'd ever loved from him.

He reached the edge of the graveyard and turned into his anamagus form as he continued to run and jumped over the fence.

He looked down the road and skidded to a halt when he saw the dementor floating down the center of the street right towards him. He turned and began to run the other way and stopped as more dementors were coming from the other direction.

He looked back and fourth between the two groups of dementors bearing down on him. Looking along the rows of houses in front of him and saw a small alleyway between two of them and decided to make his move just as one of the dementors was coming up on him.

He ran between the houses as fast as he could go, trying to put as much distance between himself and the dementors.

I've got to get out of this place! He thought to himself, trying to think were the best way to get to Hogwarts. If I could just find a wizard's house! He thought as the idea of the Floo network popped into his head. He started to look for any signs of any wizarding inhabitants, while trying to stay ahead of the dementors.

There has to be at least an old witch in this town! He began to panic, as he suddenly saw a small little house, the family's ghoul popping its head out the top of the chimney. Realizing it had been sighted, it popped its head back into the house, but it was enough for Sirius.

He jumped over the properties stone fence and circled the house, searching for a way in. As if on cue, the ghoul's head appeared again at a cracked window on the side of the house.

Sirius began desperately pawing at the window till it eased open enough that he could fit into the house.

He quietly entered the house and looked up at the ghoul, who was covering his eyes and pointing at a small jar on the mantle.

It's almost too continent. But I've got to take the chance for Asy. He turned back into his human form and carefully reached into the jar and grabbed enough floo powder to open a doorway to the network. He threw it on the dying flame and the fire flared up and turned green, meaning it had worked. He looked over and saw that the ghoul still had its hand over its face, but was looking out through a spilt pair of fingers.

"Thank you." He whispered to the ghoul as he looked back at the flame. "Three-Broomsticks." He said as he jumped and turned back into a dog just before he entered the fire.

Everything went black as he phased through into the network.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sirius woke with a start as he realized where he was, and that it had all been one of his dreams. He relaxed and leaned back on Buckbeak again. He calmly looked around and saw a white and red ball in one of the more hidden areas of the cave.

He quietly stood up, and cautiously walked over to get a closer look. He got within arms length of it when he realized that it was a snake, as it's head lifted up out of the center of its coils. Somehow it's dark, liquid eyes seemed familiar.

The snake hissed at him as he quickly reached out and grabbed it by the neck.

He stood up and carried the struggling animal more into the light. The coloring came out more clearly. The stripes which ran down the length of the snakes back was a reddish brown on a snow white body. He looked into its eyes, which he could see were brown. A very familiar shade of chocolate brown.

It couldn't be. He thought as he looked at the now almost limp snake in his hands. He looked over his shoulder at Buckbeak and had an idea.

"Hey Bucky… are you still hungry?" He said and watched the snake as it hissed and began to writhe in his hand again, as if to protest.

"You have till the count of three, or I feed you to the hippogriff." He said to the snake as he loosened his grip slightly to allow for it to change into a human.

"One…" He began.

"Two…" Suddenly he felt the snake's neck start to grow larger, as the snake's body began to grow appendages and take a human form.

"Knew you'd listen to reason." Sirius growled as she finished her transformation, and he slammed her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her lungs. All he saw was the black and red colors of her robes, and the badge over her heart, the badge that read auror.

He looked her in the eyes, and tightened his grip on her neck. He needed to keep the upper hand.

It was her again, the one who had been haunting his dreams for the past two years. And now she was here in front of him. And she was an auror. He felt a mixture of hatred at what she was, and lust for whom she was welling up in his throat.

"Sirius… please… you're hurting me." She pleaded as her body began to go limp from lack of air. She was on the verge of passing out.

He loosened his grip enough to allow her to breath, but kept her back pressed up against the cave wall.

"Give me your wand." He demanded. She reached for her wand and handed it to him. She looked at him like she wanted to say something but didn't.

"Come on, say it." Sirius said as he brought his face closer to hers. "I know you want to."

"You're going to let my job get in the way of what your visions are telling you?" She said and she continued to look at him. He continued to stare into her chocolate brown eyes.

He pocketed her wand and brought his face even closer to hers. He felt her soft breathing on his face. She slowly reached her hand up and gently ran her soft hand along his cheekbone.

"I'm not here to harm you."

"In my position, I can't trust many people. So I'm sure you'll understand."

"Understand what?" She replied as he pulled the wand back out and placed a restraining spell on her. "Oh," She said as she slid down the rock wall.

Sirius sat down on the ground next to Buckbeak and examined her wand.

"You let me have your wand pretty quickly. Why?"

"I knew you wouldn't hurt me for one thing." She replied calmly, keeping her eyes on him. "And before you ask, I know you won't kill me because you want to know why I'm in your visions when you sleep."

He looked up at her confused. "But how…"

"I know because I have them too."

"Oh…" He trailed off as he continued to watch her. He regained his composure and continued to question her.

"Why are you following me?"

"I was sent to find you." She replied, her cool steady demeanor staying strong.

"By who?"

"A mutual friend." She said and shifted her attention to the cave opening. "And I believe that he's sent a message for you." She said as an owl came in to the cave mouth and landed in front of Sirius. It presented its leg for him to remove the note tied around its leg.

Sirius looked at the owl suspiciously and stood up. He walked over to her and removed her binds.

"Get the note." He told her. She sat up and called for the owl to come over to her. It hopped over to her and presented its leg. She untied it and the owl hopped back out of the cave and flew off. He looked back over at her.

"Read it!" He barked and pointed her wand back at her. She opened the piece of parchment, and looked over it.

"Well?" He demanded standing over her. She looked up at him and smirked and began to hand him the note.

"It's from Dumbledore." He took the parchment and looked at it,

Sirius,
I have taken the luxury of arranging a safe place away from the country for you to hide and recuperate at until the time comes when you are needed again. I have also taken the time to contact Miss Icefilter, a very capable young woman from the Ministry, who has her own reasons for keeping you hidden from the dementors. She also has given me some information, which does not back up your story entirely, but it does lend some validity to the things you have told me.
I now leave you in Miss Icefilter's capable hands to be lead to safety by her.
I trust you to lay low for right now, and accept Miss Icefilter's help and hospitality.
Respectfully,
Professor Albus Dumbledore

Sirius looked back up at her and handed her the wand back.

"What's your first name?" he asked as he extended his hand out to her. She took his hand and got to her feet. She began to brush her robes off and placed her returned wand back in her robes. He grabbed her and hungrily kissed her.

She began to struggle, but relented. He broke the kiss and ran his hand across her cheek. "I've been wanting to do that for almost three years."

"Asphodel," she responded as she pulled herself out of his arms. "But everyone calls me Asy," She moved to the mouth of the cave and looked around.

"There's a floo point not that far from here… It's how I got to this area in the first place. It's also the safest way to get to my family's property," She looked into the sky and turned back into the cave. "We leave after nightfall; if you have any business to take care of, do it now," she continued as she walked over to Buckbeak and bowed. The beast nodded its head in reply and she gently patted him on the head.

"Do you have any parchment and something to write with?" Sirius asked her as she began to unbutton the outer portion of her robes.

"Yes, I do," she said as reached into a hidden pocket and gave him a few pieces of parchment and red fountain pen, and gave them to him. "Is there anything else I can get for you?" she asked as she unfastened the leather jacket that had been under her wizarding robes, revealing a black halter.

"You wouldn't happen to have two owls, would you?" he asked as he leaned downward and began to write. "Dear Harry…"

"Give me an hour," she said and left the cave, jogging.

He looked at Buckbeak and shrugged and went back to his letter.

"I hope this finds you before…" he continued until he finished the letter. He then smiled and thought of something that would really make Harry feel better.

He began to write on a second piece of parchment.

"I, Sirius Black,…" he wrote out the permission form, and hoped that Dumbledore would accept it and allow Harry to visit Hogsmeade.

A Short while later, Asy came back with two owls, one and adult and the other a very hyperactive ball of feathers, obviously a juvenile.

"The full-sized one is one from Hogwarts. He was on his way back from delivering a message. The small one is a wild one that wants to become a message owl."

"Would he also like to become someone's pet?" He eyed the owl suspiciously.

Asy looked at the small owl happily hooting and flapping around her head.

"I honestly don't think he'll mind," she responded, as Sirius added something else to the longer of the two parchments.

"Are you going to give him to your godson?" she quizzically asked him as he folded the parchment and pulled a string from his frayed robes, and tied it to the little owl's leg. He stood up and released the owl, which excitedly hooted and flew off to the South.

"Well, he seems eager to do his job," he concluded as he turned back as sat down to write another note.

"And it's not being given to Harry, but his friend Ron."

She responded with a look of understanding on her face. "The red headed one then?"

"Yeah. How…"

"I was Head Girl Harry's first year," she said matter-of-factly.

"I see. The year your mother was given the kiss?"

"Yes." There was a tone of bitterness in her voice.

He finished the second note and attached it to the second owl's leg and it flew away and disappeared into the approaching evening.

"I have one more thing I need to do before we leave. That way the dementors are no longer crawling all over Hogwarts," he said as he watched the sun sink beyond the horizon.

"You want to be seen by Muggles, don't you?" She walked up next to him and looked at him disapprovingly.

"I can't let you. It's too dangerous!" she protested. He was just trying to figure out why he even cared that she didn't agree.

"It's the best way I can repay Dumbledore," he said, as he began to walk out of the cave.

"Sirius. I don't agree with the idea, but somehow I don't think I'll be able to change your mind. But hear me out on this. Come with Buckbeak and me to the floo point, and we'll wait for your there. But please, don't be gone too long," she asked him pleadingly.

He looked at her and reached for her and brought her close to him, wrapping his arms around her, smelling the sweet smells of her hair. He kissed her again.

She began to struggle, but again, relaxed in his arms and let him go with his emotions. Every so often he felt her trying to push him away from her, but every time he tried to pull away, she would wrap her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him.

He broke the embrace and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"We need to get going. We don't have that much time." She broke away from him and grabbed her jacket and robes and put them back on, fastening them as she began to head out of cave.

"I'll keep watch."

"I have a better idea…" Sirius broke in with a mischievous smile. Asy furrowed her brow and looked at him suspiciously. "How good are you at Transfiguration?"

"I wasn't the best in the class, but I was in the top five," she replied. "Why?"

"Want to take me and Buckbeak for a walk?"

She looked at him like he should have been in St. Mungo's. Now she was confused, judging by the look on her face.

"Sirius, by the way…" she trailed off. "Do you still have the necklace?"

Sirius reached down the front of his robes and pulled the chain of the necklace into view.

"What necklace?" He replied, as he turned to head out of the cave. She silently followed him.