BLACK RETURNS

The man stirred again in his bed which made a few people jump slightly. Madam Pomfrey, who had been in her office, came up to the bed and let out a loud scream. "Sirius Black!" She cried out.

"Calm down, Poppy." Professor McGonagall spoke up, limping over to the man's bed.

"But, it's Sirius Black! We have to do something!"

"Poppy, Sirius never committed the crimes he was imprisoned for. He will not harm you, so I ask that you tend to his wounds." Dumbledore said, placing a caring hand on Professor Bronte's shoulder. Madam Pomfrey, though hesitant, went straight to work on Sirius' injuries.

"Headmaster, how did this happen?" Professor Bronte asked.

"I'm not quite sure, but maybe he will tell us when his strength is regained." She nodded as she saw Sirius open his eyes.

"Excuse me." She said and exited the hospital wing. Harry watched as she quickly exited, never looking at neither him nor Sirius as she passed. He looked at Ron and Hermione who just shrugged their shoulders as she left the wing.

****

An hour passed as they sat in the hospital wing. The Farewell Feast was tonight, so everyone who wasn't a student or part of the Hogwarts staff decided to stay and join their friends and family for the last feast of the year. But, they would worry about the feast later.

Sirius was about to tell them what had happened to him. Everyone crowded around, except Professors Snape, Trelawny, and Sprout who were taking charge in the Great Hall and the corridors, while the others sat and stared interestedly at Sirius as they waited for him to begin.

"All right, when I fell through the black veil, I thought I was dead or I was going to die. I fell through darkness for what felt like days upon days, needing neither food nor water for some reason… I remember feeling different as I headed through, what felt like, a tunnel of darkness. As I approached the light at the end, my hands weren't hands anymore; they were wings, my feet weren't my own; they belonged to a bird. Then, I thought to myself, that I wasn't human anymore… When I was now in the light, I saw that I had turned into this… hawk."

"Why did it take so long for you to get back?" Harry asked.

"Well, I had to learn how to fly, first, and I have to admit that it wasn't easy, but I got used to it pretty quickly."

"That still doesn't explain why it took you two years to come back." Hermione pointed out.

"I'm getting to that, Hermione," said Sirius. "I knew it would be difficult to get back here without the help of a student or a member of the staff… I knew, last year, it would have been impossible, but this year it was different. I got attacked by this wolf from which I got a broken wing."

"And then you were found by Professor Bronte." Harry finished for him.

"Yes." Sirius agreed, his face drooping slightly from the cheerful one he had had on for the passed hour. Harry noticed this and climbed out of his bed to give his godfather a hug.

"I'm glad you're back." He said. Sirius hugged him back.

"I am too… Listen, Harry, about…" Harry stopped him. He already knew he was going to talk about Professor Bronte, whom he now believed was telling the truth. He figured that it must've been true when he saw Professor Bronte leave without looking at her former fiancée. Of course, this puzzled Harry, for only hours before she couldn't stop talking about how much she loved Sirius. He knew that something must be up.

He excused himself from the hospital wing, saying that he needed to get washed up before the feast. But, he didn't head up to get washed. He headed up to Professor Bronte's office, where he knew she would be.