A/N: Here's the next chapter. I'll probably be able to post more often during Christmas break, since this week I'm swamped with shows and homework-- who would have thought two honors classes would be such a drag?! Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying the story--it'll pick up as it gets further along.

Chapter 3

Secret Keeping

"I didn't know you were coming! What else did you want me to do?" Belle whispered the next afternoon. Sirius and Belle hadn't had a moment alone all morning, and though Sirius was happy to see Remus again, he wanted a chance to talk to his bride-to-be without having to worry about letting anything slip.

"I don't know," Sirius sighed. Remus was just inside, and Sirius and Belle were supposedly feeding Buckbeak. "I feel like an idiot hiding this from him. He's my best friend—he deserves to know."

"We already talked about this, Sirius…" Belle groaned, stroking Buckbeak's feathers, and throwing a glance over her shoulder at the kitchen window.

"I know, I know…"

"I don't like keeping this from him either," Belle sympathized. "We'll tell him eventually—he'll be the first to know when the time is right."

"Yeah," Sirius sighed again.

"So," Belle said, with a small smile, "have you gotten me a ring yet?"

Sirius laughed. "I'm working on it."

"I'm only kidding…"

"No you're not. You want a ring, I'll get you a ring," Sirius said, checking if the coast was clear before kissing her cheek. "We'd better go inside—Remus will be wondering what's taking so long."

"Just a few more seconds…" Belle pleaded, taking his hand. "I've missed you."

Sirius stepped toward her and kissed her forehead. "I've missed you more," he put his arms around her and held her close. "You don't know how boring it is talking to a hippogriff all day," he joked.

"I can only imagine," Belle laughed, looking at Buckbeak's acute, amber eyes. She kissed him, and they walked back towards the door, dropping the other's hand only when they felt they had to.

Roughly a week later, Belle and Sirius were finding it hard to hide from Remus anymore. During the evenings, when everyone was reading parts of the Prophet, while drinking coffee, Sirius wanted nothing more to blurt out "Belle and I are getting married, Remus." But he always bit his tongue just in time, after a resolute look at Belle.

But one morning at breakfast, Sirius received a letter from Harry, which took his mind immediately off the secret he was keeping from his best friend.

Dear Sirius,

I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting. I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point in coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal.

Harry

"'My head feels completely normal!'" Sirius laughed, as he showed the note to Remus. "What does he take me for?"

"A total idiot?" Remus suggested. "In my opinion, he's right on the mark."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Sirius grumbled. "We'll see what he has to say when I tell him I'm already in Europe. Should I tell him you're with me?"

"No," said Remus, "and tell him he shouldn't use Hedwig all the time. Snowy owls aren't native to this area—she'll attract too much attention."

"Good thinking."

Sirius grabbed a piece of parchment and dipped a quill into an ink well.

Nice try, Harry,

I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar.

Sirius

"You'll be a father-figure yet, my friend," Remus congratulated, reading over Sirius's letter. "Quite good advice."

"That means a lot, coming from one such as yourself, Moony, old pal," Sirius snickered, folding up the letter, and attaching it to Hedwig's leg.

"Guess what I hear is coming back to Hogwarts?" Remus asked Sirius.

"What's that?" Sirius let Hedwig free out the kitchen window, and turned back to the table where he and Remus had been sitting.

"The Triwizard Tournament. Old Barty Crouch has been planning it for ages, I hear. Harry's in for quite a treat," Remus smiled.

"Wow! Really? The Triwizard Tournament?" Sirius was shocked. He had only read about the famed tournament, but remembered that it was always associated with deaths. "Have they made it safer or something? What schools are competing?"

"Of course they made it safer," Remus waved this aside. "Durmstrang and Beuaxbatons are going to Hogwarts."

"Wonder who the champions'll be?" Sirius thought aloud. "Think Harry will enter?" Sirius asked him, with a wild gleam in his eyes.

"He won't be allowed: Crouch has upped the minimum age requirement to seventeen. Safety reasons," Remus explained.

"Harry could do it," Sirius said. He realized what he was suggesting was out there, but he had faith in his godson—if he could take on a Basilisk, like it was rumored he had, he could handle whatever tasks the judges threw at him.