The black dog became a companion to me by the time I woke up. The sun had set. It was pitch black out. I looked around anxiously.

"Scared of the dark? Precious...That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. What will the dark do to you? It can't poison you. It won't attack you. You're perfectly safe inside."

Inside was the key word. I wasn't inside now. I was outside in the middle of some alley with a poor dog. He had a home. His owners were probably kind and loving and searching for him. I looked at him worriedly. Was he going to be hungry when he woke up? What could I possibly feed him? I had some money that Professor Snape gave me. I didn't want to go out in public. Was I just going to stay hidden in this alley forever. Forever wouldn't be that long without food.

After taking several deep breaths, I turned back to the dog. He was slowly waking up. I smiled at him before I felt something moving against my leg. I screamed at the top of my lungs. My fear of the dark was nothing compared to my fear of snakes.

I went to cover my eyes, but when the snake hissed I somehow understood him or her. I always understood snakes strangely. Not only that, but I could speak whatever language they spoke back. I hissed at the creature to go away. This was my secret. I never told Father I talked to snakes, because he would have claimed I was crazy...at least that's what I thought.

The dog barked at me. When I looked back the dog was gone. Where he had been now stood a shaggy looking man. His hair was unbrushed, his face was grimy, his body was gross. He looked like a bum! In the middle of an alley, in the middle of the night, we both looked like complete bums!

"You talk to snakes." The man said slowly.

"Umm...no...I mean that's impossible. No one ca...can talk to snakes. I ah...I like animals." I tried to excuse hissing at the snake.

"You scream because you see a snake that you can speak with. Yet, when you see me, you defend yourself." The man said in confusion.

Did I want to introduce myself right off the bat? Definitely not! I was alone, in the dark, with a filthy old man. Who knew what he would do to an eleven year old?

"I'm sure I won't have to introduce myself. Believe it or not I do have manners. Obviously I'm Sirius Black." He introduced himself quietly.

I looked around when he held out his hand. Where did that dog go? I felt much safer with him.

"I guess us Marauders really did make an impression with pranks in the good ol' days. Don't worry. My hand doesn't have any hidden shockers on it." He said and smiled weakly. "Are you going to give me a name? Even if it's fake I'd want something to call you."

I bit my bottom lip nervously. What name could I give him?

"You remind me of a girl I went to school with." He suddenly interrupted my thoughts. "Would you mind me calling you Lily?" He asked.

"Lily's my middle name!" I told him without thinking. "I mean yeah, that works." I said quickly.

"What's a girl your age doing out in an alley like this? Shouldn't you be at Hogarts or one of the magical schools?" The first thing I can say I learned about Sirius is that he was not shy at all.

"I was supposed to attend Hogwarts today. It's the first day of school. I umm...I wasn't...well, there was some stuff that came up." I explained.

"Stuff?" He asked.

"I'm not a member of the best kind of family." I tried to explain without giving away too much information.

Sirius laughed whole heartedly when I said that. "Yours can't possibly be as bad as mine was...Unless you count Prongs of course."

"Prongs?" I asked.

"We're the Marauders! Did our memories honestly disappear when we all did?" He asked before he explained how there were four friends. He gave me their names: James who went by Prongs. Him who went by Padfoot. Remus who went by Moony. Lastly Peter who didn't deserve to be classified as apart of their group. I asked why, but didn't get an answer.

"So Lily...You still haven't told me why you're out here? Aren't your parents worried about you?" He asked.

"My dad doesn't know much about what's going on. At least I don't think he does." I informed him.

"What about your mum?" He asked.

"She died." I said as I looked down at the mention of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I never knew her. She died or was murdered after I was born." I shrugged my shoulders as though she was no big deal. She was a big deal though. Whoever she had been, she had been my mother!

Sirius leaned against the wall and dug in his robe. He pulled out a bar. "I found it on the road a ways back, but I assume you're hungry." He held it out to offer it to me.

"You're going to eat something Bellatrix gives you? I know you have seen her plenty, but who knows what she's giving you. Honestly, Maybaleen! Don't be so stupid!"

"Ah...No thanks. I'm actually not hungry." I told Sirius quickly.

He shrugged his shoulders. Taking the wrapper off the granolla bar he bit into it and really looked like he was enjoying it. I sighed wishing I had taking it. I was hungry.

"You can have the rest." He offered when he saw me looking at him regretfully.

"Thank you." I said as I took the remainder of the bar. "I'm sorry. I just never get out much. I mean my father's a bit paranoid I guess."

"You must take after him." Sirius smiled friendly.

"I've never killed anyone." I spit out without thinking. "I mean...I don't know if...I...I'm sorry. I'm just...You're a wizard! Couldn't you take me to Hogwarts?" I asked hopefully.

He stared at me for a minute before saying, "no, I can't." I looked down. Why in the world did I have to say that? "No offence. I don't have anything against you. It's just I can't be seen. I'm sure you understand. What with all of these warnings around? He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and held it up to me.

First prisoner to escape Azkaban.

I stopped reading and looked at Sirius. "Azkaban?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh, you're muggle born. It must be your first year." He said slowly. "Wait, you really don't know me. You know nothing about Azkaban or all the murders." He said stunned.

I quickly shook my head. Nerves filled me as I read that he was the prisoner. "Don't kill me." Was all I could managed to say.

"I didn't kill anyone! I wasn't the Potter's secret keeper when Voldemort attacked." He said with the first bit of anger in his voice.

I had looked down for a few seconds, but immediately looked back up at the last statement. I stayed completely silent.

He breathed out heavily. "Are they still terrified to say his name? Stupid really." He mumbled and shook his head. "Where do you live? I wouldn't feel right leaving you out here." He mentioned.

"I can't go home. It...it's dangerous." I told him.

"Listen kid, you might not like your parents. You're eleven years old though. Lily always liked her parents. I'm sure living as a muggle..."

"I was raised as a muggle." I interrupted and felt bad doing so. "Dad's a wizard though and I believe Mum's a witch too. I don't know, but I have a feeling that she's a boy's mother I met. His name's Harry Potter." I informed him and a minute later I got the biggest surprise in the world.

"Maybaleen..." He said my name so quietly. "Oh Merlin. No. You...You...Oh dear God!" He exclaimed.

"What? What is it, Mr Black?" I asked in a panic.

"You can call me Sirius. It's better than being called the killer, scum, murderer, and prisoner." He told me before staring at me some more. "I should have known. I should have known as soon as you rested your head on me. Those green eyes. The bright red hair. Your smile. Everything about you..." He stopped talking. Suddenly he was speechless. All he could do was stare at me with an open mouth.

I looked back at him silently. What did he know? I wanted to ask, but I couldn't. All I could do was look back at him.

"Where did they put you? Who raised you? I want his name. You said you had a father. He kept everything from you?" He asked in utter shock.

"What are you talking about? Everyone has a father." I told him before I realized what he said. "What do you mean about me laying my head on you? I never..."

"Woof woof." He winked and grinned at me.

I'm a witch. I had been raised by a wizard. I was accepted to some magical school called Hogwarts. My father murdered several people. I talked to snakes. Now there was a man who could turn into a dog standing with me. Talk about crazy!

I wanted to go back to Father. I wanted to pretend that I never met the head master of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. I wanted Professor Snape just to be Severus, one of Dad`s workers. This was too confusing for me. I needed my old life back, even if I never faced the truth.

I took a deep breath. "My name's actually Maybaleen Riddle. Tom Riddle's my father." I got my guts up enough to introduce myself and answer his question. He somehow figured out my first name. It wouldn't hurt if he knew the rest of it.

He clenched his yellow teeth together. His kind eyes turned dark. His entire body shook uncontrollably. His fist was now clenched together and I jumped in shock when it hit the brick wall in front of us.

I stumbled backwards. I was about to run when he grabbed on to my wrist.

"No you don't." Sirius said sternly. "You're not going anywhere."

Author's Note: Hey, thank you so much for reading. Just so you know I'm not following the Harry Potter novels to key, since Maybaleen is my main character. Please review if you're reading. I love hearing what people think and any ideas for my story are definitely appreciated :)