some responses to reviews/emails:
since I can't personally reply to all the reviews I get, since I don't have everyone's email addys...well, here I am ) so a few things...
-I want to apologize for any past and/or future mess-ups in the chapter layouts (rolls eyes) I'm just not good w/ computers...if you at any time have difficulty w/ reading my chapters here, I also post on harrypotterfanfiction com, my user name is joliefille252.
-yes, I loved the show "friends" and watched it religiously for years...and I think I mentioned somewhere in an A/N that I was probably subconsciously writing the plots of that show in my fic in various chapters lol im sorry, but I think I got it out of my system now...
-As far as where the fic is heading, it'll end around half-blood prince timing...so there's a few more chapters to be had)
-Am I going to make another connecting fic after I'm done w/ "last mile"? Probably not. I can't really think of any other angle to take w/ the marauders/kierra/dominique crew...but I am thinking of writing another fic after this..any suggestions as to what you'd like to read about, feel free to drop me a line ;)
general A/N: And we've reached yet another turning point in the story, this one is much bigger I think…a lot of time has elapsed (perhaps you can guess how much by the title!) so just keep that in mind. Also, I don't know how you'll feel about this chapter, as there's very little dialogue…mostly thoughts and stuff…it's sort of here as a set up for the next couple chapters, put it that way…anywhos, oh yea, for those of you who've read "long lost love" I'm happy to reintroduce a certain character…it's a little weird though, b/c as I'm writing this character out now, and I'm thinking, aaw u have no idea what's going to happen to you in a few years' time ( sorry, I'm a killjoy lol…anyway, this one's a shorty, I know, but I wanted to save the other stuff for the next chapter, anyway, read on! )
Chapter 40/41: The Prisoner of Azkaban
Kierra sighed as she scraped off the burnt bits from her toast. She was absolutely hopeless. Thirty-two years old, and she still hadn't mastered cooking with magic. Perhaps she should call it quits and continue to cook muggle style…definitely less hazardous for her. Just as she settled down at the kitchen table with her scraped up toast and coffee, a rapping noise came from the window. Kierra looked up to see a tired looking owl with her morning mail, begging for entrance.
"Alohamora…" Kierra muttered, and the window flew open, allowing the owl to fly in, only to plop right into the kitchen sink from fatigue.
"Ugh..." Kierra muttered as she got up to retrieve the bird. Attached to his foot was a copy of the Daily Prophet: Weekly Digest. Poor thing, flying all the way to Aveyron, France from England…Kierra reached under the sink for a bowl and quickly filled it with water for the tired owl. Taking her copy of the paper, she settled back into her seat and unrolled it. She had been so excited to find out that the Daily Prophet was available when she moved to France. Only, it wasn't daily—she received a weekly condensed-digest form of it. Still, something was better than nothing…
Kierra's eyes widened as she stared at the front cover. She hadn't seen that face in about fourteen years. It didn't look the same, but she recognized it. Underneath the photo, in large bold print, the title read, "CONVICTED MURDERER SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES AZKABAN". Horrified, Kierra's eyes fell to the article:
Thirty two year old SIRIUS BLACK escaped from Azkaban, the wizard prison in Britain, last Friday. Though his means of escaping remain unknown, British minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge (Order of Merlin, first class) speculates that Black "used dark magic he learned from you-know-who..." Black was convicted twelve years ago for the murder of Peter Pettigrew (Order of Merlin, first class), the assistance in the murder of Lily and James Potter, and espionage.
Known to be one of you-know-who's closest supporters, Azkaban chaplain John Feldman says "…he's the darkest of the lot. He killed thirteen people with a single curse, and there's no telling what he's broken out of Azkaban to do. All we can say is that if anyone sees this man, stay away from him, and contact the ministry immediately." There is a one thousand galleon award for the capture of Sirius Black.
Kierra dropped her paper. She stared at her coffee, suddenly losing her appetite for breakfast. She felt nauseous now. She spent twelve years trying to rid her self of those painful memories, and now they were being forced under her nose…
She stared at the picture of Sirius Black. He had once been the most good looking student in her year…Kierra had even sported a crush on him in their first year, but rid herself of it when he proved to be an arrogant conceit. Still, he was very attractive… She had known him…or at least she thought she had. Her old roommate had even married him; and she, Kierra, had been at their wedding...And now, as Kierra stared at Black's photo…he hardly looked recognizable. His silky locks of black hair were now straggly and matted…his once handsome face that gave an air of an aristocrat was now anemically pale, with his skin stretching out over his face like a waxen skeleton. He stared at her dangerously, as if daring her to say something. He looked almost unrecognizable, except his eyes…his eyes were the same. Dark grey and unfathomable…it seemed as if any life remaining in him was concentrated in his eyes. And the look Sirius wore, Kierra recognized it; she had seen him give her and many others that look countless times…he had a look that mingled between annoyance and impatience, which struck Kierra as a bit odd. She remembered seeing pictures of Azkaban prisoners before…they all looked tired and, well, for a lack of a better word, dead. That was the whole purpose of Azkaban…to suck the life out of a person until they rotted away…and it usually only took a few weeks, from what Kierra heard. But Sirius Black…he looked pretty alive. Not well, not healthy, but definitely alive, and quite sane looking…it didn't look like he had suffered much., which was almost unnerving. Why wasn't he suffering like he was supposed to…like he deserved to?
As Kierra tore of the front cover and crumpled it up (the picture was scaring her), the words the article came back to her. "though his means of escaping are unknown"…. 'oh God…' Kierra thought. 'he was an animagus…'
She wondered how many people knew of his ability to transform into a dog, and if anyone had told authorities… 'no, no one did…it would've said to watch out for a big black dog in the paper if anyone had told…' Perhaps she should say something? She should tell authorities that Sirius Black is an unregistered animagus, and he turned into a black dog. 'Then they'd ask the details…' Kierra thought. It had been such a long time since she saw him, she could barely remember any of his markings…all she remembered was that he was a big black dog…and of course, she remembered why he became one; she was told in her seventh year…
And then it hit her. If she told authorities that Sirius Black was an animagus, she'd have to tell them that James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were as well. Perhaps that didn't matter much, since they were dead now…but then…Kierra's mind began to race…what if they asked how she knew? She only knew because she was dating their friend, Remus Lupin, who happened to be a werewolf, and because of him, they had become illegal animagi…if Kierra told, she'd have to tell the whole story, and she would have to drag Remus Lupin's name into the mud…Though they didn't keep in touch, and she had no idea on his whereabouts, she didn't want Lupin to get in trouble, as she knew he would. After all, he was a werewolf. A werewolf who forced two good citizens and one loony Azkaban inmate to become animagi, for his own benefit…Perhaps they'd even stick his name, or even her own name, with Sirius's, and make them out to be Blacks helpers, who got him out of prison, or some other twisted sort of rubbish…
Maybe Black didn't need to transform to escape and stay hidden…if he was a dark follower of Voldemort, surely he knew plenty of dark magic that he wouldn't have to resolve to becoming a dog…no, Sirius was a pretty intelligent wizard, he probably found some other way to do it…he knows that people in the wizarding world know about him being an animagus…he wouldn't try it…
As Kierra stuck her uneaten breakfast in the fridge and hurried outside for her walk to work, she wondered why Sirius Black had gone through so much trouble to become an animagus…three years, she remembered James Potter telling her…It just didn't make sense, that he'd go through all that trouble to help out a friend, only to turn his back on everyone a few years later and join the dark side. To this day, Kierra still had difficulty coming to terms with that fact that Sirius Black was responsible for his best friend's death…
The street lights had just lit up on Privet Drive, and a giant balloon could be seen floating up into the sky…It was odd balloon…brightly colored, and it seemed to have arms and legs…and it was shouting…
Sirius Black ambled out from behind the bushes and trotted down the street, in order to get a better look. Suddenly, a good distance from where he stood, a tall scrawny woman and a very large moustached man came running out of a house, shouting at the balloon.
"Oh Marge!!" The fat man shouted.
"Vernon, you get me down!!!" The balloon screamed back.
That had to be the house…how many wizards could live on one muggle street? Sirius watched as the couple ran back in.
"Get back here, boy!!" he heard the man shout.
Sirius made to get closer, but suddenly a scrawny boy with jet black hair and glasses tumbled out of the house, pulling a large trunk along. He looked angry, and was rushing in the opposite direction. Soon he turned on the end of the street and onto Magnolia Crescent. Sirius's heart beat faster as the boy disappeared behind the corner...from the back, he looked exactly like James Potter…Sirius leapt forward and hurried down the sidewalk to catch up with him.
As he rounded the corner, Sirius slowed down and took refuge behind another mass of bushes. Harry had stopped walking, and turned to look around at his surroundings. He looked exactly like James when he was thirteen, from head to toe—except one thing—his eyes. His bright green eyes that shined in the darkness were his mother's.
He watched as Harry sighed in with mingled frustration and anxiety. He must have had a row with his aunt and uncle. Sirius smiled inwardly as he remembered the balloon of a woman floating in the sky, wondering what provoked Harry to blow her up…
Sirius pawed at the spot behind his ears—his fleas were killing him—he couldn't wait until he could transform into a human again. Then he remembered why he was forced to stay as a dog…Peter Pettigrew. Anger welled inside of him as he watched Harry walk further down the street, trying to decide where to go…it was because of Peter that he was forced to take refuge in his animagus form, hiding from authorities, while that rat mooched off another wizarding family for twelve years. The Weasleys…he had seen the family in the papers when Minister Fudge visited Azkaban. He saw the rat sitting on a boy's shoulder…and Fudge, the man had been fool enough to believe Sirius when he said he wanted the paper because he missed doing the crossword puzzles…Sirius kept the newspaper clipping in his robe pocket, staring at it in the daytime when he was hiding out…he was positive the rat was Peter…how many times had he seen him transform? And he was almost certain the rat in the picture was missing a toe…he remembered hearing all that could be found of Peter Pettigrew was his finger…clever bastard…Peter might have gotten the better of him twelve years ago…but not this time, Sirius would make sure of that…
He thought back of the family that had taken Peter up as a pet…they had no idea…they all looked so jolly and happy…he remembered a plump looking woman, whom Sirius took to be the mother in the family…she had a striking resemblance to Fabian and Gidgeon Prewett, two brothers who had been killed while working for the order of the Phoenix…he wondered if they were related… And the poor boy that held the rat so fondly…he looked about Harry's age. They probably knew each other; the article said the children would be returning to Hogwarts…and that was where he was heading to commit the murder he had been imprisoned for…Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Sirius backed up quickly behind the bushes as Harry turned around and spotted him. His appearance must have startled him, as his godson fell over in surprise. Sirius backed away further, holding his breath…great…he had scared his godson…just then a loud bang sounded, followed by a blinding light...
"Welcome to the Knight bus," Sirius heard a young man say, "emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve"—the conductor paused for a moment, probably to look curiously at Harry—"What were you doin' down there?" he heard the young man asked.
"Fell over…" he heard Harry reply.
"Choo fall over for?"sniggered Stan.
"I didn't do it on purpose…" Harry replied with a tone of annoyance.
"Choo lookin' at?" said Stan.
Sirius suddenly realized that Stan and Harry were looking curiously at the spot where he stood moments before, and he backed away further into the darkness.
"There was a big black thing," he heard Harry say nervously, "like a dog…but massive…"
"Woss that on your 'ead?" he heard Stan ask quite abruptly.
"Nothing…"Harry replied quickly.
"Woss your name?" the conductor continued to inquire.
"Neville Longbottom…" Harry replied. "So—this bus…did you say it goes anywhere?"
"Yep, anywhere you like, long's it's on land. Can't do nuffink underwater. 'Ere…you did flag us down, dincha? Stuck out your wand 'and, dincha?" Stan asked.
"Yes," Sirius heard Harry reply. "listen, how much would it be to get to London?"
"Eleven sickles," Stan replied. "But for fifteen you can get 'ot chocolate, and a water bottle, an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice…"
Moments later Sirius could hear Harry rummaging through his trunk, followed by the clinking sound of gold. He stepped forward slightly to get a better view. He watched as Stan and Harry lift the trunk, with an owl cage balanced on top, up the steps of the bus. And not a moment too soon, the Knight Bus zoomed off…
He wondered why Harry lied about his name. Neville…he remembered that was the name of the Longbottoms' son, who was also about Harry's age. Did he also go to Hogwarts? Was Harry thinking of him when he told the conductor his name was Neville? As Sirius made his way down the sidewalk, his thoughts continued on his godson. Was he a habitual liar or was he just nervous? Why had he run away from home in the first place? What caused him to blow up the woman named Marge? Had he even heard of Sirius's name? And what Sirius was most curious about, was he as much like James Potter in personality as he was in looks?
"Alright, you're dismissed when you've received your exam. Feel free to stick around though if you have any questions…" Professor Lupin said to his second years at the end of class.
"Here you go Ethan—for a first exam, I think you all did very well—Judy…there you are…if you could write in black ink next time instead of pink…easier on the eyes..thanks…Ginny…"
The young redhead beamed as she received her exam, but then looked absolutely mortified when she flipped the exam over to the back, where she had been doodling. Though scratched out, she saw the remnants of her handwriting, which read "Harry Potter" with hearts drawn on either side of the name. Lupin, ignoring her blushes, continued down the row, handing back exams, pretending he never saw it. Truth be told, he saw it when he was grading the exams the night before, but only found it mildly amusing. After all, it was a typical scenario in his mind. It was always the older brother's best friend, or the best friend's older brother…
"Nora, here you go…" he said to the last remaining student, a timid looking blond girl.
"Thanks professor," she replied, looking pleased at her exam score. "Oh, I was wondering sir, I really liked these last few lessons, on dark creatures…and well, since we're moving on to dueling technique, do you think you can recommend any books for me to read?"
Lupin smiled. "On dark creatures, or magical creatures in general?" he asked, motioning her to follow him up to his office.
Nora paused for a moment to consider. "just the dark ones," she replied. "We're going to learn about the other kinds in care of magical creatures, aren't we?"
"Yes, I suppose you will," he replied as he scanned his bookshelves, "And from none other than the expert himself. Professor Hagrid really knows his way around magical creatures. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait until next year to learn about creatures like hippogriffs and blasted-end skrewts…"
"That's true…but I can wait on that…" Nora replied. "I really liked the lesson on pixies. How come we didn't cover hinkypunks…and kappas?"
Remus laughed as he pulled a few books out of his shelf and studied them. "I save those, and most dark creatures, for my third years. I just wanted to finish off what your last professor had started teaching you the previous term. I think in second year, basic dueling is very important to learn. Well, here you are"—he handed the books to Nora—"take as much time as you need with them…my personal favorite of the bunch is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".
"Thanks so much, professor…" Nora replied, though her eyes were on the photo-plastered wall by the bookshelves. "These are beautiful…seems you have something from every country in the world! You travel a lot sir?"
Lupin smiled but shook his head. "No, but I have a friend that does…all these postcards are from her…"
Nora nodded and smiled back, and there was a short moment of silence where Nora shifted her small pile of books from one arm to the other.
"Well, I should get going," she finally said, "thanks again for the books."
"Any time, Nora. I'll see you tomorrow." Lupin replied. He smiled and waved goodbye to his student.
He watched as Nora left his office. Remus liked her very much. Of course, he never favored her above any of the other students; but he liked her all the same. She was a hard working student, and though she wasn't at the top of the class, she definitely had a thirst for knowledge, and loved to learn. She reminded him a lot of himself; Quiet, but not shy. She enjoyed herself, but didn't seem to like to break rules. He was almost certain that Nora Nakofsky would be a prefect in a few years' time…and in thinking of her name…he felt a slight bit of pity for her…Remus realized that 'Nora Nakofsky' didn't have a particularly nice ring to it.
Remus wondered if he was correct in hypothesizing that Nora was Kierra's brother's daughter. Although Nora looked like neither of them (from what he remembered of them), Remus realized that if Nora had been Kierra's daughter, then (most likely) Kierra would have been married, and Nora's last name wouldn't have been Nakofsky…Remus sighed. 'I'm pathetic..' he thought as he grabbed his pile of mail from the morning owls. 'I actually thought all of it through…I'm not even positive Kierra's last name was Nakofsky…'
Remus made a small face as he read a postcard from his friend Dominique. He couldn't understand why she always sent postcards—they were so small, there was hardly any room to write, which resulted in very brief letters from his friend—on the upside, he had a large collection of pictures from all over the world…the latest one was a breathtaking photo of the mountains of Austria…Dominique wrote that she was there performing with the Parisian Philharmonic Orchestra on a worldwide tour. Remus sighed—he had gotten used to her saying "I'm touring with the group…" in her letters—Dominique had settled herself in the orchestra several years ago, after she had gotten tired of traveling around Africa. When the war had ended, Dominique spent almost a year on a safari, going from country to country, until she landed herself in the Middle East, where she trekked through the deserts and found herself settling in Egypt, where she stayed for a full year in order to explore the country. Finally, with her wallet exhausted and thirst for exploration quenched, Dominique headed back to her old home in Paris, in search for a job. It seemed as though she'd go anywhere but England…but by swearing herself out of the wizarding world, and no formal muggle education, Dominique seemed to have no choice but to rely on her talent in music, and ventured out for an audition with the orchestra in Paris…and as a violinist, Dominique seemed quite content. She slowly worked her way up, and now had the first chair in the orchestra (Remus wasn't quite sure what that meant) and a few months ago she renewed her contract…of course, he rarely saw her…two or three times a year at the most…
Remus pinned Dominique's postcard on the wall, alongside the postcard of Holland, which he had received a month before. He settled back in his chair to read the rest of his mail, and reluctantly, he opened up his copy of The Daily Prophet…more on Black…
Remus sighed as he skimmed through the article about the most recent sighting of the criminal…there was that guilty feeling again…He tucked away the newspaper in his desk drawer, and cupped his face in his hands, letting out a small groan…maybe he should have said something to Dumbledore…but he couldn't…he just couldn't…
'I was never the brave one….' He thought sadly.
Lupin stared glumly at the drawer which held the newspaper…He was a complete coward, he knew it. Afraid of Dumbledore…afraid of losing the man's trust…but it had meant everything to him…if he lost Dumbledore's trust…
…but how could he bring himself to tell Dumbledore? He'd have to explain how he knew, why Sirius had become an animagus in the first place…Remus sighed as he remembered meeting Dumbledore, over twenty years ago. It was hard to believe it was that long ago…The headmaster was so kind to him, admitting him into Hogwarts when no other headmaster would; taking the trouble to devise a plan to smuggle Lupin out of the castle every month so he could transform…not telling anyone but the staff about what he was…Dumbledore trusted him, that he wouldn't harm anyone or endanger the life of any of the students. And yet he betrayed his trust years ago, by allowing his friends to become animagi, and he was doing it again by not confessing the truth when it needed to be known....but he couldn't do it…Dumbledore's respect was worth too much to lose…this job was worth too much to lose…it was a paid job…it was a steady job…two things he hadn't had in a very long time…and after twelve years, he finally gets to see his friend's son on a day to day basis…he couldn't afford to lose all of this… He was not only a coward, but a selfish coward…he wouldn't tell on Black because he himself had too much to lose.