~ Chapter 9: Fetching for Sirius ~

Friday, 28th July, in the Maxwell's library…

Sirius was sitting morosely in the library, lackadaisically leafing through one of the books he had picked randomly. He had considerably put on a little more weight and looked much healthier ever since he had escaped from the trappings of the portal. He was unaware of Fenix as she walked across the library silently. He was only aware of her presence when the book was snatched from over his shoulder.

"Sirius, what's bothering you?" Fenix questioned as she leaned over him, her silver eyes showing him that she was worried.

"Nothing…" Sirius's voice trailed off as he stared blankly at a bookshelf across him. Fenix gave a snort and delicately twisted his right ear.

"Ouch! What did I say?"

"Exactly. Don't lie to me Sirius. Have you forgotten that I am an Empath? Even if I'm shielding hard--which is exactly what I'm doing right now, I can't shake off the feeling you're restless over something because of our bond."

Sirius gave a heavy sigh and made space for her on the couch. Fenix sat down on the couch, turning her face to look at him. A wave of despair emanated out from him and she tenderly caressed his cheek.

"Tell me," she whispered, as her silver eyes stared deeply into his.

"How did you managed to get your blue file on the day you were showing me a newspaper cutout?"

"By way of Fetching. Why?"

"I just need to get my hands on something," Sirius began, his eyes looking pleadingly back at hers. "I would go to where it is myself, but I have no way of knowing if the area in question is in safe hands or not."

"Well, I shouldn't have a problem helping you. Distance doesn't really matter that much to me. But the size might," Fenix cautioned when Sirius looked eagerly at her.

"I just need you to get a two-way mirror, which is about the size of my palm," he explained, holding up his right palm. Fenix leaned backed on the couch, her face thoughtful. Her fingers twirled a lock of her hair in an unconscious gesture and Sirius gathered that she does that when she was in deep thought. I wonder how she behaves when she's studying.

"This is a rather tricky thing to do. I assume that you've kept this thing in your house?" at Sirius's nod she pursed her lips.

"Obviously…"

"That means I have to do it through you," Fenix decided.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I need to work with your memories to get it. Where your house is, and where you had kept it. Evidently, we have to hope that it is still where you left it."

Sirius thought about the plan carefully. I will do anything to let Harry know I'm still alive, even if it means that someone will be able to read my memories…and intentions. But I guess it's quite impossible to hide anything from her…

"I would not intrude on anything unless you gave me permission to do that," Fenix said, almost as if she had been reading his mind, standing up and beckoning him out of the library. "I think we should go to my study room, it's a much more suitable place to do it."

Sirius nodded and she led the way to her Workroom.

: Aldren, where are you? : She sent a thought out towards the elf.

: We all are in the kitchen. :

: Okay then, I will be Fetching something for Sirius so do not enter my Workroom unless it's an emergency all right? :

: Roger that. : Aldren sent his agreement.

Sirius went into a room that was occupied by a very large table and several utensils for writing and papers stacked neatly at one corner of the mahogany-wooden table and what the Muggles call laptops. However, the room began to change as soon as the door to her Workroom closed.

The room was empty; only filled with a carpet of grass and sunlight entered from the window, giving the room an ethereal sunny look and it made Sirius happier than he had been half an hour ago. Fenix sat down cross-legged at the soft grass and patted on her lap, indicating that he should lie down.

"This will make it much easier," Fenix said, giving him a smile when Sirius looked uncertainly at her. He gave way, carefully sitting down before placing his head on her lap.

"Where is your house?"

"Grimmauld Place, London," Sirius began and looked curiously when she looked blankly at him. It was a while before she spoke up.

"Okay, your house number?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve?" Fenix frowned, although her eyes were not really looking at him. "Now this is strange; I see Ten, Eleven and then it's Thirteen…" she frowned harder. "Oh I see…you have a compression. Smart thing to do. And dear Phoebus! You do have a lot of protection spells woven all through the house," she remarked. "I should be able to work my way in between them; wait there is something isn't right. A house-elf eh?" Fenix frowned. She paused as if listening for a conversation that only she could hear. "Isn't he a malicious helper? Did you asked him to look after the house?" Fenix questioned Sirius carefully.

"I don't really know. What could you see?" Sirius answered her.

"There seems a lot of muttering coming from several paintings, and as far as I am able to tell, your house-elf is kind of -- uh -- corrupted."

"I won't be surprised if my mother's the one doing a lot of shrieking," Sirius said with bitter amusement, "and I am not really disturbed about your observation on Kreacher."

"Everything else seems all right though. I doubt your house-elf could detect my awareness. Now I want you to think hard of where you had kept the mirror. I will use the image in your mind to get to it."

This part was extremely slow. Images of Harry kept flitting through his mind when he came to visit Sirius's home for the first time. Finally, after what seemed like eternity to Sirius, he managed to hold on to the image and felt a strange sensation at the back of his mind.

"All right. I've got a lock on the target; I will find out in a moment if it is still there…"

Sirius felt a strange pulling sensation in his mind and all around him, then a strange popping sound filled the workroom.

"All right, we did it!" Fenix cheered, releasing her hold over Sirius. "Keep your eyes closed for several moments and open them slowly. If you do it too fast, you might black out."

Sirius followed her instructions closely and when it felt long enough to him, he opened his eyes. Fenix was holding a mirror, a bit tarnished but intact. I hope it still works…

"Now you will tell me why you need this badly," she said playfully, holding the mirror out of his reach.

"Be careful with it…" Sirius begged, and heaved a sigh of relief when she placed it firmly into his hands.

"It will be Harry's birthday in three days, and he has another one just like this." Sirius said.

"That's wonderful, Sirius," she breathed as she fully understood the idea. "Do you want me to give the boy some mysterious advice so he would look upon his?"

"You could do that?" Sirius asked in amazement.

"Yes, but I think I would go through an Elemental this time. A Fire Elemental Mage is with Harry at the moment. I believe you know him," she said mysteriously.

"And who is he?"

"Hermione's father."

The look Sirius gave her was so comical that she laughed uncontrollably. It took her a long time to control her laughter but she choked it down, her face reddening when Sirius got up and gave a sour look at her.

"Hey! Are you guys done?" a voice called out from outside the room. "Lunch's ready!" The room returned to its normal state and Sirius tucked the mirror safely in his breast pocket.

"I'm definitely hungry," Fenix said and blushed when her stomach made a very loud protest.

"Now we're even," Sirius said and began to chuckle under his breath that got louder when Fenix began to fume.

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