Author's Note: Yes, I promised Chapter Nine on Monday--I'm a horrible person and a champion procrastinator and should never be relied upon.  But I've got a good excuse!  My wonderful laptop went to Petaluma for a week and left me with the non-compatible computer and the keyboard from the seventh ring of Dante's Inferno. 

So here is an interlude, most likely chock full of grammatical errors—but it is what many of you have been waiting for!

Interlude: In Buckbeak's Cave

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself, and curse my fate,

Wishing me like one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

--Sonnet XXIX, William Shakespeare

The gaunt dark-haired man paced the confines of the mountainside cave in which he had taken refuge.  Even after twelve years of captivity in the darkest and most despairing hole known to mankind—or perhaps because of it—he still could not accept inactivity easily.  The newspapers he had managed to scrounge told of disturbing events, signs of rising darkness, and even more alarming, signs of deliberate blindness and indifference.  The Headmaster informed him of other incidents ignored by the wizarding press, and his godson gave him of yet more concerns.

His mind was awhirl with the amount of information that he had gathered since his escape.  Smiling briefly, he pictured the looks of disbelief on the faces of his schoolmates if they could see the amount of depth and dedication he placed in his self-imposed assignment.  His friends knew him better.  When James had conceived the idea to become Animagi to help their friend, it had been he that had kept the four of them on track and who continued doggedly unperturbed when things looked the most hopeless.  Now, events were once again spinning faster and approaching quicker than most people could fathom.  The problem was identifying what was truly important, what was coincidence, and what was just ignorance and foolishness.

Frustrated, he turned around abruptly, almost tripping over the large gray hippogriff curled up asleep in the far corner of the cave. Stumbling back and regaining his balance, he stopped and, closing his eyes, took a deep calming breath.  Staring at the inside of his eyelids for a moment, he decided that his best course of action at the moment would be to enumerate his concerns.  Opening his eyes again, he scanned the cave, his gaze coming to rest upon his stack of pilfered newspapers.  Striding over, he sat down beside them, folded his hands and put them to his lips, attempting to concentrate.

His concerns.  Well, first and foremost, the most obvious, would be his godson--his safety and his happiness.  The lad was truly James' son, a fact that filled the pale man with pride and wonder even as it worried him deeply.  True, he was not as reckless as James was.  He was quieter and more serious, more prone to seeing the effects and consequences of his actions; his life and his losses had forced him to a greater maturity than his father had possessed at the same age.  But in both looks and spirit, the boy was almost wholly James'.  But those brilliant green eyes and his propensity towards caution and self-reliance were hallmarks of his mother.

James and Lily.  At the moments now when he felt the most alone and isolated, when his spirits dragged and his hope diminished, he would think on them—and thank the heavens that he could think of them now.  Two of the dearest, bravest, most kind-hearted and strong people he had ever had the good fortune to know.  Not to say they hadn't had their faults—Lily could be more stubborn that himself at times and James had a streak of mischievous recklessness a mile wide—but even their faults had endeared them to their friends.  And their love and devotion to their son had been all encompassing.  He was their miracle.  In those darkest times they had this one ray of hope, the wonder of a new life. 

He had cried without a trace of embarrassment when James had asked him to be godfather to his unborn child, it was the single happiest moment of his life.  That, and the first time he had held the squirming little bundle in his arms and looked down into Lily's eyes in James' face and known that everything they were suffering through was well worth it.  He remembered the moments of pure joy and warm companionship he had spent with the little family; and he knew that, whatever else happened, whatever else might come, his job was to protect and care for his closest friend's greatest treasure.  Harry had been their only concern. 

And Harry's main concern for him was that he not get himself caught.  He knew the boy thought he was being reckless coming back here and that made him smile grimly.  He knew what reckless was, and this was by far the least reckless thing he'd ever done with his life.  He'd given James and Lily his solemn oath to watch and care for their son if the time ever came when they could not.  And by Merlin, now was that time. 

It had been worrying him this summer, in his hiding place down in the forests of the Ivory Coast.  He felt, even with the letters they were exchanging, that he was too far away from his godson, should he be needed.  And then the signs had begun to occur.  Disappearances.  Signs of dark powers gathering.  When Dumbledore had told him of Sybill's last prophecy, he'd almost torn his small home apart in his anguish.  It was his fault that the rat had escaped.  And it would be his fault if Voldemort regained his power and dominion.  When Harry had written to him of his dream, and the news came of the Dark Mark's appearance at the World Cup, he reached the end of his tether.  He could not sit there in hiding and do nothing.  So he gathered what little he had and he and Buckbeak made their way back north.

It certainly wasn't that he wanted to be captured again.  The feeling that the dementors gave him, their powerful effect on him, he doubted it would ever fully fade.  He'd spent too many years in their malevolent company to ever be entirely free of its influence on his psyche.  He shivered involuntarily.  No, there were very few things he truly feared anymore, but returning to the daily terror of the dementors was one of them.  But he was being careful, only venturing out in Animagus form, scavenging for most of his food rather than stealing it.  It was taking a toll on his health, he knew, but it was worth it to him.

Dumbledore had not been idle either.  Convincing Alastor Moody to come out of retirement to teach had to have been a challenge even for the Headmaster.  The presence of the Tri-Wizard Tournament had complicated matters.  Bringing 'former' Death Eaters directly inside Hogwarts.  The dark-haired man snarled, a viciously dog-like noise.  Dumbledore trusted where many would not, and he himself trusted the Headmaster implicitly, but there were some people whom he would never have confidence in; and two of them were currently physically closer to his godson than he.  There was irony in that.

Just then, three owls—two school screech owls and a tiny little hyperactive one—swooped into his small cave carrying a large ham, a dozen cakes, and some fruit, followed by a small barn owl with a missive.  The three of them must have discovered the entrance to the kitchens, to be sending this much food.  Unloading the burdens of his food deliverers, he sent them off again and turned to the fourth owl. 

The flowing script belonged to the Headmaster.

 Sirius,

We are in need of some face-to-face communication….

Author's Note Part Two (this is becoming a habit, isn't it): I'm Evil, I know.  The next chapter should tell you who was standing on the other side of the door Remus opened last chapter--really!  I just had to get some Siriusness in here grin.