"Sirius, the last exam gets out in fifteen minutes," Regulus reminded him, checking his watch yet again. "That means in twenty minutes the grounds are going to be swarming with teenagers, because it's a nice day. If we don't get back now, ten to one we'll be seen."
Sirius shrugged. "Frankly, Reggie, I don't care right now."
"Well I do. We're going back to the Shrieking Shack right now if I have to stun you," Regulus announced, crossing his arms over his chest.
Sirius glared at his brother. Not for the first time, he considered just taking off into the Forest and getting rid of Regulus for the rest of his search, since his brother held him back in the name of safety so often and just would not take risks. He was bigger and faster than Regulus, after all, even if Regulus was the one with a wand. And anyway, in undergrowth this thick he could probably lose Regulus before he even got his wand out. Sirius didn't even have to disappear until after his name was clear, just for the afternoon, to make a point— Reggie was not his babysitter.
Then he shook his head. As much as he hated to admit it, especially considering the strength of his obsession, Regulus had a point. "I'm still not sure I care," he muttered.
Regulus raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Are we playing the 'I think Reggie's bluffing' game or do you honestly not care if I stun you?"
His brother shrugged. "A little of both."
Regulus shook his head, unfolded his arms, and stuck his hand in the same coat pocket as his wand. So much for disappearing before he drew it. "I've done worse that stun people, Sirius. I'm not proud of it, but stunning you to keep you from virtually committing suicide is not a big deal."
Sirius hesitated, his eyes on the pocket. He didn't doubt Regulus would draw it, so he tried logic. "We can wait to go back until it's dark and everyone's gone inside," he pointed out. "And then we can keep looking. We might even find him. I know he's around here somewhere; he's got to be. . . ." He faded off. Even to himself the argument sounded weak.
"Or you can go back out at night. We're hardly going to find Pettigrew sunning himself on a rock in the Forest, so either way we'll be tracking him by smell. And tonight's a full moon, so visibility will be less of a problem anyway."
"But. . . ." Again Sirius faded off. There really weren't any more 'but's to argue with. If Peter was still around, he was probably close to the castle, hoping to hear of Sirius's capture, and it was near the castle where students would notice a big black dog. "All right," he consented. "I'll go back out tonight."
Regulus smiled grimly. "Knew we'd get there eventually."
Not long after it got dark enough everyone would have gone back inside, Sirius abandoned a muttering Regulus to half-run down the tunnel as a dog and sprint past the Whomping Willow, which took a few swings at him as he disappeared partway into the Forest. He skirted the grounds with his nose to the wind, looking for the distinct scent of Peter and struggling to remember what it was.
Before too long the door to Hagrd's hut opened and nothing came out. Well, seemingly nothing. Sirius could smell something odd on the wind, something hauntingly familiar . . . Peter. At any rate he remembered it from moonlit romps and it certainly wasn't James or Remus. He moved in closer, still sniffing.
"Scabbers . . . Scabbers, no . . . stay still! What's the matter with— OUCH!" yelled a voice suddenly from the thin air. "He bit me!"
Sirius smiled inwardly. An invisibility cloak. Peter was under it, along with a boy and maybe a few of his companions. Perhaps Harry was there— he'd probably inherited James's, after all.
And not only was Peter under it, he knew Sirius was after him. He knew enough to be terrified. Sirius stalked closer, still not entirely sure what he was going to do, only to catch sight of Crookshanks's yellow eyes coming at the noise from the opposite direction.
No you stupid cat, I've got it, Sirius thought, but in the dark he could hardly try to communicate with the animal.
"Scabbers, what's gotten— no!"
The rat had apparently escaped from his captor, and the redheaded boy jumped out from under the cloak in hot pursuit. Crookshanks leapt after them, his claws outstretched. As Sirius padded over once again, Harry and Crookshanks's bushy-haired mistress came out from under the cloak themselves, running after their friend.
The fight with Crookshanks was both short and furious, but the boy won and started to straighten up, clutching his rat. Sirius hesitated. He probably wouldn't be able to separate the two again, but he wanted Peter, and he'd have to start his explanations somewhere. And if Harry and the girl followed their friend, he could explain everything to all three.
He padded over. Harry apparently heard him, his eyes straining in the dark to see the dog. He reached for his wand. No good. Sirius didn't want to be stunned, so he leapt at the boy, bowling him over and rolling off, then he rounded on the redhead and the rat again.
Apparently the other boy thought he was after Harry, because he stood up and made to get between Harry and the dog. Sirius leapt again and grabbed hold of his arm, then fled towards the Shrieking Shack and some relative safety, where none of the three children could call for help and dementors. Harry lounged at him in defense of his friend, but all he got was a handful of Sirius's ruff, and Sirius was too close to the goal that had consumed him for a year to really feel it as the hair was torn from the back of his neck. He kept heading towards the Willow.
The redhead fought him furiously, making dodging the branches extremely difficult, and a few of them nicked Sirius once or twice. Getting into the tunnel was even harder. The boy had hooked his leg around a root, and he couldn't break it and get him in. Come on, come on, he thought, tugging one more time with even more ferocity.
There was a sickening crack as the leg broke, but the boy slid into the tunnel and Sirius shot off towards the Shrieking Shack again, hoping his brother would know what to do about broken bones.
Regulus was furious, but his rage was a quiet, cold, logical one. In fact, if the temperature of the room hadn't dropped by several degrees, Sirius might have thought his brother was only concerned.
When the elder brother entered dragging his two captives, Regulus stood up so quickly that his chair toppled over. "Sirius, let go of him and explain yourself. Now."
For once, the man obliged without putting up a fight. He let go of the boy by the bed and backed up as he returned to human form. "He's got him, Reggie. See the rat?"
"That was still no reason. . . ." Regulus sighed and looked over at the redhead, who was indeed clutching a skinny, balding rodent. He also looked exceedingly pale and a little green, whether from fear of Sirius, from pain, or from a combination of the two, Regulus couldn't tell. He sighed. "That leg's sticking out at an odd angle. You broke it, didn't you?"
Sirius nodded in defeat. "It was hooked around something and I tugged bit too hard. Still, Reggie, we've got him. And we can explain. . . ." He faded off under his brother's glower.
Regulus pointed to the boy. "You, up onto the bed. I want a look at that leg before we do another thing." He turned back to Sirius, and the temperature again lowered significantly. "Sirius, you are about to prove to me you can hold on for five damn minutes. Understood?"
Sirius nodded and leaned sullenly against the wall. Regulus smiled grimly. At least the one with some sense was also the one with the wand and the genuine criminal record— after all, at this point it might take threats to slow Sirius down enough to keep him from going back to Azkaban. He turned back to the boy, who appeared to be trying to follow orders and get onto the bed, but was having trouble standing. He grabbed at a bedpost to pull himself up, but Regulus strode over and grabbed him under the shoulder, tugging him to his feet. Even at thirteen, he was taller than the man. "Now sit down," Regulus ordered briskly.
The boy obeyed.
Regulus ran a hand along the boy's leg until he found the place the break really started and the boy yelped. "I'm sorry about this," he told him. "Azkaban only unhinged Sirius in couple of places, but it's still unhinged. Normally, though, he's as sane as you or I."
Sirius grumbled something.
"Oh, shut up. Whatever you said, I'll bet it's entirely beyond the point. I'm trying to decide whether this break's clean enough for me to fix or whether we ought to wait and take him to the Hogwarts nurse."
The boy muttered something likewise irrelevant.
Regulus ignored him, too, and continued his examination, still trying to be conversational. "Judging from the hair, I'll bet my life you're a Weasley, right?"
The boy hesitated but nodded.
"Which one?"
Before he could answer, Crookshanks strode into the room, his bottlebrush tail waving, and pounced onto the bed. Peter Pettigrew squeaked in alarm and tried with renewed vigor to escape the boy's clutches. "Get off, you stinking cat—"
"Crookshanks, no," Regulus growled, lowering the cat to the floor. It did no good; Crookshanks leapt right back up onto the bed, still watching Pettigrew intently out of those yellow eyes. But at least this time he made no move to pounce.
The boy didn't see it that way and tried to scoot farther away from the cat. Regulus grabbed his shoulder. "No. He's not going to hurt you or that rat, and you'll only hurt yourself worse."
"Than why's Scabbers still fighting?" the boy snapped, still struggling to keep a hold on his pet.
"Perhaps he doesn't understand. Or perhaps" —and here Regulus shot dark looks at both Pettigrew and Sirius— "perhaps he understands that there's a greater danger here, one that doesn't necessarily follow my orders."
"Yeah, Sirius Black!" He hesitated. "And who are you, anyway?"
Regulus smiled grimly. "I'm his little brother."
"Then you get away, too!" the boy exclaimed, pushing Regulus in the chest and startling him enough that he stumbled backwards several paces.
"Sirius, help," Regulus mumbled, and his brother made a move to stand up and approach. Then he looked back at the boy, who had gone the white-pale of new parchment and had moved back on the bed until he hit the wall. "On second thought, don't." He motioned for Sirius to lean back and tried to decide what ought to be done now. He had hoped that the first person they had to explain the situation to would be Dumbledore.
"Ron!"
The shout split the gathering silence and made both Blacks wince. It was definitely Harry's voice, and that in itself was nerve-racking. Regulus didn't like the prospect of trying to convince two teenage boys of the truth, and he'd no doubt this wasn't how Sirius had pictured a reunion.
Shortly a girl called out Ron's name, too. Oh, no, not three, Regulus thought, still trying to make a fast decision.
"Up here!" Ron hollered.
Harry and the girl burst into the room, knocking the door into Sirius and effectively concealing him from view.
The two looked around. "Ron, what's going on?" Harry demanded. He pointed to Regulus. "Who's he? Where's the dog?"
"Harry, it's a trap." Ron spoke quickly, as if afraid the two adults would pounce on them before he got everything out. "That's his brother, he's the dog—"
"What are you talking about?" the girl demanded.
"He's the dog— he's an Animagus," Ron said urgently.
Regulus was a bit faster on the uptake than either of the other kids, but before he could go stop him, Sirius pushed back the door, a faint, grim smile on his face. "Hullo, Harry."
Author's Note: And after ten and a half chapters, the confrontation finally begins. I really wanted to put this off another day and not update at my usual time, because I haven't run the entire confrontation by my beta yet, but, hey, these things happen and I think I have it right. Anyway, SupportSeverusSnape: I am building a bunker, because I know at least two of you are going to come after me in the next few chapters. Padfoot2446: Actually, he doesn't believe the evidence of his own eyes. Jackline: I know exactly how much longer this story is going to last (I'll hopefully finish it in the next couple of days), so I've started planning 1994. To everyone else, thank you so much for your reviews, too! Cheers! -- Loki