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Chapter 18 – Running

Buffy woke up hours later feeling refreshed. It was early afternoon and she decided to walk into Hogsmeade while Sirius still slept. She was tempted to wake him, but peering into his room she saw him sleeping, peacefully for the first time in a long while, so she left silently.

Rain fell, spattering on her cloak as she walked down the track. The sky was gloomy and she hurried along against the wing.
She headed into the post office and collected two envelopes that had been left for 'Joan Smith.' Smiling, she tucked them into her pocket and headed along the road.

Hogsmeade was deserted that day; the weather was bad enough to keep people indoors in their homes. Hogwarts loomed over the village, darkened by the sky but lit in places where there were windows. Dark figures that Buffy knew to be dementors waited at the bottom of the drive. There were more than there had been yesterday, she noticed. Probably due to Sirius. She shivered; partly from cold and partly because of the dementors, and headed back to the Shrieking Shack.

Sirius still slept when she returned, so Buffy sat down at the kitchen table and read her letters. One was from her mother, general chatter about how she was and how she missed Buffy and some stuff about the gallery. The other envelope contained a letter from Giles.

It said:

Dear Buffy,

Hoping you are well wherever you are, we are all missing you very much. We were glad to hear from you, though the owl was a little unnerving. Send greetings to Sirius from us.

Everything in Sunnydale is, well, sunny. Willow and Oz are doing well at Sunnydale University and Xander is job hopping having just returned from his big road trip. I am taking a break from work; it's difficult to be a librarian without a library. I was thinking about going to England for a while, if I do I'll let you know. I'll be able to as long as things on the hellmouth stay as they are: quiet. Only a few stray vampires have caused any trouble and together we were able to take care of them.

One last thing; we have noticed a few robed men in Sunnydale, asking questions. Your mother said they asked her about your whereabouts.

Love, Giles

P.S. thought you might like this

Enclosed in the envelope was a photograph of Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia and Giles, sitting on the grass outside Sunnydale High School, relaxed and laughing on the grass. Buffy smiled, a wave of nostalgia for her friends passing over her. She scribbled a reply on some parchment to be sent back to them.

Sirius entered the kitchen, ruffling his tousled hair and yawning.

 "Morning….I mean afternoon," he corrected himself, dropping a kiss on the top of Buffy's head. He grabbed a bar of chocolate and sat down next to Buffy.
 "What's that?" he asked, gesturing to the opened letters on the table. Buffy handed it to him and he read it.

 "Aurors nosing round Sunnydale," he said distractedly. "Hmmm." Buffy placed o hand on top of his and he clasped it. He put down the letter and picked up the photo.
 "Nice," he commented.
 "Yeah I thought it was," Buffy said. "It makes me miss them loads though."

 "They probably miss you a lot too," Sirius said, pulling Buffy out of her chair and onto his lap. "It's a pity I didn't get to know them more; they all seemed really nice."
 "We've been though a lot together," Buffy said simply. "They've always been there for me."
 "We've been through a lot together too," Sirius said, lifting her hand to kiss lips and kissing it. "And you've always been there for me." Buffy smiled and leaned against his chest, relishing hearing his heart beating.

"I got a paper," she added, as he began to fiddle with strands of her long blonde hair. "A big story about you and the castle." Sirius frowned slightly. "They did a big search but didn't find anything."

"Good," he said shortly.
 "Fell like going for a run?" Buffy said suddenly. "It's been a while and I don't want to get out of shape."
 "Sounds good." Sirius replied.

Sirius, dog shaped, and Buffy through Hogsmeade and into the countryside beyond, away from the castle. The rain had stopped but the sky was still dark and Sirius jumped puddles that they came across while Buffy splashed through them. After an hours running, Buffy grew tired and they stopped to rest, sitting on a fence. Sirius lay in the grass panting and Buffy did some stretches.
Stretching out her hamstrings, she bent down, head on her knee. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something creeping up to them. Quickly she straightened up and gazed upon the large ginger cat that approached them silently. It had a squashed face and baleful eyes that gazed up at her.
 "Hello sweetie," she said, bending to pick up the cat. It purred as she stroked its thick ginger fur. "Where did you come from?"

Sirius stood up and eyed the cat. He growled softly and its ears flattened against its head as it jumped from Buffy's arms.
 "Sirius," Buffy said reproachfully. "You're not a real dog." Sirius wagged his tail and Buffy grinned. The cat was surprisingly unfazed by Sirius and was even a little curious. It walked up to him and sniffed at the air close to him. Sirius stood still from surprise and the cat circled him warily. Finally it nosed Sirius' head and then gazed curiously at him with its large yellow eyes.
 "Strange," Buffy commented. "It isn't acting like you're a real dog." Sirius transformed and the cat jumped back in surprise but did not run off. On the contrary, it approached Sirius and rubbed itself against his ankles.
 "It knew what I was," Sirius said and he picked the cat up. "This isn't an ordinary cat; part kneazle by the looks of it."
 "Kneazle?" Buffy said. "Okay now you're just making stuff up."

 "Cat like creature, makes a loyal pet to those it likes and can detect suspicious characters, i.e. animagi." Sirius said, flashing a grin at Buffy.

 "Wow," Buffy said. "Hey, I wonder if it knows where rat boy Wormtail is?"

 "I bet it does," Sirius said urgently. "If I can communicate with it then maybe it can help us." However, as he spoke, the cat jumped from his arms and walked sedately away from them. Sirius moved after it, but it picked up pace and he lost it in the long grass.
 "Dammit," he swore.
 "It might come back," Buffy suggested. "Who knows?"

Slowly, they took off running again, back in the direction of the castle and their home.

Hey kind of a nothing chapter but I will be putting in some more action very shortly!