All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Thump, thump, thump.
Go away. Not getting up. The gentle patter of rain outside was relaxing, making it all the less likely that he would get out of bed and answer the door. He snuggled down deeper under the warm duvet and let his mind drift into that blissful half-awake, half-asleep stupor.
Thump, thump, thump.
Louder. As his sleep-fuzzed brain regained its grip on consciousness, he began to realise that whoever was knocking was probably not enjoying the rain as much as he was.
THUMP, THUMP!
"Mmmm, coming," he mumbled incoherently, clumsily dragging himself out of bed and making his way slowly to the front door. He flinched as he turned on the hall light, the brightness stabbing painfully at his sleepy eyes.
Squinting, he unlocked the door and peered out into the dark rain, shivering as a blast of cold air hit him. He could see the lonely little road that ran past his house, the distant lights from the nearest city dotting the horizon with tiny pinpricks of light. He watched as flurries of leaves were blown over his front lawn, twirling and dancing in the wind like frenzied ice-dancers. But no one was there. He frowned. Suddenly something extremely cold, wet and furry brushed up against his leg, making him jump. He looked down in time to see a large black dog disappear into the living room.
Padfoot? He quickly re-locked the door and walked into the living room to see a tall, thin man standing in front of a suddenly roaring fire, shivering. Remus stood and gaped gormlessly for a moment or two and tried to collect his thoughts, earning a wry smile from the man in his front room. He gave himself a mental shake. "Sirius?"
Sirius nodded. "Remus. It's good to see you again." He looked closely at Remus, as though suspecting that the feeling wasn't mutual.
"What -- I mean ... why ...?" Get a grip.
"Dumbledore sent me."
Remus nodded dumbly. It had been about a year since he had last seen his old friend, and the circumstances had not exactly been ideal for catching up. If you have kept your head, he told himself bitterly for what seemed like the millionth time, that wouldn't matter now, though, would it? He took in Sirius' haggard appearance. He was still painfully thin. Remembering his manners, he dragged Sirius through to the kitchen. "You look starved. What do you want to eat? I have soup, or --"
"Soup's fine," Sirius interrupted, sitting down at the old wooden table. "Just whatever you have."
Remus busied himself making soup and toast.
"This is a nice house," Sirius commented, sounded slightly nervous. Remus realised his welcome had been less than warm.
Feeling guilty, he nodded, offering a tired smile. "Yes, I have a job at the moment so I'm not doing too badly as far as money is concerned."
Sirius looked pleased. "Where?"
"An apothecary a bit down the road. Even better, the woman who owns it knows about my lycanthropy and she doesn't care. It pays well. I think she does it more because she enjoys it than because she needs the money."
"Moony, that's great!"
"I suppose it is," he said, smiling at the old nickname. He was incredibly grateful to old Mrs Summers for hiring him even knowing about his condition, and he was very fond of her and his job, but he had loved teaching and felt that his knowledge could be put to better use.
"I've got a lot to tell you," said Sirius after a pause.
"Go on."
"Well, the short version is that Voldemort is back, thanks to our old friend. That's the main reason I'm here."
Remus' head jerked up. Voldemort back? All of a sudden a million questions formed in his mind, along with a rush of whirling emotions. He stared at Sirius, trying to make sense of what he had just said and settled on, "How?"
"Pettigrew," Sirius spat. "He helped regenerate him. He's back."
Remus put a bowl of soup and some toast down in front of Sirius. "But ... how?"
Sirius told him about the Triwizard Tournament as he ate, from suspicious beginning to tragic end. "And that's why I'm here," he concluded. "I've been to everyone else already, so, well...Dumbledore said ... I mean, if it's okay with you ... that I ... er ..."
"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want," Remus said, correctly interpreting his friend's sudden unease. "It'll be nice to have the company." He shook his head and gazed out the window into the night. "I can't believe Harry managed to escape. And poor Cedric. His parents must be beside themselves. He was a great kid; really bright. What a waste ..."
Sirius sighed. "All of the houses were pretty upset about it, not just Hufflepuff. He was pretty popular. And Dumbledore told the kids exactly how he died. Said something about the truth being preferable to lies, according to Harry's letters. He's right, of course, but I doubt many parents will be happy about it. And Fudge is making things difficult."
"Well, he'll have to admit to the truth sooner or later. He's going to have an interesting time trying to explain away Death Eater attacks if he doesn't."
Sirius nodded mutely. It struck Remus anew how much older Sirius looked. Although his old friend had filled out a bit since they last saw each other, traces of the old Sirius were almost gone, hidden beneath a starved, gaunt mask. His thin body was still trembling with the cold and his hair hung lank and lifeless over his face as he stared morosely into his empty soup bowl. Remus' mind drifted into the now all too familiar train of thought that always began with his wondering why they couldn't have spotted that Peter had turned against them. How could they have been so blind? They had been constantly on their guard, regarding everyone they didn't know with a certain amount of suspicion, working non-stop to try to clear up in the wake of the almost daily Death Eater attacks and hide them from the Muggles. And yet, they had failed to spot that one of their own had betrayed them all. Little Peter. A coward and a murderer. And to kill a child. Because that's all Cedric really was. He hadn't even left school, probably had little if any idea of some of the horrors that existed outside of Hogwarts' protective walls ...
Sirius broke the silence. "We'll have to meet up with the rest of the Order at some point; try to come up with some sort of defensive plan that won't attract the Ministry's attention."
"Fine. Do they all know about you, then?"
"Some, not all. I thought old Gus might kick up a bit of a fuss, but he seemed really pleased. He hasn't changed much. Arabella Figg was stuffing food in my face the whole time I was there. When the hell did she get all those cats? The little cretins kept mistaking me for some sort of scratching post." He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a criss-crossing pattern of thin red scratches. Remus chuckled. "Everyone was okay. Dumbledore owled them all to tell them I was coming. Molly Weasley knows as well."
"Good. Come through to the living room. It's warmer in there."
They settled down in front of the cheerfully crackling fire. A thought struck Remus as he stared into it. "Where did you get the wand?" he asked.
Sirius grinned. "Well, let's just say I may have ... borrowed it from someone ..."
"Sirius!"
"He was drunk and he tried to kick me! As Padfoot, I mean. It's his own fault he's now wandless."
Remus sighed, smiling at the image of the big black dog running off with some bloke's wand.
"So, Prof ... what was it like having free access to the staff room at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, a mischievous grin spread over his face, taking years off it.
Remus laughed. "Believe it or not, Padfoot, I had better things to do than put itching powder in Severus's chair."
"What could be better than that? He lost you your job. Harry told me."
"Well ... it was for the best," Remus said uncomfortably. He almost had himself convinced.
"Not for the kids, it wasn't. Harry said you were everyone's favourite teacher and the only DADA teacher they'd had who knew his stuff. You're a good teacher. Christ, you even managed to teach Harry to conjure a Patronus, and that Patronus saved quite a few lives, mine included. They were all really sorry to see you go." He grinned again. "Mr. Popular, eh?"
Remus, slightly embarrassed, said nothing. He would have loved to have stayed, but it just wasn't an option. He could have killed James' son that night. James and Lily's son. He could never have forgiven himself if he had harmed anyone, and the only way to be sure that he wouldn't was to stay well away.
Sirius seemed to pick up on his change of mood. "One mistake. Harry told me about the Wolfsbane Potion. Anyone would have forgotten under the circumstances, and it all worked out okay."
"Not for you, it didn't," Remus reminded him lightly.
"I'm hanging in there," Sirius said, with a ghost of the old cocky Sirius Black grin. "Anyway, I'm safe at the moment. With the Ministry trying to cover up Voldemort's return, the heat's been taken off me a bit."
"That's something, at least."
"So does the potion really work?"
Remus nodded, sipping his tea. "It's amazing. It's probably a bit like the Animagus transformation, only a bit more ... painful. I could think completely clearly so just went to sleep in my office until the next day."
"But I suppose Snape had to make it for you?"
Remus grinned. He had been slightly ashamed that he had had felt a small, childish satisfaction when he realised that Dumbledore was making Severus make the potion for him. It was obvious that Snape was more than a bit afraid of him, but his pride forced him to disguise it as disgust and hatred. Which, he reminded himself, was probably also pretty close to the truth. "Yep. He hated every minute of it, but he didn't really have a choice."
Sirius's laugh turned into a huge yawn. Remus saw that his eyelids were drooping. He stood up and extinguished the fire. "Come on, I'll show you your room."
Sirius followed him down the hall to the spare room. He looked around appreciatively. "Very nice, Moony. Beats the floor of a cave, at any rate."
"I'd certainly hope so. Goodnight, Padfoot."
"Goodnight, Moony."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Sirius woke up to bright sunlight streaming through a large window on the wall opposite his bed. He stretched luxuriously and yawned, shielding his eyes. If he had had a nightmare last night it must have been fairly tame because he couldn't remember it and he hadn't woken up during the night. It had been the first night in God knew how long that he hadn't slept as a dog. He hadn't been brave enough until now. The Dementors came back to him in his dreams, forcing the guilt and grief back down upon him in sickening waves. He knew he was innocent most of the time, but when the Dementors got too close, things got confused. Suddenly he was a murderer. A cold-blooded, evil man who killed his best friends and orphaned their baby son ... he killed Peter, left Moony to deal with his difficult life alone ... but then it would shift. He believed Remus to be capable of killing two of his best friends ... he had been to stupid, too cowardly to be the Secret Keeper ..."Well, Snapey, if you're that desperate to know, who am I to keep it from you, you slimy bastard? Just push the knot on the base of the Whomping Willow and take a look ..." ... "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?" ... "The evidence speaks for itself, Black. You are hereby sentenced to like imprisonment in Azkaban, never to be free again, and there may you rot ... there may you rot ... THERE MAY YOU ROT ..." Sirius sat up abruptly, rubbing his eyes vigorously, as though trying to wipe away the awful thoughts and memories. Don't dwell on it, Black, he told himself fiercely, it's over.
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He was glad to be at Moony's. His friend's calm demeanour always made him feel like things would be okay. Sirius looked around the room and smiled in spite of himself, feeling very happy for Remus that he had a job that was allowing him to live properly. He remembered back...before...that he went through jobs like most people went through clean underwear, because of bigoted idiots who couldn't see past his disease. With another yawn he got up, padded over to the door and went down the hall to where he remembered the kitchen to be.
Remus was sitting at the table, reading the Daily Prophet. He looked up. "Afternoon, Padfoot."
Sirius plonked himself down the chair opposite his friend. "Afternoon?"
Remus nodded. "It's half past two. Sleep well?"
"Like a log. It was the best night's sleep I've had in years."
"Hungry?"
"Yeah, a bit. Can I get a bath first, though? I feel horrible." His hair felt matted and greasy, he felt grubby all over and he desperately needed to shave. He certainly looked the part of the insane escaped Azkabanian.
"Of course. The bathroom's at the end of the hall."
Sirius stayed in the bath for well over an hour, scrubbing. One of the things that reminded him most forcefully that he was an escaped convict was that he rarely had any time, or place, for that matter, to wash. He spent much of his time feeling dirty and disgusting. Once he was satisfied, having scrubbed his skin red, shaved and hacked a few inches from the bottom of his newly clean hair, he got out and dried himself with a large blue towel. He cast a critical look at his torn robes, which were lying in an unsightly heap on the floor. Upon opening the bathroom door, however, he was pleased to see that Remus had left a clean set just outside. They were slate grey and new, by the looks of things.
Feeling happier and more like his old self than he had in months, he made his way back to the kitchen. Remus wasn't there, but Sirius heard voices coming from the living room. He stopped dead, barely resisting the urge to panic and run away, and transformed into his large, fuzzy alter-ego. Peering cautiously around the door, he was relieved to see Albus Dumbledore's head in the fire, talking to Remus. Sirius changed again and walked in. Albus smiled when he saw him. "Ah, Sirius. You're looking well."
"Thank you, Headmaster. I feel well." Better, anyway.
"I was just telling Remus here that the Order will be having a meeting tomorrow at noon. You could come in your Animagus form if you like, as Remus' pet dog."
Sirius cast an amused look at Remus, who was smiling slightly mischievously. If he thinks he's getting me into a collar and leash he can think again. "Of course."
"Excellent. I have something in mind for you two but I'll explain all tomorrow. I'd best be off now. I have a meeting with Cornelius."
Sirius snorted and muttered, "Good luck."
Dumbledore smiled briefly and was gone.
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