Alex nodded as Andry told him what he already knew.

"When Harry told me what spell he used to defeat You-Know-Who, I was certain. I didn't think you would actually do it."

Alex looked up at her, his eyes blazing. "You didn't think I'd do it?" he asked incredulously. "I told you, I'd do anything for Harry. Living without a little magic in nothing compared to losing him."

"But it's worn out all of your reserves," said Andry. "There's not a drop of magic left in you. I've checked and rechecked, but all the tests come up the same."

Alex swallowed the nausea fighting to take him over, but didn't respond. He had lived his entire life with magic. In truth, it was tearing him up that he would never be able to wave his wand again with any effect.

"There goes my dream of becoming an Auror," he said jokingly. When Andry didn't smile, Alex became worried. Magic loss as an adult wasn't deadly; so what else could be wrong

"Andry?" he said tentatively.

"Alex," said Andry slowly," there's something else I have to tell you."

With the addition of food, Sirius had been able to sustain his dog form longer. He stayed in the girl's room, whose name was Natasha, most of the time. Hermione, the bushy-haired girl, didn't seem to like him, just as Tasha had pointed out.

Tasha and Hermione had come up with the name Erebus, a name Sirius strongly rejected. He didn't even like his own name; now he was named after a god.

Mother would approve though.

Sirius wasn't surprised when he met his cousin, Andromeda about four days into his stay. He was the only member of her family who had attended her wedding. For some reason though, she wasn't home very often.

He asked Tasha about this, the only person he could talk to. She still called him Erebus, saying the name suited him.

"Mum's been taking care of a patient," said Tasha. "Dad won't tell us who though, it's supposed to be a secret. But Mum said we'll get to meet him and that he's a celebrity."

Sirius had been surprised by this. A celebrity? Who could that be? Surely it would've been in the newspapers.

Sirius had been reading the newspaper in the morning along with Ted, looking for any news of Harry. Surprisingly, a few days after he had joined the Tonks', the Daily Prophet sported a headline about his godson.

BOY-WHO-LIVED A RUNAWAY! THE TRAGIC STORY OF HARRY POTTER'S HOME LIFE AND HOW HE ESCAPED

The article continued to talk about how Harry had run away from his abusive relatives to a close friend of the family, a Muggle by the name of Alexander Peters. Once the situation had been explained, charges had been pressed against the Dursleys, who had recently lost a family member. Peters had then gained custody and the two were now living comfortably in a remote location.

There were no pictures though, and the article didn't explain how the Ministry had found Harry. All they had was Dumbledore's word.

Kind of suspicious, thought Sirius. But Dumbledore wouldn't have said anything if Harry wasn't safe.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the mention of his name in the article, saying that Harry was still in danger and his whereabouts where kept secret for his protection.

His whereabouts are kept secret because they don't even know. It's not me they should be worried about.

Unfortunately, this had left Sirius with a dilemma. Harry was safe, so he didn't have a reason for escaping.

Well, I do now. Sirius's gaze strayed to Natasha who was drawing. She had a pretty good hand for it, and he noticed most of her drawings decorated the house.

Just like Leslie did.

"Ted, can I see that?"

Sirius jumped as Hermione appeared behind him, looking at the newspaper. She scrutinized him, but didn't say anything, her eyes going back to the newspaper.

"Sure Hermione. There's nothing really interesting in there though. It's all about Harry Potter and Sirius Black."

Hermione wasn't listening though. She had quickly rifled through the papers and was now looking at a large black-and-white photo that took up half the page.

"That's him!" she said excitedly. "That's the man we saw!"

Sirius felt his heart plummet as he saw himself staring up from the photo. Tasha stopped drawing and came over to look at the picture. Her brow furrowed and Sirius knew she was thinking.

"This is Sirius Black?" she asked, reading the heading underneath his picture.

Ted, who was now very pale, nodded as he took the paper back from Hermione. "Yes, that's Sirius Black. Are you two sure that's who you saw?"

Hermione nodded before Ted had even finished the sentence. "I'm positive." She looked at Tasha for support.

Tasha looked at the picture to Sirius and he prayed that she would say no or something would happen that would deter this conversation.

I'm dead.

"What did he do? Why was he in Azkaban?"

Ted sighed. He obviously didn't want to explain the story to two children, but they would find out soon anyway.

"He was a follower of the Dark Lord. After he disappeared, Black murdered thirteen people, twelve of them Muggles, with a single curse. He's believed to be You-Know-Who's right-hand man."

Tasha's eyes widened and she stared at Sirius as if she was finally seeing him for the first time. She blinked a few times, as if trying to clear her head.

"Oh," was all she said. "Can I see that?" She took the article from Hermione's hands and went into the hallway leading to her room.

She stumbled a little from the room and Sirius trotted after her, leaving a confused Hermione and Ted behind them.

As soon as Sirius came in the room, Tasha closed and locked the door, before confronting him.

"Well, explain."

"It's not as bad as it sounds," said Sirius. "I did not kill those people and I'm not a follower of Voldemort." Sirius ignored her gasp at Voldemort's name and continued. "Trust me, if I was a follower of Voldemort, you'd be dead by now."

He gave her a minute to digest this information. He wondered though, why she hadn't revealed him in front of Ted if she thought he followed Voldemort.

"So if you didn't murder all those people, who did?" she asked.

Sirius sighed. "It's a very long story. And if I tell it to you, you have to promise that you won't reveal who I really am to anyone else. Do we have a deal?"

Tasha seemed wary about this. "Fine," she said. "But only if your story makes sense."

Sirius knew that was the best he could settle for.

Harry woke up a few hours later to see two blue eyes watching him.

"Alex?" he said hazily.

"Glad to see you're awake."

The next few moments were devoted to Harry attacking his guardian in a bone-breaking hug.

"Harry, you're going to crush me!"

"Sorry," said Harry, trying not to sniffle. "But I thought…after Voldemort…you weren't moving!"

"C'mon Harry, did you really think I'd die? I thought you'd know me better than that by now."

Harry swiped at his eyes, not wanting Alex to see that he was crying. "Of course not. You promised you wouldn't die if I got rid of Voldemort. And you never break promises."

Alex's recovery was slow. Harry felt a little guilty though, since he had taken all of Alex's magic. Alex said it was nothing to worry about; he'd be fine without it. But Harry noticed a few times when Alex would stare at his wand wistfully.

"I want to keep it though," said Alex after he had explained to Harry that he was now a Muggle. "I've had a lot of good times with it."

Andry still didn't leave the house after Alex had started to recover though. If anything, she became more comfortable there.

"How do you know her?" asked Harry while she made breakfast one morning.

"She's your father's best friend's cousin," said Alex. "Besides that, we were in the same year at Hogwarts. Same school you'll be going to."

"That's where Professor Dumbledore is headmaster, isn't it?" asked Harry.

Alex nodded. "What did you think of him?" he asked.

Harry stared at the ceiling, contemplating his answer. "He's…strange. But you can trust him."

Alex smiled. "Yes, that about sums him up." Alex looked at him for a moment; it unnerved Harry. He looked away quickly.

"Harry?"

Harry turned away from the wall he had been studying to look at him.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"For what?"

"All of this. I was an idiot; I handled everything wrong. You almost died because-"

"No, you're wrong," said Harry, cutting him off. What Alex was saying made sense, but he didn't want him to feel guilty. "You made it right. You saved me from Voldemort. You didn't do anything wrong and you're not an idiot."

Alex blinked at Harry. "You're not mad at me?"

"Of course not! If you hadn't done that, Voldemort would still be inside of me! It's not your fault!"

Alex looked as if he wanted to say something to the contrary, but shook his head.

"Thanks Harry."

"We're going to visit Mum's patient today," said Tasha.

Tasha had accepted Sirius's story, even though it had taken a few well-placed questions towards Ted and Andry to prove he was telling the truth. Tasha had sworn that she'd never tell who he was, but she also wanted to prove Sirius's innocence.

"I'll prove it somehow," she had said. "I'm not exactly sure when, but they'll catch Pettigrew one day and you won't have to stay a dog all the time."

"Did she tell you who it is yet?" asked Sirius, who had a guess, but thought it was too much to hope for.

Tasha shook her head as she put on her jacket. "It's a surprise. But Hermione thinks that she knows."

"That girl knows everything."

Hermione's story had also been explained to Sirius, but he thought it was a little crazy as well. She was smart though, and commented often on how Sirius didn't act like a normal dog. He had to watch his step around her.

"Mum said you can come too Erebus," she said. She didn't want to call him Sirius, afraid someone would hear her. "She said it's just what he needs. Besides that, she doesn't want to leave you alone in the house; she's afraid that you'll make a mess. It's not that she doesn't like you; she just doesn't like animals."

"That makes me feel so much better." Andry hadn't been pleased to see Sirius in her house.

"Come on, back to dog form," said Tasha, holding up the leash.

"Andry's back!"

Harry had been out of his bed for awhile, but Alex was still confined to the guest room. He went into the living room where Andry stood with two girls, one with bushy, brown hair, and the other with thick black hair. The dark haired girl held a leash which was attached to a large black dog.

"Sorry I was gone so long," said Andry, even though she had been gone for an hour at the most. "The girls still weren't awake."

The girls were looking at Harry oddly, as if he was a slideshow.

"Hermione, Natasha, meet Harry Potter, my patient for the past few weeks."

Both girls' eyes widened, and Harry noticed even the dog was staring at him awestruck.

"Did I do something wrong?" asked Harry in confusion.

Sirius lay in Tasha's room that night, not knowing what to do. He had seen Harry. After all this time, he had finally seen his godson. But he had also seen him; he had thought he was dead.

So Alex is the reason Harry disappeared. That explains a lot; he could never just do something without making a commotion.

But why was he bedridden? Harry had said he had been very ill.

But Alex wasn't one to get sick. Not even we were in school; he was always well.

Stories weren't matching up. First off, Alex wasn't a Muggle. But he had seemed weak and was looking a little peaky.

He also didn't have his wand on him. Alex always had his wand on him.

What happened? Alex should've been on guard; a mass murderer was on the loose, he should've been on watch.

Something is going on and I'm not exactly in a position to find out. I'll have to start doing some investigating.

Hermione tapped her fingers against the table, watching Erebus impatiently. She kept waiting for him to slip up, to show himself. She knew exactly who he was, but it was nothing without proof.

Half the family already believed she was crazy; no need to reinforce the thought by claiming their dog was a killer.

She knew it was Sirius Black the moment they went to visit Harry. He was always by Harry, odd considering how close he stuck to Tasha all the time.

Tasha was another problem. She knew the dog was Sirius Black, but she wasn't telling. There was no particularly good reason, at least none Hermione could think of, unless she was friendly with Black.

Only Tasha could be friendly with a mass murderer.

But if he was a murderer, why hadn't he struck yet? He could kill them all easily in their sleep without regret and slip away into the night.

So why hasn't he done anything yet?

It could be to get at Harry. But Black hadn't even known where Harry was until a couple of weeks after he had come to live with them.

So that can't be it.

Hermione didn't like it when she couldn't solve a problem. She enjoyed puzzles, riddles, problems, but not ones that she couldn't figure out. Sirius Black happened to be the latter.

There has to be something I'm missing.

"Hogwarts? We're going to live there?"

Harry sat in a chair next to Alex's bed, where the latter reclined. Dumbledore, who had stopped by for a visit, was in a chair across the room. Alex was eyeing the headmaster distastefully, disagreeing with what Dumbledore had told him.

"Only if Alexander agrees."

Harry turned to Alex eagerly. He was surprised to see the sour look on his guardian's face.

"It's just…" Alex glanced at Harry, "I don't feel comfortable being so close to the students and…others with Harry."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, but seemed to understand what Alex was getting at. Harry, however, was completely lost.

"What do you mean…others?"

"It will be completely cut off from the rest of the school," said Dumbledore, ignoring Harry's question. "I will not inform the other teachers of your presence in the school; I consider your privacy of the utmost importance."

Alex seemed to be trying to find an error in what Dumbledore had said, but he was obviously struggling.

"Why can't we stay here?" asked Harry, allowing Alex some time to think. "I mean, Alex can move around now and I'm better. We don't need Andry or Ted here anymore; we'd be fine on our own."

"Harry," said Dumbledore, fixing him with his gaze, "there are people out there that want to hurt you, and in Alexander's current state, he isn't in a condition to protect you."

"People like who?" asked Harry, thinking he might finally get the answer to why Andry and Ted watched over him at night.

Dumbledore glanced at Alex, who was now examining the ceiling. Harry faced his guardian. Alex rolled his eyes down to meet Harry's face.

"A man escaped from Azkaban, the wizard prison, a couple of weeks ago," said Alex. "Sirius Black. He's the man responsible for your parents' deaths."

"I think Hermione knows about me," said Sirius idly to Tasha one night. It was about time for Tasha to go to bed, but she was postponing as long as possible. Hermione had been watching Sirius more carefully over the past few days and it had been bothering him.

"She does," said Tasha offhandedly. The two were talking as if they were discussing the weather.

"How do you know?"

"Oh, she knows everything. She knows about you. But she doesn't have any proof, so it doesn't matter."

"But if she knows everything she should be able to figure out how to expose me," Sirius pointed out.

"I suppose," said Tasha, running a finger over her mattress. "So I guess we should show you to her now."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. "How exactly did you come to that conclusion?"

"You didn't let me finish," said Tasha. "I didn't explain how we'll tell her."

Sirius grinned. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

Hermione was attached to Tasha's bed with a Sticking Charm, staring angrily up at Tasha and Black. She would've screamed for help, except for the fact that a Silencing Charm had been cast upon her. Tasha had nabbed Ted's wand and since he didn't need it, for the moment, he hadn't noticed.

Probably thinks we're in here playing dolls or something.

It had been easy, getting her in there. Tasha had said she wanted to show her something she had drawn that was hanging in her room. Like an idiot, Hermione had followed her, only to have two charms thrown at her instantly by Black and now here she was, staring at her captors helplessly.

"Hermione, we know that you knew that Erebus wasn't a normal dog," started Tasha. "As you can see, he is Sirius Black."

So why would you be showing him to me?

"We didn't want you to get any evidence on me," said Black, "because then you would tell Ted and I would obviously be in a bind. So, we want to set the story straight."

XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxX

Hermione was now unbound, but Black still didn't want to lift the Silencing Charm. Black's story made sense, which was what Hermione was having trouble with. It explained his actions; he wasn't interested in hurting Harry, only protecting him. That was also why he hadn't killed them all in their sleep.

"Well, do you believe us?" asked Black, "Or am I going to have to swipe your memory as soon as I lift this charm off of you?"

"I like it," said Harry, looking around the apartment. "It's comfortable."

Alex and Harry had been smuggled into the school, under Glamour Charms, escorted by a friendly house-elf to a distant part of the castle that Alex hadn't known existed.

He had caved in to Dumbledore's offer. It wasn't as if he really had a choice. Besides, he only planned to stay there until Black had moved far away from Harry or until he was apprehended. But who knew how long that would be.

"Alex, you have to see the view!"

"And you'll write every day, won't you?"

"Only if you do."

"Then as often as possible. It'll be a while until we see each other again you know."

"Only three more years. It will go by fast, and before you know it, we'll be together at Hogwarts."

Celia wrapped her arms around Draco, surprising him. She had always been more emotional than his family, but hugs were uncommon for her. Hesitantly, he hugged her back.

When they broke apart, Draco took off his necklace with two serpents intertwined on it and handed it to her. "Just so we'll recognize each other when we meet."

Celia stared at it for a moment before taking it and then breaking off one of the serpents. Draco stared in horror as she handed the chain with the other serpent on it back to him.

"This is a family heirloom!"

"Must have been a pretty cheap one if it broke so easily. Besides, Lucius would be mad if he saw that you had given the Malfoy heirloom away anyway. All you have to do is tuck the serpent part under your shirt and make sure he sees the chain. He'll never know the difference."

Draco glanced at it dubiously. His father was a bit brighter than that, but Draco hardly saw him anyway and he doubted his first thought would be whether his son was wearing the necklace or not.

"Fine," said Draco, putting the necklace back on and tucking it into his shirt. "But what do you plan to do with that?"

"You'll see," said Celia, tucking the green-eyed serpent into her pocket.

"Celia! Hurry up, we're leaving now!"

Both rolled their eyes, trying to avoid the awkwardness of saying good-bye. After all, the two had known each other their entire lives.

"I'll be seeing you then," said Celia. "And don't forget, every day or as often as possible."

Draco nodded and the two left the room together.

A/N: I wanted more, but I it didn't seem to fit in with the chapter. Depending on how much I can fit into the next chapter, it might just be one more. If I can't, it will be two. I've got a few more loose ends to tie up, but nothing will be resolved yet. Any confusion will be resolved with the sequel. Please review!