I own nothing but the plot, and not even all of that

Roger woke to his alarm, sat up, stretched, and then stumbled into the bathroom to take his shower. He noticed nothing out of the ordinary. After his shower, he got dressed and woke Jenny to say goodbye. She woke up, gave him a kiss, and then looked around her.

"Where's Boomer?" she asked.

"I don't know," Roger said, looking around the room. "He must have already gone downstairs."

Jenny went down with Roger. Boomer usually snuggled up to her until she got up. Once downstairs, they looked around the house, but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Where could he be?" asked Jenny, very concerned about her dog.

"I don't know, Jen," Roger answered. He looked at his watch. "I've got to leave," he said. "If you haven't found him by the time I get home, I'll make up some flyers or something."

"But how would he have gotten out of the house?" Jenny asked

"I don't know," he repeated, reaching for the door. He tried to unlock it before realizing it was already unlocked. He knew he had been the last person to use this door. He was seriously considering pretending to unlock it and pretend that he hadn't forgotten to lock it last night. He really didn't want to open himself up for the fight he knew he'd get if she thought he'd lost her dog. He hesitated a moment too long, though, and she noticed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I must have left the door unlatched."

"We need to find him!" She said, angry at Roger for his carelessness.

"I have to get to work," he said. "I'm sorry, but I'll help you look for him when I get home."

Roger managed to escape before they could have the first big fight of their marriage. He had no illusions that the fight would be waiting for him when he got home. He prayed she found Boomer before that happened. It would at least dampen the fight a bit. As he got into his car, he cringed at the sound of his wife calling for her dog.

"Boomer!" she yelled. "Boomer, where are you?!"

Petunia had never been more frightened in her life. Her pleasant afternoon of flowers and friends had now descended into a nightmare where a madman was in her house and had called her by name.

"Just take what you want and go!" she screamed at the intruder. She was backed against the front door with her hands covering her face.

"Petunia," the burglar chided her, "I'm insulted. You don't remember me? We're practically family, after all."

Petunia lowered her hands slightly and peered at the man through her fingers. He was dressed in rags. One arm sleeve was torn up to his shoulder, and his entire outfit looked filthy. He even had a dog collar on. It had the proper tags on it and everything.

"I shouldn't be surprised," the man said, "I don't exactly look my best. After all, the last time you saw me I was in a tuxedo."

"You're that boy," Petunia hissed, memories flooding into her panicked mind. "You were at Lily's wedding."

"I was the best man," he corrected. "Sirius Black, if you don't remember the name."

"What on Earth do you want with me?" Petunia asked. She was calming down slightly, no longer sure she was about to be murdered. She was still in a defensive posture, though, as she knew full well that the freak in front of her was a wizard.

"Trust me, Petunia," Sirius said, "I want to be here even less than you want me here. I need two things from you, and once I have them I will be gone. Give them to me without a fuss, and I'll never come back."

"What do you want?" Petunia asked.

"First thing I want is any information you can give me on my Godson," Sirius said.

"And how I am to know who your Godson is?" Petunia asked in a poisonous tone.

"Lily's boy!" Sirius thundered, cowing Petunia. She cringed away from his anger and slid down the door until she was sitting in a heap on the floor with her hands covering her face again. "Harry Potter," he said in a calmer tone. "I know he's in school now, but where does he live when he's not at Hogwarts? Who raised him? Is he happy?"

"I don't know!" Petunia yelled. "They tried to leave him here, but we never saw him."

"What?" Sirius yelled. "What do you mean?"

Petunia was sobbing now, and couldn't answer him.

"Look," Sirius said, calming down. He sank to his knees in front of her so he wasn't towering over her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to know what you mean by that. Please tell me."

Hearing that he was not here to hurt her calmed her a little. Not that she trusted him in the slightest, but if he was going to hurt her he likely would have done it by now.

"A few days after Lily died," Petunia explained in a shaky voice, "the Headmaster of that school she went to and some older witch showed up at our door."

"Dumbledore was here?" Sirius asked.

"That's the first I'd even heard that Lily had died," she cried. "They were here looking for my nephew, as well. I've never even seen him."

"If you've never seen him, then why did they come looking here?" Sirius asked.

"The old man said he'd left him here," Petunia explained. "On the doorstep, the night Lily died."

Sirius was so shocked that he stumbled back and fell on his backside.

"On the doorstep?" he asked, weakly. "They just dumped him here?"

"I don't know what your kind thinks is the proper way to handle babies," Petunia spat at him, "but normal people don't do that."

"What happened to Harry?" Sirius insisted, getting to his feet.

"I don't know," Petunia answered, putting some strength back in her words. "As I've said, I've never even seen him. We yelled at them and they left. Besides, you said you know where he is now."

"I thought I did," Sirius said. "Now I'm not so sure. I need to get moving." He looked sternly at Petunia. "When James and Lily died, did they send anything to you? I need to see their effects."

"There's a trunk in the attic," Petunia said. "It showed up on the doorstep a week or so after Lily died. The note said it had their belongings in it."

"Was there a wand in it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Petunia said. "I've never even opened it. We just put it in the attic and forgot about it."

"I'm going to need to see that trunk," Sirius said.

"You can have it," spat Petunia. "Probably full of old frog spawn, or whatever you freaks use. I don't even know why I kept it. I should have burned it."

"Peace, Petunia," Sirius said. "As long as one of their wands is in that trunk, you'll never see it or me again."

Sirius knew he had to hurry. Petunia had lowered the attic ladder and told him the trunk was up there. As soon as his feet were on the ladder, she'd bolted. For a moment, he was afraid she would go to the telephone, but she ran out of the house, instead. It would delay her calling the police, but not by much.

There was a lot of things stored up here, Sirius saw, but he still saw the trunk almost immediately. It was like an island in a sea of debris. It was actually rather creepy. Dolls were piled in a corner, their heads backwards or missing. A large dollhouse that looked like someone had sat on it was next to them. Any number of muggle electronic gadgets were in boxes scattered everywhere. Intermixed with the broken toys were bags of clothes, one with a small dress hanging halfway out of it. None of the Dursley's belongings, though, were within five feet of the trunk. Sirius didn't care. It just made it easier for him to locate it.

He opened the truck just as he heard the sirens of the police approaching. He had minutes, at best. It was not a normal trunk. There was a ladder descending into a large room. Everything that had been in the house at Godric's Hollow was shoved in here. Books were still on bookcases, and there were boxes piled everywhere. Opening one of them at random, he found it full of clothes, including a trenchrobe. Opening the box under it yielded only books.

"This is going to take forever," Sirius growled to himself. He could hear the sirens even from within the trunk, now. Picking another box at random, he saw an assortment of oddments. Amidst the vials of ingredients, quills, and assorted jewelry, he found a wand. It was James's. He grabbed it and then closed his eyes as his hand felt a wand in its grip for the first time in over a decade. The sirens were getting close. It was time to leave.

Sirius threw on the trenchrobe and climbed out of the trunk. With a flick of James's wand, the trunk closed itself and then shrunk down to the size of a matchbox. He picked the miniature trunk up and pocketed it. Oh, to have pockets again!

There was a small window in the attic. It was covered with spider webs, but Sirius could still peer out of it. He could see several police cars rushing up Privet Drive. He heard the heavy thudding of feet running into the house, along with the shouts of the policemen. He smiled, backed away from the window, and turned on his heel. With a crack, Sirius Black was gone.

Amelia Bones stood in the living room of the Dursley's home. Petunia sat on the couch, crying and clutching Vernon's hand. Once the muggle police had realized that the intruder had been Sirius Black, they had called the hotline number the DMLE had set up. Amelia had been notified at once and responded immediately. Petunia had also called her husband, who rushed home from work. Amelia was just finishing taking Petunia's statement.

"And you have no idea where he was heading next?" Amelia asked.

"He was looking for my nephew," Petunia said, still crying from her fright. "He said he should be at school. I imagine he's heading there."

"Do you know what was in the trunk he took?" Amelia asked.

"Lily's things," Petunia answered. "Whatever they sent me when she died. I don't know what was in it, I never opened it."

"There should have been an inventory attached to it," Amelia said.

"The only thing in the envelope was a single piece of paper that said it was Lilly's and... her husbands belongings," Petunia insisted.

"Ok, Mrs. Dursley," Amelia said. "Is there anything you would like us to do for you? We can leave an Auror, er... policeman on protection detail if you think there's any chance he'll come back."

"No, thank you," Vernon said, gruffly. "I don't mean to offend, but we've had quite enough of your kind in our house as it is, and we would appreciate being left alone."

"As you wish," Amelia said. She handed Petunia several cards with an address and phone number on it. "If Sirius Black contacts you again, please give him this card and ask him to contact me. Let him know he's guaranteed a fair trial if he turns himself in. Whether he takes the card or not, if you see him again I'd like you to please call me. We'll stay out of your lives as much as we can, I promise."

Amelia left the house and walked up to a man wearing a fedora that was pulled down low enough you couldn't see his eyes. He was examining the bushes across the street from #4.

"Was it Black?" the man asked in a gravelly voice.

"Yes, Alastor," Amelia answered. "He didn't hurt her, and even promised that he wouldn't."

"What was he after?" Moody asked.

"Information on Harry Potter," Amelia answered, "and what the ministry sent her family after Lilly Potter died."

"He's looking for a wand," Moody realized.

"He may have got one," Amelia answered. "If what Mrs. Dursley said is true, they never even opened the trunk."

"Fantastic," Moody groaned. "Sirius Black now has everything that was in James and Lily Potter's house when they died. He'll have at least two wands, then."

"I'll have to check the inventory," Amelia said. "They should have received one with the trunk, but she said they didn't. The ministry should have a copy." She paused for a moment. "The Dursley's refused protection," Amelia said.

"Naturally you'll be leaving someone here anyway," Moody said.

"Of course," Amelia confirmed. "Did you learn anything from the neighbors?"

"Something interesting," Moody answered. "Is there any information on Black being an animagus?"

"Not that I know of," Amelia answered. "Why? Do you think he might be one?"

"The neighbor," Moody reported, "a Mrs. Sophia Jones, saw a large, black dog watching the Dursley house all day today. She'd never seen it before. She said it wasn't acting like a normal dog."

"Mrs. Dursley reported seeing it right before Black apparated into the house," Amelia added. "If he is, it would explain a number of things."

"Black's resistance to the dementors, for one," Moody agreed.

"And how he escaped," Amelia said. "I've looked over his hitwizard records, there's no mention of it. That doesn't necessarily rule it out, though."

"Black wasn't just a hitwizard, though," Moody said. "He had applied to be an auror."

"I didn't know that," Amelia said, frowning. "His application should have been in his file."

"I know he applied," Moody said, "though I never got to read it. I'd worked with him before and thought I knew him. I had already approved his transfer. He was going to be accepted before that night scuppered everything." He scowled at the bush some more. "You know this means the search for him will be that much harder," he growled. "While a big, black dog may stand out in certain places, They're still not that uncommon."

"I'll have to add the possibility to the search information," Amelia said. "I wonder why his application wasn't in his paperwork. I'll need to go back to the archives and have them search some more."

"You might also ask someone who knew him better than anyone else," Moody suggested.

"Who?" Amelia asked.

"Remus Lupin," Moody answered.

Ginny, as it turned out, did not appreciate her siblings attempt to cheer her up or make her feel better. She became more withdrawn than she was before. Valentines Day was on a Saturday this year. The third years and above had all gone to the village for the day. Ginny's roommates, now used Ginny spending as much time alone as she could, were all down in the common room.

Ginny, alone in her room, sat on her bed. She was rocking back and forth, crying. Her diary was on her bed, open before her. She stared at the words as they wrote themselves on the blank paper.

"Come to me, Ginny," the diary wrote.

"No," she murmured, "I won't."

"You WILL come to me!" The diary commanded.

"Ginny clamped her hands over her ears and rocked back and forth even harder.

"Leave me alone," she sobbed. "Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Because you're mine, Ginny," the diary wrote. "The second you wrote your name in me you became mine."

"I'll tell," Ginny moaned. "I'll tell and they'll take you away."

Splotches of ink made crazy pattern on the page. This always happened when the diary grew angry.

"If you tell, they'll take you away," the diary wrote. "You brought a dark artifact into a school, Ginny. It's because of you that interloping outsider was attacked. They'll blame you. Harry will blame you!"

"Then I'll throw you away," Ginny cried. "I'll throw you away and never look back."

"You've already tried that," the diary taunted. "I always come back. And if someone else finds me first, I'll own them. And then I'll send her after you."

Ginny cried even harder.

"This is your last chance, Ginny," the diary wrote. "Come to me or I send her to bring you to me!"

"No no no no no no…" Ginny cried, repeating the word over and over.

"So be it,"the diary wrote. The words turned red, then vanished.

Ginny curled up in the fetal position on her bed and sobbed.

Amelia was back in the records archive. She was having a lively argument with the very stubborn archivist Janet. First, the record containing the inventory of the Potter belongings was just a record that it was delivered. No inventory was actually included. It appeared that low level ministry employee named James Shore just packed everything with a swish of his wand, stuffed it in a trunk, and mailed it. Janet was not appreciative of Amelia being upset at this. Their argument then went into Sirius Black's Auror application.

"As I told you before, Director," Janet said haughtily, "when you asked for everything, I gave you everything."

"Fine," Amelia snapped. "Give me every Auror application that was filed between January 1980 and December 1981."

"As you wish," Janet snipped back. She made Amelia wait a half hour, even though with magic the records could have been retrieved in a moment. "Will that be all?" she asked as she handed over a folder containing about 60 pieces of parchment. Amelia didn't bother to answer, just started flipping through the sheets right there at the counter.

"Here!" she yelled out, slamming one piece of parchment on the counter. Janet's eyes went wide as she saw the name Sirius Black in block letters on the top of the form.

"That should not be possible," she said in a high pitched voice.

"Everything is possible," Amelia answered back. She left the other papers on the counter for Janet to clear up and walked out of the archives while skimming the paper. She came to a sudden halt as she saw the section titled Special Abilities. Printed in handwritten quill was Animagus - Black dog.

"Bugger me," Amelia said softly to herself.

Colin Creevey was having a fantastic first year at Hogwarts. When he had received his acceptance letter, his brother Dennis had been so jealous. Even though Professor McGonagall had confirmed his younger brother would definitely be receiving his own letter in a few years, Dennis still wanted to go right then. Colin could hardly believe that the weird things that kept happening around them was magic, and he dove into it with all the enthusiasm he had. He had always been an excitable boy, so he had a lot of enthusiasm to throw at this new adventure. Dennis was so disappointed that he wasn't going to get to go that Colin promised to send him lots of pictures. His parents had found a camera in Diagon Alley that would work in Hogwarts, and Colin had begged so hard for it that they bought it for him as a birthday present.

One of the most exciting things he read about was the story of the Boy Who Lived and Disappeared. None of the books mentioned it, but apparently Harry Potter turned up at Hogwarts last year despite having disappeared. He wrote Dennis that night to tell him. During his sorting, the Hat had warned him that being Harry's friend could expose him to a lot of danger. Colin hadn't balked at that in the slightest, and the Hat confirmed that such bravery could only land him in Gryffindor.

He had to learn not to annoy people with his constant picture taking, but he thought he was getting better at getting really good photographs of the castle. He thought that today would be a fantastic day to get a bunch of pictures, since all the upper years had left to go to Hogsmeade. Most of the people who tended to get the most annoyed at him were in the upper years, so a Hogsmeade weekend was as enjoyable for him as for them.

He had just finished taking some great shots of the castle as seen from Hagrid's Hut. He was on his way back to the dorm to develop them. Dennis will really like these, he thought to himself.

Just as he was passing the second floor, he suddenly felt apprehensive. He stopped and looked around, but he couldn't see anything wrong. He knew no one was allowed to go down that corridor, but nothing had happened in months. Wouldn't it be great, he thought, if I could get a picture of whatever this creature was? He was sure to get a detention if he went down there, but what was the worst that could happen?

No one was in sight. The sense of fear was getting stronger now. He vowed to continue on. After all, I'm a Gryffindor, aren't I? Bravery is going on even if you're afraid. He walked as slowly as he could off of the staircase, looked both ways to be sure no one could see him, and stepped into the second floor corridor. Nothing happened. He took another step. Nothing happened. Gaining confidence, he walked about halfway down the corridor as quietly as he could. Just as he was passing an unused classroom, he was nearly frightened out of his skin when a man wearing white armor had reached through the doorway and grabbed him by the shoulder! Colin gasped and nearly dropped his camera.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked. His voice was filtered by the helmet he wore, but Colin thought he sounded both frightened and angry.

"I wanted to get a picture of it," Colin said, his voice as high as it had ever been.

"You need to leave, now!" the trooper ordered. "Something is coming."

The sense of terror was almost overpowering. Colin saw another trooper pointing a rifle down the corridor.

"Go on!" the trooper who had surprised Colin yelled, giving him a shove in the direction of the staircase. "Contact in the monitored area," the other trooper said. Colin could hear voices over a radio. Help was on the way. He pointed his camera down the corridor and peered through the viewfinder. He saw something dark dart across the hallway. He clicked the trigger on his camera just as he heard one of the troopers shout.

"Movement! We've got move..." the voice cut off and everything went dark.

A/N - The original draft of this chapter had Sirius accidentally waking up in human form snuggled up between Jenny and Roger. I really liked that version since it mortified everyone and was really fun to write. I had to change it, though. I felt that Sirius was already getting too complacent and staying too long with the family I gave him. I felt it was more true to his character for him to leave on his own than to be forced out under these circumstances. If he was just escaping Azkaban and not trying to get to Harry, I would have totally kept it.