"Where am I?" Matt asked his father, Duncan Jarvis, a little angrily as they walked along the dark path.

"You'll see," Duncan said mysteriously.

Matt clenched his teeth. He wasn't in the best of moods. He didn't like being pushed around by anyone, even his own father. And it didn't seem like they were going anywhere particularly appetizing to Matt's stomach or his heart.

"Look, Dad, I don't know where you're taking me, but I'm telling you right now, I don't like it. And I don't do what I don't bloody like. I'm going home." Matt started to move his wand.

Duncan grabbed his hand. "Don't judge so quickly, Matthew." He said quietly. "Besides, I doubt you'd be able to get home from here. This place is heavily guarded."

Matt didn't say anything. He was trying to remember the times when Duncan had been his father.

It was only for around ten years. Voldemort (Matt's mum had taught Matt not to be afraid to say his name) had first rose into power when Matt was seven or so, and Duncan formally announced that he was supporting him three years later. Matt's mother hadn't known that side of his father, or maybe he hadn't always been that way, because she wouldn't have married him otherwise. Anyway, as soon as she could, she took Matt and ran away from Duncan. She'd managed to hide Matt for a long time, and he was safe, but she had to teach him magic herself for fear that Duncan would find Matt at a magic school. She took care of Matt for all those years, even after Voldemort had disappeared courtesy of Harry Potter. Matt could barely even remember any times with his father, much less any pleasant ones.

Matt looked around the dark gloom of the underground path. Remembering those things about his father made it fairly obvious where he was, or at least where he was going. To Voldemort. You-Know-Who. Whatever. The thought didn't really make the situation any better, so Matt just decided to follow Duncan along.  He was right, even if much Matt didn't want to believe it. If he was going to see Voldemort, then there was bound to be guards, may they be human or not. He certainly didn't want to go see Voldemort, but, for the moment, he didn't seem to have a choice.

      Duncan noted his son's silence and accepted it gratefully. He didn't want to hurt Matt, but all the same, he had to get him to support the Dark Lord. He had promised his master another Death Eater so many years ago, yet the promise had not been kept. All because of Chandra. Damn her! Master told me it was wrong to fall in love…I didn't listen. He looked over at Matt, who was following, head down. Oh, well. Maybe it didn't turn out so bad after all…I got a son in the deal…

Matt wished he knew what his father was thinking. He often had that wish, even though he knew it was impossible to ever make true. If only…

"Wait here," Duncan suddenly said. Matt looked up. He couldn't see anything special, but obeyed anyway. Duncan whispered a few evil sounding words and waved his wand three times. Matt watched with interest he vainly tried to hide.

Suddenly, in front of Duncan's feet appeared a large black square. Matt quickly recognized it as a teleport pad. Duncan turned around.

"Matthew, this will bring you to your destination. Step lightly, now," he said, motioning. Matt took a sidelong glance at the pad and quickly decided he didn't like the looks of it. He hesitated, dragging the minutes out and doing exactly the opposite of what his father had asked.

Duncan was not too pleased. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Matt chose his words carefully. "I…I don't think I'm going to like where that will take me, Father."

"You'll never know unless you give it a shot. Who knows? You could absolutely love it," Duncan said evenly.

"That's okay," Matt said, stepping back a little. "I think I'll pass. I—"

It was too late. Duncan pushed Matt onto the pad, and he was gone again.

~ * ~

Arianna opened her eyes the next morning and yawned. Sunshine was drifting in through her window, and birds were chirping. It was going to be a beautiful day. And a Saturday, on top of that, so no work. Arianna smiled to herself and opened the door to the small living room.

Sirius was there, snoring on the couch. Arianna sighed and kicked his outstretched arm. He didn't move. She smiled. See, he's still the same Sirius he was, she said to herself. Nothing to worry about…

She knew that wasn't exactly true, but it was a nice thought. I wonder why he was wondering around the Muggle area, she thought. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter because I can't leave him out there when he's injured like this.

Arianna bustled around her kitchen, using magic here and there to aid her in making breakfast. When she was done, Sirius was stretching on the couch.

"Hey,"

He turned around. " 'Morning. Your couch is very uncomfortable, you know."

Arianna laughed. "Yeah, right. Nice try, Sirius."

Sirius looked a little disappointed, but then he smelled the food. "Ooh…breakfast is ready, isn't it?"

Arianna put the plate with some bacon and eggs down on the table. "Aye, but just for that previous comment of yours, you don't get any."

"What? Oh, give over, that isn't fair. I didn't know my bed would cost me my breakfast!"

Arianna held her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Oh, well," she replied. "You should have thought about that."

"Okay, I'm sorry. Your couch is very comfortable, Arianna. Can I eat now?"

     "I suppose. Go ahead." She said, pushing the plate towards him. He got up with some difficulty and sat down at the table. The food was gone in a matter of a few minutes. Arianna raised her eyebrows. That's right, she said to herself. He probably hasn't had very good food lately.

Sirius looked a little wistful. "Er, Ari, would you mind…?"

"Making more? Uh, huh, okay." Arianna turned and walked back into the kitchen.

" Thanks. I haven't ate real food since Harry and his friends brought me some," Sirius said, loud enough for Arianna to hear in the kitchen. 

"When was the last time you saw Harry?" Arianna asked, heating the bacon up while wondering about her brother's godson.

"Actually, it was only about a fortnight ago. Lately, I've been keeping a low profile. You know, wondering around as a dog. Pretending to be a lovable stray." Arianna smiled slightly at that. "They started the Triwizard Tournament again this year, you know."

"Really?" Arianna asked. She'd never experienced one, of course, since they stopped holding them a long time ago, but she had read about them in books.

"Aye. With Durmstrang and Beaxbatons, like usual. Except this year there were four champions instead of three."

Arianna frowned. "Why was that?" She asked, bringing the food she had made out.

Sirius' mouth twitched a little. "Well…someone cocked up the Goblet of Fire. And so, after all the other champions' names came out, Harry's did." He started eating again, talking in between mouthfuls. 

"Harry?" Arianna dropped her napkin in surprise.

"Yup."

"But...isn't he too young? He can't be more than fifteen!"

"He isn't. That was the mystery of the thing." Suddenly, Sirius smiled. "And he ended up winning, too. I swear, that boy's as brilliant as James was, if not more."

Arianna noticed the wistful tone in her brother's voice. He misses James. He couldn't have…

Don't start that again, she said to herself. "How did it all turn out?"

Sirius considered the question. "I'll spare you the details. You remember old Barty Crouch?"

Arianna 's lip curled unconsciously but she just nodded in response.  She remembered all too well the gruff man who had refused to give Sirius a proper trial before shipping him off to Azkaban. 

"Well, it turns out his son, you know, the one they put in Azkaban with me, didn't really die in there. I'll explain later, but anyway, he's been alive this whole time, and waiting to find Voldemort again. He put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire so he could lead Harry to danger in the end. And it worked. But Harry escaped again. There was one casualty, though. The other Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, died."

Arianna winced. " Death Eaters are merciless," she said, watching him carefully to see his reaction to her comment. Sirius looked like he couldn't agree more. He could still be acting, Arianna reminded herself.

"There's something I have to tell you, Arianna. Something that's way more important than anything else I've said. If you were only to believe one thing I said, this would be it. I'm dead serious, for once." His now black eyes looked into her hazel ones sincerely.

Arianna felt chills up her spine. "Go ahead," she whispered.

"Arianna, Voldemort's back."

Her heart sank to the ground and six feet under. "What?"

"He's back, and I would swear on Lily and James' dead graves that I'm telling the truth. This is really important, Ari. Dumbledore knows, I know. A few other people here and there know, but that's basically it. Fudge wouldn't believe us when we told him."

"That's…That's…" Arianna opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words. Voldemort, back? Preposterous! Codswallop! But…Sirius seemed so serious about it. And Arianna doubted Sirius would be telling her he was back if it wasn't true. But she also couldn't really trust him…

This isn't fair! Arianna thought angrily. Why can't I even trust my own brother? Why do I have to choose? She sighed and slammed her fist against the table. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her curiously, but she just shook her head.

"Ari, that's why I was in the Muggle part of Britain, You remember the order, right? A lot of them have moved into the Muggle parts of Britain. Dumbledore told me to find them and tell them about Voldemort. But…I guess I got careless." He smiled a little and looked down at his leg.

"And now, you're here with a busted leg. Yeah, I get it." Arianna said, trying to push her doubts away. She supposed that she should believe him, at least about the Voldemort part. He seemed to be telling the truth.

"That's right. But really, Ari, I need to go alert everyone who will listen. It doesn't matter that my leg is bruised a little. They need to know. And, I'm supposed to go back to Remus'. He's expecting me." He fought his leg a little and stood up.

Arianna frowned. No matter how many doubts she had, she now knew she wasn't letting him leave until he was better. "Oh no you don't," she said firmly, grabbing his hand.

He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "No, Sirius, you listen to me," she said. "I've been through a lot these past few years. I have a lot of doubts about you right now, and I'm sure you know that, but I want you to know that I am not letting you leave until you're well. I already lost my father, my sisters, and my mother. I thought I lost my brother, too." She looked at him. "But, now I think I might be getting him back. I don't want to lose him…you…again, Sirius."

Sirius narrowed his eyes.  "Mum…did she die?"

Arianna sighed.  "Yes.  It was about two years ago.  She was always sick and miserable after everything…and one day, she just…" She let it hang in the air and looked down at the floor.

Sirius looked troubled.  "And Melaina…?"

Arianna could only shrug.  "After…you know, Aileen…she was so distant.  And one day, she never came home.  We…I have never heard anything from her since then.  Mum used to tell me she ran off to some faraway country out there.  But I know better.  Most likely she's gone, too."

He looked down at the floor.  "How did our family just… fall apart?" he whispered, his voice cracking a bit.

Arianna tried to smile a bit.  "I don't know…but we should make do with what we have, Sirius…each other.  I told you…I don't want to lose you."

Sirius looked up and his eyes sparkled a little with what Arianna dared to hope might possibly be tears. "You're a great sister, you know," he said. "Much better than I deserve."

Arianna snorted. "That's the most sensible thing you've said all morning," she declared, smiling a bit more.

~ * ~

The atmosphere in Matt's house when he woke up from the few hours of sleep he had, unfortunately, wasn't as cheery as Arianna's. In fact, it was downright uptight and nervous. Matt hadn't gotten home from "visiting" Voldemort until early in that morning, and on top of that, what he had heard, seen, and experienced, sleep didn't come too easily. It was scary down there. Gave even the bravest person chills. All the people in hooded cloaks, especially that woman that had brought them to Voldemort— Matt had no idea who she was, but he had heard an oddly familiar female voice from underneath her hood—that was the only way he knew she was a woman. And Voldemort himself of course, made the place feel twice as scary. Matt wondered now old he really was, and kind of sniggered to himself. He didn't really care what his father said. He wasn't switching over to Voldemort, not for a million Galleons.

At least his first "job" wasn't too difficult. He could pretend without hurting anyone. Voldemort himself didn't really assign him anything, just told him to keep an eye out and wait. Apparently, one of the Death Eaters, Pettigrew, usually called "Wormtail", was a fair-weather friend, and a very slippery one at that, though he sounded like a coward to Matt. He needed to be watched, and Matt didn't especially mind. Something interesting Matt had learned about this Pettigrew was that he was an unregistered Animagus, something Matt never would have guessed at first glance at the little bald man Voldemort had shown him, and still couldn't believe it—he seemed so helpless.

What day is it? Matt wondered absentmindedly to himself, as his stomach swirled. Oh, yeah. July 5th. A Saturday. Saturday. That meant something, he knew. It was his day to work the cashier shift in the Magical Menagerie.

Matt really did not feel like working, especially not after what he had gone through. As he recalled the night's events, he suddenly felt a rise in his throat, and ran into the kitchen, eventually throwing up in the sink.

Dizzy, Matt fell the floor. He suddenly felt disgusted at the way he was acting, but he couldn't help himself. He leaned against the cabinet and gulped a few times, trying to get the nasty taste out of his throat and clear his mind a little. It helped, but not much. I can't believe that place is really making me act like this. Was it really that…Matt swallowed again as he remembered. The endless black hoods. There had even been a few dementors down here, and Matt was sure he had heard the cry of a lethifold. But almost worst of all had been Voldemort's icy voice.

Luckily, he had not spoken long with Voldemort. It had just been a simple in introduction. Apparently, the Dark Lord had been busy. Matt had been given his orders by the female hooded figure.  But she had refused to show her face.  He shuddered again. 

Okay, so maybe it was a little bad. But get grip on yourself, Jarvis! Matt thought as he warily tried to stand up. It took a while, but he made it. There's no way I can work like this, he thought to himself. Maybe I'll call someone and ask if they can take my shift for me.

He was feeling better already. He grabbed his wand from the counter and made a fire in the fireplace. Without even thinking, he whispered the communication spell, and when it asked whom he wanted to call, he answered with the first name that came to his mind.

 "Arianna Newmoon".

~ * ~

Arianna cleaned the dishes magically and settled down on her couch next to Sirius, who had started complaining about his leg again.

"Why does this damn bloody thing hurt so much?" he asked, frustrated. "You're a doctor, right? Tell me!"

Arianna rolled her eyes at him. "Number One: I'm a veterinarian, not a doctor. Didn't I tell you that already? Number Two: Sirius, your leg's broken. Of course, it will hurt."

He grinned a little. "Point taken." Sirius laid back on the couch. "So, Ari, what do you do here all day?"

"Well, normally, I'd go out. To the park or something. But, today, unfortunately, I've got an injured guest. So, no outings today."

Sirius frowned and opened his mouth to answer, but just then, there was a beep, and music started playing. Sirius looked bewildered, but Arianna laughed, blushing slightly. "Oh, looks like someone wants to talk to me." Sirius gave her a strange look, but she brushed him off. "I'll explain in a minute."

Arianna walked into her bathroom. Since she didn't have a fireplace, she had to use the mirror to receive calls. "Arianna here," she said to the mirror. "Who's calling?"

One minute, Arianna was looking at her own chestnut-haired, hazel-eyed self, and the next, the image rippled into the image of a man. Blue eyes. Brown hair. Slight, mysterious smile…

"Matt?" She asked, surprised.

"Hey, Arianna." It was him, all right. Though, he did look a little pale, and there were rings under his eyes, like he hadn't had much sleep the night before.

"The fire had trouble finding you," he said. "I had to wait for at least ten minutes."

"Oh, really?" Arianna tried to sound surprised, though she wasn't in the least bit. Even though she had registered as Arianna Newmoon, somehow magic could still tell that she was a Black.

     "Uh, huh."

There was an awkward silence. Arianna nervously flicked a lock of her hair behind her shoulder. "So, why'd you call me?"

Matt laughed a little, quite nervously. "Oh, right. Well, I uh— " Before he could say anything, he burst into a fit of coughs.

Arianna felt concerned. "Matt, are you okay? You look pale, and…"

Matt managed to cease his coughing and looked back at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I was wondering, today's my shift at the Menagerie. Could you…"

"Take it for you?" Arianna guessed. Matt nodded, clearing his throat a little "Sure, I'll do it. But, are you sure you're all right? You look horrible."

"I told you, I'm fine." He said firmly and coughed again as his cheeks flushed faintly. She cares about me… "I'm sorry that this is such short notice. But I'm feeling a little…"

"That's okay, Matt. Get some rest. I'll be at the Menagerie in a flash." Arianna said, smiling to reassure him.

The corners of his mouth turned up a little. "I'm really sorry, again. Bye, Arianna." His image suddenly vanished.

Arianna sighed. It actually wasn't okay. Arianna didn't want to leave Sirius alone in her apartment while she worked. And she certainly couldn't take him with her. But she knew she couldn't let Matt go work. He had looked very sick, definitely in no shape to leave home. Oh, well. She would see what Sirius thought.

     She informed him of the situation. Sirius shifted his weight anxiously. "So you have to go, right?" He hesitated, and slowly asked, "Can I come with you?"

"Sirius! You dozy prat! In your condition! Besides, you're an escaped convict! What people would think…?"

"Not like this, nitwit. As a dog. You work at an animal shop, right? It wouldn't be unusual. You could say that you found me hurt somewhere. You wouldn't be lying."

Arianna considered this. "It could work," she said softly. "Okay, then. Come with me. Just try to stay out of trouble, all right?" She almost laughed at her own words. Telling Sirius Black to stay out of trouble when he was a kid was like telling any normal person not to breathe. Telling him the same thing as a teenager wasn't much different. But maybe now that he was an adult…

Sirius struck a hand to his chest. "But of course, madam," he said putting on a strong accent.

She laughed. "Okay, then, if you're coming, change, because I'm leaving now."

Sirius saluted and Arianna walked into her room to get her stuff while Sirius changed. When she came back, a large, black dog was waiting for her in the front room. Arianna smiled at him.

"Well, come along, Padfoot."

The dog grinned and followed her out the apartment.

A/N: Hey, everyone!  Okay, so OoP's out.  And of course, there are *glaring* errors with this story…starting with the entire face that Sirius had no sisters and if he did they would be DEs…anyway, so I guess the point is, shall I continue?  Because I did have sort of a plotline, and if people are still interested, I could keep on going…it depends on you, so tell me in your reviews how you feel. 

Disclaimer: Nothing except *breath* Arianna, Matt and Duncan are mine *breath*. They belong to you-know-who. Wait….no! Not that You-Know-Who. J.K. Rowling. *nods*

Names: (wondering why I do this? Well, *cough*HINT*cough* I adore Rowling's way of naming characters significantly, so, I've adopted the habit as well, and you can certainly infer something about a person's character in this story from the name I've given them.) 

Duncan- seen a lot for this one, but the one I like best is "dark warrior", Gaelic

Chandra- "moon", Indian (Hindu, although I assure you, Matt's family is purely English ;)