Disclaimer: See Chapter One
A/N: I'M SO SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO SORRY! There is no excuse for my tardiness. I hope you enjoy. By the way, this is unbetad!
Chapter 12:
Sirius glanced down at the tiny human that lay beside him. Harry was sleeping quietly for once, his colic finally gone. It had been a hell of a month for everyone. The baby had needed almost constant care and with James being a new Auror and Lily a Healer, they weren't able to be with Harry as much as they wanted to. Ergo, Remus had become a primary caretaker for Little Prongs. Sirius helped where he could, especially before the full moon. He knew that it drove Remus nuts to not be working and, therefore, tossed himself into research for the Order and caring for Harry.
"Is he finally asleep?"
"Yeah. He's a pretty cute little guy when his mouth is shut." Sirius grinned at the snickering Remus. The other man came and sat on the bed next to his two favorite males.
"So are you."
"Oh! You wound me! Such a cold lover!" Sirius whimpered and curled around the baby's petite body.
"Shut up, Paddy." They both laughed, cradling the newest generation between them.
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Harry giggled and bounced up and down in excitement. The Marauders laughed and moved to sit around the new one year old. Someone had given the infant too much sugar. It was more than likely Headmaster Dumbledore, who loved to ply unsuspecting people with muggle sweets.
"Hey cute stuff, how're you?" James bent over and pulled his not-so-little son up onto his feet. "Are you enjoying your birthday party?"
"Please, of course he is. His feet barely touch the ground, he's had more sugar than I'd like, plus he's got a mountain of presents." Lily cried, walking up to the males. All five grinned; part amusement and part exasperation.
Harry plopped down on his bum, pulling his blanket towards him. James picked Harry up, cradling him close. This was probably going to be the last time they would have so many people around. Not many knew it but James and Lily would be performing the Fidelius Charm within the week. There was no telling when Harry would have a birthday party again.
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Sirius kissed Remus softly. He did not want his lover to wake up. The man would try to stop him from checking on Peter for the seventh time today. Remus wasn't aware of the Secret Keeper change, but it was still prudent to check on the small animagus.
As he pulled out of his parking space he couldn't possibly know that it would be the last time he would see his amazing partner for a very long time.
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"How could you, Sirius?"
"How could I? How could I what, Pettigrew!" Sirius snarled at the portly man standing across the platform from him. The only thing preventing Sirius from crossing the tracks was the inbound train.
"You killed them! Why?"
Sirius glared at the man and scoffed, "Please. You're the traitor. You were the Keeper!"
Peter smirked as the last two sentences were cut off by the baring horn. "James and Lily, Sirius! You murdered them!"
The muggles standing on either side shifted nervously. This was not a good conversation to hold in a public domain.
"Well, I may not have directly done it, but I am responsible. And I'll have to live with that, but you will have to live with a more personal knowledge of how they died. Why, Peter? Did you even think about Harry?"
"I'm sorry, Sirius. But I can't let you get away."" Sirius sprang into action as the rat pulled his wand.
There was a huge bang as the train barreled past, filling the Underground with a thick, acrid smoke. Sirius could hear the quick pops of Apparation and sighed. It was going to end now and he could go home.
A wind blew through the station and cleared the smoke away. Muggle bodies were everywhere and blood was staining the white tile. The only problem was that Peter was nowhere to be seen.
"Sirius Black, you are under arrest for the murders of James and Lily Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and thirteen British citizens of Muggle descent."
He could only laugh as they bound him and bore him off the Azkaban. It was laugh or cry and Blacks were taught to never let them see you cry.
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It was so cold. He had been numb for so long. The only thing that was keeping him from dieing of hypothermia was the scarce warming spells that Aurors cast every ten months. Or, at least, that's how long he thought it was. Time was incredibly hard to keep in Azkaban.
Sirius glanced down at the Prophet that had been given to him that morning. He couldn't stop staring at the photograph that adorned the front of the article. "Weasley's Win Big!" proclaimed the heading, but Sirius paid it no mind. What had captured his attention was the small rat that was perched on one of the boy's shoulder.
Sirius Black grinned in a manner that could be considered mad and whispered, "I'll get you sooner or later, Wormie. Sooner or later."
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Sirius lay on the shore, panting harshly, he was so glad that Remus had made him learn to swim. He shook his head in amazement, he could remember his lover without having the memory yanked from him seconds later. He could still feel the Dementors presence, which meant that he needed to move and soon. He may have fooled them once but he doubted they'd fall for it again.
But where would he go? Remus perhaps? No, not Remus, the man would have relocated as soon as possible seeing as how Sirius had been paying the rent. Dumbledore? He didn't really know how the man felt about his imprisonment but he didn't want to find out by showing up and being hexed. Besides, based on how warm it was, school would be out by now and Hogwarts locked down. He wondered for long moments about who to go to before an idea came to him. It was incredibly risky, but she was the only person who might help him, if only for the barest of moments.
He stared at the tidy corner house in silence. He really didn't know if this was a good idea or not, but he was sure as hell going to try. Sirius walked up to the door and pushed the doorbell. He could hear some shuffling inside before creaking came from down the hallway. Sirius had a brief moment of panic, trying to decide if he should go quickly, when the choice was stripped from him. The door was flung open and light spilled into the dark night.
Ted Tonks stared at the extremely emaciated man on his front porch for a moment before muttering a "Good Lord" and dragging Sirius inside. He called for his wife feeling the man beside him tense. She came floating down the hall only to stop in shock at the men loitering in her front hallway.
Andromeda stared at her cousin blankly. It was almost as if she didn't know if he was really there. One step, then twice, before he was dragged into the strongest hug the woman could muster, all the while crying his name. Sirius held on to his favorite cousin and buried his nose into the soft summer robe she wore. He smiled; Andromeda still had the raspberry perfume he had gotten her before he was sent away.
"Sirius! I didn't realize you had been released! You should have owled me and I would have come to get you."
Sirius cringed, "Andie, they didn't release me. I got out."
He watched as the woman paused to digest the fact that he was an escapee sink in before speaking again, "I didn't do it, Andie. You have to believe me. Peter and I switched at the last moment and never told anyone."
"No one?" Ted spoke from behind.
"Not Dumbledore, the Order, or Remus. Not even Lily knew about it unless James told her afterwards. Please, Andie, why would I kill my brother?"
"You wouldn't, but I don't understand, why did you not speak up at your trial?"
"There was no trial."
"They put you in Azkaban for no reason, then?"
"Pretty much."
"Bastards!" Sirius choked as Andromeda squeezed him tight.
"Andie! Must. Breathe." She loosened her arms with a sheepish grin.
"Why come to us then? If you've escaped that is, why not Lupin or Dumbledore?"
Sirius gave Ted a long look, sensing the uneasiness in the man's posture. He shook his head briefly to get rid of the fuzziness seeping in and replied, "I promise I won't be here long. I just needed someplace for the night."
"Oh, but, you can stay here, right Ted?"
"Wrong. Have you forgotten your daughter so easily?"
"Dora? How is she? The last time I saw her…wow, twelve years ago. I hadn't thought I was in prison that long." Sirius felt woozy, no doubt from the realization that he had lost a decade of his life to those soul-sucking fiends. And he didn't mean the Dementors either.
"Don't let her hear you call her that. She's in that "I hate my name" phase. And you may be right, Ted, but we're not leaving Sirius to fend for himself."
"What do you mean? I promise Dora won't know I'm hear if that's a problem."
"It's not that, Siri. Dora is…well, she's…she's in Auror training."
Sirius felt like he had been punched in the gut. "Oh." Was all that he managed to choke out. What a truly awkward situation. Now he knew why Ted didn't really want him here. All of them could be arrested if the youngest Tonks showed up while he was there.
"Maybe…hang on a moment." Andromeda rushed into the living room and the floo could be heard going on. The two men stood in the silent hallway, ignoring the huge white elephant that stood between them. There was some brief mumbling and then a sooty Andromeda pulled him toward the floo.
"Don't worry. I promise nothing will happen to you. Trust us." was all that Andromeda said before pushing him into the still green fireplace. The last person he expected to see was standing at the other end.
"Quickly, we must get you upstairs before Draco sees."
Sirius looked at the still beautiful Narcissa Malfoy and asked, "Draco?"
"My son."
"Oh, how old?"
"Thirteen a few weeks ago."
"That's the same as…"
Narcissa gave him a knowing smile, "Yes. The same year at Hogwarts actually."
"Oh. Um, have you…?"
"Never. Draco complains about him often enough though."
Sirius smiled, still showing no teeth, he wasn't sure how badly twelve years of plaque had caused them. He was shown into a guest bedroom and directed to the loo.
"Shower and then we'll get you something to eat. Lucius won't be home for another two days so you can stay here until then, alright?"
"Why are you doing this for me?"
"Because…you're family." Narcissa closed the door behind her.
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Padfoot lay low in the bushes, trying to trail the teen in front of him without being seen. It was hard enough to keep moving now that the sun had set and cold was creeping in, he didn't want the young wizard to be startled. Mostly untrained wizards were notorious for blasting curses off and then thinking about it. Good in combat, bad for everyday use.
Or course, all was in vain and Padfoot winced as his godson went head over heels onto the pavement, catching the curb as he did so. Ouch, was all he could think before the large Knight Bus came crashing into view. Sirius got nauseous just thinking about riding the purple monstrosity, but was glad Harry had found a way to get safe. It was amusing to ponder on the 'Giant Flying Woman' spectacle he had viewed earlier, but didn't like the fact that Harry had been left on his own.
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Sirius placed a gently hand on the pale cheek before him and smiled. Even if this was as close as he ever got to Harry, he was glad that he had seen the boy at all. He certainly hadn't expected to get this close, but that poor Longbottom boy had been such a klutz. However, Sirius did ponder the sanity of having Sir Cadogen as a guardian. The man was absolutely barmy and coming from Sirius, that was saying something.
The animagus shook his head and pulled the covers closer to the teen's chin and stepped away. It was time to do what he had come for. Sirius twisted the dagger in his hand and wondered how badly Narcissa was missing it, resolving to return the heirloom.
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Draco Malfoy flopped onto the green covers with a sigh, wishing that he didn't have to get back up and go to History of Magic. He shuffled slightly and gasped when something poked him in the neck. He touched his hand to the small spot and groaned when it came away bloody. He pulled away the covers, irritated.
He stared, stunned, at the antique dagger that had been missing from his home since late June. As he picked it up his eyes landed on a note that had fluttered to the floor. It simply read:
Thanks! – SB
A/N: Ta-da! Only one chapter left!