A/N - this is set the same year as Prisoner of Azkaban. Different view point
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Foot steps and voices echoed along the corridor and came to a stop outside of the door. Sirius Black snapped out of the memories that haunted his every waking hour and most of his sleeping ones as well. Memories of Halloween 1981.
He glanced up from where he sat hunched on the floor as the door swung open. It wasn't meal time so he wondered what it could be. He was slightly surprised to see a man standing in the door way as opposed to one of the guards. Sirius recognised him as Cornelius Fudge, who had been there the day Sirius had been arrested. Sirius remembered hearing that he was now Minister for Magic. No doubt he had come to get a glimpse of Azkaban's most notorious prisoner as he inspected the prison.
Fudge remained in the door way staring at Sirius as if he were an animal in a zoo. Sirius stared back at him through the darkness and held eye contact until Fudge looked away.
"Morning" Sirius muttered. It was a relief to have something to take his mind away from things. A few brief words of another human being could sustain him for a short time.
"Erm… Morning Black" The Minister replied, a little hesitantly. He had received nothing more than a grunt from the other prisoners he had visited and then only when he had spoken first. Never had one of the prisoners spoken to him first.
"Nice weather we're having" he continued only realising what he had said once it was too late.
"I wouldn't know" Sirius replied shortly.
"Yes well…" Fudge fiddled uncomfortably with the newspaper that was in his hand as Sirius continued to stare at him.
"Could I have that if you've finished with it" Sirius asked, nodding at the newspaper. Fudge looked down at it, folded it in half and passed it at arms length to the prisoner. Sirius reached out and took it.
"I miss doing the crossword" he told fudge, who looked a little disconcerted. Sirius realised that Fudge was probably wondering why he wasn't as broken as the other prisoners. Sirius often wondered this himself when he lay awake at night listening to the screams and shouts coming from the other cells. He knew the Dementors affected him as his head was filled with unhappy memories, although after everything that had happened this would have probably been the case with or without Dementors, but something had stopped him from losing his mind completely. He desperately clung onto the fact that he was innocent, so he assumed it was this that helped him stay sane, that and being able to transform into a dog. Sirius forced a slight smile onto his face. If Fudge thought he hadn't been affected by the dementors, let him think that, Sirius didn't care. The newspaper would keep his mind from that dreadful night for a short while.
Once the cell door had been slammed shut again, Sirius pulled himself from the floor and sat on the edge of the small rickety bed, which was actually no more comfortable than the floor. Leaning back against the cold wall he opened out the newspaper. He quickly glanced over the back sports page out of habit before realising he had no idea what was happening in Quidditch anyway.
He flipped over to the front page and read
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE
His eyes scanned over the picture of the family of nine, the Weasleys, distant cousins of his. Sirius glanced briefly through the story, pausing momentarily when it mentioned the Weasley children returning to Hogwarts. He had completely lost track of time in Azkaban but was sure Harry would be old enough to be at school. He looked up at the date on the newspaper. Three days before Harry's thirteenth birthday. Sirius felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. He had missed twelve of Harry's birthdays, James and Lily had missed them too. He could only hope that Harry would have a good birthday regardless. He shook himself out of that thought and looked back at the photograph
His eyes rested at a boy who must be about the same age as Harry. For a few seconds he couldn't believe what he saw, a rat sitting on the boys shoulder. A very familiar looking rat, with part of his front paw missing.
"Peter" Sirius whispered to himself. His eyes darted back up to the text and scanned through it
'returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts'
Panic set in Sirius's mind as he paced up and down the tiny cell. Wormtail was at Hogwarts, where Harry was, waiting for news of the Dark Lords return. Waiting for the opportunity of presenting Harry to him. He had to do something about it, he had to let somebody know. Sirius could only think of two people who would believe him. Remus would not agree to come and visit him he knew that and Talitha, well he didn't know where she was and it would be too much of a risk for her to visit. If word got out that she had been she would most probably end up in here herself. He slumped down on the bed and drew his knees up to his chest. He owed it to Harry to save him from Wormtail but how?
Sirius thought of nothing else for the next few days, it turned into an obsession. He felt himself getting stronger, fuelled by his determination. He wasn't sure exactly how long it was before he hit on an idea as he watched the Dementors bring his food. The door was wide open for a good amount of time before it was closed again. Before his next meal arrived he transformed into a dog. He had nothing to lose, he would be here for the rest of his life anyway and if he didn't try it would destroy him anyway.
The door opened and silently the big black dog crept though it and slipped easily through some bars. He continued on through the fortress, walking slowly as to not make any noise, all the time wanting to run for freedom. The sunlight dazzled him as his slipped outside and he breathed in his first fresh air for twelve years.
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Remus Lupin sat down in his favourite old armchair and sighed. Would his life never be simple? He picked up his cup of tea and took a large gulp.
"Hey Moony, I'm home" He heard a voice call out. He looked round at the fire place and almost spat out his tea when he saw a face in the flames.
"Talitha, where on earth are you? What are you doing?" He asked the woman whose head was floating in his fire.
"I'm at the flat, where do you think? I just got back a few minutes ago" She asked sounding puzzled.
"You haven't heard have you?" Remus enquired
"Heard what? You aren't exactly making sense at the moment" she replied.
"Hang on, I'll be there in one minute" Things were just getting better and better. He picked up the newspaper that was lying on the table, grabbed a hand full of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. Falling out of the fireplace at his destination, he glanced round. It had been years since he had been here. The room was dark and dusty but other than that it was exactly how he remembered it. He smiled briefly remembering some of the good times he had seen there and then shuddered as he thought of the man who had lived there.
"Remus, is that you?" the same voice as before called from the kitchen. Remus looked over as the woman appeared at the door. He smiled at her weakly. How on earth was he going to tell her? This was the girl who he had come to think of almost as a sister. She had already had so many bad things happen in her life, he wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to tell her what had happened the previous day. Especially as this had been the cause of them not speaking for months a few years back. Twelve years to be exact. It had taken them years to get back to normal and even now they had only just started to trust each other completely again. They still had wildly different opinions on the matter but had now agreed to disagree and no longer discussed it.
"Hey" he said quietly
"What was all that cryptic nonsense about?" Talitha asked him "What's happened?"
"First, just tell me why your back" Remus said, cautiously "I need to know before I tell you anything"
"Harry" she said with a small smile "I thought today might be a good time to go and meet him. I wanted to go on his birthday but I couldn't get back until now"
"No, you can't now" Remus said, his voice trembling slightly with panic "That would be one of the worst things you could do"
"Are you going to tell me then?" Talitha asked, starting to get a bit agitated.
"Read this" Remus told her, passing her the half folded newspaper that he had brought from his house. Talitha took it from him and sat on the arm of the sofa as she began reading
'A report from the Ministry of Magic has confirmed that a prisoner has escaped from the highly secure Azkaban Fortress. Until now there has never been a break out from the prison and surprisingly, the escapee was one of the most heavily guarded in the entire fortress. The guards of Azkaban and the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, have been said to have no idea how Sirius Black has managed this impossible feat.
Black was imprisoned twelve years ago after killing twelve muggles and one wizard, Peter Pettigrew, the day after the down fall of You-know-who. He is thought to be one of the Dark Lords most ardent followers. The worry is now that his escape may be an attempt to bring You-know-who back to power'
Talitha glanced up from the newspaper to find Remus looking at her expectantly waiting for her response. She didn't speak but stood up and paced the room as she reread the first part of the article. Her mind was racing and her heart had skipped a beat when she had read Sirius Black the first time. He was free. However, the second time she read it, panic set in. They were bound to catch him and who knows what would happen to him them.
"Why now" she said quietly not really expecting an answer from Remus.
"They say he's been talking in his sleep" Remus began "Keeps repeating the same thing over and over. 'He's at Hogwarts.' Fudge thinks he's going after Harry"
"He would never harm Harry, just as he would have never betrayed James. You know what my opinion on that is Remus"
"Ok, let's not start that argument again"
Talitha looked back at the newspaper and continued reading where she had left off.
'A source from the Magical Law Inforcement department has been quoted as saying
"The guards from Azkaban are working along side the Elite Aurors and our best Hit wizards to recapture and detain the very dangerous Black'
"Best Aurors and Hit wizards" Talitha said with a slight smile "Not exactly true is it. Sirius was the best Hit wizard they ever had and I'm standing here reading about it for the first time in the newspaper"
"They were hardly going send you after him were they" Remus replied
"No, but they could have at least told me"
"My guess is that they are out looking to see if he was with you"
"You think? But Sirius doesn't even know where I am, how would he be with me? In any case he wouldn't be that dumb"
"Who knows what he's thinking at the moment."
Talitha turned the newspaper over to read the rest of the article. Her eyes widened in shock and the colour drained from her face when she saw the picture that had been printed. She stared at his sunken face and bony shoulders. Talitha was used to seeing prisoners from Azkaban so the sight of Sirius shouldn't have been a shock to her really.
"Oh Sirius" she muttered to herself. It almost broke her heart to see him like that. She stared at the picture, looking at his eyes. There was something, she wasn't sure what, not quite like the other prisoners she had seen. There was a slight glint in them, like Azkaban hadn't broken him. She'd never seen that before.
"Harry" Talitha said suddenly "That's where he'll be"
"What? You said he wouldn't harm Harry"
"No he wouldn't" Talitha insisted "But it was Harry's birthday the day he escaped. He'll be there I just know it. I've got to go and find him Remus, before someone else does"
"Do you think that's a good idea, Tali? Let's just assume for a minute that there is the slightest chance you might be wrong about Sirius. If he really is with Voldemort then who knows what he'll do to you if you find him. You know why Voldemort went after James and Harry, you would have been next. You're an heir of Gryffindor too. What better way is there for him to prove his loyalty to the Dark lord than bringing you to him?"
"You think I haven't thought about that." Talitha said raising her voice "You think it doesn't keep me awake every night. I've thought of that a million times but I trust him Remus"
"James trusted him as well" Remus replied calmly
"Exactly, I trust him and James trusted him, why isn't that enough for you?"
"The evidence is against him"
"There is no evidence. Sirius wasn't the secret keeper. He told me" Talitha yelled
"Yes, he told you." Said Remus, still calm "That could have been just a cover up. He never told you who was"
"I don't even know if he knew who it was. That's the point of a secret keeper. It's a secret, you don't go round telling everyone"
"So why did he kill Peter"
"I don't know, maybe he was just defending himself after Peter confronted him. We were all upset, who knows what Peter might have done to him first. Imagine what you would have done if you had found him that day"
"It just doesn't make sense" Remus said
"I've got to at least talk to him and find out for myself." Talitha told him, her voice quieter now "Trust me, if I suspect him at all, I'll take him to Azkaban myself"
Remus didn't answer
"You trust me don't you" Talitha asked cautiously. Remus smiled at her.
"I trust that you haven't got anything to do with Voldemort, I just don't trust your judgement of Sirius. Promise me you won't do any thing stupid ok and don't get seen. It'll look extremely suspicious that you're back in the country just after Sirius escapes. Wear your invisibility cloak"
"Ok" Talitha replied, as she smiled at him. She pulled her invisibility cloak out of her bag. "I'll be careful"
"You'll come straight back to my house won't you so I know what's happened" Remus asked her as she threw the cloak over herself.
"Yeah course. I'll see you later."
Crack
Remus was alone in his one time best friends flat. He walked over to the fire place to return home when his eye caught a photograph on the fire surround. He picked it up and looked at it.
"If you do anything to her, I'll personally hunt you down" he said out loud to the picture.
Talitha arrived at the end of Privet Drive. She checked that she was still covered by the invisibility cloak and made her way along the street to number four. She sat down on a small wall across from the house and waited. It was starting to get dark now, if Sirius was around he would wait until dark to come out. Talitha felt her stomach churning, not sure whether it was the excitement of possibly seeing Sirius or Harry that was causing it.
A light was switched on in the living room at number four. A thought flicked through Talitha's mind. Slowly, so as not to disturb the cloak she stood up and wandered across the road. Silently she crept up the Dursleys drive until she stood outside the front window. She peered inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry. Vernon Dursley filled an armchair in the corner and an equally large woman sat on the sofa. Talitha's heart jumped and a smile spread across her face as a small skinny boy walked past the doorway. She had expected him to look similar to James but not this much. It could have easily been James in that house. Talitha remained rooted to the spot for a few minutes in the hope to see Harry again. She was just about to turn away when he walked in to the living room. It was all Talitha could do not to tap on the window or knock on the door. She hated the thought of him living here. She had only met Petunia once and that was enough to convince her that she didn't want Harry living here but she had no choice in the matter, she understood the reasons but it still didn't make it any easier. Harry sat on the sofa as far as possible away from the large woman looking extremely bored for a few minutes before they all got up and left the room. Talitha expected they had gone to have dinner. Maybe she should go and have a look round to see if there were any signs of Sirius. She turned and looked around the desolate street, thinking that there was a surprisingly lack of activity seeing as this was where the boy the escaped murder was looking for lived. She smiled to herself wondering if there were Aurors wandering up and down the street in invisibility cloaks. No, Moody would have at least one person visible. That was assuming Moody was in charge of the search for Sirius. Talitha hoped so, at least he would listen to Sirius if they caught him. He might have a chance then.
Talitha walked around the surrounding area but found no evidence that Sirius was around. She had expected to see a large black dog skulking in the shadows.
Talitha decided to make her way back to the Dursleys and so made her way down Privet Drive. The curtains were closed now but she could still see a light shining through them. She settled herself back on the wall and waited. Her mind wandered thinking about Sirius and Harry, so she wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around her. Suddenly she heard a loud bang as the Dursley's front door crashed open and Harry appeared with his trunk and a large metal cage. He quickly looked one way down the street and then set of in the other direction. Talitha, wondering what he was up to, followed. Still covered by the invisibility cloak she tracked him though three streets until he sat down on a wall looking angry. After a short time Harry's appearance of anger was wearing off as he started to look slightly panicked. Although concerned about him, Talitha couldn't help but smile, forward planning had never been a good Potter trait, they were kind of do now think later people and it was obvious Harry was like that as well. Harry looked around the street as Talitha noticed he had his wand in his hand. This did not look good, part of her wanted to go immediately and get someone here who could help him, he was obviously in some sort of trouble. The other part of her mind told her to stay in case anything else happened. She decided to wait and see what happened. Harry opened his trunk and started rummaging around, looking for something. Suddenly he stood up and looked around as if he had heard something. He turned back to the trunk but was soon looking around again. Talitha glanced round to try and see what Harry had heard or sensed. Nothing was around as far as she could see but Harry was looking over at a small alley way. Harry lit his wand and flashed the light around. Talitha saw Harry step back and span round to see what was there. A big pair of eyes looked back at her.
'Padfoot' She whispered to herself. Quickly she ran over to the alley way not noticing Harry fall over his trunk. She was almost there when…
BANG
Talitha whipped round to see the Knight Bus appear and saw Harry lying on the pavement. She turned back to where the black dog had been but it had gone. With a backwards glance at Harry she ran down the alley looking for Sirius. On reaching the end of the alley she stopped and looked around, there was no sign of him. She exited the alley way just in time to see Harry get on the Knight bus and it disappear.
'Yeah nice one Talitha' she thought to herself 'They were here in the same street and you lost them both' She walked around the area again quickly but still no sign of Sirius. With a final looked down the alley, she apperated back to Remus's house.
Remus was pacing the room when she arrived. He looked at her as she appeared
"And?"
"You've got to go and do something Remus." Talitha told him hurriedly "Harry got on the Knight bus with his school trunk. Stormed out of the house before hand, looks like he's trying to run away from the Dursley's"
"He doesn't have yours and James's temper then" Remus smiled with a hint of sarcasm. Talitha smiled back at him.
"OK, I'll go and let Dumbledore know" he continued, "You stay here"
Talitha sat down on Remus's sofa, trying to work out what Sirius might do next. Harry wasn't such a big problem, they just had to find the Knight bus. Sirius wouldn't go back to Little Whinging now, he would know Harry had seen him.
Remus stumbled back out of the fire place and back into the room about ten minutes later.
"They've sent people out to look for Harry" he told Talitha "Don't worry they'll find him"
Talitha let out a small laugh,
"I'm probably the one least worried about Harry. I'm the only one who won't be worried that Sirius will find him. The only thing I'm worried about is Harry doing something stupid. He is a Potter after all"
Remus smiled back at her briefly before returning to a more serious face.
"Was he there?" Remus asked. Talitha paused for a second before answering.
"No" she lied "I didn't see Sirius" It was the first time in her life she could remember lying to Remus and she didn't like it. However, she wasn't a hundred percent sure that he wouldn't inform the ministry and it wasn't as if she had actually spoken to Sirius. At least this way she wasn't making Remus have to hid anything
"Harry disappeared on the Knightbus before I had chance to look properly so I thought I'd best come back"
Remus nodded slowly. Talitha was sure he knew she was lying but he didn't say anything.
"Dumbledore said you should go" Remus told her "He said if the Ministry find out your back in the country while this is happening you'll likely end up in Azkaban yourself. Fudge will have everyone convinced you helped him escape"
"I can't leave now" Talitha protested half-heartedly, knowing that Dumbledore was right.
"Go back to Australia, Tali. It's for the best" Remus told her
"You're right Moony, as always" she smiled at him. She walked over to him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.
"I'll keep you informed on what's going on" Remus promised her before letting go. "Right I'll come back to the flat with you so you can get your stuff. The sooner you're gone the better"
The black dog crawled into a small opening between two rocks into a tiny cave, dropped a newspaper on the ground and transformed into a man. Sirius picked up the newspaper and settled himself on the cold damp floor to read it. He scanned down the front page of the newspaper and was shocked to find himself not on it. He got to page three before he found himself mentioned and he smiled slightly. Every day he had managed to steal a newspaper and he found it slightly odd to see his picture in it, especially one of him looking so ill. Sirius glanced at the date at the top of the page and realised that tomorrow would be the start of term at Hogwarts. Earlier that day he had sat thinking about his own time at Hogwarts and the fun he had had with his friends, wondering if Harry was like James. He was still getting used to being able to recall happy memories now he was away from the Dementors. However the thought of his old friends had brought back sad memories so he quickly tried to think of something else. It was hard to find something that did not remind him of what he had done, of what Peter had done.
Sirius flicked through the rest of the pages and when he found nothing of interest he threw it down on to the floor. He stared out of the small opening between the rocks, through which he could just see the village of Hogsmeade, with Hogwarts in the background. Sirius felt a warm feeling in his stomach when he realised that at this time tomorrow that's how close he would be to Harry.
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Foot steps and voices echoed along the corridor and came to a stop outside of the door. Sirius Black snapped out of the memories that haunted his every waking hour and most of his sleeping ones as well. Memories of Halloween 1981.
He glanced up from where he sat hunched on the floor as the door swung open. It wasn't meal time so he wondered what it could be. He was slightly surprised to see a man standing in the door way as opposed to one of the guards. Sirius recognised him as Cornelius Fudge, who had been there the day Sirius had been arrested. Sirius remembered hearing that he was now Minister for Magic. No doubt he had come to get a glimpse of Azkaban's most notorious prisoner as he inspected the prison.
Fudge remained in the door way staring at Sirius as if he were an animal in a zoo. Sirius stared back at him through the darkness and held eye contact until Fudge looked away.
"Morning" Sirius muttered. It was a relief to have something to take his mind away from things. A few brief words of another human being could sustain him for a short time.
"Erm… Morning Black" The Minister replied, a little hesitantly. He had received nothing more than a grunt from the other prisoners he had visited and then only when he had spoken first. Never had one of the prisoners spoken to him first.
"Nice weather we're having" he continued only realising what he had said once it was too late.
"I wouldn't know" Sirius replied shortly.
"Yes well…" Fudge fiddled uncomfortably with the newspaper that was in his hand as Sirius continued to stare at him.
"Could I have that if you've finished with it" Sirius asked, nodding at the newspaper. Fudge looked down at it, folded it in half and passed it at arms length to the prisoner. Sirius reached out and took it.
"I miss doing the crossword" he told fudge, who looked a little disconcerted. Sirius realised that Fudge was probably wondering why he wasn't as broken as the other prisoners. Sirius often wondered this himself when he lay awake at night listening to the screams and shouts coming from the other cells. He knew the Dementors affected him as his head was filled with unhappy memories, although after everything that had happened this would have probably been the case with or without Dementors, but something had stopped him from losing his mind completely. He desperately clung onto the fact that he was innocent, so he assumed it was this that helped him stay sane, that and being able to transform into a dog. Sirius forced a slight smile onto his face. If Fudge thought he hadn't been affected by the dementors, let him think that, Sirius didn't care. The newspaper would keep his mind from that dreadful night for a short while.
Once the cell door had been slammed shut again, Sirius pulled himself from the floor and sat on the edge of the small rickety bed, which was actually no more comfortable than the floor. Leaning back against the cold wall he opened out the newspaper. He quickly glanced over the back sports page out of habit before realising he had no idea what was happening in Quidditch anyway.
He flipped over to the front page and read
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE
His eyes scanned over the picture of the family of nine, the Weasleys, distant cousins of his. Sirius glanced briefly through the story, pausing momentarily when it mentioned the Weasley children returning to Hogwarts. He had completely lost track of time in Azkaban but was sure Harry would be old enough to be at school. He looked up at the date on the newspaper. Three days before Harry's thirteenth birthday. Sirius felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. He had missed twelve of Harry's birthdays, James and Lily had missed them too. He could only hope that Harry would have a good birthday regardless. He shook himself out of that thought and looked back at the photograph
His eyes rested at a boy who must be about the same age as Harry. For a few seconds he couldn't believe what he saw, a rat sitting on the boys shoulder. A very familiar looking rat, with part of his front paw missing.
"Peter" Sirius whispered to himself. His eyes darted back up to the text and scanned through it
'returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts'
Panic set in Sirius's mind as he paced up and down the tiny cell. Wormtail was at Hogwarts, where Harry was, waiting for news of the Dark Lords return. Waiting for the opportunity of presenting Harry to him. He had to do something about it, he had to let somebody know. Sirius could only think of two people who would believe him. Remus would not agree to come and visit him he knew that and Talitha, well he didn't know where she was and it would be too much of a risk for her to visit. If word got out that she had been she would most probably end up in here herself. He slumped down on the bed and drew his knees up to his chest. He owed it to Harry to save him from Wormtail but how?
Sirius thought of nothing else for the next few days, it turned into an obsession. He felt himself getting stronger, fuelled by his determination. He wasn't sure exactly how long it was before he hit on an idea as he watched the Dementors bring his food. The door was wide open for a good amount of time before it was closed again. Before his next meal arrived he transformed into a dog. He had nothing to lose, he would be here for the rest of his life anyway and if he didn't try it would destroy him anyway.
The door opened and silently the big black dog crept though it and slipped easily through some bars. He continued on through the fortress, walking slowly as to not make any noise, all the time wanting to run for freedom. The sunlight dazzled him as his slipped outside and he breathed in his first fresh air for twelve years.
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Remus Lupin sat down in his favourite old armchair and sighed. Would his life never be simple? He picked up his cup of tea and took a large gulp.
"Hey Moony, I'm home" He heard a voice call out. He looked round at the fire place and almost spat out his tea when he saw a face in the flames.
"Talitha, where on earth are you? What are you doing?" He asked the woman whose head was floating in his fire.
"I'm at the flat, where do you think? I just got back a few minutes ago" She asked sounding puzzled.
"You haven't heard have you?" Remus enquired
"Heard what? You aren't exactly making sense at the moment" she replied.
"Hang on, I'll be there in one minute" Things were just getting better and better. He picked up the newspaper that was lying on the table, grabbed a hand full of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. Falling out of the fireplace at his destination, he glanced round. It had been years since he had been here. The room was dark and dusty but other than that it was exactly how he remembered it. He smiled briefly remembering some of the good times he had seen there and then shuddered as he thought of the man who had lived there.
"Remus, is that you?" the same voice as before called from the kitchen. Remus looked over as the woman appeared at the door. He smiled at her weakly. How on earth was he going to tell her? This was the girl who he had come to think of almost as a sister. She had already had so many bad things happen in her life, he wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to tell her what had happened the previous day. Especially as this had been the cause of them not speaking for months a few years back. Twelve years to be exact. It had taken them years to get back to normal and even now they had only just started to trust each other completely again. They still had wildly different opinions on the matter but had now agreed to disagree and no longer discussed it.
"Hey" he said quietly
"What was all that cryptic nonsense about?" Talitha asked him "What's happened?"
"First, just tell me why your back" Remus said, cautiously "I need to know before I tell you anything"
"Harry" she said with a small smile "I thought today might be a good time to go and meet him. I wanted to go on his birthday but I couldn't get back until now"
"No, you can't now" Remus said, his voice trembling slightly with panic "That would be one of the worst things you could do"
"Are you going to tell me then?" Talitha asked, starting to get a bit agitated.
"Read this" Remus told her, passing her the half folded newspaper that he had brought from his house. Talitha took it from him and sat on the arm of the sofa as she began reading
'A report from the Ministry of Magic has confirmed that a prisoner has escaped from the highly secure Azkaban Fortress. Until now there has never been a break out from the prison and surprisingly, the escapee was one of the most heavily guarded in the entire fortress. The guards of Azkaban and the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, have been said to have no idea how Sirius Black has managed this impossible feat.
Black was imprisoned twelve years ago after killing twelve muggles and one wizard, Peter Pettigrew, the day after the down fall of You-know-who. He is thought to be one of the Dark Lords most ardent followers. The worry is now that his escape may be an attempt to bring You-know-who back to power'
Talitha glanced up from the newspaper to find Remus looking at her expectantly waiting for her response. She didn't speak but stood up and paced the room as she reread the first part of the article. Her mind was racing and her heart had skipped a beat when she had read Sirius Black the first time. He was free. However, the second time she read it, panic set in. They were bound to catch him and who knows what would happen to him them.
"Why now" she said quietly not really expecting an answer from Remus.
"They say he's been talking in his sleep" Remus began "Keeps repeating the same thing over and over. 'He's at Hogwarts.' Fudge thinks he's going after Harry"
"He would never harm Harry, just as he would have never betrayed James. You know what my opinion on that is Remus"
"Ok, let's not start that argument again"
Talitha looked back at the newspaper and continued reading where she had left off.
'A source from the Magical Law Inforcement department has been quoted as saying
"The guards from Azkaban are working along side the Elite Aurors and our best Hit wizards to recapture and detain the very dangerous Black'
"Best Aurors and Hit wizards" Talitha said with a slight smile "Not exactly true is it. Sirius was the best Hit wizard they ever had and I'm standing here reading about it for the first time in the newspaper"
"They were hardly going send you after him were they" Remus replied
"No, but they could have at least told me"
"My guess is that they are out looking to see if he was with you"
"You think? But Sirius doesn't even know where I am, how would he be with me? In any case he wouldn't be that dumb"
"Who knows what he's thinking at the moment."
Talitha turned the newspaper over to read the rest of the article. Her eyes widened in shock and the colour drained from her face when she saw the picture that had been printed. She stared at his sunken face and bony shoulders. Talitha was used to seeing prisoners from Azkaban so the sight of Sirius shouldn't have been a shock to her really.
"Oh Sirius" she muttered to herself. It almost broke her heart to see him like that. She stared at the picture, looking at his eyes. There was something, she wasn't sure what, not quite like the other prisoners she had seen. There was a slight glint in them, like Azkaban hadn't broken him. She'd never seen that before.
"Harry" Talitha said suddenly "That's where he'll be"
"What? You said he wouldn't harm Harry"
"No he wouldn't" Talitha insisted "But it was Harry's birthday the day he escaped. He'll be there I just know it. I've got to go and find him Remus, before someone else does"
"Do you think that's a good idea, Tali? Let's just assume for a minute that there is the slightest chance you might be wrong about Sirius. If he really is with Voldemort then who knows what he'll do to you if you find him. You know why Voldemort went after James and Harry, you would have been next. You're an heir of Gryffindor too. What better way is there for him to prove his loyalty to the Dark lord than bringing you to him?"
"You think I haven't thought about that." Talitha said raising her voice "You think it doesn't keep me awake every night. I've thought of that a million times but I trust him Remus"
"James trusted him as well" Remus replied calmly
"Exactly, I trust him and James trusted him, why isn't that enough for you?"
"The evidence is against him"
"There is no evidence. Sirius wasn't the secret keeper. He told me" Talitha yelled
"Yes, he told you." Said Remus, still calm "That could have been just a cover up. He never told you who was"
"I don't even know if he knew who it was. That's the point of a secret keeper. It's a secret, you don't go round telling everyone"
"So why did he kill Peter"
"I don't know, maybe he was just defending himself after Peter confronted him. We were all upset, who knows what Peter might have done to him first. Imagine what you would have done if you had found him that day"
"It just doesn't make sense" Remus said
"I've got to at least talk to him and find out for myself." Talitha told him, her voice quieter now "Trust me, if I suspect him at all, I'll take him to Azkaban myself"
Remus didn't answer
"You trust me don't you" Talitha asked cautiously. Remus smiled at her.
"I trust that you haven't got anything to do with Voldemort, I just don't trust your judgement of Sirius. Promise me you won't do any thing stupid ok and don't get seen. It'll look extremely suspicious that you're back in the country just after Sirius escapes. Wear your invisibility cloak"
"Ok" Talitha replied, as she smiled at him. She pulled her invisibility cloak out of her bag. "I'll be careful"
"You'll come straight back to my house won't you so I know what's happened" Remus asked her as she threw the cloak over herself.
"Yeah course. I'll see you later."
Crack
Remus was alone in his one time best friends flat. He walked over to the fire place to return home when his eye caught a photograph on the fire surround. He picked it up and looked at it.
"If you do anything to her, I'll personally hunt you down" he said out loud to the picture.
Talitha arrived at the end of Privet Drive. She checked that she was still covered by the invisibility cloak and made her way along the street to number four. She sat down on a small wall across from the house and waited. It was starting to get dark now, if Sirius was around he would wait until dark to come out. Talitha felt her stomach churning, not sure whether it was the excitement of possibly seeing Sirius or Harry that was causing it.
A light was switched on in the living room at number four. A thought flicked through Talitha's mind. Slowly, so as not to disturb the cloak she stood up and wandered across the road. Silently she crept up the Dursleys drive until she stood outside the front window. She peered inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry. Vernon Dursley filled an armchair in the corner and an equally large woman sat on the sofa. Talitha's heart jumped and a smile spread across her face as a small skinny boy walked past the doorway. She had expected him to look similar to James but not this much. It could have easily been James in that house. Talitha remained rooted to the spot for a few minutes in the hope to see Harry again. She was just about to turn away when he walked in to the living room. It was all Talitha could do not to tap on the window or knock on the door. She hated the thought of him living here. She had only met Petunia once and that was enough to convince her that she didn't want Harry living here but she had no choice in the matter, she understood the reasons but it still didn't make it any easier. Harry sat on the sofa as far as possible away from the large woman looking extremely bored for a few minutes before they all got up and left the room. Talitha expected they had gone to have dinner. Maybe she should go and have a look round to see if there were any signs of Sirius. She turned and looked around the desolate street, thinking that there was a surprisingly lack of activity seeing as this was where the boy the escaped murder was looking for lived. She smiled to herself wondering if there were Aurors wandering up and down the street in invisibility cloaks. No, Moody would have at least one person visible. That was assuming Moody was in charge of the search for Sirius. Talitha hoped so, at least he would listen to Sirius if they caught him. He might have a chance then.
Talitha walked around the surrounding area but found no evidence that Sirius was around. She had expected to see a large black dog skulking in the shadows.
Talitha decided to make her way back to the Dursleys and so made her way down Privet Drive. The curtains were closed now but she could still see a light shining through them. She settled herself back on the wall and waited. Her mind wandered thinking about Sirius and Harry, so she wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around her. Suddenly she heard a loud bang as the Dursley's front door crashed open and Harry appeared with his trunk and a large metal cage. He quickly looked one way down the street and then set of in the other direction. Talitha, wondering what he was up to, followed. Still covered by the invisibility cloak she tracked him though three streets until he sat down on a wall looking angry. After a short time Harry's appearance of anger was wearing off as he started to look slightly panicked. Although concerned about him, Talitha couldn't help but smile, forward planning had never been a good Potter trait, they were kind of do now think later people and it was obvious Harry was like that as well. Harry looked around the street as Talitha noticed he had his wand in his hand. This did not look good, part of her wanted to go immediately and get someone here who could help him, he was obviously in some sort of trouble. The other part of her mind told her to stay in case anything else happened. She decided to wait and see what happened. Harry opened his trunk and started rummaging around, looking for something. Suddenly he stood up and looked around as if he had heard something. He turned back to the trunk but was soon looking around again. Talitha glanced round to try and see what Harry had heard or sensed. Nothing was around as far as she could see but Harry was looking over at a small alley way. Harry lit his wand and flashed the light around. Talitha saw Harry step back and span round to see what was there. A big pair of eyes looked back at her.
'Padfoot' She whispered to herself. Quickly she ran over to the alley way not noticing Harry fall over his trunk. She was almost there when…
BANG
Talitha whipped round to see the Knight Bus appear and saw Harry lying on the pavement. She turned back to where the black dog had been but it had gone. With a backwards glance at Harry she ran down the alley looking for Sirius. On reaching the end of the alley she stopped and looked around, there was no sign of him. She exited the alley way just in time to see Harry get on the Knight bus and it disappear.
'Yeah nice one Talitha' she thought to herself 'They were here in the same street and you lost them both' She walked around the area again quickly but still no sign of Sirius. With a final looked down the alley, she apperated back to Remus's house.
Remus was pacing the room when she arrived. He looked at her as she appeared
"And?"
"You've got to go and do something Remus." Talitha told him hurriedly "Harry got on the Knight bus with his school trunk. Stormed out of the house before hand, looks like he's trying to run away from the Dursley's"
"He doesn't have yours and James's temper then" Remus smiled with a hint of sarcasm. Talitha smiled back at him.
"OK, I'll go and let Dumbledore know" he continued, "You stay here"
Talitha sat down on Remus's sofa, trying to work out what Sirius might do next. Harry wasn't such a big problem, they just had to find the Knight bus. Sirius wouldn't go back to Little Whinging now, he would know Harry had seen him.
Remus stumbled back out of the fire place and back into the room about ten minutes later.
"They've sent people out to look for Harry" he told Talitha "Don't worry they'll find him"
Talitha let out a small laugh,
"I'm probably the one least worried about Harry. I'm the only one who won't be worried that Sirius will find him. The only thing I'm worried about is Harry doing something stupid. He is a Potter after all"
Remus smiled back at her briefly before returning to a more serious face.
"Was he there?" Remus asked. Talitha paused for a second before answering.
"No" she lied "I didn't see Sirius" It was the first time in her life she could remember lying to Remus and she didn't like it. However, she wasn't a hundred percent sure that he wouldn't inform the ministry and it wasn't as if she had actually spoken to Sirius. At least this way she wasn't making Remus have to hid anything
"Harry disappeared on the Knightbus before I had chance to look properly so I thought I'd best come back"
Remus nodded slowly. Talitha was sure he knew she was lying but he didn't say anything.
"Dumbledore said you should go" Remus told her "He said if the Ministry find out your back in the country while this is happening you'll likely end up in Azkaban yourself. Fudge will have everyone convinced you helped him escape"
"I can't leave now" Talitha protested half-heartedly, knowing that Dumbledore was right.
"Go back to Australia, Tali. It's for the best" Remus told her
"You're right Moony, as always" she smiled at him. She walked over to him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.
"I'll keep you informed on what's going on" Remus promised her before letting go. "Right I'll come back to the flat with you so you can get your stuff. The sooner you're gone the better"
The black dog crawled into a small opening between two rocks into a tiny cave, dropped a newspaper on the ground and transformed into a man. Sirius picked up the newspaper and settled himself on the cold damp floor to read it. He scanned down the front page of the newspaper and was shocked to find himself not on it. He got to page three before he found himself mentioned and he smiled slightly. Every day he had managed to steal a newspaper and he found it slightly odd to see his picture in it, especially one of him looking so ill. Sirius glanced at the date at the top of the page and realised that tomorrow would be the start of term at Hogwarts. Earlier that day he had sat thinking about his own time at Hogwarts and the fun he had had with his friends, wondering if Harry was like James. He was still getting used to being able to recall happy memories now he was away from the Dementors. However the thought of his old friends had brought back sad memories so he quickly tried to think of something else. It was hard to find something that did not remind him of what he had done, of what Peter had done.
Sirius flicked through the rest of the pages and when he found nothing of interest he threw it down on to the floor. He stared out of the small opening between the rocks, through which he could just see the village of Hogsmeade, with Hogwarts in the background. Sirius felt a warm feeling in his stomach when he realised that at this time tomorrow that's how close he would be to Harry.
