Sirius planned to break Rookwood out of his cell, while disguised as Regulus and kill him on the way out. He would need to have him lower his guard before he would make any move against him. So now that he had recreated his brother's mask and a Death Eater robe, he needed a way to get Rookwood out of his cell; and to do that he needed his lockpicking knife.
The lockpicking knife he had in his vault was far more complicated and durable, but right now he needed one that would last him only two uses, and it would be perfect for a non-magical, mechanical lock, like the ones in Azkaban.
Obviously, he would never have been able to get Humpty to bring him a knife, but a nail file, attached to a clipper wouldn't raise any suspicions. Using the chalk he was given, he etched a ritual circle into the floor that was designed to capture the essence of anything in it and merge them together. Inside the circle, he placed the nail clipper with the file folded out, then placed the silver shavings from the mask on top of it, and finally, the dried-out True Rose of Jericho on top of it all.
He was given a small cup of water with every meal, and tonight he had saved it to open the Rose. It wasn't a rose at all, but actually a tumbleweed when dry, and had very basic magical properties if invoked in the right way. When watered, it would open up and return to life. Sirius didn't care about it coming back to life, he cared about it opening.
When the light of the moon entered his cell, he activated the ritual circle, and with his fingers, dripped nine drops of water onto the top of the plant. As it began to open up, a small magical release caused the plant to burn to ashes and the silver shavings to be absorbed into the nail file and clipper. When the magic faded, his work had been completed.
The next day he scribbled a short note and included a runic cluster on it that would cause it to burn after being read. The note said, "Enigma, I have found him. I need your assistance. Tonight, be ready. - Harbinger"
It was no secret that all the Death Eaters believed Voldemort to still be alive, lurking through the world somewhere between life and death. It was all the true believers in Azkaban spoke of when the dementors were trying to rip away that happy thought from them. Sirius just hoped that this renewed desire wouldn't bring the dementors before he could enact his plan.
When the food cart came in the morning, Sirius cast a sticking charm and a banishing charm on the note, tied to an entanglement rune set he drew on the inner wall of his cell, then reached through his cell bars and placed the note on the front of the cart when the guard wasn't looking. The entanglement rune set was designed so that once he broke it, the sticking charm would deactivate and the banishing charm would activate. He could feel the power of the two charms burning through his makeshift wand and knew there wasn't much use for it left.
He watched the cart approach the corner where Rookwood's cell was, he could barely see the bars at that angle, but he had stalked this corridor enough times to know the exact distance the cart needed to travel first. As soon as he felt it had reached its destination, he broke the rune set, and he hoped that Rookwood got the message. He wouldn't say anything out loud, because he must have assumed the message came from outside the prison, not from a few cells away.
Now came the waiting.
When the cold of the dementors rose with the moon, Sirius donned his black robes and mask. Once they were in place, he shifted into the Grim and slipped between the bars, then changed back to his wizard form. Now would be the true test, not breaking Rookwood out, but passing by Bellatrix's cell, and he had still not walked by without her staring right back at him. She had initiated Regulus, so he hoped she wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two of them. With a stride of purpose, he stepped out in front of her cell door and looked in.
As was usual, she stared back at him, but now she had a look of surprise which soon turned to joy. She looked about ready to call out, so he quickly raised a finger to the lips of his mask in a shushing gesture, and gave her a nod. Then he continued to walk to the next cell. Rookwood was waiting for him at the bars with a sinister smile on his face.
Sirius gestured to him to back up slightly and pulled out his lockpick. Before sliding it into the lock he spat on the nail file, causing it to shine slightly. Quickly, he inserted it into the lock and turned. Just like magic, the lock released and the door slid open.
Rookwood stared at the silver instrument for a moment, before mouthing out in silence, "Rose of Jericho?" Sirius gave him a brief nod in return.
He started to guide Rookwood back in the direction he came from, but the man stopped briefly in front of Bellatrix's cell. She approached the door as Sirius made gestures for him to hurry up, but the two made a quick whispered conversation before she smiled brightly and grabbed his face to plant a kiss on his lips, despite his struggles at the action. Rookwood continued following Sirius down the hall past other cells with sleeping prisoners. When they got close to the exit back to the intake building, Sirius turned around and walked back past his victim with his wand raised, pointing it down the hallway that they came from as if checking for someone following them.
Rookwood went on guard as well, both in total silence. Sirius pulled out the nail clipper and passed it to the man signaling him to unlock the door while he stood watch.
As soon as the lock clicked, Sirius had his arms around Rookwood's neck, choking him out. He tried to call out, but Sirius hit him with a silencing charm, which created a large crack down the side of his wand, causing it to heat up and drop to the floor.
Rookwood thrashed around, gasping for air in complete silence, but Sirius held the pressure on his windpipe. Even when the man managed to start stabbing him in the arm with the file, he held firm, until there was no life left in him. Just for extra measure, he snapped the man's neck. Sirius could feel the tremors of the break, even though there was no *snap* to accompany it.
Quickly, he shifted into The Grim and ripped the man's neck open, obfuscating any trace of his hands and arms on the man. It might be too much, but he changed back into human form and painted on the wall next to them, "No Escape," added a paw print next to it along with the silver mask, and retrieved the fallen nail clipper.
There was a bit of blood leaking out of his arm, but none had dripped on the floor. He shifted back once again into his dog form and licked his wounds while he planned out how to explain his wounded arm. After much consideration, he thought the best way was to blame the whole thing on his brother. Bellatrix would certainly go into a rage when she found out Rookwood was killed and say Regulus had been there to betray them. The mask was also good evidence against them. Finally, he could also pin the whole mess of The Grim of Azkaban on Reggie. It would just hurt a lot to do it.
Sirius picked up the charred wand from the ground and cast a fire-making spell through it, dropping it quickly as the fire turned it to ashes and blew away. Then he shifted into the Grim and howled over and over to wake up the entire floor. Once he was sure inmates were awake, he dashed down the hall for anyone to see as his cousin Bella started calling out for Rookwood to run, as she must have thought the Grim was after him and Reggie.
Once Sirius was back in his cell, he looked down at his front left leg, which had stab wounds in it, and with a half-second of hesitation, bit down hard on his own leg. He bit in again and again, then changed back to his human form. The only wandless magic he had ever performed was one time to shut a door when he was being chased by a girl's father who thought he had defiled the girl. The man's suspicions were correct, but Sirius certainly hadn't been the first, nor would be the last. So now, he focused the same desire to live on his clothing and reversed the transfiguration, changing them back to his prison uniform and bunny slippers.
His arm was heavily bleeding now and he began to scream in pain for everyone to hear, saying the Grim was there and was trying to kill him.
It took nearly ten minutes of people calling out for the Aurors to arrive.
The next day, Sirius was sitting in the intake office, outside the prison walls where he had received his uniform. A healer was working on his arm while a magizoologist was examining the bite marks.
Predictably, upon hearing that Rookwood was dead, Bellatrix screamed 'Traitor' for everyone to hear. She said that Regulus Black had been there and taken her neighbor out of his cell. That Sirius's missing brother was behind the near escape of an inmate, he was taken from his cell to be questioned while the healers worked on him. He was greeted by the familiar face of Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE.
He smiled at her, and winked, "Hey there Amy, what can I do for you?"
She did not return the friendly gesture, and said, "Your cousin in there says that it was your brother that broke out Rookwood. Then you get attacked by the Grim of Azkaban… but you're the first one it has let live. I find that very interesting."
"I think I'm quite lucky," Sirius replied, then turned to the magizoologist who was measuring the size of the marks on his arm, "Do you think you could do me a favor and bring me some tea? There has to be some around here for people having a friendly chat."
The young woman looked toward The Director with the question in her eyes, and Amelia replied, "Will you answer my questions truthfully in exchange for a spot of tea?"
"For a cuppa, I'll give you a foot massage while I tell you what I know," he said as he gave her a devilish grin. She remained stoic, so he turned to the young woman, "The massage is open for you too, while I chat with Amy."
Despite his disheveled look and years in prison, the young woman blushed as she ran off to get him the tea.
Once she was gone, Amelia sighed, "Not even a swarm of dementors could change you. Though I expected to see some remorse on your face for what you've done."
Sirius leaned forward just a bit as the wand in her hand raised slightly towards him. He leaned back in his chair as the healer continued on his arm, saying, "I have done many horrible things, and I regret none of them."
Sadness could be seen momentarily on her face before it vanished and she asked, "What can you tell me about last night?"
Sirius shook his head, "I'm still waiting for my tea."
The two of them sat in silence, and the healer finished up right before the pretty, young magizoologist returned with the tea. She held up a container and asked, "Sugar?"
"I think you're sweet enough already, but I'd love a splash of cream," Sirius replied. She pulled out a small pitcher and gave him a splash before blushing again and walking away.
"You're just making this worse for yourself," Amelia told him. "You could at least fake some regret to keep me from hexing your scalp off."
"Let's just get to the story," Sirius said dismissively, then picked up and drank the first sip of tea that he had drunk in nearly eight years. He made a mental note to ask Humpty for some more, even if it was some of that bagged garbage that the Yanks were so fond of.
"So… where to begin?" Sirius drummed on the armrest of his chair. Just as it looked like Amelia was going to yell at him, he started. "Last night. I was asleep when I felt or heard something that woke me up. I can't be quite sure which it was. However, as I stared out of my cell, I saw a Death Eater walk by."
"Why didn't you call out for a guard?" she demanded.
"Why should I have?" Sirius demanded. "I also am a betrayer and a murderer, aren't I? Maybe he was an ally? Whoever he was, he had a wand, and I did not. You don't see me reaching for those delicate feet of yours with a wand in your hand, now do you?"
She growled at him, which sounded only half as fierce as when he did it as The Grim.
He continued, "So after he had walked by, a few minutes later, he walked by again, leading Rookwood down the hall. A few minutes later there was a lot of howling from The Grim, and then it ran into my cell and attacked me."
"And you lived," she said darkly.
"And so I did," he said smugly and took another sip of tea. "I had heard that The Grim goes for the throat, so I put my arm in front of my neck, and the beast bit into it. As I struggled and fought, I must have closed my eyes and it stopped its attack."
"And then?" she pushed.
Sirius took a sip of his tea and let the warm liquid move through his body. He started to say something, then stopped, took another sip, and looked strangely towards The Director of the DMLE.
"When I opened my eyes, The Grim was just staring at me, with those horrifying red eyes of his. It leaned in close and licked my face. I was so shocked, that I didn't even notice when it had vanished. Once I did, that's when I joined the others calling for help."
Amelia stared at him in shock for nearly a minute before saying, "We are nearly positive that it was indeed your brother who let out Rookwood and has been the one helping The Grim gain access to Azkaban somehow. Along with your testimony, there was a mask left with Rookwood's body that was identified as the one he wore on raids."
"Identified by whom?" Sirius asked curiously and with a smile.
"By a witch you once introduced me to in school," she replied. "Do you remember when you introduced me to her in your first year, when I was a sixth-year prefect and caught you doing… something? Do you remember Nunya?"
Sirius threw back his head and laughed a long chuckle. "I knew Amy was in there somewhere."
Amelia smiled for a moment as well before frowning, but it appeared to be at herself, "I'm surprised there are still happy memories in there with you. I hope the dementors take that away from you for what you've done." She stared at him angrily, then yelled out, "Guard!" an auror quickly entered the room. "Take him back to his cell."
Sirius hastily drained the remainder of his tea as the guard shoved him back towards the prison. When he got to his cell, he found it had been tossed. His pewter plate, candy stashes, and quite a few other things were missing. At least this would give him a good excuse for why the silver plate was gone too.
