A/N: Yes, third chapter in one night.wait, maybe morning now? Either way,
all I'm doing is adding little notes at the top and uploaded them,
fanfiction.net hates me, so don't count on too much. Please review, I've
noticed I think one so far, and thanks for that one. The first one is the
dearest to my heart.
-Anna Dearest
Chapter 3
Light blue eyes flickered to life on the body that lay across the cold stone floor. Shakily, the man tried to pull himself up. Just opening his eyes was strenuous work all by itself. Shaking back the mass of black hair that clung to the side of his face by the cold sweat trickling down, Sirius Black made his attempt to stand as though it were his first. The hair plastered to his face obscured his view, and with a feeble movement that nearly took him over, he swiped it out of the way. With a grimace of pain, he dabbed away the blood that had been trickling out of his mouth for hours it seemed.
"Harry," Sirius grunted hoarsely, "I've got to get to Harry."
Leaning against the wall for support, he made an attempt to catch his breath. A small pool of blood was near where he had been earlier, but that couldn't be helped now; all that mattered was getting to Harry. Summoning all the strength and courage left in him, he slowly made his way out of the Department of Mysteries without getting caught.
**********
Remus got dressed with shaking hands that morning. The conversations from last night rang clearly in his mind. Thoughts of Dumbledore, Sirius, Harry, Peter, and Fox.yes, Fox, rang clearly in his head. It made no sense how that seemingly sweet young girl could be related to that monster, the thought made him shudder. He then laughed at the thought that he'd been sipping tea with the Dark Lord's daughter.
After dressing rather haphazardly, he began to descend the stairs. There on the banister was Fox. For a moment, Remus just stared in surprise, then, remembering NOT to judge her, he continued down the staircase. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he caught a glimpse of both Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape proceeding to the doorway to the kitchen.
"Fox, may I have a word in the kitchen with you?" Dumbledore asked kindly. The crow bobbed her head as if nodding and flew over to perch on Snape's shoulder. The menacing professor began absentmindedly stroking Fox as he made his way to the kitchen, robes billowing out behind him, as usual.
When Remus made it into the kitchen, he was surrounded not only by Snape and Dumbledore, but also by seven Weasleys, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, and a few others, not to mention the blue-eyed crow.
"For the millionth time, Albus, if she's not an Animagus, then what is she?" Moody asked, gazing intently at Fox, who perched peacefully on Snape's shoulder.
"A Polymagus, Alastor," Dumbledore said simply. "She can turned in any animal she chooses at will."
So that explains a lot, Remus thought. As though sensing his thoughts, the crow turned to face Remus, blue eyes searching him. It was quite eerie to have ANYONE look at him like that, especially her.
"Too sneaky, that is," Moody growled.
"I agree," Dumbledore laughed, "Which is why she makes the perfect spy for us."
That definitely stopped Moody's tidal wave of suspicion, at least publicly. Remus then felt himself having breakfast SHOVED down his throat by Molly Weasley. He, along with the rest of the crowd was forced to pile on or get piled on by the raging bull that was Mrs. Weasley. If truth were to be told, she was simply worried sick about Harry, a feeling that was mutual with most of her food consumers.
"How are we getting Potter this time?" Moody growled again.
"Floo Powder. I sent a note to his relatives, warning them of course," Dumbledore said this with a twinkle in his eyes. "Arthur had them hooked up with help from the Ministry."
"Who's going?" Tonks asked, pure curiosity giving her away.
"Anyone who'll go," was Dumbledore's simple reply, with a shrug to accompany it. "And someone, who I'm not giving a choice to."
"Who?" Moody growled, his magical eye swiveling recklessly in Fox's direction.
"Your guess was correct, I'm sending Fox with you," Dumbledore beamed. "She doesn't know Potter, and Potter certainly SHOULDN'T know her," Snape chimed in groggily, also clearly upset that she'd be going to get Harry.
"Quite the contrary, Severus," Dumbledore pointed out. All eyes turned toward him. "But it won't matter, she'll be in crow form," he added hastily.
Did Harry and Fox actually acknowledge each other in their dreams? The thought floated through Remus' head for hours.
"Albus, what did you send my third oldest son to do?" Arthur asked merrily from down the table, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I just needed him to check on something at the Ministry. He should be back shortly." Indeed, just as Dumbledore stated that clearly, out of the hearth came Percy Weasley, quickly dusting off his robes. He shot the Headmaster a look that clearly said they needed to talk in private. Dumbledore beckoned for both Fox and Remus to join him in the hallway.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked kindly as they stepped out into the hall. Fox now sat on Dumbledore's shoulder, listening intently.
"There was a small pool of blood in the middle of the chamber itself, that's basically all I could find," Percy replied swiftly.
"Was it fresh?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, quite fresh. I began searching the building, but it was in the end a fruitless search."
"Thank you, Percy, that is all I needed."
As Percy headed back into the kitchen, Remus and Dumbledore remained. The Headmaster kept Fox in place as he peered at Remus over his half-moon spectacles, looking immensely old and weary. "It is confirmed then," he mumbled.
"What?" Remus asked.
"Sirius is indeed alive."
Remus felt the force seem to hit him and nearly fell backwards into the wall. He felt he should be dancing or something of the like, but he couldn't seem to believe it. He didn't want to feel happy, because he knew it couldn't be real.
"Remus?"
"What?" Remus asked dumbly.
"Don't do anything rash, just hold tight. I believe Sirius is coming TO us, not wanting us to come to him."
"Yes, Albus. I agree." No he didn't, he could barely suffer enough to believe it to be real.
"Are you going to go retrieve Harry?"
"Yes."
"Do not tell him until you are successfully back here. Understand?" Dumbledore spoke to him as though he were a small child.
"Yes, I understand."
"Good, I believe you all will be preparing to leave shortly. I need to see who else will be going."
Remus could hardly catch his breath. He couldn't believe it. It would break him.
He suddenly noticed something. Fox had flown over to the banister again. Upon being noticed, she flew quickly over and settled on Remus' shoulder. He had to admit she had a warm, comfortable weight, like that of a phoenix, not a crow. Her appraising blue eyes roved over Remus again, giving him the odd sense that she could see INTO him, through him, but she didn't judge him.
"Well, let's go see who our traveling party is," Remus said to the crow. She simply gave another one of her assenting head bobs which made him actually laugh. "You've got quite a communication system there."
Fox gave him what could only be described as a glare before they headed into the kitchen. Remus still felt overwhelmed, but the thought of seeing Harry cheered him up considerably. Standing around the fire in the kitchen was Moody, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Arthur Weasley. All of them seemed to be waiting expectantly for Remus to give them to 'okay.' With a nod to the remaining Weasleys and all those left behind, Remus stepped up to the hearth with them. All the while, Snape glared intensely at the back of his head, but he could feel it. Obviously, 'overprotective' is an understatement with Snape when it came to Fox.
Arthur bid his wife and children goodbye before leaving first, calling, "The Dursleys!" into the flames which turned emerald green as the Floor Powder was tossed into the dancing fire. Shacklebolt followed quickly, doing exactly as Arthur had done. He was followed shortly by Tonks, then Mad-Eye Moody. Remus was last. He grabbed a bag of Floo Powder off the table, bid the rest goodbye, and followed his companions.
Fox sat peacefully on his shoulder, grabbing tighter only when they began to spin quickly in the flames. Remus began to feel nauseous. Traveling by Floo Powder was not kindly on a man who transformed into a wolf at every full moon. The crow at his shoulder seemed to squawk nervously, as though just making sure he was still there.
The first thing Remus heard was, "This is the second time this has happened. I assure you we're in the right place, it's just that the Muggles have an elkectrick fire place here instead." That was Arthur.
"Mrs. Weasley?" a voice beyond the fireplace called.
"Harry! It's amazing how I forgot about this aspect of traveling to get you."
"Don't worry Mr. Weasley, the Dursleys made sure that THAT wouldn't happen again. Just give me a second," Harry said beyond the fireplace.
"Hurry, Harry. I'm afraid that with the greater size and amount of people trapped by here, that I'm not the only one who's quite uncomfortable."
Fox shifted on Remus' shoulder, showing just how true Arthur's words were. The poor crow was trapped on his shoulder, between him and a brick wall.
"NOT THIS TIME BOY!" Harry's uncle roared. "THAT FIREPLACE WILL REMAIN INTACT! AND THEY WILL NOT GO NEAR MY SON!"
"Yes, Uncle Vernon. But I doubt your son would go near them either."
Suddenly they could see Harry's face. He had evidently removed the electric fireplace, which had previously blocked their way. The five adults pretty much FELL out of the cramped quarters they had previously held.
"A CROW?!?! NOT IN MY HOUSE!" Vernon Dursley roared.
"Well then, I guess we'd better leave, and take your nephew with us," Tonks said simply.
Harry watched in amusement as his dear Uncle Vernon advanced on his former professor. However, he stopped short when he acknowledged Dudley's shout of "Look at its eyes!" Uncle Vernon did indeed look at the eyes of the crow that now studied him with a manner of professionalism. He stuttered for a second, not knowing what to make of the beast in his household.
"Go on, take the beast and the boy, or should I say the two beasts?" Uncle Vernon snarled, but at a squawk from the crow sitting on Remus' shoulder, he fell silent.
"Vernon," Petunia beckoned.
"Leave, go on," Uncle Vernon continued. "Get out of my house!"
"Gladly!" was the overall reply heard.
With that, all of them, one at a time, or two in the case of the 'Crowman' as Dudley began to say, left the Dursleys' house. Each of them shouted their destination, once again headed towards Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.
A/N: Please review. I've still got more after this; I'd like to think it's worth it to others out there. -Anna Dearest
Chapter 3
Light blue eyes flickered to life on the body that lay across the cold stone floor. Shakily, the man tried to pull himself up. Just opening his eyes was strenuous work all by itself. Shaking back the mass of black hair that clung to the side of his face by the cold sweat trickling down, Sirius Black made his attempt to stand as though it were his first. The hair plastered to his face obscured his view, and with a feeble movement that nearly took him over, he swiped it out of the way. With a grimace of pain, he dabbed away the blood that had been trickling out of his mouth for hours it seemed.
"Harry," Sirius grunted hoarsely, "I've got to get to Harry."
Leaning against the wall for support, he made an attempt to catch his breath. A small pool of blood was near where he had been earlier, but that couldn't be helped now; all that mattered was getting to Harry. Summoning all the strength and courage left in him, he slowly made his way out of the Department of Mysteries without getting caught.
**********
Remus got dressed with shaking hands that morning. The conversations from last night rang clearly in his mind. Thoughts of Dumbledore, Sirius, Harry, Peter, and Fox.yes, Fox, rang clearly in his head. It made no sense how that seemingly sweet young girl could be related to that monster, the thought made him shudder. He then laughed at the thought that he'd been sipping tea with the Dark Lord's daughter.
After dressing rather haphazardly, he began to descend the stairs. There on the banister was Fox. For a moment, Remus just stared in surprise, then, remembering NOT to judge her, he continued down the staircase. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he caught a glimpse of both Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape proceeding to the doorway to the kitchen.
"Fox, may I have a word in the kitchen with you?" Dumbledore asked kindly. The crow bobbed her head as if nodding and flew over to perch on Snape's shoulder. The menacing professor began absentmindedly stroking Fox as he made his way to the kitchen, robes billowing out behind him, as usual.
When Remus made it into the kitchen, he was surrounded not only by Snape and Dumbledore, but also by seven Weasleys, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, and a few others, not to mention the blue-eyed crow.
"For the millionth time, Albus, if she's not an Animagus, then what is she?" Moody asked, gazing intently at Fox, who perched peacefully on Snape's shoulder.
"A Polymagus, Alastor," Dumbledore said simply. "She can turned in any animal she chooses at will."
So that explains a lot, Remus thought. As though sensing his thoughts, the crow turned to face Remus, blue eyes searching him. It was quite eerie to have ANYONE look at him like that, especially her.
"Too sneaky, that is," Moody growled.
"I agree," Dumbledore laughed, "Which is why she makes the perfect spy for us."
That definitely stopped Moody's tidal wave of suspicion, at least publicly. Remus then felt himself having breakfast SHOVED down his throat by Molly Weasley. He, along with the rest of the crowd was forced to pile on or get piled on by the raging bull that was Mrs. Weasley. If truth were to be told, she was simply worried sick about Harry, a feeling that was mutual with most of her food consumers.
"How are we getting Potter this time?" Moody growled again.
"Floo Powder. I sent a note to his relatives, warning them of course," Dumbledore said this with a twinkle in his eyes. "Arthur had them hooked up with help from the Ministry."
"Who's going?" Tonks asked, pure curiosity giving her away.
"Anyone who'll go," was Dumbledore's simple reply, with a shrug to accompany it. "And someone, who I'm not giving a choice to."
"Who?" Moody growled, his magical eye swiveling recklessly in Fox's direction.
"Your guess was correct, I'm sending Fox with you," Dumbledore beamed. "She doesn't know Potter, and Potter certainly SHOULDN'T know her," Snape chimed in groggily, also clearly upset that she'd be going to get Harry.
"Quite the contrary, Severus," Dumbledore pointed out. All eyes turned toward him. "But it won't matter, she'll be in crow form," he added hastily.
Did Harry and Fox actually acknowledge each other in their dreams? The thought floated through Remus' head for hours.
"Albus, what did you send my third oldest son to do?" Arthur asked merrily from down the table, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I just needed him to check on something at the Ministry. He should be back shortly." Indeed, just as Dumbledore stated that clearly, out of the hearth came Percy Weasley, quickly dusting off his robes. He shot the Headmaster a look that clearly said they needed to talk in private. Dumbledore beckoned for both Fox and Remus to join him in the hallway.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked kindly as they stepped out into the hall. Fox now sat on Dumbledore's shoulder, listening intently.
"There was a small pool of blood in the middle of the chamber itself, that's basically all I could find," Percy replied swiftly.
"Was it fresh?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, quite fresh. I began searching the building, but it was in the end a fruitless search."
"Thank you, Percy, that is all I needed."
As Percy headed back into the kitchen, Remus and Dumbledore remained. The Headmaster kept Fox in place as he peered at Remus over his half-moon spectacles, looking immensely old and weary. "It is confirmed then," he mumbled.
"What?" Remus asked.
"Sirius is indeed alive."
Remus felt the force seem to hit him and nearly fell backwards into the wall. He felt he should be dancing or something of the like, but he couldn't seem to believe it. He didn't want to feel happy, because he knew it couldn't be real.
"Remus?"
"What?" Remus asked dumbly.
"Don't do anything rash, just hold tight. I believe Sirius is coming TO us, not wanting us to come to him."
"Yes, Albus. I agree." No he didn't, he could barely suffer enough to believe it to be real.
"Are you going to go retrieve Harry?"
"Yes."
"Do not tell him until you are successfully back here. Understand?" Dumbledore spoke to him as though he were a small child.
"Yes, I understand."
"Good, I believe you all will be preparing to leave shortly. I need to see who else will be going."
Remus could hardly catch his breath. He couldn't believe it. It would break him.
He suddenly noticed something. Fox had flown over to the banister again. Upon being noticed, she flew quickly over and settled on Remus' shoulder. He had to admit she had a warm, comfortable weight, like that of a phoenix, not a crow. Her appraising blue eyes roved over Remus again, giving him the odd sense that she could see INTO him, through him, but she didn't judge him.
"Well, let's go see who our traveling party is," Remus said to the crow. She simply gave another one of her assenting head bobs which made him actually laugh. "You've got quite a communication system there."
Fox gave him what could only be described as a glare before they headed into the kitchen. Remus still felt overwhelmed, but the thought of seeing Harry cheered him up considerably. Standing around the fire in the kitchen was Moody, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Arthur Weasley. All of them seemed to be waiting expectantly for Remus to give them to 'okay.' With a nod to the remaining Weasleys and all those left behind, Remus stepped up to the hearth with them. All the while, Snape glared intensely at the back of his head, but he could feel it. Obviously, 'overprotective' is an understatement with Snape when it came to Fox.
Arthur bid his wife and children goodbye before leaving first, calling, "The Dursleys!" into the flames which turned emerald green as the Floor Powder was tossed into the dancing fire. Shacklebolt followed quickly, doing exactly as Arthur had done. He was followed shortly by Tonks, then Mad-Eye Moody. Remus was last. He grabbed a bag of Floo Powder off the table, bid the rest goodbye, and followed his companions.
Fox sat peacefully on his shoulder, grabbing tighter only when they began to spin quickly in the flames. Remus began to feel nauseous. Traveling by Floo Powder was not kindly on a man who transformed into a wolf at every full moon. The crow at his shoulder seemed to squawk nervously, as though just making sure he was still there.
The first thing Remus heard was, "This is the second time this has happened. I assure you we're in the right place, it's just that the Muggles have an elkectrick fire place here instead." That was Arthur.
"Mrs. Weasley?" a voice beyond the fireplace called.
"Harry! It's amazing how I forgot about this aspect of traveling to get you."
"Don't worry Mr. Weasley, the Dursleys made sure that THAT wouldn't happen again. Just give me a second," Harry said beyond the fireplace.
"Hurry, Harry. I'm afraid that with the greater size and amount of people trapped by here, that I'm not the only one who's quite uncomfortable."
Fox shifted on Remus' shoulder, showing just how true Arthur's words were. The poor crow was trapped on his shoulder, between him and a brick wall.
"NOT THIS TIME BOY!" Harry's uncle roared. "THAT FIREPLACE WILL REMAIN INTACT! AND THEY WILL NOT GO NEAR MY SON!"
"Yes, Uncle Vernon. But I doubt your son would go near them either."
Suddenly they could see Harry's face. He had evidently removed the electric fireplace, which had previously blocked their way. The five adults pretty much FELL out of the cramped quarters they had previously held.
"A CROW?!?! NOT IN MY HOUSE!" Vernon Dursley roared.
"Well then, I guess we'd better leave, and take your nephew with us," Tonks said simply.
Harry watched in amusement as his dear Uncle Vernon advanced on his former professor. However, he stopped short when he acknowledged Dudley's shout of "Look at its eyes!" Uncle Vernon did indeed look at the eyes of the crow that now studied him with a manner of professionalism. He stuttered for a second, not knowing what to make of the beast in his household.
"Go on, take the beast and the boy, or should I say the two beasts?" Uncle Vernon snarled, but at a squawk from the crow sitting on Remus' shoulder, he fell silent.
"Vernon," Petunia beckoned.
"Leave, go on," Uncle Vernon continued. "Get out of my house!"
"Gladly!" was the overall reply heard.
With that, all of them, one at a time, or two in the case of the 'Crowman' as Dudley began to say, left the Dursleys' house. Each of them shouted their destination, once again headed towards Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.
A/N: Please review. I've still got more after this; I'd like to think it's worth it to others out there. -Anna Dearest