Oh yeah, GREAT. The notice chapter screwed everything up. I deleted it and now all the reviews stayed at the same chapter numbers and… it's just screwed up now. Damn. Well, um, notes on this and other stuff at the bottom because I want to get to writing the story already. I think I'm skipping a day. If Harry went to rescue Sirius during Wednesday and the last two chapters were about that day. And now it's Friday, and tonight, they're moving Sirius into the Shrieking Shack. So let's just say Thursday was so uneventful and boring that it's not necessary to be told about. ;) And I use 'the dog' (or that in a possessive tense) often instead of Snuffles or Sirius or Padfoot because it just seems weird to say Sirius's tail and the rest are nicknames and it just seems weird, period. And, um, in chapter 7, I said something about a full moon the day before… never mind that, I was going somewhere with that but I changed that whole thing so now the full moon is tonight instead. Bear with me there please.
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"Oh my…" Hermione gasped. She was staring at the front page of the Daily Prophet. They'd expected bad news every day since things had been too quiet lately, but that didn't mean they were ready for bad news.
"Well…" Ron said impatiently when Hermione didn't explain her little outburst. He and Harry stared at her, waiting for an elaboration. Even the large black dog beside Harry stopped munching on his food, focusing his big, concerned eyes on the girl.
"…Several more Death Eaters had escaped from Azkaban Fortress, covered by the darkness of the night of September the fifth. The names of the escapees are withdrawn from public knowledge by Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Nevertheless, it is known that many of the fugitives had just been put into the Fortress two nights ago. Many of the others had been arrested by the testimony of the Boy Who Lived, none other than Harry James Potter, months ago. The massive breakout caused much distress to the wizard community, many people, fearing the worst, are taking drastic measures…" Hermione broke off and looked up. Harry, Ron, and Sirius glared at her, speechless.
"But they had just gotten the Dementors back in control!" Ron exclaimed, a little desperately. Hermione glanced at him helplessly, then turned her gaze to Harry. He was clearly trying to absorb the information, but wasn't very successful. So many things ran through his panicked mind that he barely comprehended any of them. He flinched when he felt something cold and wet nudge his hand, then looked down to see that it was just Sirius, trying to get his attention to see if he was all right.
"It's fine. It'll be ok." Harry reassured the canine form of his godfather. The dog didn't look convinced. He nudged the boy's hand up to the top of his furry head and looked at Harry, his eyes looking mischievous and innocent; careless and pleading; concerned and playful… all at the same time. Harry laughed and patted the dog's head. "No, really. We'll figure something out. Don't worry." Sirius glanced at him again, this time less doubtful, and went back to eating. Why let food go to waste?
"Harry—" Hermione began.
"No, really. Look, we've just gotten Sirius back and no one is attacking us at this moment. Let's just enjoy it for a tiny bit more. They won't attack anytime soon anyway." Harry said reasonably.
"Why not?" Ron asked.
"Their escape will soon be known to everyone; they won't risk anything anytime soon." Harry replied. Then he sighed, looking at everyone's worried expressions. "I'll be careful."
"We better get going to class." Hermione finally stated, breaking the silence. "We can't get detention today, we're helping him move into the place, remember?" She said, avoiding labels. "See you, Snuffles." She got up and waited for Ron and Harry to do so as well.
"Bye" Harry stood up after scratching behind the dog's ears. "Meet us in the common room after classes, ok?"
"Bye, mate." Ron said. Sirius winked at them and trotted along to go off and wait in the common room for now.
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Sirius lifted his head, confused at his surroundings at first. He had dozed off, curling up as a dog on Harry's bed, and had just woken up. He moved a bit and accidentally knocked a book off the little desk beside the bed. He jumped off the warm mattress and took the book in his paws, setting it back onto the table. He may look like a dog, but he was still a man inside and he wasn't going to take inedible things into his mouth when he could just as easily pick them up with his paws. He was about to settle back into his spot and continue his nap when something made him look back at the book. A page was bookmarked somewhere in the very end of the book; it looked torn and old, yet at the same time, unused and fairly new. It was called 'Hidden Places', written by… wait. Sirius did a double take. 'Hidden Places'. The title was shining brightly, written in unique and appealing calligraphy, sunrays from the window bouncing off of the letters. He knew this book. He remembered it clearly. He also remembered that it had never left the possession of one Peter Pettigrew. So how in the world did Harry get it?
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By the time that classes ended, however, that thought was driven out of Sirius's mind. He met the trio joyfully as they came into the common room. He twisted his way out of a few people's embraces to do so.
"Hey Snuffles." Harry bent down to him. The dog's tail was wagging wildly and Harry laughed at his happiness.
"We've got to stay here for now, because it'd look pretty suspicious for three six-years and a dog to disappear under the Whomping Willow in the middle of the day. And we won't all fit under the Invisibility Cloak." Ron told Sirius.
"Dumbledore gave us permission to go about ten or whenever everyone else gets inside. So, technically, we won't be sneaking out." Hermione said, looking pleased.
"Want to get Remus to come too?" Harry asked quietly, still kneeled down beside his godfather. He wagged his tail even more energetically as a sign of consent.
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Harry, Ron and Hermione huddled tightly together under the Invisibility Cloak. Sirius, his dog form barely visible in the darkness, walked beside them. Clouds covered the sky, not allowing a single hint of moonlight to shine through, very unlike the weather during the day. However, it suited them, so the four were silently thanking the Lord for hiding the moon that would otherwise be shining brightly on them, in its full strength.
When they met Remus down in the Shack, it was close to eleven o'clock, but even Hermione wasn't worried about not getting enough sleep.
"Moony, hey!" Sirius rushed to meet his best friend, glad to finally be able to be human again.
"Hey Padfoot." Remus looked pale but happy nevertheless. "Hey, Harry, Hermione, Ron." He greeted the trio warmly.
"Hey Remus." Harry smiled.
"Hello." Ron said.
"Hello, Remus." Hermione replied. Then she paused and continued, rather uncomfortably. "Isn't tonight full moon?"
"Yeah." Remus sighed. "I had to make the potion myself, I just hope it turns out ok. Just in case, I think I should go back to Grimmauld when it gets closer to midnight." He was able to fight off the transformation, but at midnight it became inevitable.
"Nah, you shouldn't. We spent years in this house with you back in school on nights like these, I don't see why you can't stay here and keep me company." Sirius half-begged. "Please? You know, if I'm left alone for any more time, I might do something that I'll regret." Remus rolled his eyes.
"But if the potion isn't working for any reason, promise me you'll send me back to Grimmauld alone." Remus gave in.
"Marauder's honour." Sirius smiled.
The five of them stayed, talking, until it was almost midnight.
"You guys better go." Sirius said to the trio as Remus became paler and was starting to transform.
"Bye Sirius, bye Remus!" Hermione called out.
"Bye." Ron waved.
"We'll come back tomorrow, all right?" Harry said, getting up to get the Cloak. Remus and Sirius said their goodbyes to them and the three disappeared into the tunnel leading to the Hogwarts grounds.
Remus bent over in agony behind the torn couch as the wolf took over his body. Sirius sympathized him. Changing Animagus form was painless and relatively easy once you figure out how and practice it a lot. But changing into the wolf was the furthest thing from painless. Apart from the physical changes, Sirius knew that letting go of his human mind was even harder for Remus. He was scared, even with the many potions and Sirius helping him out in his canine form.
Finally, the change finalized and for a few moments Sirius no longer saw his best friend in the eyes of the wolf, but a bloodthirsty creature. Remus leaped at the dog in front of him, seeing only a meal, his human mind pushed into his subconscious. Sirius jumped away from the assault, but didn't get far enough away. A claw tore into the fur of the dog, who whimpered and jumped further away from the attack. Sirius looked at Remus with deep hurt evident in his eyes for a second. That lost, hurt look cleared up the mind of the werewolf and his eyes lost the hungry spark.
Sirius stepped forward confidently and walked up to Remus, who didn't move. The potion's effects as well as Sirius's familiar presence pushed Remus out of the haze he seemed to be in as a wolf and instantly he knew that his mind was no longer wolf-like. He immediately felt a pang of guilt and looked at Sirius apologetically. Sirius, however, didn't think twice about it, the careless and playful look returning to his eyes as he saw his friend return to his normal mental state.
It felt almost like old times, but both the friends missed James deeply. His spirit still lingered in the atmosphere of the shack, even after the many years he had been gone. They wished he could be there with them, playing around, destroying the furniture only to repair it again, for the most part, in the morning, and enjoying being able to be careless without any real consequences…
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"Oh, I forgot my mirror back there" Harry suddenly remembered when the trio had almost reached the school. "You guys go, I'll be really quick."
"Wait, Harry—" Hermione began.
"It's ok, I'm not going to get killed or anything. I promise." He shouldn't have.
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Harry hurried back into the shack, quickly and carefully disabling the Willow and descending into the dark. He halted for a second and went inside. There, the wolf and dog were playing around with each other and he chuckled at how adolescent they were acting, turning their attention towards him. Immediately, Sirius jumped in front of Remus in alarm, Remus's eyes widened and a shadow of hunger flickered in them. Harry turned serious and stepped back. He looked around and quickly grabbed the mirror, which was lying right beside the couch in front of him. Remus looked panicked and as if he was going to lose control soon and Sirius looked at his godson in worry, silently pleading him to leave before Remus lost his senses to the wolf inside him.
Harry looked at them apologetically for a second and quickly rushed out of the room, praying along the way that he hadn't influenced Remus enough to change his mind into that of the wolf's again. He climbed out from under the Willow and slowed down, mentally hitting himself for being so stupid. The sight of a human makes Remus's werewolf senses become top priority. Even with the Wolfsbane potion active. Harry mentally kicked himself again.
"Harry Potter." An ice cold, taunting voice suddenly cut through the peace of the night sharply. Harry recoiled at the abrupt sound, looking up… into the face of Lucius Malfoy. He shivered, suddenly feeling extremely cold, even though the night was warm. The man in front of him was smirking at Harry's fear. His eyes penetrated him like thousands of daggers. Frozen daggers. "What a pleasure." A ray of light shone through the clouds just then. Harry looked around. People in black cloaks stepped out around him. He was surrounded.
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Ok, I hope I write Lucius ok. Um, I'm going to be gone for 10 days starting tomorrow morning and I don't think I'll be able to update tomorrow, sorry! I might if I get a lot of reviews today *wink, wink, nudge, nudge * lol. Now, review replies, Lil Lupin, yes it probably is and thank you. Kandice, yep, and I get lots of chocolate for the trip since my parents are separating me from computer/Internet access. The Lucius thing here (it's continuing next chapter) is for you lol. BuffyHalliwell lol, I read that story, once I finish this, I'll go read the update on Until My Dying Day. Kaitlyn, :D:D:D yeah Allen should be a pretty fun teacher. Someone, aww thank you, and well, we'll see about that ;) you'll have to wait. Tropic, aww thanks, I'll try to update as soon as I get back or (I'll say it again) before I leave if I get lots of reviews ;D. Um ok, I have to say, I'm sorry about the removing the notice thing. Lil Lupin and Kandice, since you two reviewed before I deleted the notice and it says you reviewed chapter 9 when you actually did chapter 8, would you please be so kind as to review this chapter unsigned in or put your review of this in the chapter 7 reviews, where the notice used to be… please. Sorry about this. Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!