Sirius Trouble
By: Bethany and Fleur
Rated: PG
Chapter 3 - No unpunished good deeds
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"Do you reckon," Ron began, giving Harry and Hermione a sideways glance, "Mum will let us go to Diagon Alley this year?" The three were sitting on a brick wall that separated the garden from the rest of the yard surrounding the Burrow. The sky was overcast, threatening rain at any moment. It had been a week since his birthday, and still Harry couldn't quite get the image of his mother out of his head. He idly swung his feet, glancing out over the rolling fields of green grass and shrugged. "Why shouldn't she?" Ron raised an eyebrow, much in the same fashion Hermione did when she thought the answer should be practically dancing in front of them. "Well, with You-Know-Who back to power and everything, and Sirius' warning about sticking close to Mum, I figured..." "Ron's right, Harry," Hermione said, though she looked as disappointed as Harry felt. It seemed a little too early to be getting cabin fever, but all three of them longed to get away from the Burrow, even for one day. Harry found himself wanting to be back at the school, even though he loved Ron's family. He needed that feeling of having his own mind and he lacked that here, when every time he turned around one of the Weasleys were checking up on him. Harry opened his mouth to say something when a movement caught his eye. Glancing up, he saw Hedwig soaring towards the three. Gracefully she landed next to Harry, a disgruntled look on her face. She poked her leg out, indicating for Harry to take the letter from her. "Must be from Sirius," Harry said as he undid the parchment. The handwriting on the parchment told a different story, though. He unrolled it, and sure enough, it was the same letter that he had sent to with Hedwig just after his birthday. He flipped it over several times, looking for anything Sirius wrote back, but there was nothing. "Couldn't you find him?" he asked Hedwig. The owl only stared back at him indignantly. "What's the matter?" Hermione asked, leaning over to get a better view of the parchment. Upon realizing that it was the same letter Harry had sent out, she raised her eyebrows. "But Hedwig has never failed to deliver a letter, has she?" "No," Harry mumbled, his eyes darkened in worry. Something wasn't right. Sirius always, no matter how short the letter, wrote him back. Harry jumped down off the wall, Hermione and Ron following suite. The three practically ran back into the house and up the stairs to Ron's room, ignoring Ginny as they passed. "Well, isn't that nice?" she said sarcastically. "Sorry Gin!" Hermione called back down the stairs. Harry slung open his trunk and shuffled around for parchment and a quill. Finding some, he wrote a hasty note to Remus Lupin, asking the whereabouts of Sirius. "Hedwig, are you up for another journey?" he asked his owl who had flown to the open bedroom window. Instead of sticking her leg out, she went over to the water bowl to take a drink. Harry waited patiently for her to finish. When she settled herself on the perch, Harry raised his eyebrow. "I guess I could send Pig..." Almost instantly Hedwig stuck her leg out, and Harry could have swore she was giving Ron's owl a dirty look. Harry tied the parchment to her leg and ran his hand down her back. "Thanks Hedwig." Hedwig snipped his finger affectionately and took off out the open window once again. Even though Hedwig was once again heading towards where Sirius should be, Harry didn't feel better. In fact, since he had opened the parchment minutes before, he felt like someone had dropped a load of iron in his stomach. His mind was abuzz with thoughts of bad things, such as Sirius getting caught, taken back to Azkaban, or given the Kiss. "Hey!" Ron said with forced brightness, giving a go at distraction. "I think Mum said something about cooking some cakes, wanna go see if we can snatch some before super?" Harry nodded, though he really didn't feel like eating. However, he could tell that Ron and Hermione were as nervous as he was. He prodded down the stairs behind them and into the kitchen where Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet and Mrs. Weasley was flipping through a cook book with one hand while aiming her wand at the mixing bowl beside her. "Hey Mum, could we have som-" Ron stopped short, his eyes growing wide. Hermione, who was standing just beside him, followed his gaze to land on the paper Arthur Weasley was reading. Mr. Weasley slammed the paper face down on the table as Harry came around, giving a curious glance at Ron and Hermione. "Hey kids," he said with forced brightness, trying his best to hide the paper from Harry's searching gaze. "Did that just say what I think it said?" Ron walked over to his father, an odd look in his gaze. "Ron, I think it best you don't read this." Mr. Weasley looked torn. On the one hand he knew his son and his friends deserved the information he, as well as the rest of the wizarding world, now knew. The other hand was that of a parent who didn't want to see any of his children--and indeed, Harry and Hermione were just as much a part of his flock as any other--get hurt. It was Harry who made him hand over the paper. The boy just stared at Mr. Weasley with a knowing look in his eye, and ever so slowly, Arthur handed him the paper. Hermione took the paper from Harry, and in a shaky voice began to read: Sirius Black: Murderer Once More By Lucinda Kent It was with a sad heart that this reporter witnessed first hand horrible destruction wrought by none other than the infamous Sirius Black. Yesterday evening, at nine o'clock in the evening, the Dark Mark hovered over a small country cottage, surrounded by marigolds and lilies. However, inside what should have been a safe haven, the body of Richard Marsley (34), and his wife Abigail (30) lay dead beside the body of their four year old, Emily Marsley. The crime was linked to Black when an eyewitness spotted him at the Godric's Hollow Cemetery, where the bodies of none other than James and Lily Potter lay buried, only forty-five minutes beforehand. "I heard a horrible scream, and then a figure ran into the house. I tried to go there myself, but it was too late. By the time I got there…they were…" Winifred Lakely, a neighbor of the victims, reports. The cemetery, which was only half of a mile from the crime scene, was not harmed by Black, but this brings no comfort to the grieving friends and family of the Marsleys. Prime Minister Fudge has promised to do all in his power to apprehend the criminal, however, the people of Britain can only hope that he makes better on this promise than he did two years ago. Rumors have arisen that, in fact, the murder was not by the hand of Black, but by You-Know-Who himself, a prospect that has stricken fear into the hearts of many. Services will be held at… Harry let out a breath he'd been holding, realizing that he had stopped breathing some time ago. "Oh my God..." Hermione had her hand to her mouth and was looking horror stricken, whether because of the accusations placed upon Sirius or the awful story she had read, Harry did not know. "Sirius didn't do this!" Harry said, defending his godfather. "We know that, you git. Nobody ever doubted that, it's just... well, this is the first child he's killed all summer." Ron kept staring at the picture of the Dark Mark that was hovering in the picturesque night sky. Nobody realized Ginny was in the room until her voice broke through silence, commenting, "It seems the Death Eaters have abandoned any humanity they gained in You-Kn- Voldemort's," Ginny corrected, "absence." "Don't say his name!" Arthur Weasley sighed and stood up. "Don't correct your sister, Ron. If she's brave enough to say it, nobody should stop her." Ron nodded, resigned. "But what about Sirius... if they catch him he's worse than dead." Hermione put her hand on Harry's shoulder, who hadn't said anything since his original outburst. "He was at their graves... he must have seen the Dark Mark and ran in to fight them," Harry whispered. "What if they captured him, what if-" "Stop it, Harry! Don't even talk like that, Sirius if fine ." Ginny had taken over stirring the bowl for her mother, who was sitting down on a spare chair, hands massaging her temples. "Ginny's right, Harry. Just because you didn't get a letter back, that doesn't make anything for certain. Perhaps Sirius is hiding, and he just didn't want anybody to intercept Hedwig's flight." Hermione tried to comfort her friend. "Or perhaps he's captured, and we are sitting around doing nothing," Harry retorted, his eyes wide in exclamation. "There's nothing you can do, Harry," Mr. Weasley suddenly said in a stern voice that Harry had never heard him use before. "I know what you're thinking, and it won't happen. Sirius is a fully grown wizard and can take care of himself. He brought you here so you would be safe, and I intend to keep you that way." Harry opened his mouth to reply but Ron jabbed him in his side. The words died on his lips, but they weren't cast from his head as quickly. Harry nodded and walked out of the room, climbing the staircase two at a time. Ron, throwing a helpless look towards Hermione, followed at his heels. Harry got off his Firebolt and sat down on the ground, resting his arms on his bent knees. He had taken off out Ron's window, letting no one know where he was headed; One rule broken. He was at least a mile away from the Burrow; Two rules broken. And he had snapped at Ginny, and while he wasn't sure about his feelings towards her, he couldn't help but notice the flash of pain that crossed her features. It just wasn't his day. "Why is my life such a bloody mess?" he mumbled to himself. When one is sitting in the middle of a dense patch of trees, presumably alone, you hardly expect an answer. So when a voice said, "Tell me about it," Harry started almost violently. "How'd you know where I was?" Harry asked, looking up at Ron as he made his way through the bushes that surrounded the little area Harry sat in. Ron had to literally crouch down to get past a couple of low branches. He shrugged, sitting next to Harry. "I know you." "You'd be safer if you didn't." "You make my life interesting." "And possibly shorter," Harry pointed out angrily. "We're all going to die one day." Harry doubted Ron would be this smooth if he wasn't sitting in the sunshine, in no present danger. Had they been in the forbidden forest, chasing (or running from, whatever the case may be)giant spiders, Ron may have had something different to say. "Whatever," Harry mumbled in response, picking up a twig and breaking it in half. "Look what it's done to Sirius. He would be on some tropical island right now..." Ron gave him a stern side-ways glance. "Right. I can't see him not fighting You-Know-Who, Harry. Didn't he fight him to begin with?" "And Cedric--" Harry pushed the name from his lips, though it hurt badly. "Look what knowing me got him. Can't you see? That's what is going to happen to you and Hermione..." "It could happen anyways, Harry," another voice injected into the conversation. Hermione had obviously followed the broken twigs though the brush to get to them, for she came out exactly where Ron had. "I'm certainly not going to sit around doing nothing while he takes over. And I know Ron isn't, so that makes us his enemies." She flopped down on the grass on Harry's other side. "You can't tell me that you haven't been in more danger--" Harry began, but Ron cut him off short. "Stop being dense, Harry." Hermione nodded. "We're not going anywhere. Friends don't do that." Silence followed her statement, since Harry really didn't know what to say to that. He felt warm inside, knowing he had such good friends, but that warmth was sitting right alongside fear. Fear that their very lives were in danger. Like Sirius... that thought wasn't any better than the last. "I hope he's ok." Neither Ron or Hermione asked who he was talking about, both already knew. They also knew that it was his worry for his Godfather that was making Harry so irritable. "I got an idea," Hermione suddenly said, throwing down the twig she had in her hand. "Well, tell us already," Ron urged. "We could write to Dumbledore, I'm sure he knows where Sirius is!" "Hermione," Harry said in an exasperated tone. "We can't just go running to the Headmaster of Hogwarts every time we have a little problem. I'm sure he's plenty busy with Voldemort coming back." "Don't say his name," Ron said automatically. "Voldemort! Voldemort! Voldemort!" Harry repeated, jumping to his feet. "I've meet him and I'm going to call him by his proper name! All this 'You-Know-Who' stuff, it's stupid!" "Yeah?" Ron said, also rising to his feet. Hermione's eyes were wide. "Well, some of us grew up scared of him! Are still scared of him!" "Me too!" Harry said, equally as loud as Ron. "But you hear me saying his name!" "Big deal!" Ron replied hotly. "If you're going to be my friend, you'll probably meet him face to face! How can you have the courage to do that when you don't even have the courage to say his name properly?!" All the while Hermione stood aside, saying nothing, but watching with nervous eyes. Every time one of them spoke, the other grew louder. Any minute she expected one of them to hex the other, underage wizard or not. "REALLY?" Ron screamed, his fists clinched at his sides, his face in Harry's. "REALLY!" Harry screamed back. "VOLDEMORT! THERE! SEE?!" Ron suddenly stepped back, his eyes wide and the tips of his ears as red as his hair. Harry's mouth was open, and moving, but no sound was coming out. Hermione stared. And then suddenly both Ron and Harry burst out laughing. They laughed so hard that they were nearly doubled over, clutching their sides. "You... bloody... git..." Harry gasped, wiping a tear from his eye. "You... too..." Ron replied, trying to compose himself. He slapped Harry on the back, jerking his head towards the house. "I'm hungry, you want something to eat?" "Sure," Harry replied, grabbing his Firebolt and putting it over his shoulder. They started through the woods, Hermione following them. "Sure glad we got that cleared up," she mumbled, shaking her head. Remus Lupin slowly descended the stairs to his small two story cottage and headed for the kitchen. It was a pointless task, but as it was habit, he opened the door to the fridge. Just like every other time he had opened it this week, it was empty save for half a bottle of soured milk, a bowl of dried potatoes that had started shrinking in proportion and mustard. Remus closed the door, opened it again, and noted with a strange smile that the contents had not changed. He ran his hand through his graying brown hair and sighed, looking around. Sirius didn't tend to leave much in the way of food around. He also wasn't much for cleaning, Remus noted, flicking his wand in the direction of the sink and causing the dishes to start cleaning themselves. Speaking of Sirius, Remus noted that the giant black dog wasn't sprawled in front of the fireplace as per normal. The door that lead from the kitchen to the yard in back was unlocked, and Remus assumed he was feeding Buckbeak. What, he wasn't sure, as Remus himself sure couldn't find anything edible. A large brown owl pecked on the door window, his talons around a copy of the Daily Prophet. Remus opened the door, giving a glance around outside as the owl came in to deposit the paper. Remus put the proper amount of bronze knuts in the sack attached to it's leg and watched it fly off again, noting that the backyard seemed empty. How strange. Again, brushing it off, Remus made himself a cup of tea and sat down in one of the worn kitchen chairs. He brought the cup up to his lips as he opened the Daily Prophet, but never got the first sip. Instead there was a tinkling of breaking china as he stared at the headline. "Sirius Black: Murder Once More," Remus read aloud, just to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Plastered across the front page was a picture of the dark mark hanging in the sky. There was a trickle of dread that shot down Remus' spine as he stood up abruptly. Where the *hell* was Sirius, anyway? Remus hurried to the back of the house, looking in the shed he used once a month to transform. Buckbeak was there, and alone. Remus felt his normally calm state leave him. He hurried back in the house, glancing in the living room once more. It was then his acute hearing caught a creak of a floorboard coming from upstairs. Wand drawn, he softly ascended the steps. There was no one in the hall, but Remus was sure he had heard something, and used caution when entering his bedroom. Indeed there was someone there, and Remus nearly breathed a sigh of relief from it. "Sirius, where the hell have you been?" His tall friend no longer wore the same robes he had upon leaving Azkaban, but a slightly worn set that Remus had picked up in a second hand shop just a week earlier. His dark eyes were wild looking as they turned to Remus and his hair looked as if he had ran his fingers threw it in frustration more than once. "We have to get out of here," Sirius said darkly, fingering the wand that Dumbledore had given him for emergencies only. "Now." "What?" Remus replied, confused as Sirius went past him and down the steps. "Sirius, what happened? Did you see the Daily Prophet?" "Unfortunately. It goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished," Sirius mumbled, gathering together the letters he had received from Harry and other belongings that he really didn't need found at Remus' house. "I may have been followed, there's no time to discuss this in dept. Arabella is expecting you." "Arabella?" Remus repeated, going slightly pale. "Arabella Figg?" Sirius, satisfied that he had gathered everything that may be linked back to him, started for the door. "Yes, Arabella Figg. You can Floo to her house. She knows to cut off her house from the network as soon as you arrive. She can explain more when you get there." "Followed?" Remus repeated, ignoring all Sirius said about Arabella Figg. "What are you going on about?" "Just do as I say, please Moony," Sirius said, a little more loudly than he had intended and reverting back to the childhood name. "I've caused you enough problems in the past, I'm trying to stop this one before it starts." "Siru--" Remus stopped, seeing the graveness set in his friends face. "If you need.." "I know." Sirius suddenly pulled Remus into a short hug and then fled out the backdoor towards the shed where Buckbeak was. When he returned Remus had gone, a lingering green fire was still ignited. Sirius pointed his wand at the fireplace, muttered something and there was a loud spark as it was disconnected from the Floo Network. Remus nearly fell out of the fireplace at Arabella Figg's house. He caught his footing, ducked to miss his head connecting with the brick wall and climbed out. There was a distinct smell of boiled cabbage and cats that hit his nose and Remus couldn't ward off the smile that threatened his lips before he caught it. Some memories were better left in the past, he thought as a woman stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. Like Remus, she appeared slightly older than he knew her to be. In fact, he knew she was only thirty-seven years old. She had a few scattered grays in otherwise blonde hair, but was as beautiful as Remus remembered her. Shaking his head slightly to shake away soot from the fire, as well as where his last thought might take him, Remus gave a small smile. "Bella," he greeted. "Remus," she replied, studying him like one might an insect under a magnifying glass. She gave him a strained smile. "You look good." "You look beautiful," he replied automatically before catching himself. He tried to laugh it off. "I guess some things never change?" It was a rhetorical question at best, he hardly had hopes they could carry on a conversation without awkward and emotional tension. After all, they had been engaged. And he had left her. A point that had made it to the top of things in his life he regretted. Right up there with Lily and James. He repressed a shutter, removing his gaze from Arabella to the living room in which he stood. When he found nothing more interesting than muggle photographs of her various cats, his gaze fell once more on her. "Any idea as to what I'm doing here?" he asked. "Not because you wanted to see me, I can assure you," she replied and turned heel. Remus visibly winced. That hurt, bad. In a way it was nice to see she still had retained the same fiery temper she had as a teenager. Remus followed her into the kitchen. Arabella was standing at the sink, pointing her wand at a pile of dishes as she fished through her refrigerator. Good to know that she had more in hers than Remus had in his. Without turning around, she nodded to a table to his left. "Sit down. I'll make you something to eat. Merlin knows you look like you could use it." Remus smiled slightly, and sat as commanded. In three years of dating her and nine years of knowing her, Remus knew better than to open his mouth when she had that commanding tone. A wise man chose his battles carefully, and Remus considered himself somewhat wise. As though why he never came crawling back to her so many years ago--well, we can't all be perfect. In less time that it would have taken for him and Sirius to burn together what resembled food, Arabella had sat a plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and a roll before Remus. He picked up the fork and started to take a bite when he noticed his hand slightly burning. It was a silver fork. He dropped it, instinct fully pulling his hand back and cradling it. It took all he had not to mumble a good "ouch" at the least, and a mild string of profanity for his stupidity, at the most. Arabella snapped her head around, her eyes huge. "Oh Remus, I'm sorry," she mumbled, reaching for the silver fork to throw it in the sink. "I forgot." "It's ok," Remus lied, feeling his heart begin pumping at an abnormal pace as she drew nearer. "I'm fine." She reached for his hand despite his protests and stomped an angry foot when he held his hand from her reach. "Let me see!" she insisted, reaching once more for his injured hand. Reluctantly he allowed her to see. With a flash of her wand, it was healed on the surface and only burned slightly beneath. "Thank you," he mumbled when she didn't let go of his hand. She dropped it, turning on her heel. A second later she returned with a plastic fork and handed it to him. The door bell rang, causing Arabella to look up in alarm. Remus followed her curiously as she went into the living room and looked out the peek hole. Her face lost it's color. "Remus--" she began, but he was a step ahead of her. "Don't worry." He watched as she took a gulp of some potion in a glass near the sink. In seconds he realized it to be Polyjuice potion, the effects now adding about fifty muggle years to her. Surely that would explain the boiled cabbage smell as he entered her house. She grabbed a cane that was leaning against the wall and opened the door slowly, peeking out without fully opening it. "Petunia?" she mumbled. Remus felt his mouth fall open as he stood just on the other side of the wall, listening. Petunia? As in, Petunia Evans, or rather Dursley? Lily's sister? What was she doing here? "Yes, Mrs. Figg. I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but I wondered if I could have a moment?" Arabella seemed lightly agitated by this, but allowed her into the living room anyway. Remus sneaked a peek around the corner and saw indeed it was Lily's sister. She looked as horse faced and bony has she had the last time he had saw her. Arabella followed Petunia in the living room, giving a nervous look around as if looking for Remus. Satisfied when she didn't spot him, she sat across from Petunia. "What brings you here? Do you need me to watch Harry for something?" "Eh-no, actually," Petunia replied, looking more nervous by the moment. "But I did come to talk to you about Harry. He's--he's gone missing," she said, trying to come off as upset. She wasn't making a good show of it. "I wondered if you had seen him?" "Missing?" Arabella repeated, sounding older than he knew her to be. "How long he been gone that you're just now asking about him?" Petunia looked paler still. "A-a day or so." She looked at her clasped hands, swallowing. Remus could practically smell the fear from her. "Actually, Mrs. Figg, it's not exactly like that." "I imagined as much," Arabella replied shortly. "He--he--" And suddenly, and very unexplainably, Petunia burst into tears. She wept for a long while, her hands buried in her face, before looking up at Arabella again. "I'm sorry. But I don't know what to do. If anyone were to ask of him, what can I say? That forsaken godfather of his took him and..." "I doubt very much that Sirius had to force Harry to go, as you suggest, Petunia," Arabella said seriously, her voice sounding much more like her normal self rather than the elderly lady she had fashioned herself to be. "And you can stop worrying about what will happen to you, since I know you're too selfish to care what happens to Harry. I can assure you he is in good hands and no one need come to you about it." Petunia looked like she had just watched someone being sick. Her face had an odd sort of look on it as she stared at Arabella. Remus, no longer believing his presence needed to be hidden, stepped into the living room. He thought the other woman just might faint. "You!" she seethed, getting up abruptly. "It's so nice to see you, too, Petunia," Remus replied, his arms crossed casually over his chest. "It's been what, fourteen years now since Lily's funeral? I had so hoped to never lay eyes on you again." "Wh--What are you doing here?" she asked, looking to Arabella. Remus gave her a second glance as well, for her Polyjuice potion seemed to be wearing off a little prematurely. When her own face stared back at Petunia, the latter screeched like a dying animal. "And... oh my God!" she shrieked, jumping to her feet. "You! I know you!" "You certainly do, love," Arabella said sarcastically. "You should, I spent nearly an entire summer at your house with Lily. Pity some of my more intelligent pranks were so lost on you that you thought I was trying to kill you." She smirked. "Had I wanted to cause you harm, I wouldn't have been so subtle." Remus couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips. "She's right about that." Petunia sank back into the chair, looking no better than having just been hexed. "All these years, we sent Harry over here... and you were friends with..." She stopped, tilting her head and looking curious. "Why didn't you tell him? You had plenty of opportunity." "Tell him what, Petunia? How his parents died? How Voldemort killed them, and then tried to kill him? How he was a wizard? Exactly what would you be referring to?" Remus had the urge to put his arm around Arabella to restrain her, but felt she really needed to get this off her chest. He couldn't imagine what it had been like, seeing her best friend's son for eleven years, and yet not being able to comfort him in the least. Let him know anything about who he was, or what wonderful people his parents had been. It had been hard enough for him just while teaching at Hogwarts for a year. "Everything," Petunia replied. "You knew Lily and whatever it was she done at that place she went to. You knew all about those... bloody mad people!" she spat, standing again. Remus had half a mind to tell Petunia that Arabella, or at least the one he knew, wasn't exactly someone you wanted to get in the face of. Then he thought better of it. Instead he leaned against the wall, watching the scene before him with something akin to amusement. Arabella seemed to swell with anger. "Get out of my house," she whispered, which was nearly as bad as if her voice had shook the walls. Petunia glanced down at the wand in Arabella's hand and fled towards the door. "I hear one more word from your lips, Petunia, about Lily, James, or her son, and I swear to lay the nastiest curse I know on your home." Panic ridden, Petunia took one last look at Remus, then to Arabella, before fleeing down the sidewalk. Remus quietly went to the door, shutting it and placing a locking charm on it before turning around. Arabella was slouched in her chair, her eyes filled to the brim with tears. When she noticed Remus watching her, she tried to smile, but only managed a weak one before her tears spilled forth. "Does it still hurt?" she mumbled, wiping her face. "When you think of them? Like a knife stabbing in your heart?" "Yes," Remus replied quietly, still standing next to the door. Arabella wiped her face, looking at the floor. "I miss Lily everyday. She was the only true friend I ever had. I lost her, and then you, all in the course of a week." Remus flinched noticeably, going over to sit on the couch and stare hard at his hands. She had lost so much, but so had he. He had lost James, Peter and Sirius to Voldemort in one way or another in one fatal night, Lily and then Harry -- he lost a bit of his sanity that week when he watched his best friend lowered into the ground. Never to laugh again, to play pranks, to be the loving husband, perfect father and best friend. He lost Arabella when he lost touch with reality. He fled from her, as he fled from the memories of the life he had and lost so quickly. Only to come full circle, it seemed. "Why Remus?" Arabella suddenly whispered, looking at him through a haze of tear filled red eyes. "Why did you leave?" Remus was saved from answering by the sound of a beak tapping on glass. Both of them looked to the living room window to find a snowy white owl tapping incessantly on the pane. "Hedwig?" Remus mumbled, getting to his feet. "Who?" Arabella asked, also following him as he let the owl in the front door. "Harry's owl," he replied, taking the parchment from Hedwig's leg. She hooted gratefully, landing on the back of the couch and looking exhausted. He unrolled the parchment and read aloud: Remus- Do you know where Sirius is? I sent a letter to him by Hedwig just after my birthday, and she returned it to me a week later. Sirius always writes back, no matter what. I'm afraid something bad as happened. Please tell me he is with you, or at least safe. -Harry Remus re-read the letter to himself, and then glanced at Arabella expectantly. Her hands twisted in a nervous fashion before her as she made her way back to the chair by the fire, sitting down softly. "Bella, what's going on?" Remus asked urgently, but in a soft voice. She shook her head, another tear falling down her face that she wiped at in vain. "It's happening all over again, Remus. All of it. He's... he's getting stronger. There has been killings, muggle disappearances..." "Who followed Sirius?" Remus pressed on. "They did," she whispered, her pale blue eyes finding and holding Remus' gaze. "The Death Eaters, at the Marsley's. He was at Godric Hollow Cemetery and seen the dark mark. I don't know what possessed him to go in, armed with only a wand that doesn't even suite him properly. Merlin, who ever knows what gets into Sirius when he does stupid things? He went in and dueled... barely escaped alive. But he heard them talking before they left, that they knew he'd be at your house." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly. "He Flooed in, told me what happened, and to expect you shortly. That's all I know." Remus sat back, cursing slightly under his breath. What had Sirius been thinking? Does he think? To walk into a house full of Death Eaters and duel? It was stupid ness like that that could get him killed. It was stupid ness like that that had also made him one of the best Aurors the Ministry had fifteen years ago. "What do I tell Harry?" Remus mumbled, more to himself than to Arabella. He watched Arabella stand up, returning to the kitchen where they could still hear the gentle clicking of the dishes in the sink. "It's up to you, Remus. But Harry is fifteen years old now and he's fought Voldemort more than once. I think he deserves the truth." "And if he runs off looking for Sirius?" Remus retorted. "Wouldn't he anyway?" That wasn't exactly the answer Remus had in mind. --End Chapter 3. *takes a vote of how many people have forgotten we are even writing this story and notes that only two people are in the room* Incidently, that is probably Fleur and myself, huh? We are VERY sorry about how long it took to get this chapter out. Really, really! I promise that the next chapter will not take no where near this long. I really hope that maybe more than four people will read it---though we love our four reviews to death! Yes we do! :D (even though that first review was kinda odd...) But none the less ^-^ So what do you all think about the Arabella thing? I had ran across a story that had Remus and Arabella together and I LOVE that story so much! (it's called Pensieve, btw, by Oy Angelina -- very excellant reading!)And then I ran across the theory of the polyjuice potion on Mugglenet.com because they had connected that Arabella's house always spelled like boiled cabbages and then later said that the polyjuice potion spelled like boiled cabbages. Their theory was that Arabella was taking polyjuice potion, and I liked that idea and ran with it. Note, though, that I just told you where I got the idea, and gave Mugglenet.com credit, so don't email me cussing me out. I don't claim rights to it, I just borrowed it. By the way, same thing with Harry Potter and all related characters: Fleur and I do not own, but we borrow, and put a disclaimer here so that we don't get in trouble ^^;; If you read, please direct all thoughts, suggestions and such to the review section for this story by clicking on the drop down box below. The deadline for complicants, flames, gripes or other such musings was yesterday.
