A/N: HALF-BLOOD PRINCE COMES OUT ON JULY 16TH!! JULY 16! JULY 16! JULY 16! JULY 16! JULY 16! WHOOOOOO!

Chapter 6

Mrs. Mopsy and Her Dogs

Sirius didn't get a chance to talk to Harry again before the First Task. But as soon as he and Belle saw the article about it, Belle grabbed her wand to cut out the article and Sirius snagged a quill to write Harry a letter.

Dear Harry,

Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjuctivitus Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point, but your way was better, I'm impressed.

Don't get complacent, though, Harry. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open—particularly when the person we discussed is around—and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble.

Keep in touch; I still want to hear about anything unusual.

Sirius

Though it was more cautionary than congratulatory, he felt it was his duty to James to keep Harry under control. After all, with Christmas fast approaching, Harry would surely be feeling more restless if Christmas was the way it had been when Sirius was still at Hogwarts. After all, Harry had just survived a dragon—whatever was coming next in the tournament was surely not going to be any easier.

After the task was over, Sirius was considering what he said to Dumbledore about moving closer to Hogwarts more and more frequently. He hadn't told Belle or even Remus about it, yet. But the more he thought about it, the better of an idea it seemed to be. When Sirius finally received a letter back from the headmaster, it cemented the idea into Sirius's head. Dumbledore wrote that he thought it would be too risky to stay in the Shrieking Shack, because if Snape saw Harry sneaking to the Whomping Willow, he would immediately become suspicious. But he suggested a cave just outside of Hogsmeade, and told him it would be the perfect location. He also told him of a good rest stop somewhat close to Hogwarts, where Sirius could stay for a night or two before continuing to Hogsmeade.

Decidedly, Sirius wrote back to Dumbledore, telling him that he was on his way. Now he just had to tell Remus and Belle.

As they were sitting down to dinner, Sirius decided now was as good a time as any to let them know.

"So, Dumbledore wrote me back, Remus," Sirius said nonchalantly, as he reached over the table to get the salad bowl.

"What did he say?" Belle asked suspiciously. It was almost like she could read his mind sometimes.

"Nothing out of the ordinary…"

"No, really, what did he say?" she repeated. "Is Harry all right?"

"No, no, Harry's fine," Sirius said, looking at his plate. "He just… well, I've been doing some thinking. Harry's all alone at Hogwarts and—"

"He's not alone, Sirius. Ron and Hermione are there with him. And Moody and Dumbledore," Remus interrupted politely.

"But—he doesn't—I want to be there. I'm tired of writing to him… I want to be there for him," Sirius said rather pathetically.

"But Sirius," Remus said softly, "that's just not possible. You're an escaped convict, remember."

"I know that—"

"—And you can't just leave. You'd have nowhere to go…"

"You're not listening—"

"Sirius, you're not being reasonable, here."

"I'm being perfectly reasonable!" Sirius said angrily, his temper starting to flare. "If you'd just listen…"

"We are listening, Sirius," Belle said quietly, not looking at him.

Sirius took a deep breath. "Well, all right, then." He looked around the table. Remus was gazing at him calmly. "Dumbledore suggested I move into a cave outside of Hogsmeade. Then Harry can visit me on weekends, and I don't have to worry about getting too close to Hogwarts. He even told me of a house where I can stay for a night, if I need to. He told me the cave was big enough for Buckbeak, and that he could keep in contact with me at all times about Harry and the happenings at Hogwarts. I think it's a good idea, and I'm going," he said breathlessly, like a teenager trying to get his parents to let him go to the late movie with his friends.

"If you think it's best, then go," Remus said.

"But you're safer here," Belle said, glancing up at him. "I don't want you to go—what if you get caught?"

"I can't stay here forever, Belle. I've got to leave this house sometime," Sirius said gently, stabbing his fork into his salad, and taking a bite. "After all, I'll be of more use there."

"When will you be leaving?" Belle asked him.

Sirius exchanged a glance with Remus. "After dinner. I want to have the cover of darkness, you know."

"Right," she muttered, rising from the table, and dropping her fork on her plate with a clang. She picked up her plate and dumped it off in the sink, causing it to clatter.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked her as she started to leave the room.

"I'm not as hungry as I thought I was."

Sirius closed his eyes. He heard Belle walking briskly up the stairs to her bedroom, and he slammed his fork down on the table, making the glasses and plates jump.

"You should go talk to her," Remus said, shifting in his chair.

"What difference would it make?" Sirius answered grumpily.

"Sirius, don't be thick, you love each other."

"Then she should understand that I need to do this. For Harry," he complained, grabbing his fork again and assaulting the lettuce on his plate, frustrated. It crunched satisfyingly in the tense silence between Sirius and Remus.

"Just go talk to her, Padfoot…" Remus insisted, reaching for his goblet of Wolfsbane potion.

"I'm leaving," Sirius said, standing abruptly from the table.

"What?" The goblet's travel to Remus's lips was interrupted.

"I'm leaving," he repeated. "Dinner is obviously over, so I'm leaving."

"You're not leaving." Remus put the goblet back on the table with a forceful thump.

"Oh yes I am," Sirius said passionately, ripping open a drawer, and pulling out a brown paper bag. He made his way to the refrigerator and started to load the bag with food. "If you all can't be supportive of my decision to be near my godson, then I'm leaving."

"We aren't not being supportive, Sirius," Remus argued, rising from the table. "I just think you're hurrying into this a little—"

"What do you know about it?!" Sirius shouted. "I'm going, all right?"

"Sirius—"

"I'm going to Hogsmeade to be closer to Harry. That's final."

"You just want to get out of the house; this has nothing to do with Harry."

"Yes it does! It has everything to do with him, Remus! Just give it a rest, would you!" Sirius yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

Remus silenced. The crackle of Sirius paper bag now sounded ominous and caused a shiver to rise up Sirius's spine.

"I know why you're doing this," Remus said quietly. "Why you're getting so worked up—trying to start a fight with me."

"Oh, do you? Then pray tell us, Moony, since you do know all…"

Sounding only slightly perturbed, Remus said, "It's because you don't want to leave—you'll feel less guilty about leaving if you felt like we were mad at each other. Isn't that right?"

Sirius paused. "That's the most…ridiculous thing—I've never even… ridiculous." He rolled up the top of his paper bag, and made for the backdoor.

"I'll tell Belle you said goodbye. And that you love her," Remus said as Sirius yanked open the backdoor so hard that it smacked against the wall.

"Yeah," Sirius grunted, pulling the door closed with a slam.

The cool night air was refreshing on his face. The lights from the kitchen were filtering out the windows, and the curtains made lacey shadows on the lawn. Sirius walked briskly over to the trees by the back fence, and whispered Buckbeak's name. The creature squawked in reply.

"We're getting out of here, pal," Sirius whispered to him, shoving the paper bag deep into his cloak pocket. "We'll be closer to Hagrid—remember Hagrid?"

Buckbeak squawked again.

Sirius clambered onto the creature's back, and got comfortable. It was a long flight to the rest stop Dumbledore had told him about, and it would probably take him most of the night. Sirius steered Buckbeak out into the middle of the yard, Buckbeak's hooves swishing in the cool grass. Sirius looked up into the sky, at the billions of stars and felt instantly humbled.

Of course he felt badly about leaving this way—but he had to get out of that house. He had been there—how long? It doesn't matter… too long. Scanning the skyline, his eyes fell back on Belle's house, specifically Belle's bedroom window. He blew a solemn kiss up at her window, and prayed that somehow she would know just how much he loved her.

"Let's go, Beaky," Sirius whispered to the hippogriff, and Buckbeak took off into the air, his mighty wings flapping frantically at the air. They were rising fast, and as they passed Belle's window, he saw through the glossy windowpane that Belle was sitting in the window-seat watching him go.

The cool night air was refreshing on his face, and was so welcome after being cooped up inside for so long. Though Sirius didn't want to think about the last twenty minutes in Belle's house, they just kept replaying in his mind.

He felt ashamed, and pretty stupid. Remus was right—Remus was always right. He had known that Sirius felt guilty about leaving, he had known that Sirius was being foolish. But Sirius was still convinced that he was doing the right thing.

It didn't take long for Sirius to find the rest house that Dumbledore had suggested. What took the longest was finding a safe place for Sirius to park the hippogriff for the rest of the night and for most of the day.

Finally, though, he landed Buckbeak in a small forest behind the house. Sirius used Buckbeak's rope to tie him up to a tree. Buckbeak screeched a bit, and Sirius stroked his feathers.

"You gotta be quiet, Buckbeak," Sirius whispered, as he reached into his pocket to pull out Dumbledore's letter. The instructions couldn't be clearer:

Once you arrive at Mrs. Mopsy's house, transform into a dog and stay that way. Don't transform back into a man until you are far away from her house. She'll take you in—but not if she knows you're human, especially if she thinks you're the man who escaped from Azkaban last year.

Buckbeak nudged Sirius in the shoulder as if to say, "go on, I'll be fine here."

Sirius nodded, more to himself than to the hippogriff, slipped Dumbledore's letter back into his pocket, and transformed into a dog with a loud pop.

He lumbered through the forest, heading towards Mopsy's house, wondering who Mopsy was and why Dumbledore was so sure that she'd let him stay as long as he was a dog. His great bear-like feet crunched on the leaves, and the almost full moon's light splashed down through the trees, brightening Sirius's way.

He could hear Mrs. Mopsy's house before he could actually see it. From yards away, the howling sounds of dogs reached up through the trees, and made Sirius himself want to yell out to greet them. When he got to the quaint little cottage, he moseyed forward casually, his nails scratching along the leaves. Yellow light poured out of the glass windows, and landed on a few large dogs that were sleeping in its glow.

Not wanting to awake these dogs, though they didn't even come close to matching Sirius's size, Sirius tromped around to the front side of the house. From inside the house, he could hear what sounded like a woman scolding someone. Sirius jumped up the front steps, and sat on the welcome mat. Lifting a paw, he started to scratch at the door, wondering vaguely if she would hear him over the dog's commotion. He gave a little moan.

He heard a muffled telephone ringing, and Sirius sat back on his haunches. He heard the woman, presumably Mrs. Mopsy, screech into the phone. Frustrated, Sirius glanced over his shoulder, transformed into a man just long enough to ring the doorbell, and then popped back into a dog and sat back down on the welcome mat.

"Good night!" Mopsy yelled into the phone receiver, and Sirius heard her smack it down into its cradle. "I'll be right with you," she yelled towards the door.

Sirius assumed his cutest puppy face, and sat at the ready. At long last, Mrs. Mopsy opened her door, letting artificial light flood onto her porch.

"Oh, you're darling!" she cooed, bending down as far as her knees would allow so she could pet Sirius on the head. She was rather tall, and very skinny. She was dressed in an odd bathrobe that had embroidered dogs running around the hem. Her hair was long and silver, and she had it braided and tossed over her shoulder. Sirius let out a bark.

"You must be hungry, darling, come on, into the kitchen…" Mopsy beckoned, and Sirius waddled in her wake into the house. Everything inside was practically trashed, and the house reeked of sour dog breath. She led him through the entryway that led directly into the kitchen. The kitchen was hot and had a wafting aroma of leftover dog food. Rough, and agitated barks sounded from the living room. The floor was littered with an odd assortment of bowls, some filled with half-eaten dog food, others with water. Sirius's nails clicked on the floor tiles, as Mrs. Mopsy stood on her tiptoes to reach into a cupboard. Falling back on her heels, she brought down two glass bowls.

"I swear, Jane," came a man's voice from the living room. "If you can't shut these dogs up—"

"You'll what, Henry?" Mrs. Mopsy growled, sounding very dog-like herself. But her husband didn't answer, and Mrs. Mopsy happily brought one of the bowls over to the sink and turned it on. Clean water splashed out of the tap and landed sloppily into the bowl. "Here you are, sweetums," she cooed to Sirius. "Drink up."

Sirius did and gratefully. He could feel the cool liquid gliding down his throat as he lapped it up with his pink tongue. Mrs. Mopsy lowered the second bowl, full of dog food, next to Sirius's other bowl.

As soon as the bowl clanked onto the floor, two or three other dogs rushed into the kitchen to move in on Sirius's food. Both weren't very big dogs, and once they spotted Sirius, they hesitated. But Sirius, on the other hand, was hesitating over eating the wet, chunky dish that Mopsy had offered.

One of the dogs yapped at him, and Sirius turned to glare. Don't you rush me… I'll give it to you if I don't want it, when I'm good and ready. He gave a small growl in the back of his throat to make his point known.

The dogs suddenly became uncomfortable, and skittered out of the kitchen. Sirius shrugged happily.

"Now, now, play nicely," Mopsy scolded him.

"Jane!"

"What is it, Henry?" Mopsy shouted to her husband testily.

"Get this dog off me!" he cried out.

"He just wants to play with you, Henry," Mopsy chuckled. "Honestly," She rolled her eyes to Sirius, as though they were sharing a laugh at her husband's expense. She left Sirius alone in the kitchen to eat, and went to assist Mr. Mopsy.

After dinner, if you could call it that, Sirius decided to curl up someplace in the house to sleep. He decided that he would leave as soon as the sun rose the next day, so he wanted to get his rest.

Sirius combed the house for a spot to rest that wasn't already taken by some hound with his teeth bared at Sirius. Mrs. Mopsy and her husband got up to go to bed, and turned out all the lights, causing some of the dogs to howl with loneliness. Mrs. Mopsy attempted to kiss each dog goodnight, but Sirius hung far enough back that she didn't get to him. Sirius suddenly doubted that Mrs. Mopsy even kissed her husband goodnight.

Sirius followed the Mopsys down the hallway to their bedroom, hoping to find a spare bedroom, or something, where he could sleep without hearing dogs grunting in their dreams. But, there was no such luck, so he settled in the hallway just outside the Mopsys' bathroom.

It took him a moment to get situated, but finally curled up into a ball, his tail gently tickling his nose. Breathing deeply, and giving a small whimper, he closed his eyes.

He sat against the grimy stone wall of his cell, his neck extended back, his head resting on the wall. He was cold. Very cold. And tired of being here—tired of this place. Tired of the dread that he witnessed everyday. Tired of people crying out in their sleep, tired of thinking about Peter. Sick and tired of this cell, sick and tired of its smell, its dementors, its everything.

He heard the boy screaming before he was close enough to see him. Shouting, crying, howling. His voice reverberated off the stone, ringing and echoing all down the rows of cells. Only mildly curious, Sirius rose from his place on the ground to see who was coming.

"Please, no, you've got to understand…" the boy cried. Peering down the aisle, Sirius could see the Ministry wizards escorting four people down towards Sirius's cell.

"Is the wittle baby afwaid?" came a sour, mocking voice that Sirius recognized instantly. Bellatrix.

She was walking past the Azkaban cellmates like a queen strolling grandly past her subjects in a Sunday morning parade. She walked with a daunting grace, a proud look in her heavily lidded eyes, a self-satisfied smile playing with the corners of her mouth. Her curtain of dark, shining hair hung around her face. Her skin was pale, her eyes as black as her soul.

A Ministry wizard was holding her tentatively by one arm, though she was not struggling. She flipped back her hair, the torchlight catching it, making it shimmer. She glanced over her shoulder to her husband and brother-in-law, both looked terrified. She was above them, and it was obvious that she knew it.

"No… The Dark Lord made me… please let me go…" the boy in front of her whimpered again. He was not related to Bellatrix. He was blonde, skinny, alone, and his Azkaban robes clutched loosely his skimpy frame as he twisted and struggled.

"Would you shut up?" she scoffed finally, dropping the baby voice. "You are an embarrassment. You should be proud of what you've accomplished for our Lord." But by this time, they were passing Sirius's cell. Bellatrix immediately stopped. Confused, the Ministry wizard did as well. "Sirius…" she sounded mildly surprised to see him.

"Bellatrix," Sirius acknowledged her.

"Haven't seen you in years, dear cousin. Obviously, you're not fairing well," she sneered.

"I could say the same about you," he said with distain, eyeing her prison garments. They fit her like a royal ball gown.

"If only your mother could see you now. Her least favorite son, in Azkaban for life for betraying the legendary Potters, and killing 12 muggles and Pettigrew. My, she would be proud," Bellatrix said, her eyes flashing.

"I didn't betray them," Sirius said through his teeth, "I never would betray them."

"Stiw faithfull, Siwius?" Bellatrix asked, her mocking baby voice making Sirius's flesh crawl.

The Ministry wizard tugged on Bellatrix's arm.

"One moment," she said to him with a glance. He looked around nervously. "Well, cousin, I suppose we'll meet again—we're both here for life, after all." She said it with pride dripping from every syllable. She permitted the wizard to lead her away from Sirius's cell.

"What did you do?"

"Tortured the Longbottoms into insanity," She said, looking over her shoulder at him. "It was great fun."

Sirius jerked awake. For a moment, he had thought he was still in Azkaban. He was breathing too fast and he felt sick. He fought the temptation to vomit all over Mrs. Mopsy's brown carpeting.

That was the last time he had seen Bellatrix. Roughly twelve years ago… Or was it eleven? Sirius couldn't remember, nor did he care. Just seeing her face again, even in a dream, made his stomach writhe with anger. She was a Death Eater, through and through… sentenced to stay in Azkaban forever, which was where she belonged.

Of course, she had been his mother's favorite niece. "So lovely… you'll amount to so much." Sirius laughed at the irony. If only his mother was still alive to see Bellatrix. Azkaban had surely taken all of her beauty, and she was part of Voldemort's ranks. Sirius found it disgusting.

But then, that's why he had run away all those years ago—to get away from people like Bellatrix and his mother.

Sirius lifted his big, black, head and looked around. Light was streaming into the house now, and he could hear dogs barking at each other again. Surprised that he had slept through this racket, Sirius pulled himself to his feet and plodded off towards the kitchen, hoping to be fed one last time before taking off.

Glancing up at the clock, he saw to his horror that it was just past midday. He had slept nearly the whole day. Looking around the trashed kitchen, Sirius decided that he had no need to say goodbye. He simply took off out of one of the many dog doors, and headed back into the forest of trees.