XLIX

Sirius cowered in the bushes. He watched the Dementors congregate around the castle. The gate opened. From afar, Sirius thought it was Dumbledore stepping outside, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. The Dementors weren't allowed inside the castle. Instead, they spread out to search the grounds.

Sirius slunk back even further. The Forbidden Forest, especially on a full moon, was dangerous, but everything was better than the Dementors. If only…

His eyes found the Whomping Willow. It had grown a lot since Sirius had last seen it. Now it was a huge, proud tree on the grounds, ruffling its leaves in mock peace. If he didn't know differently, he'd never recognize the willow as the violently brutal danger it really was. If he could get there, he could flee to the Shrieking Shack and hide there for the remainder of the night. Of course, only if it wasn't in use already. It was the full moon, after all, and if there was currently a werewolf student at the school, the shack might be occupied.

Again, he was lacking the courage to step out into the open. He knew he should. The Dementors might not notice him, even running across the grounds unprotected, but it would only be a matter of time, until the school staff would help with the search outside. It wouldn't be so easy then.

And yet…he was simply too afraid.

And then it was too late.

There was a figure coming from the castle. Sirius didn't know, how the person got there, because the gate hadn't opened again, after Dumbledore left. They walked down the hill, right toward Sirius. As if the person knew exactly where to look for him.

Sirius snuck away from the bush, deeper into the forest.

The figure didn't even hesitate, they followed all the way to where Sirius had been, then they stood still.

It was just a boy, Sirius saw. A teenager, maybe in year four or five, maybe younger. Brown hair, he thought, though in the darkness it was hard to tell. Might be blond or black hair. He looked totally unremarkable, and the moonlight reflected off a yellow Hufflepuff badge.

Nervously, Sirius hurried even further away. On silent paws, he tried to get around the lake. He walked backward, keeping his eyes on the boy.

The Hufflepuff was looking at where Sirius has hidden, then he took a step forward, toward Sirius, before freezing. He looked up into the sky. Sirius followed his gaze.

The Dementors.

They hadn't even acknowledged Sirius, but they immediately picked up on the boy's presence. At once, three of them took sharp turns, flying toward them.

The boy sighed audibly. To Sirius' ears, he sounded more annoyed than afraid. He glared in Sirius' direction. Could he see him?

The black dog behind the bushes should be invisible to the human eye, and yet it was as if the boy stared right at him. He looked conflicted, then closed his eyes and took a calming breath as if that could dispel the Dementors.

It didn't.

The boy's brows furrowed in disappointment, as his eyes turned up again at the Dementors.

He vanished.

Where the boy had just been, there was only a flurry of leaves, like a gust breezing through. As if the boy had never been there. The Dementor's above his head immediately turned, then turned again. They seemed confused, and distressed, then they fluttered away.

Sirius took a deep breath.

He waited a few minutes, for the boy to return and to prove that he had been here at all. But there was no sign of him. Even as Sirius padded up to where he had stood, he couldn't even find the boy's trace in the cold and muddy soil. Just the leaves lying where he had been.

He was going crazy, he thought. Or maybe he'd lost his mind a long time ago.

Seeing his chance, with the Dementors so disturbed, hunting somebody, Sirius finally found the courage to jump out into the open. He bounded across the meadow, ducked under the thick branches of the well-known tree, and put his paw against the trunk.

He still wasn't entirely convinced, that the boy had been real at all when he vanished into the passageway to the Shrieking Shack.

Having finally escaped the Dementors' grasp, when the cloud of despair lifted off his soul again, Sirius found himself at peace in the Shrieking Shack. Little had changed in so many years. There was a blanket of dust as thick as his fur and vermin crawling all the way through the secret passage and in every corner of the building. There were worms in the wood, and maggots in the carpet. And there was a layer of wet moss growing around blocked windows. But that aside, below the dust and the vermin and the moss, there was still the same furniture.

There was a table with chairs that he still remembered sitting at with his friends to plan their nightly outings on the floor level, and up the staircase, in the only bedroom, he even recognized the color and flowery patterns of the sheets. The style had already been out of fashion when he had been in school, and now it vaguely reminded him of a sort of style that James' parents might have liked. There was a very unique nuance to it, something that reminded him of a better past, long away days, and adventurous full moons. If he looked closely and wiped the dust away, he could even still find the scratches where Moony had attacked the furniture and the walls so many years ago.

For the first time, really, he felt like time slept. Like the world stopped spinning while he was in Azkaban as if nothing changed and he could just pick up, where he left off. It was absurd, really, because the thick layer of dust bore evidence to the many years this house stood empty. Yet still, it would be so easy to sweep the dust away and start anew.

In the end, it was just a fantasy. It might be easy to clean this place, but he didn't have the energy. Instead, he cleaned a spot on the couch, and he rolled his dog body into a tight fur ball to sleep. It was there, that the disappointment of the night, finally caught up to him.

Kakashi ran from the Dementors for half an hour, trying to figure out different ways to trick them. He didn't have a lot of success. They seemed to have a kind of sensory skill that humans didn't have. Even with his shinobi skills, he couldn't find a way to hide from them. He also still remembered the ultimate futility of his physical attacks on the train, and even now as he almost kicked one of their heads off, it didn't seem to cause any lasting damage.

For lack of a different word, they were ghosts. They weren't really alive and thus it made only sense, that he couldn't kill them. So far, running seemed to be his best option. He was a lot faster than them, and they might be unkillable, but from what he saw this night, they weren't particularly smart. Every time he vanished out of their grasp, they lingered around a bit, stared at each other stupidly, from behind their hoods, and, if they could talk, Kakashi imagined, they'd chatter like befuddled birds.

Eventually, he had enough. He returned to the castle, thoroughly frustrated, but at least he knew that Sirius was alright. From afar, he could watch the black dog run to the willow on school grounds and then disappear between its roots. Apparently, there was a secret passage there. So, he knew, where Sirius would sleep, and where to find him, if he wanted to expose himself to him.

Maybe that was for the best. Last time they met, Kakashi hurt Sirius' niece. He doubted the fugitive convict wanted to see him at all, so helping him from the shadows would be the most agreeable option.

While Kakashi ran around the school grounds, the teachers did a halfway, decent job to close the castle down. All the windows on the first two levels were tightly closed, but Kakashi still found an open window on the fourth floor.

It was a small room he found himself in. No more than a chamber - too small for the only piece of furniture standing in it: an old and ornate wardrobe. There were a bunch of old school robes inside, and he immediately closed the door again, before the stench of old dust would make him sneeze.

Sneaking into the hallway, he found it completely dark. Despite the whole staff of the castle searching for the supposed murderer, this place was utterly deserted. Kakashi made it halfway to the stairs when he saw him.

First, he just saw the flash of gold out of the corner of his eyes. He glanced to the side. There he stood, leaning against the door frame to a dark classroom. Without his trademark smile, he was a frightening sight. There were two sides to every good shinobi. The one they showed their friends and the one they showed their enemies. Kakashi wasn't certain which side Minato-sensei was showing him, right now.

"Where's my son?"

Kakashi stared at him. Minato-sensei looked like the day he died. He wore the same shinobi outfit under the white and red Hokage cloak. He didn't wear the hat; he rarely did that, even when he was still alive.

Right…

Maybe, the Dementors made him forget. For so long they gave Kakashi quick visions of his dead teammates, that he was still a bit confused, but Minato was dead. His death was still fresh in Kakashi's heart, still something he couldn't quite reconcile with, so there was a sudden hope that it might all have been a dream after all. That the whole Kyuubi attack was something he made up or dreamt or maybe just a genjutsu.

"Where's my son, Kakashi?"

But he knew, his hope was in vain. He's too good a shinobi to fall for such trickery. It was just the Boggart, the same Boggart that showed him his father, last time.

"I don't know," he answered eventually.

"You left him." Kakashi didn't fear this fake Minato. The Boggart would be hard-pressed to find anything he really feared. All his loved ones were dead already, and he didn't fear death himself. Minato-sensei would be a terrifying enemy on the battlefield, but not like this. Not as a fake, a Boggart who couldn't really harm him. "What are you doing here, Kakashi? Running away? What if Konoha is attacked? Your comrades, the few of them you didn't fail yet. The village. My son… Did you abandon them all? Peace never lasts. You know that, and yet you're playing the hero in a different world."

Kakashi swallowed. "You wouldn't want me close to your son." The people he cared about died; every one of them. It would be better this way.

"Did you forget your duty?"

Kakashi didn't get it. This wasn't Minato-sensei, just… "You're supposed to show me, what I'm afraid of." It didn't make sense.

The false sensei smiled, almost wistfully. "You'll be back."

What? Did the Boggart just dismiss him? He read the whole chapter on Bogarts and this was not how it was supposed to go. And yet, the Boggart Minato turned around, vanished into the dark of the room. Kakashi snuck a bit closer, so he could see inside the darkness.

It was hard to make out anything. This whole place was pitch black; even the corridor Kakashi stood in was only dimly lit by the moonlight flooding in from a window at the far end. In the classroom, the shutters were all drawn, and he had to squint to see anything. He thought, he could see a silhouette: Minato leaning against a table, but he couldn't be sure.

Curious, he formed the tiger sign and blew a small tongue of fire into his hand.

"Kakashi-nii!"

The boy came running at him, waddling on chubby legs, those telltale whiskers, and his mother's broad smile on this face.

Kakashi immediately took a step back. The fire died in his hand. Darkness fell around him, again, like a thick blanket, and he couldn't see anything at all. But he knew, what he saw.

Naruto.

He blew a steady stream of fire from his mouth, to light up the room, but it was empty now. No trace of Naruto, nor Minato-sensei, or anybody else.

"It's just a Boggart," he whispered to himself, as he found himself oddly rattled by the sudden sight of Naruto. The last time he saw the boy, he couldn't walk yet. He was just a day old, and Kakashi only caught a quick glimpse of him. There was no way he'd learn to walk in such a short time, though with Minato's and Kushina's talents mixing together it wouldn't be a surprise if he learned such things much quicker than any other child.

He was eventually pulled out of his thoughts when he heard hurried steps on the stairs.

"—saw light in here," a man's voice said. "Coming through the shutters."

"There's no way that Black is still in the castle." That was McGonagall. "We already looked here."

Kakashi ran before he could see the two wizards come into the corridor.

It was the middle of the night, and Harry still couldn't sleep. It wasn't because it was uncomfortable in their sleeping bags on the floor of the Great Hall—in contrast, they were surprisingly soft and warm—but his thoughts were turning and turning and spiraling, trying to make sense of it all.

Maybe Ron was right, when he said, that Black just didn't know that it was Halloween. Was it then just a matter of coincidence and luck, that nothing had happened, and nobody got injured? He didn't make it into the common room, but what if the murderer found a student on the corridor to hurt or take hostage. He wondered about that: if Black would go so far as to hurt another kid just to get to Harry.

Of course, he would, he told himself. That's exactly what a Voldemort loyalist would do.

He should be used to the danger; he should be used to being hunted… But he was tired of it.

Unable to sleep, he tried to find something to distract himself with. Turning around, he found Ron staring at him, wide awake. Clearly, he wasn't the only one, too excited to sleep.

He was about to ask Ron what he was thinking about when the doors to the Great Hall opened. It was Dumbledore, checking that everything was alright. Trying to act asleep, Harry watched him, as Dumbledore made his way to Percy Weasley to ask for a status report.

The prefect sat close to the door, keeping an eye on the students. Earlier that night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had dragged their sleeping bags into that same corner of the room. When Dumbledore started to talk, they were just within earshot. Harry could hear every word.

They hadn't found Black. Truthfully, it didn't even sound as if they were still looking for him. So, did he just get away with it? It didn't help to dissuade Harry's worries, even less so, because it meant, Black would get another chance.

With a quiet creaking sound, the door opened again, just enough, to allow a figure to slip through. Harry had his eyes on Snape the second he entered the Great Hall. His billowing robes were breezing over the stone floor, as he went past some of the sleeping students to where Dumbledore and Percy were still talking.

Percy lifted his head a bit. He looked prideful, that he was included in the conversation at all, that Dumbledore went to him to talk to, even when Snape positioned himself in a way that made it obvious, that he didn't intend for the prefect to be part of the conversation.

"Headmaster?" Snape's voice was husky, and difficult to hear for Harry. "The whole third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons the grounds; nothing there either. He swears he saw something in a window, up on the fourth floor. But there was only a Boggart."

"A Boggart?" Dumbledore sounded curious, then he shook his head. "What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched…" Snape's voice sounded venomous in disappointment as if he took Black's escape like a personal affront.

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?"

Harry strained his ears so he wouldn't miss a word.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

Harry's eyes squinted. He lifted his head a bit, to see better. Snape looked angry.

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before—ah—the start of term?" Snape was hissing the word so quietly as if he didn't want anybody to hear. It was just loud enough for Harry.

"I do, Severus." To Harry's surprise, there was an unspoken warning in Dumbledore's voice. Were they in disagreement about something? Harry disliked Snape most of all, and yet even he was interested to hear Snape's ideas about how Black might have entered the castle.

"It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed—"

"I do not believe any of my staff would have helped Black enter the castle," interrupted Dumbledore in a harsh tone.

Harry had to give it to Snape. If Dumbledore spoke to him that way, Harry wouldn't have dared to continue the conversation. Snape simply dropped his first accusation and voiced another: "What about the boy?"

Charlie—Kakashi? Harry knew immediately who they were talking about. It had to be him. He couldn't think of anybody else who was suspicious like that. He had no idea how Kakashi was connected to Black but thinking about it…It was a terrible coincidence, that Kakashi appeared in his life, just a few days after Black escaped from Azkaban. Maybe they really were working together.

Dumbledore didn't answer immediately. Harry saw him turn around. Those pale blue eyes were roaming the sleeping students until they finally settled on something far on the other side of the hall.

"You know we can't be sure, it's really him," Snape whispered, conspiratorially.

Dumbledore's response was so low, Harry could only hear a quiet hum. Maybe he didn't even say anything at all.

"Professors?" Harry had forgotten all about Percy.

Dumbledore and Snape's heads snapped toward Percy as if they too forgot his presence.

"I must go to the Dementors," Dumbledore said in a more conversational tone. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy sounded a bit miffed at being left in the dark, but he took the change of topic in stride.

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore's voice was cold. "But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster. Severus." There was something in the way he said Snape's name. They both left the Great Hall together, and Harry wished that there was an easy way for him to follow, and listen to what they had to say, and if they were as distrustful of Kakashi as he was.

Instead, Harry was forced to remain where he was, stuck in his sleeping bag next to Ron on the floor of the Great Hall. He was itching to talk about what they just heard.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered after Percy settled down and started dozing a bit. "I bet they were talking about Kakashi."

"Is he here?" Hermione's voice was too loud for Harry's liking.

Neville, Dean, and Seamus weren't far away from them. To make sure, they were safe from any unwanted eavesdropping, Harry listened for the light snoring noises of the students all around him. It was difficult to distinguish them.

"Shh," Ron hissed. "Yeah, I saw him enter with the Hufflepuffs." His head jerked to the other side of the Great Hall.

"Why would he be with Black, though?" Hermione shook her head. "Harry, it makes no sense. Black was in prison for 12 years. Kakashi would've been…what, three years old?"

"Snape seems to think they are working together," Harry insisted, though Snape hadn't really said that. Not directly, at least.

"Since when are we trusting Snape?" Ron sounded annoyed.

"But it's a good thing," Hermione said almost simultaneously. "Think about it. It means they don't trust him after all." She was right. Harry had felt alone in his suspicions for weeks. It had seemed as if the teachers knew who Kakashi really was, and just trusted him blindly. But they didn't. Clearly, they were as distrustful of Kakashi as he was. It made him feel much better about his suspicions. He wasn't paranoid and going crazy. He'd been right. And he hadn't been alone at all. "So, if they are keeping an eye on him, they'll make sure, he can't do anything." She nodded with some fervor. "We don't have to do it. It's not our job."

It took an enormous weight off Harry's shoulders because she was right. He'd feared that Kakashi was, again, one of these dangers the teachers were just overlooking. But they weren't, so it wasn't his responsibility. It was theirs. Just like capturing Black as their job. He didn't have to do it.

Ron yawned. "Can we go back to sleep, please?"

Harry was about to agree. He already rolled himself into his sleeping bag, hoping that maybe, he could finally allow his spiraling thoughts to settle, when Hermione had different ideas.

"What about the other thing Snape said?"

The other thing? What other thing?

"It sounded like he suspected somebody from the staff…" But she didn't sound certain at all. It wasn't like Hermione to suspect the teachers and adults working in Hogwarts. And unlike with Kakashi, there was nobody else, Harry found suspicious, unless Snape was talking about himself, and Harry had been terribly wrong about him before. He didn't want to make the same mistake again.

"I'm tired," Ron mumbled.