Authors Note: Well, here comes the penultimate chapter! Looks like the story is finally drawing to a close, after this there is only a short epilogue to neatly tie up all the loose ends. Anyways…this is my favourite chapter in the entire story. Not sure if its just because after an age of Shrieking Shack, I am relieved that this is occasionally original, but also because I just really dig the Dumbledore/Sirius talk. Poor Dumbledore has ended up sounding like the Architect from the Matrix Reloaded.
Enjoy. And remember to write nice long reviews filled with praise. It is siriusly appreciated ;)
Chapter X
As the group walked slowly downstairs, Sirius made an intentional effort to puppeteer the floating Snape so that his head occasionally bashed into the ceiling. Remus, Peter and the ginger boy went first, followed by Snape, Sirius and finally Harry and the girl, Hermione, at the back.
After several failed attempts, they managed to squeeze into the tunnel together in single file, and edge along sideways.
Snape's head smashed into the ceiling painfully and he groaned unconsciously. A little dust fell from above, and Sirius coughed lightly, and turned his head backwards towards Harry as he walked.
"You know what this means? Turning Pettigrew in?"
"You're free."
"Yes…But I'm also – I don't know if anyone ever told you – I'm your Godfather."
"Yeah, I knew that."
"Well…your parents appointed me your guardian. If anything happened to them…"
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle. But…well…think about it. Once my name's cleared…if you wanted a…a different home…"
"What – live with you? Leave the Dursleys?"
"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to. I understand. I just thought I'd -"
Deep inside, Sirius was punching his outspoken nature into submission. How could he be so stupid, attempting to offer Harry a home…how idiotic? He must seem like a complete fool. What child on Earth would want to live with a convicted, albeit soon to be exonerated, mass-murderer? Not to mention his extremely untidy clothing and a house, which was probably similar in cleanliness to a sewer.
"Are you mad?"
Sirius's spirits sank even lower then they had been in Azkaban. The boy found the idea so preposterous, he was questioning Sirius's sanity.
"Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"
And just like that…Sirius felt his emotional state strengthen. Was Harry just toying with him, or was this serious?
"You want to? You mean it?"
"Yeah, I mean it!"
Sirius didn't know how to react, but felt himself smiling broadly. Harry was smiling back, as though an incommunicable connection between them had been formed. Harry was going to come and live with him…could it be true…was he still in Azkaban, was this all a dream?
During the silence that followed, as the group continued down the tunnel, Sirius found he was pinching himself every few seconds, to be certain that this wasn't all just a bizarre fantasy, comparable to the sort which occurred in prison.
Eventually, the end of the tunnel was reached, strangely quicker then usual…possibly because Sirius had so much to think about. Crookshanks pressed the knot on the trunk with ease, and everyone began to clamber out individually.
Sirius exited last of all, after guiding Snivellus out into the open, and ushering the children upwards back outside too.
When back out in the shadowy grounds of the school, the assemblage slowly began to walk towards the dimly lit castle.
"One wrong move, Peter."
Remus was cautiously holding his wand to the side, pointing it into Peter's ribs. Peter moaned feebly.
They were still a few hundred metres from the castle, when suddenly the clouds began to move. They moved aside as though they knew where their target stood, and soon he was found.
A beam of moonlight shot downwards mysteriously, bathing the group in the curious bright white light and blinding the humans for a second, all of whom raised their hands to block its rays from scorching their retinas.
When Sirius lowered his hand again, he noticed that Snape had floated directly into Remus, Peter and the ginger boy, who stood, chained together and had stopped abruptly. Sirius also froze, and lifted his arm to stop Harry and the girl, Hermione.
Sirius looked upwards towards the moon, it was full, and beaming brightly…almost as though it smiled at what was going to happen.
Remus began to shake violently, as Sirius had seen so many times in the past. Froth was spraying downwards and vomit had begun to leak from his nostrils and out of his mouth. He was screaming as loud as his body would allow, but the screams soon became a horrific roar as his jaws increased in strength and his head lengthened grotesquely.
"Oh my – He didn't take his potion tonight. He's not safe!"
"Run. Run! Now!"
Hermione turned and ran off backwards across the field, but Harry foolishly leaped forwards towards the chains binding the other three together. Sirius grabbed him around the waist and threw him aside. Harry fell roughly on the grass, and rolled sideways.
Remus was still transforming, his entire face and body now covered in hair. His clothes had ripped and fallen aside, and his limbs had fully changed into dextrous and clawed paws.
Remus was now trapped, imprisoned if you will, deep inside his own subconscious, leaving the monster chained to Peter, and the ginger boy. It ripped itself away from the chains with ease and roared viciously in Harry's direction.
With no choice, Sirius concentrated for a second, and transformed into Padfoot. Using his strong back legs, he bounded forwards and grabbed the Werewolf's muscular neck, pushing it away from the children and the traitor.
Padfoot felt the wolfish claws rip into his back, and lost his balance for a split second, falling to the ground and tumbling down a ditch. He dragged the wolf with him though, and a moment later pulled himself back out again, dragging the wolf violently by the tail behind him, blood tearing out from underneath the fur and staining the grass.
In the background, Peter was struggling with the children, lights flashing from wand tips and the manic shouting of spells filling the air. This was of little interest to two fighting animals though, and their brawl continued as Sirius dug his claws into the belly of the beast, spilling more blood.
Things took a turn for the worse, as Sirius felt a paw slam into his head, and he spun over onto his back, kicking out at the Werewolf, which had leaped on top of him, gouging at his face.
Sirius kicked out hard, and hit the animal directly in the face. It howled, conceding defeat, and galloped off into the forest.
"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!"
Sirius still lay on the grass, but weakly pivoted his neck to see what Harry was shouting about.
Peter had escaped?
Finding energy in the thoughts of revenge, he scrambled to his feet and ran off across the grounds. He would search for Peter for as long as necessary.
He began to pick up speed, launching himself along swiftly and glancing from side to side, to try and catch a glimpse of the rat through the darkness.
His search ended abruptly, as he skidded to a halt by the lake. He knew from experience that Peter couldn't swim, so an escape by this route was impossible. Before he had the opportunity to turn around, Sirius felt something.
He transformed quickly back into a human and sniffed the air. The wind had calmed, and everything had fallen silent.
Sirius felt the temperature drop. His entire body felt cold, as though he had fallen into a pool of ice. He tried to breath, but found with each breath his innermost thoughts erupting to the surface of his imagination.
Sirius Black, Sirius White, Sirius Green, Sirius Blue, Sirius Yellow, Sirius Purple.
He screamed as he turned around, collapsing to the floor and covering his hands with his head in fear.
Sirius Black, Sirius White, Sirius Green, Sirius Blue, Sirius Yellow, Sirius Purple.
It was impossible to estimate a number, as Sirius didn't allow his eyes to linger, but a veritable army of Dementors were coming towards the lake, swarming around him…sucking his mind free of all happy thoughts or ideals.
"Nooo, Noooo… please…"
Sirius Black, Sirius White, Sirius Green, Sirius Blue, Sirius Yellow, Sirius Purple.
He could hear his Godson in the distance, yelling 'Expecto Patronum' at the top of his voice, but it was no use. A child wouldn't be able to conjure a Patronus.
Giving up hope, sucked dry of all happiness, Sirius rolled over and lay motionless on the ground, staring up at the clouds, which had obscured the moon again. He was stunned, unable to move…. did he even want to move. What in the world could justify the effort it would involve?
Sirius Black, Sirius White, Sirius Green, Sirius Blue, Sirius Yellow, Sirius Purple.
He could hear the rattling breath closing in. He could feel the warmth of the young girl, who had fallen immobile just a few inches away, and he could see through the corner of his eye, Harry still struggling…a Dementors hands wrapped around his throat, his hands weakly pulling on Sirius's arm.
But he passed out before he could witness the end.
*
Sirius awoke quickly and groggily. He was seated on a small wooden stool, a child's seat, in an empty classroom. Empty except for Albus Dumbledore, who sat on the other side of the room staring at him thoughtfully from over his half-moon spectacles.
He quickly recognised his location as Professor Flitwick's old office on the seventh floor, although since his last visit it had been redecorated, and the door was heavily bolted.
Before stopping to think about how to phrase his argument, Sirius found words bursting out of his mouth.
"Harry, is he alright…what happened to the children? What happened to the Dementors? Have they told you what happened yet? Did anyone get hurt?"
"Harry is fine Sirius, they're all fine. Severus Snape brought you all back up to the castle a short while ago."
"And Remus?"
"He has not been found. Don't expect to see him again for a few hours, even once he has returned to his human form, it will take a while to locate and retrieve him from the forest."
"And what about Pettigrew?"
"Pettigrew?"
"Yes…have the children told you what happened yet? They can all tell you what happened, they saw it all."
Sirius sighed as Dumbledore looked back at him, his eyes widening in curiosity. It unfortunately seemed as though Dumbledore was thoroughly unaware of the events that had occurred.
"What are you talking about Sirius? It has already been presumed that you are here tonight for malevolent reasons…the Dementors are on their way. Your time is running out."
"But…"
"I have patience that others do not share. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and hear your story, but it will count for little…I have no power when it comes to your fate. It lies in Cornelius Fudge's hands, and he has already signed the necessary papers for the Dementors to perform the kiss."
"But…Pettigrew, he's not dead, he was here tonight…the children saw him…Remus saw him…"
"I told you I would give you the benefit of the doubt, Sirius, but you too must be patient enough to trust me."
Dumbledore stepped away from the door and slowly approached him. Sirius felt his hands gripping the back of the chair in anxiety.
"The Dementors have weakened your resolve, this should be quick and painless."
"What are you going to do to me?"
"I am sure you are familiar with the obscure branch of magic known as Legilimency. The magical ability to extract feelings and memories from another persons mind. Following the Dementors attack, your feelings are numbed, so access to your memories should be easy and unbiased. Ergo, your memories will not be clouded by your feelings, so I will see a clear and realistic view of the truth. I am giving you the chance nobody else ever did, to show me you are an innocent man."
"You know I'm an innocent man?"
"I didn't say that, Sirius. Time is short, do as I say. Look into my eyes and open your mind."
Dumbledore removed his spectacles, and placed them carefully into his pocket, then kneeled down before him, brushing aside a few strands of the greasy black hair, and making solid eye contact.
He then slowly raised his wand and pressed it to Sirius's temple, calmly uttering "Legilimens."
Like a photo album, being flicked through at high speed, Sirius lost all perception of the room around him, and distorted visions of his memories trickled down from the deep recesses of his mind, and into his vision.
Lily and James's wedding. Harry's birth. Peter's betrayal. The years of Azkaban. The desperate escape. The newspaper article. The months alone in the forest. The Shrieking shack. Peter's return. The fight with the Werewolf. The attack of the Dementors.
As each image fell in front of his eye line, the distortion became less and he could clearly see and feel Dumbledore sitting staring on in shock and astonishment.
As quickly as it had begun, it ended, and Dumbledore was putting his glasses back on slowly and backing away towards the door.
Sirius tried to speak, but found the words getting lost in his throat.
Dumbledore spoke for him.
"It's alright Sirius, I saw it all. I know the truth."
"Does…does this mean I'm free to leave?"
"I am afraid not. As I explained, the decision has already been made and no force on Heaven or Earth can change it…but I will not let a guiltless man be punished this way. Fear not, I will do all in my power to secure your release."
"So, you know, you know everything? Peter and the betrayal, and him killing all those people, and what happened tonight?"
"As best as you remember it. I saw what you saw. Nothing more and nothing less."
With a swish of his wand, the door had opened. Sirius stood quickly, but a gesture of Dumbledore's wrinkled hand beckoned him to sit.
"Our paths will cross again, Sirius Black."
Dumbledore swept out of the room, closing the door promptly behind him. Sirius contemplated their parting words for a brief moment, before leaning over in his chair and wiping his face on his tattered robes. He felt terrible.
The conversation with Professor Dumbledore had done little to make him feel better, especially knowing that more Dementors were on their way…eager and ready to remove his soul by force.
Before he could reflect anymore on the possibility of living the rest of his life without an interesting personality, a heavy beating sound resounded from outside the window.
Sirius looked up hurriedly, and opened his mouth in shock and disbelief. Harry and Hermione were floating outside on a large winged beast, more specifically a Hippogriff.
Without any more thought, Sirius leaped to his feet and over to the window, grabbing the metal support and desperately trying to pull it open. It was stuck, firmly.
"Stand back!"
Sirius backed away, as the girl pointed her wand and yelled "Alohomora" enthusiastically. The window sprang open, and the wind whipped inside, blasting Sirius's face with the cool evening air.
"How – how-?"
"Get on – there's not much time. You've got to get out of here – the Dementors are coming. Macnair's gone to get them."
Sirius stepped forwards again and carefully placed his hands on the window-frame, heaving his body out of the narrow gap and flinging his leg over the Hippogriff's back, so he sat uncomfortably behind Hermione.
"Ok, Buckbeak, up! Up to the tower – come on!"
With one powerful sweep of his wings, the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, soared upwards to the West Tower, and landed with a clatter.
Harry and Hermione slid off, giving Sirius the opportunity to shift forwards and grasp the rope.
"Sirius, you'd better go, quick. They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you've gone."
"What happened to the other boy? Ron?"
"He's going to be OK – he's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick – go!"
"How can I ever thank -"
"GO!"
Sirius pulled the rope and wheeled the Hippogriff round to face the open sky.
"We'll see each other again. You are – truly your father's son, Harry…"
With a squeeze of his heels, and a further pull of the rope…the wings began to beat downwards again, and the creature rose slowly into the sky, with Sirius clinging on happily as he escaped to freedom once more.
TO BE CONCLUDED!!!