Chapter 4

September first had arrived. Sirius was standing in the entrance hall watching the Weasley children, Hermione, and Harry finish packing and dragging their trunks to the front door. Molly was ushering everyone toward the door, followed by the rest of the guard that would be escorting them to King's Cross Station.

"Sirius, stay here," Molly said looking straight at him.

Sirius made a face. "Come on, Molly. No one will recognize me; no one knows I'm an animagus."

"Sirius, it's a bad idea," Remus chimed in.

Sirius' shoulders slumped. He watched Harry step out the front door with a portion of the guard. Remus patted his shoulder and followed everyone out the door. He was alone again. When he knew everyone was down the street and out of the way, Sirius left the house and immediately transformed into a dog, running to catch up with them.

Sirius trotted next to Harry excited to be outside for the first time in months. He scared a few cats, snapped at pigeons, and chased his own tail. This got a few laughs out of Harry and Ron. Sirius knew Molly was not happy about him following along with the rest of the guard.

It took nearly twenty minutes for them to reach the train station. Each group casually leaned against the barrier and entered the other side. Once on Platform 9 ¾, Molly began fussing with all the children, making sure they would behave themselves.

"Nice dog, Harry!" a boy named Lee Jordan called.

"Thanks, Lee," Harry said, grinning, as Sirius wagged his tail frantically.

Remus said his goodbyes to the children, shaking everyone's hands and clapping Harry on the shoulder. Mad-Eye Moody gave a warning to all of them to stay out of trouble and Tonks said good bye glad to have met all of them. The warning whistle blew and Molly tried to hurry everyone up.

Sirius wanted to say goodbye to Harry. He reared up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on his godson's shoulders. Molly found this too obvious and hissed at him.

"For heaven's sake act more like a dog, Sirius!" Molly pulled Harry away shoving him on the train.

All the kids waved goodbye from the train as it pulled away from the station. Sirius ran alongside the train barking and wagging his tail. Sirius continued to bark once the train ran around the corner.

Remus stepped away from everyone else and toward Sirius.

"Come on, you should go back," he said to his friend.

Sirius whined looking up at Remus, his ears went down, and his tail hid between his legs.

Remus rolled his eyes, "You know the puppy dog eyes don't work on me."

Sirius snorted and followed defeated behind Remus. The guard left the platform along with many of the other parents and adults and headed back to headquarters and to the Ministry of Magic for work.

Remus, Sirius, Molly, and Tonks went back to Grimmauld Place. Sirius couldn't transform in case he would be seen, so, Sirius and Remus continued on foot. Molly and Tonks apparated.

"Sirius, if anyone recognized you on the platform, Dumbledore is going to be disappointed in you," Remus sighed.

Sirius made a guttural sound of understanding and guilt.

"I know you miss having fresh air, but that's what happens when you're a wanted criminal."

Sirius growled at that.

"Yes, yes, I know you're innocent, but the general public doesn't."

Sirius avoided the conversation by chasing pigeons again as they approached Grimmauld place. He was going to make the most of his time out of the confines of his prison. He continued to run around in the street while Remus stood on the front stoop.

"Come on Snuffles, time to go inside!" Remus called to him trying to keep the smile off his face.

Sirius reluctantly walked to the front door and padded into the house. Remus followed and closed the door behind him. Sirius transformed and stretched.

"I hate being kept in this old house, Remus," Sirius complained.

"It's for your own safety. Do you want to go back to Azkaban? Or worse, executed?" Remus asked angrily. "I couldn't bear losing another friend."

Sirius averted his eyes. "I'm sorry, Remus. I would never do that to you."

"Thank you," Remus said clasping Sirius on the shoulder.

The two men walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where Tonks and Molly were waiting.

"Dumbledore sent a message over while we were gone," Molly told them when they walked in. "There's something he'd like you to work on, Remus."

Remus took the letter from her and read it over carefully.

"I see," he said in a low voice. "Then I should be going. I probably won't be by for dinner tonight, Molly. I'll be by in a few days, Sirius." Remus turned and left the room making his way out of the house.

Sirius sighed feeling quite alone even though Molly and Tonks were still in the room with him. He sat down in the closest chair and wiped a hand down his face. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I wish I could make this easier for you, Sirius," Tonks told him. "I have to get to work, Molly. I'll be by tonight for dinner, though. Kingsley said he'll try to make it, and Simone should be by as well."

Sirius looked up at that. He hadn't seen Simone in a couple weeks, not since the last Order meeting. Tonks left quickly from the house as not to be late for work. Now, Sirius was alone with Molly in the kitchen.

"You like her don't you?" Molly asked offhandedly.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

Molly rolled her eyes, "Simone, of course."

Sirius looked away from her, "What gives you that idea?"

"You always pay attention more when her name is brought up. You're also more personable when she's around," Molly told him.

"I'm not personable all the time?" Sirius asked a smirk tugging at his lips.

Molly rolled her eyes and huffed, "Why don't you go clean something. Merlin knows this place needs to be dusted all the time."

Sirius snorted and stood from the chair. "Whatever you say, Molly. If you need me, I'll be in my room."

He left the room before she could answer and walked up the stairs. Upon opening the door to his bedroom, he saw Buckbeak lying on the floor rat bones scattered around him.

"You make such a mess," he said looking at the Hippogriff. "I hate cleaning up after you."

Buckbeak made a soft whistling sound watching Sirius. He conjured a bag and began picking up the small bones that littered the floor. Buckbeak watched him the entire time. Once all the bones were picked up, Sirius tied the bag shut and placed it in the hallway outside the bedroom. He stepped back into the room and walked to the dresser. He opened the top left drawer and pulled out a stack of papers.

He sat on the bed and began to read. The pages had come from a journal Remus had kept for many years, most of the years Sirius had been in Azkaban. He was catching up on information he didn't know, and getting a better look into how his friend lived after the tragedy of losing a close friend and believing his other friend had betrayed them.

Sirius sighed as he got to a particularly nasty part that Remus described. He really did have it rough without his friends. He hung around some pretty bad people, particularly other werewolves.

-XXXXX-

Before he knew it, Sirius could smell the wonderful aroma of Molly's cooking. He looked at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that nearly six hours had passed already. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes after putting down the current page he had been reading.

Sirius heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" He called.

He was expecting Molly to come in and tell him dinner would be ready soon, but he was surprised when Simone stepped into the room.

"Simone?" He asked standing up from the bed.

"Hello Sirius. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She smiled at him. She spotted Buckbeak and stopped short. "You have a Hippogriff in your room."

Buckbeak has raised his head and stood abruptly upon seeing Simone. The creature pawed at the floor and Simone bowed keeping her breathing steady. After a few moments, Buckbeak bowed back and both parties visibly relaxed.

"You've been busy at St. Mungo's," Sirius stated.

Simone nodded and turned her head to face him, "There have been a lot of injuries. Unfortunately no one has turned up who has been reported missing."

"I don't think they ever will," Sirius sighed.

Simone walked forward and stood directly in front of Sirius. He smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into his embrace as he placed his chin on the top of her head. He felt her taking deep breaths against his chest.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing," She whispered quietly. She pulled back from his chest and it was clear her eyes caught the mess of papers and notebooks littering the bed. "What are you reading?"

"It's nothing," Sirius told her hoping she wouldn't ask too much.

She raised an eyebrow and quicker than Sirius would have expected, she darted around him snatching one of the pages from the corner of the bed. Sirius tried to grab it back, but she stepped away, her eyes continually scanning the page. Her brow furrowed and the corners of her lips turned down. Sirius managed to swipe the page out of her hand making her jump slightly.

"Does Remus know you have these?" She asked concerned.

"Yes, he gave them to me," Sirius pouted.

She was quiet for a few moments as she continued to stare at the mess of parchment and books. Sirius thought she might try to steal another page. Instead, she looked back at his face and gave him a small smile.

"We should head down to the kitchen. I'm sure Molly could use some help," Simone turned away to the leave the room.

Sirius caught her wrist and heard her gasp. Her eyes widened as he pulled her to him and pressed his lips against hers. It was the most wonderful feeling he had experienced in such a long time. Soon, Simone got over the shock and moved her lips against his. She reached up and locked her arms around his neck. Sirius' hands moved to her waist. He pulled his lips away from hers and kissed her cheek before kissing all down her neck. Simone arched into him as he sucked at the pulse at her neck.

Sirius could hear her breathing loudly. He felt her arms pull tighter at his neck. Sirius kissed up her neck and placed his lips on hers again. He felt Simone move closer and he almost couldn't control himself; he wanted to throw her on the bed and take her right there.

He pulled away from her to resist the temptation. He watched as Simone slowly opened her eyes, her lips still parted and slightly swollen. She smiled at him and leaned her forehead against his.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," She laughed.

Sirius laughed with her and linked his fingers in hers.

"Are you going to be all right?" Simone asked grinding her pelvis against his.

Sirius groaned, "Not if you keep doing that. I'll get through it."

"May be another time," Simone purred with a hint of her French accent.

They heard a knock at the front door and heard Molly greet the group of people now entering Grimmauld Place.

"Sounds like they're all here. We should head down for dinner," Simone said before kissing Sirius' lips once more.

She turned away from him and made her way to the door. Sirius followed and could help watching the way her hips moved when she walked.

Definitely another time, Sirius thought to himself.