1

The Great Hunt

Doe spent the rest of my time calling every ad in the prophet for an apartment. It was easier than dealing with what was going on there. At this point she was so desperate she would rather be anywhere other than here. But finding a place proved harder than she thought. Some were too small, and some were too expensive. She and Lily were looking for something with two bedrooms that was as close to the ministry as they could get. They were trying to be responsible, unlike Sirius who was planning on spending a large chunk of his inheritance on the most lavish apartment he could find.

The other dilemma was not every landlord wanted to do business with an eighteen year old witch fresh out of Hogwarts.

Eventually, She found one apartment a few blocks away from the ministry in the heart of London, with a wizard landlord who was willing to show her the place. The only time he had free was tomorrow at noon. She told him she would be there.

She didn't want to go alone, but Lily was still in France with her family.

She decided to call Remus and see if he could go with her. She walked downstairs to the kitchen where the phone was. She picked it up and dialed the number Remus had given her. In an effort to try more muggle inventions, both of his parents had decided it was a good idea to install a phone in their house.

The phone rang twice before someone answered.

" Uh, um Lupin Residence" Remus said.

Doe grinned, " Hi, I am looking for the very attractive Lupin son" she said into the receiver.

She heard him laugh loudly, " I've missed you so much Doe" he said earnestly.

" I've missed you too" she told him. And she had. It had only been two weeks since she had seen him, but she was already desperate to see him again. It felt strange being apart.

" That's actually why I was calling" she told him, " I'm going to see an apartment tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

Remus sighed into the phone, " I would love to, believe me, but tonight is a full moon and I'll be kind of out of it tomorrow"

Doe gasped, " No, of course. How could I have not realized that. I am so sorry-"

Remus stopped her, " Doe, don't apologize. You shouldn't have to worry if your boyfriend is turning into a wolf before you invite him to do something"

She laughed slightly, " Well I'm sorry you're busy. I want to see you"

" I do too," Remus said, " and don't go see that apartment alone. Bring someone with you"

" I'll ask Sirius to go" she told him.

" Yes, he'll make sure you don't get taken advantage of" Remus said.

" Or convince me to buy a bachelor pad" Doe said.

Remus laughed, " Either way, you won't be alone"

She sighed, she missed him so much.

" Listen I've got to go, my mom wants me to help her with something, but lets make plans to see eachother soon, okay?" Remus said.

" Okay," she agreed.

" I love you, I'll see you soon" he said quickly.

" I love you too" she told him and heard the phone call end.

She turned back to the receiver and dialed the number to the Potter's house.

It rang three times before Mrs. Potter's chipper voice filled the silence, " Potter residence"

" Hi, Mrs. Potter, it's Doe" she told her.

" Oh hello sweetheart, how are you?" She asked happily.

" I'm great," she told her, " I was actually wondering if Sirius was there?"

She laughed, " He and James are running around here somewhere, I'll find him".

She pulled the phone away from her face and I heard her call " SIRIUS!" loudly into the house.

There was a slight commotion as someone entered the room.

" Yes, Mrs. Potter?" Sirius asked.

" Phone for you, It's Doe" Mrs. Potter said.

There was a shuffle and Sirius picked up the phone, " Hey there, beautiful"

" Hey Siri," Doe said happily, it had been almost two weeks since she had heard from him and it felt like far too long. She was used to seeing him everyday.

" What's up?" Sirius asked.

" I think I found an apartment" she told him, " and I was wondering if you wanted to come see it with me, tomorrow?".

" Definitely," Sirius said quickly, " what time?"

" Around noon" She told him.

" I'll pick you up then" Sirius said mischievously.

" What do you mean pick me up?" she asked.

Sirius barked laughter into the phone, " You'll see tomorrow. See you then Doe".

There was a click as the phone was hung up. Doe sighed. Knowing Sirius, he had something planned and she guessed she probably wouldn't approve.

Doe went back upstairs and went back into her room. She looked out the window of her bedroom. The street was empty. Occasionally a car would pass by, but besides that it remained motionless.

She looked at Sirius' house. It was strange. Somewhere in there was Sirius' room, permanently abandoned, and somewhere else in there was Regulus, who not only didn't miss Sirius, but was probably glad he was gone.

No wonder Sirius was so excited to finally have a place of his own. He probably needed it even more than she did.

Thinking about moving still tore her up inside. She had lived in this house her entire life, but ever since her father died, it no longer felt like home. It felt like a cage.

It was necessary.

Part of her wanted to reminisce at what her life would be like if he hadn't died. She would probably be sitting here, talking with him excitedly about the impending auror training.

She shook her head. Thinking about it wasn't healthy. She filed it away in the 'what-if' part of her psyche and abandoned it.

She didn't want to depress myself. I had so much to look forward too.

You are leaving soon, you're going to be an auror. I kept reminding myself that I was starting a new period of my life. Hopefully one that meant I would be catching death eaters.

Somehow it had become a strange desire of mine.

She laid back and let herself look up at the ceiling, the room suddenly felt very small to her, like she was looking at something from her childhood.

Her mother had gone out to a lunch with a friend the next day, so she didn't have to worry about her protests at Doe leaving to see an apartment. It was almost noon when Doe heard someone knock at the door. She quickly slipped her shoes on, putting her wand in her pocket and walked over to the door.

She knew it was going to be Sirius, but her over-cautiousness caused her to look out of the peephole quickly.

She saw Sirius standing there grinning widely and a new type of happiness flooded through her.

She yanked open the door and pulled him into a hug.

" Hey there Doe" Sirius said squeezing her tightly.

Doe and Sirius had grown so close in the last few years that even having spent two weeks apart was weird for them. Doe was used to being able to trot down from the dormitory and find Sirius waiting for her in armchair in the common room.

When they let go, Doe stopped and eyed him curiously.

He was wearing a black leather jacket and holding a black helmet.

Doe had known Sirius to wear some outrageous clothing but ensemble he had on now could only mean one thing.

" What is that?" She asked him gesturing to the helmet in his hands, her voice hard with concern.

A wide grin spread across Sirius' face, " That Doe, is a helmet"

" Yes I can see that, for what" She asked sternly.

Sirius grinned again and moved slightly to the right, revealing a large black motorbike parked in front of her house.

Doe had only seen one of these in person one other time. Once driving home from Lily's neighborhood with her mother. She had called them a death trap.

It looked solid and it was black and shiny.

" Tell me you're joking" Doe said walking over to it. It just looked scary even standing next to it.

It looked too big to maneuver properly. Surely he couldn't drive this thing. He'd kill himself.

Sirius shook the hair out of his eyes, " Nope, Isn't she beautiful?"

" You're going to get yourself killed" Doe told him, running her hand over the large engine.

Sirius shook his head, " No, I'm not. I'm an excellent driver. You'll see. Hop on"

Sirius mounted the bike and turned it on. It roared to life loudly. Doe shuddered violently, just watching him on there made her imagine him splattered across the pavement. The other less responsible part of her had to admit that he did look pretty cool.

" I am not getting on that thing" Doe said her arms crossed firmly.

Sirius turned to her and raised his eyebrow, giving her the knowing look he often gave her when he wasn't in the mood to deal with her.

" Just get on" he said impatiently.

She didn't want to. It looked too dangerous, but unfortunately, she did trust Sirius' judgement.

With an angry sigh, she got on the back of the bike.

" I hate you" she said pouting slightly.

Sirius laughed, " Sure you do, Meadowes"

He revved the engine again and it roared to life underneath them and Doe flinched violently, wrapping her arms around Sirius waist and burying her face in his shoulder in fear. Sirius chuckled loudly.

" Alright where is this place?" He asked.

" 433 Richmond Terrace" Doe told him quickly, hoping to Merlin that they'd actually make it there in one piece.

" Okay, hang on tight" Sirius said happily.

He was enjoying her discomfort far too much.

Sirius moved the bike out of the parking spot and began to drive it quickly down the street. It was strange, it reminded Doe of years ago when they had their first flying lessons. Riding the motor bike was similar to riding a broom. It wasn't nearly as scary as she had thought it would be.

It sped through the streets quickly, letting the wind blow past them.

As much as she hated to admit it, it was a rush. They sped through the gray london streets quickly. Granted, they could have just apparated there in seconds but Sirius was obviously anxious for an opportunity to drive it, and Doe didn't have the heart to deny him that.

He pulled in front of a large gray apartment building that had a large 433 on it. This was it.

Doe waited until Sirius turned off the bike and then jumped off of it quickly.

" Isn't it great?" Sirius asked.

" Terrifying and exhilarating at the same time" Doe said shaking her head.

Sirius grinned, " You should see it in the air"

The smile fell from her face instantly.

" It flys?" She demanded.

Sirius laughed, " Yes it does".

" You're insane" Doe told him walking towards the building, " You should be in St. Mungos"

Sirius trailed after her, " I'll be fine, Doe. I like a bit of excitement in my life you know that"

" And catching dark wizards for a living won't be excitement enough?" Doe asked as they headed towards the building.

" Not for Sirius Black" Sirius said haughtily.

Doe rolled her eyes and looked at all the people on the street.

It was full of people going through their motions of a typical day. She watched excitedly, hoping to be one of them soon.

" This could be your building" Sirius said as they walked through the front doors.

" Hopefully" Doe told him.

The lobby was simple. It had a front desk and two armchairs on the wall. There was a door to the stairs, but seeing as the building was exclusively to wizards and witches, most of Doe's guests would be apparating anyway.

" What floor was it?" Sirius asked.

" 11" She told him as they walked towards the staircase. Once inside it, they both apparated and appeared on the eleventh floor.

It was a small hallway with a carpeted floor and three apartments on each side.

Doe stopped in front of Apartment 5 and knocked on the door. Sirius stood beside her. The door opened and a short balding man appeared in the doorway.

" You Doe?" he asked.

She nodded, " Yeah, I'm here to see the apartment".

" I'm Lenny" he said opening the door and letting her and Sirius into the apartment.

The door opened into the living room. The apartment came furnished. The living room had an entire wall lined with bookshelves and had a couch with a large armchair.

" It's a two bedroom furnished apartment," Lenny said leaning against the kitchen counter which was adjacent to the living room, " there's the living room and the kitchen" he said pointing both out.

" And the bedrooms are in there" Lenny said pointing to the two doors on the other wall.

So far, she was impressed. It was very cozy. The living room and kitchen were both nice and just big enough for her and Lily. She walked over to the bedrooms with Sirius and opened the door. The bedrooms were identical. Spacious rooms with a bed, closet, and desk.

" What do you think?" Doe asked Sirius.

Sirius nodded, " I like it. I think it's what you were looking for right?"

Doe nodded, " I think it's perfect".

Truthfully, Doe was so desperate to move out of her house she would have moved into a closet with a bathroom.

" Look at you, shopping for an apartment," Sirius said pretending to wipe away a tear, " you're growing up so fast".

She smacked him in the arm, and watched as he laughed.

Doe walked back over to Lenny. Lily had given full licensing to pick whatever apartment she thought would work, and this one was exactly what they were looking for. It was cute, reasonably priced, and only two blocks away from the ministry.

" So I think I'm going to take it" Doe told Lenny.

Lenny raised an eyebrow, obviously not expecting to fill it so quickly. She knew it was soon and that she was probably overpaying a little bit, but none of the other apartments she had seen listed were no where near as nice as this one.

" And is this the roommate that you mentioned?" Lenny asked eyeing Sirius curiously. He obviously wasn't thrilled with the idea of a six foot tall motorcycle riding tennant.

Sirius gave him an annoyed look.

" No, he's not" Doe told Lenny.

Lenny took out a piece of parchment that outlined the contract. Doe took the quill he handed her and signed it, giving him the small bag of gold for the down payment.

" Well I guess it's yours then" Lenny said handing her a small bronze key, " enjoy, and make sure you don't pay the rent late".

Lenny took the contract and the bag of gold and left the apartment. Once he left, She turned to Sirius.

" I just got an apartment" Doe said happily,.

He smiled, " I know. I saw".

A wide smile spread across her face. This was where she would be living for the next stage of her life.

" I can't wait to show Lily" Doe said happily.

" I'm sure she's going to love it" Sirius said, " as long as there's room for James to sneak out in the morning".

" Oh god I didn't even think about that" Doe said shaking her head.

Sirius laughed. " I would probably get used to the idea of having Prongs around, considering that they are inseparable"

" Which means you'll be around too" Doe told him.

Sirius grinned, " You didn't think you were getting rid of me that easily, did you beautiful?"