Sirius Black

The Journey

California State Line, USA

In dog form and across the days he'd now walked he felt like he was making good time across. He couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with the man in yellow and the person he had mentioned 'Victor' and if he did something impressive, he could be contact. Perhaps that was who he had to look for, this Victor person and not the giant man in black. He'd stumbled across some roadside diners and watched the news through the glass, it was still all anyone could talk or theorize about but there was no new footage, no one had seem him since he was cornered at the docks. Some people thought he was an alien, or a time traveller or perhaps even a demon. Sirius didn't particularly care who or what he was as long as he came with answers.

After walking another few miles he stopped to look for something to eat, though he would turn his nose up at a wild rabbit, as a dog he didn't mind the taste and quite enjoyed the chase. He finally caught the smell of one, it had just came out of its burrow. He gave chase. The rabbit seemed to have experience in running from wild animals as it darted between trees and under awkwardly shaped branches but that wasn't stopping Sirius begin to catch upto it. The rabbit darted through a bush, Sirius followed, there was a flash of headlights, the squeal of breaks and he was set spiralling into the air and crashing back down again in human form.

The wizard groaned as he brought himself to his hands and knees, he instinctively reached for his wand. His head was ringing but he could hear a womans voice. "-No, oh no, oh no, are you okay? Were you chasing that rabbit? Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

"Wait... No..." Sirius said as he unsteadily brought himself up to his feet, arms caught him.

"No to being okay? Or no to the ambulance?"

Sirius suddenly realised a muggle woman was holding him up and expecting a response. He brought his weight back to his feet, the whole left side of him throbbed. "No to the ambulance." He told her.

"I am so, so sorry. Are you okay? Why are you running into the road like that?" She asked.

"I will be." Sirius told her through gritted teeth. He'd gotten used to patching himself up and knew a fair few spells that would help. "That's a long story."

"Where are you going? I could give you a ride."

"Washington." He put simply.

"That's a long way." She said, looked up and down the road, the road was empty and the sun was setting. "I'm going to Carson, that's at least a few hours in the right direction. C'mon." She slung his arm over her shoulder and helped him limp towards the back of the car.

He lay down across the backseats and groaned as he tried and failed to find comfort. As she close the drivers side door behind her he spoke. "Thank you for this."

"It's the least I can do." She chuckled quietly. "I did mow you down with my car- and I didn't even ask you your name. I'm Daisy." She offered a hand for him to shake.

He discreetly dropped his wand down his sleeve. "Sirius." He shook her hand gently.

She turned and began to start the engine, the noise reminded him of his flying motorcycle and it was a comforting memory. "So your accent, you're from England right?" Daisy asked as the car started moving.

"Yeah." Sirius told her, dropping the wand back into his hand. "London, more specifically, what about you?"

"Carson City, Nevada." Daisy replied happily. "Have you ever been?"

"I have not." He tapped his wand against his leg and muttered "episkey. He used his other hand to hide the glow of his wand tip. He smiled as he felt instant relief as the swelling receded from his leg, he wiggled his toes and fortunately nothing seemed broken. "Have you ever been across the pond?" He asked her.

"Unfortunately no, I have been to New England though." She laughed, Sirius couldn't help but smile. He'd not been round this happy a person in years. The wizard healed himseld a couple more times, his ribs, then his hand. Each followed by a silent sigh of relief. The second of which was interrupted by Daisy's gasp. "What the hell was that." She slammed on the breaks, nearly throwing Sirius from the back seat, luckily his newly healed leg caught him. She was staring back at him, his wand in plain sight and the cut on his hand sealing itself like it was never there in the first place. Sirius pointed the wand at her. Daisy yelped in response putting up her hands like it was gunpoint. "What're you doing?"

"Its a simple memory charm." Sirius told her reassuringly. "It won't hurt."

"You're going to take my memory? Why? What are you?"

"A wizard." He put bluntly. He looked up and down the road, far down it a pair of headlights clipped into view, perhaps a few minutes away. In his distraction Daisy had unclipped her seat belt, opened the door and began running down the road. He apparated, a cracking of air and he appeared in front of her. She screamed. "Daisy, I'm not going to hurt you."

Hands raised again she began to slowly back away. "You- you're a wizard, like a real, real wizard and you're going to take my memory of that, isn't that like brain damage?"

Sirius thought of what Harry had told him about Gilderoy Lockhart, his second year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was a skilled and prolific user of memory charms and even his eventually backfired and left him recovering for months in Saint Mungos. He was not a skilled memory charm user. Then a second, more revolutionary thought struck him. There was no Ministry of Magic. There was no wizarding world to protect with strictly enforced secrecy laws. It was just one woman.

He slowly lowered his wand dropped it into the pocket of his trousers. "Sorry about that, that was possibly a dramatic reaction. I won't take your memory."

Her backpacing ground to a halt and her breathing began to slow. "Thank you." She sighed gratefully and started laughing. "Do you still want a ride to Carson? I have so many questions