'Hang on Buckbeak,' mumbled Sirius and pulled the cover further over his head. The scratching down his back became more insistent so he extended his hand and batted Buckbeak's head away.
'AARGH!' The cleaning lady screamed at the appearance of the bodiless arm, dropped her broom and ran back to wherever cleaning ladies come from.
'AARGH!' screamed Sirius, startled that Buckbeak was screaming at him and not caring how much it hurt his head.
When he had run out of breath, Sirius stopped screaming and rolled over. Through the slight blur created by the Invisibility Cloak he could see the darkened Atrium in the background and the head of the broom that had been insistently trying to sweep him out of his cosy corner.
He jumped up, jarring his head and realising that the cleaning lady would be coming back with help in a minute. Clearing his mind of another image of an army of cleaning ladies wielding bottles of Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover to remove the not-so-magical (or at least not until this blasted headache had gone) mess that was cluttering their floor, he walked as quickly as he could to the fireplaces at the far end of the Atrium. There on the large mantelpiece was a sizable pot of Floo Powder. Sirius helped himself and sprinkled a generous handful into the flames. Instantly they turned green he stepped in and whispered, 'Twelve Grimmauld Place!'
The fire in the kitchen was thankfully still alight, probably not due to Kreacher, and it spat him out onto the cold stone floor. He winced as his head gave another painful throb and then stood up.
The kitchen was empty of people, which was strange, since recently the doorbell had never stopped ringing and waking his dear mother. He couldn't even hear Kreacher muttering to himself somewhere in the depths of the house.
'Not even Remus is here,' said Sirius aloud, feeling a bit disappointed. But then he remembered that all and sundry probably thought he was dead and felt bad at reproaching his friend.
Thinking he had better go and apologise for attempting to hit Buckbeak earlier, he fetched a bag of rats from the pantry and wandered slowly upstairs.
Buckbeak was perched on Sirius's mother's bed munching on what looked like a cow's shoulder blade.
'Thank Merlin for Lupin,' said Sirius. Buckbeak heard him and went mad to see his master, reminding Sirius of an odd-shaped, overgrown dog. It was very gratifying to know that he didn't have to bow every time he met Buckbeak now.
The welcome over with, Sirius retired to his bedroom with a healing potion. It was past midnight and he had a lot of work to do tomorrow. Contact Remus and Dumbledore, Harry too, and he was anxious to find out more about the girl who had given her life for him.
His headache had dulled and he found himself wondering how long he had been unconscious for, and how much longer he would need to sleep before recovering. He felt his eyelids closing and fell asleep.
Sirius woke up eighteen hours later feeling almost normal. The hint of his headache was still there, but not strong enough to trouble him, so he draped his feet over the edge of the bed and got up.
After checking on Buckbeak he went down to the kitchen. It wasn't as empty as it had been the night before; Remus was sat at the scrubbed wooden table, his head in his hands. Sirius didn't know what to say, so he hovered in the doorway until he sneezed.
Remus nearly jumped out of his skin. When he caught sight of Sirius he went paler than he already was and his eyes widened.
'W-w-what ... How ... S-Sirius?'
Sirius let him stammer for a few moments; then he grinned.
'It's me,' he said, stepping into the room. Remus stood shakily and they embraced like brothers. Sirius helped his shell-shocked friend back into his chair and then set about making something to eat. He hadn't eaten for ... as long as he had been unconscious plus a day, he worked out, and he was ravenous. Remus looked like he could do with a solid meal, too.
As he cooked a simple meal for the two of them, he told Remus everything that he knew had happened, and what he guessed about the girl and the veil.
'So who was she?' asked Remus eventually.
'Dunno,' said Sirius. 'That's what I've been trying to work out. I don't remember anyone at school called Cassandra, so unless she went to another school -'
'There was someone,' said Remus slowly. 'She was in Gryffindor - the year below us, I think. She was very quiet and very good at remaining unnoticed.'
'Trust you to notice her then!' said Sirius, feeling a lot better having eaten. Then, seriously, 'D'you think it could be her?'
'I don't know,' said Remus. 'Her name was Cassandra Trelawney. I seem to remember her being very good at Divination, so I'll bet she's some relation to Sybill Trelawney. She works at the school now.'
Sirius leaned back in his chair and looked thoughtful. 'Would this Sybill know where she lives – lived?'
'I doubt it.' Remus glanced at the letter again. 'This says she left the wizarding world, lived as a Muggle. I doubt she would have wanted any contact from any of our lot.'
'Not even her own family?' said Sirius disbelievingly.
Remus shrugged.
'Well, how can we trace her then?' Sirius was becoming impatient.
Remus thought for a moment. 'Transform,' he said suddenly. Sirius raised his eyebrows. 'I mean it, Sirius.'
Sirius changed into his dog form and looked at Remus, unconvinced. His friend thrust the paper under his snout. 'Smell,' he ordered.
Sirius rolled his eyes and sniffed at the paper. There was a very vague but strange mixture of fish, fresh bread and smoke on it, proving that it had been removed from that environment a while ago, but Sirius's dog senses picked up on it. It did smell familiar …
Remus removed it. 'You can change back now.'
Sirius resumed his normal form looking puzzled.
'What did it smell of?' asked Remus, genuinely interested.
Sirius sniffed the air again as if to renew the smell. 'It smelled like … No, it can't be …'
'What!' said Remus.
'It smelt … of home …' said Sirius vaguely.
'Home? What do you mean? Sirius!' Remus pleaded, when his friend continued to ignore him.
'My flat. You know, the one I bought when I left home. Well, it didn't smell like the actual flat, but of the area. Fish, bread and smoke. The river was close by, the market out in the street, and the factory across the river. She must live near …'
Sirius's voice trailed off as it struck him.
'When I sold that flat,' he said slowly, 'it went to a girl, the man said, about the same age as me … It was her, wasn't it? It was Cassandra.'
Remus nodded. 'Possibly,' he said.
They sat in silence for a minute. Sirius was thinking. She probably hadn't done anything with the flat before coming to save him. Her things might still be there. He didn't relish the prospect of going through it all – it felt like invading her privacy – but he had to know about her. He knew he still had the key from years ago. He hadn't given it back because he thought he had lost it, but it had been found recently when everything in the house had been ransacked.
Sirius made his decision. He leapt up from the table, not even stopping to laugh as Remus fell backwards off his chair in shock, as he would have done this time last night.
He raced upstairs to his bedroom, grabbed the Cloak and a small brass key from a drawer and was downstairs again before Remus had time to right himself and follow him into the hall. Sirius just managed to hear Remus's shout of frustration as the slam of the front door woke up the portrait of Sirius's mother before he had donned the Cloak and run across the square.
Disclaimer: I promise, only the storyline is mine. I wish Sirius was,but he isn't, and I have come to terms with that.
(That doesn't mean he's yours, Kash!)
Well, what can I say? Thank you to my THREE lovely reviewers, Padfoot, QuidditchMoke and Loki Mischief-Maker (yeah, yeah, I have five reviews … well two of them were me, accidentally …) and since all three of you are very special I'm going to dedicate the first three chapters to you!
Anyone else … please review if you feel like it. If not, well, I'll just dedicate the next chapter to someone else. How's that for incentive!