A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your last reviews. Emerald Eyed Cutie, you're still the best, since you review every chapter! Yay! And I'm so happy to see some new readers. I wish some of my old reviewers would come back, too, but we'll give it time. LOL!

OMG! There is this super annoying fly in my room, making in hard to concentrate. It's like the size of my thumbnail… is that normal?

Oh! Another update: I sent in an application to a Harry Potter webiste to be a weekly columnist. Wish me luck!

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Chapter 7

On the Way

The days went by quickly. Belle tried everything she could to help Sirius out of the house. She took him to the market as a dog, and on other random errands that Sirius knew they were only going on just so he could run around a little. But all the same, Sirius was getting restless. He needed to be on his way.

After about a week, Belle told Sirius that she had arranged for a car to take them both to Hogsmeade, and Sirius would be on his own from there.

"Come on, into the car." She said, and Sirius the dog leaped into the car, panting excitedly. She closed the door behind him, and went around the driver's seat. She buckled up, and looked at Sirius, who had his head out the window. Belle rolled her eyes, revved up the car, and rolled up the window on his scowling face.

Sirius wasn't sure how long they drove for, but a few hours after the sun went down Belle parked the car. "We'll stay the night in the car." She told him. "I'm not spending any more money on you."

Sirius woofed his approval, and curled up in the passenger seat, and looked out the window. They were in a quiet Muggle-neighborhood that reminded Sirius of Belle's street. Sirius was tired of being a dog—worse, a dog stuck inside. He looked over at Belle. Her polyjuice potion had long since worn off, and she was sleeping soundly, her eyes closed lightly and her chest rising and falling with even breaths. Excitedly, Sirius transformed, and then crept out of the car.

It felt wonderful to be walking on two legs again. The night air was cool and comforting, and Sirius was thankful to be outside. The moonlight winked down through the trees that lined the streets, and Sirius decided to take a walk around the block.

He was completely alone, and though it would have been nice to have some company, Sirius was sure that it was better this way.

Sirius wondered how close they were to Hogwarts. They couldn't be too close, for Sirius remembered that Hogwarts was off someplace in the mountains, a lone castle among miles of empty land—except for Hogsmeade. Sirius was excited to see the all-wizard village again. He hadn't been there in years, though surely it hadn't changed a bit. He remembered the crisp winter mornings when he and his friends had gone to The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer or five and to catch up on things with Madam Rosemerta. Sirius smiled when he thought of Zonko's joke shop, and the good times he and James had shared, purchasing things to mess with the Slytherins.

Suddenly, Sirius heard a scream from across the street. He whipped around to see what was going on, and he spotted a woman walking her dog. She was gaping at him, and Sirius instantly realized that she must recognize him as the murderer on the cover of her morning paper. Breaking into a sweat, Sirius started to run back for the car. Unfortunately, the woman must have thought that Sirius was running at her for she shrieked again, and tugged on her dog's leash, pulling it back to what Sirius assumed was her house.

Sirius knew without a doubt that her seeing him was not good. When he saw the car, he reached for the door handle, but saw with fear that it was locked. He started to pound on the windows.

"Belle! Damn it! Wake up!" He shouted, his breath fogging the window. A groggy Belle started to bat her eyes as she began to wake up. "Unlock the door! NOW!"

"Huh?"

"Damn it, UNLOCK THE DOOR!" Sirius screamed, hammering his fists to the glass. He was half-surprised that it didn't shatter beneath his pressure. Finally, Belle pulled up the lock on Sirius's door, and Sirius leaped into the car, looking out the windshield for the woman… or for the Ministry.

"Why aren't you a dog?" Belle asked, looking at him intently.

"No time—DRIVE!" Sirius cried. Still confused, Belle put the key into the ignition, and revved up the car. "Faster…"

"Why? What's the rush?"

"Someone saw me, Belle—drive, please!" Sirius begged. Belle's eyes grew wide when she realized what he had just said.

"God damn it, Sirius!" She cursed, looking over her shoulder to pull back out into the street. With the tires screeching, Belle drove out of the neighborhood. "I can't believe you! I risk everything for you—and this is how you repay me!"

"Look, I know, okay!"

"I don't care! I get this car… and I drive you to freakin' Hogsmeade—and you think it would be amusing to get out of the car… damn it!" Belle shouted, looking both ways before pealing onto the open street.

"Would you slow down? You're going to get us both killed!" Sirius scolded.

"I'm going to get us killed? You're going to get us CAUGHT!" She screamed.

"I hope you know that it's dangerous to drive when you're emotional… maybe I should—" But Belle gave him a death-glare so evil, that Sirius just muttered, "just kidding."

"I can't believe you." Belle said, with her teeth gritted.

"Would you breathe?!"

"Breathe? If we don't get out of here, the Ministry is going to be breathing down our necks! And you're sure they saw you? Positive?"

"Yeah—it was an old muggle lady. She kind of screamed, and ran back to her house."

"She ran to her house? Crap, she definitely called the hot-line." Belle said, pushing her foot down even harder on the gas pedal, and sped onto the freeway. Sirius was only slightly relieved to see that the freeway was more or less empty.

"We're gonna crash into something, Belle…" Sirius said warily, eyeing the speedometer.

"It's better than getting thrown in jail!" Belle shouted defensively.

But, after about ten minutes of driving far over the speed limit, Belle eased her foot off the accelerator, and turned off the freeway. "We're almost there." She said quietly.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Belle said quickly—too quickly. She paused. "I can't go with you past Hogsmeade. You're on your own from the second you step out of the car, understand?"

"I couldn't ask for anything more than that." Sirius said, turning to look out the windshield again. Belle flipped on the windshield wipers, for it was beginning to rain. He only had a few short minutes left with Belle, and there was so much more he wanted to say.

Belle was looking around guardedly, as she pulled off the road, and started to drive on a road that was mostly concealed by brush. The headlights shone through the tree branches, and Sirius could hardly see, but Belle seemed to know the way. After about an hour, Belle pulled the car off into a shoulder of the road.

"We'll have to walk from here. It's not far, so you'd better transform. I'll make sure you find a place to hide for the night." She told him.

"I thought I was on my own after I got outta the car?" Sirius reminded her, but he was grinning.

"Just transform, would you?" She snapped, as she pushed open her car door. Sirius the dog followed Belle off the covered road, and on an even more covered trail. Belle pulled out her wand, and murmured, "Lumos." Her wandlight lit their way, and it sparkled off the raindrops that slipped through the thick tree branches. Sirius occasionally glanced up at Belle, who was walking by his side and wiping rain off her face—or were they tears?

When they had reached the edge of Hogsmeade, Belle looked at him and nodded. Sirius suddenly realized that she thought that this was it… she was going to leave. Sirius barked instantly, and pushed her legs in the direction of the village.

"No, Sirius. I… I have to go." She whispered. But looking at him, she changed her mind. Sirius always had a knack for that. "I'll take you to the Shrieking Shack, you can sleep there. But I'm not going any further."

Belle walked with him silently, but Sirius ran along excitedly. He was so close to Harry… maybe he would see him when he came to visit Hogsmeade. Sirius was partially determined not to track him down at school—he didn't want to frighten him, after all.

All too soon, the Shrieking Shack was looming up before them. Belle stared at it, and the rain started to increase. "I gotta go, Si." She whispered, patting him on the head, and turning to go.

"Not yet…" Sirius said, hastily transforming and grabbing her arm.

"What are you doing, Sirius? You can't—"

"Too late, isn't it?" Sirius said with a smile, pulling her beneath the protection of one of the trees nearby. Her curls and her face were wet, and she turned out her wandlight before slipping it into her skirt pocket. She was looking at him strangely, as though half of her wanted to get away from him, and the other didn't ever want to move. Then she didn't the one thing Sirius didn't expect: She kissed him.

She grabbed his face, and pulled him to her. It was like she was letting go for the first time, since he came to see her.

"Okay…" Sirius muttered perplexedly as Belle pulled away. He was more shocked than he had ever been in his life.

"Oh my God." Belle breathed. Her face turned bright red, and she stepped away stuttering, "I'm such an idiot… I don't know what came over me… I just—"

But Sirius just smiled, and pulled her to him and kissed her again. He realized that this was what he had been waiting for—this was what was missing in his life. Belle was amazing—why had he never noticed before? Belle had risked everything to save him, to take care of him. She was perfect; this was perfect. All he wanted was to keep kissing her flawless lips, and never let her out of his arms.

But all too soon, Sirius heard someone shouting in the distance. Belle broke away, but didn't move from Sirius's grasp. She didn't want to leave either; it was obvious.

"Hellooo?" A man called into the night. Down the road, Sirius could make out bobbing wandlight. He was coming towards them. "Anyone out here?"

"Sirius, get out of here…" Belle whispered. But Sirius wasn't ready to see her go. He still had to thank her for everything she had done… for taking him in, for reminding him of how much he had loved her since seventh year…

"No, I'm not going to leave you here." He said, taking her hand and dragging her deeper into the trees. "He won't bother us…"

"Anyone out here?" The man called again. Now Sirius could hear the man's feet slopping in the mud. Sirius pulled Belle behind a thick tree.

"Sirius, come on," Belle murmured. "I can't stay… you can't stay. Do you want to get caught?"

"I don't care." He said faintly, because he undoubtedly did care. He looked deep into her eyes, and willed her to feel everything he was feeling. "Please. Stay."

"No, I was stupid to come this far. I shouldn't've… I can't stay with you." She tried to explain as softly as she could manage. She was trying to avoid looking at him. "Now get out of here, or he'll catch you."

"Hello?" The man called out again. Fearfully, Sirius looked out from behind the tree trunk with his back to Belle, and he could see the man through the trees. He was holding his wand high, looking around. "I could've sworn…" The man muttered to himself.

"He's leaving…" Sirius said happily, turning back around to look at Belle. He wanted to kiss her again, to thank her… to tell her everything he had wanted to say since before he had been placed in Azkaban… "Belle?" But she had left. She had Apperated and left him. "Come on, Belle, that's not funny." He said, hoping and praying that Belle was just hiding behind one of these trees. But she didn't reappear. Sirius was alone.

Again.