Sirius came ashore at the Farne Islands. He had been swimming for over a full day without stopping. He had nothing left in him when he felt land underneath him. He had been fueled by magic and vengeance since he left his cell in Azkaban. His muscles felt shredded, his veins felt like lava was coursing through them, and his eyes just stared straight ahead towards his prey.

He could have left the prison at any time in the last few years, he just had no reason to do so. His best friend was dead, everyone living thought he was a murderer and a betrayer, and no one had even bothered to send him a letter asking why he had done any of it. A few times he thought about being there for his godson, but who would even allow the Boy-Who-Lived to be near him? There was no reason to leave Azkaban when he was doing so much good work, keeping the filth of society from reentering it.

Then he saw a reason. After Fudge had left, he was reading the newspaper that he had gotten from that dishy reporter. It was all the standard stuff, the Cannons were losing, it was raining in London, and someone had won the weekly lottery draw. Though this time the photo of the winner was filled with familiar faces, or more precisely - familiar heads of hair. There was only one ginger family in the country that he'd recognize immediately - The Weasleys. He had met the two eldest before they had entered Hogwarts but none of the younger ones. Molly and Arthur had always been good people. If anyone deserved a little extra, it was them. He skimmed the article and saw they planned on visiting their oldest child, William, in Egypt where he worked for Gringotts as a curse breaker. Molly always did complain about that little tyke getting through all the magic childproofing locks before he even owned a wand.

The article included an old family portrait with all the children, a half-dead owl, and a pet rat sitting on the youngest boy's shoulder. Stupid rats. Who would ever keep such a creature as a pet? For a moment, Sirius saw Peter in the rat sitting on the boy's shoulder. His mind dismissed it as he knew that particular rat to be dead. Though, even after putting away the paper, his mind couldn't stop thinking about the photo. Even the latest Play Wizard magazine couldn't make him stop thinking about it. This month's centerfold was riding bareback on a unicorn; very, very bare, yet his mind kept returning to that photo of the Weasleys.

He finally gave in and went back to the article. He looked as close as he could and the rat did look exactly like Peter in his animagus form. Though what changed the possibility into a certainty was that the Wormtail look-a-like was missing a toe. Sirius's mind flashed back to the day Peter had died and he remembered seeing a solitary finger laying in a pool of blood where the man had been standing. All of his anger boiled over at once. He was in Azkaban by choice, the choice was made when he could no longer get his vengeance on his friend who had betrayed all of them and gotten James and Lily killed. So that night, he left.


After swimming through the frigid waters of the North Sea, he finally arrived on dry land. It was a few hours before sunrise and he needed to be on the move by then. Shifting into his Grim form, he stalked and killed a few of the birds nesting on the island. He needed a full stomach before moving on. After eating his fill, he made his move to the mainland and started heading south towards Ottery St. Catchpole.

Sirius tried to spend as much time as he could in his traveling in his animagus form. He had managed to break into a muggle house to take a shower and steal some new clothes. Even if he was going to be running around as The Grim, he might eventually need to be Sirius as well, and not look like he just broke out of prison.

It ended up taking nearly ten days to reach London. He was able to cover the most distance when hitching a ride, once jumping into the back of a pickup truck and hiding under a tarp as a dog and another time just sticking his thumb out and having an old man pull over to help him out. However, he resolved not to do that again after they listened to the radio and found out he was a wanted man.

The DMLE must have been communicating with the British Police as there was a bulletin on the radio informing the public about the escape of a mass murderer and to be on the lookout for a man with long black hair and a wild look in his eyes. The old man driving joked that Sirius fit that profile. Sirius replied that it fits the profile of half the population and the government better do more for the people or we'll all be getting a wild look in our eyes. Regardless, he made sure to get out at the next gas station and continue moving along quieter routes.

It was along one of those quieter routes that he ran into trouble. He came across a young muggle couple camping in the woods. He hung out nearby and waited for them to go to sleep so he could steal some food. However, he soon discovered that he wasn't the only person around with ill intentions. As he waited for them to go to bed, another two men approached the tent. They smelled like bad people, and The Grim in his head started to whine in his head to be let out.

The two men woke up the couple and demanded their money and valuables. Not wanting to reveal himself, Sirius waited for them to leave. Unfortunately, the young man tried to be brave and the situation went downhill fast with him and his girl getting stabbed mere moments before anything could stop it. Though, with blood in the air, The Grim forced its way out and mauled the two men quicker than they had killed the young couple. Sirius could feel their souls leaving their bodies as they died from their throats being ripped out and massive blood loss.


At that moment, The Grim had felt like a separate part of Sirius, not something that was part of him as it had in the past. As he continued south, he rationalized with himself, saying that he had been training his animagus form to kill criminals, and that's what it wanted to do now. He had told himself in Azkaban that he was keeping the worst of society from being able to repeat their mistakes, and it was true. However, not all of the world's criminals were in prison. Some still walked freely in society, doing as they pleased until someone caught or killed them.

Before he arrived in London, he dispatched two more evil people. The first he discovered in a small town along the way. Maybe a hundred people lived there, but The Grim led him to the worst person there. The man there had four children locked in his basement. They were chained to the walls near beds that were less than the mattress he was given on his first day in Azkaban. That would not stand. When the man was dead, he broke down the door to the basement and pushed his body down the stairs before The Grim stalked down after. The children were terrified of the monstrous red-eyed, black dog, but their fear dissipated a little as he ripped their chains from the wall with his teeth, one by one. From there, he left them to escape on their own.

The second killing felt more personal but was still someone evil all the same. It was a woman who adopted dogs from shelters and then killed them. Enough said.

One mugger was killed in London, and he continued South-West of the city. As he entered Surrey, he was reminded that this was a commonplace where his godson Harry had been seen. Unfortunately, he had no idea where to start, and killing Peter was more important than checking up on the boy as Dumbledore was keeping him quite well hidden.

In the end, he didn't need to look at all, as halfway through the first night in the county, he came across a familiar smell. It was the scent of Jame's wife, Lily. At first, he dismissed the smell as nostalgia and his mind playing tricks, but slowly the smell got stronger and he identified the scent as something magical as well. He followed the scent until he saw someone coming, someone holding a wand.

Instinctively he growled, and the wand lit up. The Grim froze in place as he saw his best friend James standing in front of him. Immediately, he whined a sad note but then had to jump out of the way when a bus appeared out of nowhere, nearly running him over. He stayed hiding in the bushes and just before the wizard got on the bus, carrying a large trunk, he remembered that scent belonged to his godson, Harry Potter. So what was he doing out taking the Knight Bus in the middle of the night?

Once the bus was gone, Sirius could still smell the scent of Lily in the air. He diligently followed it until he saw Aurors standing outside a cookie-cutter house on a long street. Two of them were establishing a muggle repelling ward while another was in the house and the last one was summoning a large balloon out of the sky.

The Grim blended in with the shadows as he stalked closer. The one in the house he recognized by scent and then sight; a former member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He also recognized the muggles that his old friend was speaking with, Lily's sister and husband.

That didn't make any sense. That wasn't hidden at all. The first place anyone with any sense would look for Harry was with relatives. As he was pondering the madness of placing Harry here, his attention was continually pulled by the scent of Lilly, hanging in the air like a magical fog. Carefully, he dug under the rose bushes where he identified one of the sources of the magic, eventually finding a small runestone for protection. It smelled like old blood.

Sirius wasn't sure how, but blood wards were protecting the house of Lily's sister. She must have set them up before going into hiding to keep her sister safe. Petunia was a horrible sister to Lily, but a far better family than Sirius ever had. Even if they weren't originally meant for him; blood wards, established by a genius like Lily, would certainly keep her son safe.

His attention was drawn back to the Auror with the balloon. It turned out not to be a balloon at all but an older woman. Even after returning to normal, she was still quite round, probably a relation of Vernon Dursley. She got a quick memory charm and walked back into the house as Kingsley headed out.

"We've got to wrap this up," he told the others. "There was a Black sighting in South London, so he's probably heading this way."

"How'd he figure out where Potter is?" the one who memory-charmed the balloon woman asked.

"No clue," Kingsley replied. "Though that isn't the biggest problem, it looks like The Grim also left Azkaban and is tracking him. All sorts of criminals have been dying with a few reports of a black wolf responsible."

Sirius chuckled. The Aurors thought he was hunting himself. They also thought he was after Harry. That should keep them away from his hunt of Pettigrew.

"Why not just let The Grim kill him?" an Auror asked.

"We need to know how he broke out," Kingsley replied. "We don't want anyone repeating this mistake. Then The Grim can have him."

An owl flew overhead and dropped a letter into Kingsley's hands. He opened it and scanned it.

"Potter is fine. He's at the Leaky, Fudge went to greet him personally. Let's get moving and investigate the Black sighting."

As one, the four Aurors twisted and apparated away from the house. Sirius continued his journey south to pay a visit to the Weasleys.