Disclaimer: Sirius does not belong to me, however much money I throw into the Wishing Fountain to make it so.

Chapter 3: Flapjacks

He could have Apparated, but, not having seen the daylight from outside for so long, he preferred to walk under the safety of the Invisibility Cloak. He sniffed the air, as he would in his dog form, and rejoiced in air that wasn't tinted with dust. Instead it smelt of car exhaust, but Sirius was too pleased to be outside to notice. The sun was still shining but not a hint of shadow betrayed him.

'I've got to remember to move out of people's way,' he muttered as he nearly walked into an old man with a walking stick. A woman walking past stared in his direction, puzzled as to where the voice was coming from.

Forty-five minutes of dodging Muggles and cars and hoping he was going in the right direction later, Sirius turned into the street he used to live in. That was where the market stood, but empty at nine in the evening.

Sirius checked he had the key in his pocket for the hundredth time before starting towards the whitewashed building that used to be his home.

He paused at the bottom of the steps which lead up to the door.

I hope no one lives there now, he thought.

The steps seemed to go on forever, and each one higher than the last. He eventually reached the top and stared intently at the panel to the right of the door. A Mr and Mrs Morrisby lived in flat number Three. Old Mrs Connoly in Number Four. Sirius remembered her. Mrs Connoly had been the hardest to convince that he was normal. Thank goodness everyone just thought she was a mad old woman who imagined the troop of odd-looking people continually tramping past her door. Someone called Jane Coleman had moved into Number One. But both numbers Two and Five looked empty.

'She might not have wanted anyone to know where she was,' reasoned Sirius to himself. 'She was hiding from, people after all.'

'Who was hiding from people?' asked a voice from the pavement. Sirius whirled round to see an old lady trying to drag her trolley up the steps. She was looking straight at him. Through the Invisibility Cloak.

'That little madam from upstairs? Darn these steps. Do you think you could help me, young man?'

Without conscious thought, Sirius found himself descending to the pavement and helping the old lady with her shopping. He didn't think how odd it would look to any passers-by for a trolley to be levitating itself up the steps.

The old lady removed a key from her pocket and opened the door. 'Yes, that little hussy seems to spend her time avoiding people,' she said chattily. 'I do try and speak to her on occasion but she just doesn't make the effort to be the remotest bit friendly.'

She was now struggling with the stairs to her flat, and the newly silent Sirius moved forwards to carry the trolley up for her.

'Oh, thank you dear. Just last week I simply asked how she was and she trembled like a leaf, ran off up the stairs and slammed her door behind her. A strange lot have lived in that flat, you know. About, ooh, twenty years ago it must be now, there used to be a young man - who looked not unlike yourself, actually. His friends were very odd. Dressed in the strangest things, they were. Oh, hello, Maggie.'

A door on the right of the landing had opened, and a young woman's head was peering round it.

'Who've you got there, Mrs Connoly?' she asked, obviously humouring the old lady.

'Oh, a young man who was asking after her upstairs.' Mrs Connoly pointed with her thumb.

Maggie smiled sympathetically at the old lady and shut the door. If she had looked closer, Sirius realised, she would have seen the trolley was carrying itself. Maybe it would have caused her to take the old lady seriously, thought Sirius, feeling sorry for Mrs Connoly. She may be eccentric, but she seemed to be far more observant than the average Muggle. He turned his attentions back to her as she unlocked her front door, chattering away again.

'The sounds I used to hear from that flat,' she was now saying. 'Sometimes it could be quite frightening. There used to be thumps and bumps and crashes as though something was destroying the furniture.'

Something was destroying the furniture, though Sirius. It was called Moony.

'I called the police once, you know. They thought I was imagining it. But animals also used to thunder up and down the stairs; dogs, rats, deer! I even saw a wolf once. Would you like a cuppa? They all think I'm a bit senile, see, but I know.' She tapped the side of her nose conspiratorially and put a cup of tea on the table in front of Sirius and removed the trolley from him.

'This girl moved in straight after the young man moved out. She's been there ever since. Fifteen years I suppose it must be now. And in all that time she's only addressed about the same amount of words to me. Downright rude, I call it.'

Sirius had come to the conclusion that this old lady wasn't quite as mad as it seemed everyone thought she was. She was just different. As far as he knew, only Moody could see through Invisibility Cloaks, but here was a normal Muggle who could see him too.

'Are you all right, dear? Is the tea not milky enough?'

Sirius shook his head, made a sound in his throat and took a sip of tea.

'So what is it you want to see her for? I'm not sure she'll let you in.'

Sirius cleared his throat. 'She sent me a letter,' he croaked.

And you want to say thank you. Lovely manners, young man. Reminds me of him that used to live upstairs. He kept himself to himself as well, but never short of manners if we ever did speak. Well, I wish you luck trying to get an intelligible sentence out of her. Do pop back in when you're done; I'm making some of my flapjacks.'

'Er, thanks,' mumbled Sirius, and slipped out of the door.

This is a bit of a random chapter, I know. But it was quite amusing to write, so I wrote it. And it also provided a little bit of background knowledge. Maybe.

Sorry for the hugely long delay it took this chapter to arrive! I left the world of fanfiction for a while, but I'm in a creative mood at the moment - long may it last! ... Woah ... I last updated on 18th March ... my sincerest apologies, people!
:oS

Thank you to all my previous reviewers, and also thank you in advance for any reviews you leave for this chapter!