Surrey was quieter then I was expecting, and when I found my way to Privet Drive in Little Whinging I was overwhelmed with the cookie-cutter homes that lined the streets. I thought to myself that this would be a very boring place to live; with nosey Muggle neighbors no doubt. I wondered if Lily Potter had grown up in a neighborhood similar to this one, with alley paths between the blocks of houses, and parks in the center of the neighborhood.
I had never grown up in a neighborhood like this. My Mother probably felt that it was restricting to a creative environment because it was so normalized. My Mother had been a bit of an artistic hippy when I knew her growing up; she painted rooms in the house white so that I could color, draw, or paint them however I liked. She had a studio in the basement of the house, where she painted her own masterpieces. After her death I learned a great deal more about her past, but that didn't change that she spent sixteen years once I was born trying to make up for her dark mistakes. She volunteered with homeless shelters, was an active member in Muggle civil organizations, and worked part-time at the state Magical Ministry. No…growing up in a neighborhood like this would not have been acceptable for my Mother, and she probably wouldn't have been accepted in it either.
I walked down the dark quiet street looking for Number 4. I hoped that this evening would go over easily. The only thing I had to do was pick up Harry and deliver him to Hogwarts. Of course, I was prepared for the worst to happen…to be ambushed or attacked by Death Eaters (which was low risk) or Sirius Black (slightly higher risk). In theory, nothing should have gone wrong—so imagine my surprise when I arrived at Number 4 to find that Harry Potter was not there.
I had never met Lily's older sister Petunia; Lily had always made her out to be a horrible nosey close-minded individual. I had prepared for the worst when it came to meeting this woman. Apparently she hated magic and anything to do with it; she also hated Lily and James, even more then that she hated Harry. According to Lily, Petunia's husband Vernon wasn't the nicest person in the world either. I wasn't very happy when Dumbledore had sent Harry to live with his Aunt and Uncle on Privet Drive. First of all, I was named Harry's Godmother and given parental rights over Harry if anything were to happen to Lily and James. Dumbledore had felt that living with a non-magical family would be best for Harry. That way he'd be out of the spot light of being the Boy-Who-Lived, and would be able to grow up with a relatively normal childhood. My argument had been if Lily wanted Harry to live with Petunia she would have given her guardianship, not me. But Dumbledore's argument still held ground, and in the end he won.
The front door of Number 4 opened promptly when I rang the bell. A large, purple faced man opened the door, glaring at me with nasty beady eyes. I frowned slightly and stood my ground as he tried to intimidate me with his imposing body. His eyes turned to a look of fear when they fell on the wand stuck in my boot. I wasn't entirely sure if the fear was caused by the sight of my wand, or the knife that sat right next to it.
"Hello," I said reaching into the inside pocket of my sleeveless cloak. I pulled out an official looking letter that had been in my assignment file folder and extended it to the man. "You must be Mr. Vernon Dursley. I'm Cadence Coleman. I work for the Ministry of Magic in London—"
"Y-you're one of them?" he asked with a disgusted look on his face.
"Excuse me?" I responded slightly offended.
"You're here to fix this right mess!" he said with some annoyance. He turned and motioned for me to follow him into the house. I frowned slightly and followed him, unsure of what Dursley was referring too. My eyes opened wide with surprise when I entered the kitchen to see a skinny long faced woman, Petunia Dursley, on top of a dinning room chair, holding onto the ankle of a fat inflated woman who was floating up to the ceiling of the room.
I tried very hard not to smile as I looked up at the inflated woman who was screaming and trying to push away from the ceiling, but her chest was inflated so much that her arms could not reach it.
"Where is Harry?" I asked Vernon. "Upstairs?"
"He just ran out of here!" Petunia yelled. "That nasty child blew up Marge and just left!"
"He's gone?" I asked turning to Petunia with horror. "How could you just let him leave! There's a bloody mass murderer out to get him!"
"What else is new?" shrugged Vernon. "Hasn't there been one out for him since he was born?"
I shoved past him and made my way back to the front door. How could this have happened? This was supposed to be an easy assignment—and the damned boy had run away. He was more of a risk taker then I expected which was foolish of me. James had always been outgoing and fearless. I imagined Harry would be very similar; after all he had retrieved the Sorcerer's stone from the dungeons of Hogwarts, and saved a girl from the Chamber of Secrets last year.
"Wait!" Vernon said grabbing my arm. He swung me around and I gave him a very nasty glare. I lifted his hand off of me slowly and he took a step back. "You can't just leave her like that!"
"I'm sure that Ministry clean-up will be here within the hour," I said turning and leaving the house quickly. I had to find Harry Potter quickly, before someone else did.
By this time the sky was pitch black outside, which made me even more nervous. I sighed and smacked my hand against my head as I stood in the middle of the street in Little Whinging. I was a trained Auror; I could very well find a thirteen year old boy who could not legally perform magic and just ran away from home. If he had taken his school things with him he couldn't have gotten far.
I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated all of my energy on Harry. I didn't know him very well, but I prayed that just concentrating all of my energy on him would allow me to find him mentally with Legilimency, and then I would be able to Apparate to him. When I expanded my mind in Little Whinging I picked up every person's memories within a fifty mile radius. I had to sort through the rush of memories and emotions looking for those that would be specific to Harry Potter. It took awhile, but eventually I found him. After I saw the memories of a man wearing women's underwear, I found the memory of a green flash of light and a woman's scream. I recognized the woman's scream as that of Lily Potter. I opened my eyes and sighed with pain. Hearing Lily scream made my skin crawl. I had to focus. She would never forgive me if I didn't find her son. I Apparated on the spot.
The street I appeared on was across from the small park at the center of the neighborhood. I looked across the road to see a figure walking through the park, dragging a trunk and owl cage behind them. I smiled slightly, that must be him. He walked up to the wall that lined the entire street opposite me and sat down carefully, leaning his trunk against the wall. I hesitated for a moment as he bent over his trunk and began to rummage through it. I approached him slowly, knowing very well that Harry would not trust me—which was good, he shouldn't. As I approached I noticed how skinny he was because of how baggy his clothes were. I frowned deeply. It looked like his Aunt and Uncle were starving him and giving him hand me downs of the large fat boy I had seen in the kitchen at their house. They were neglecting him…was this Dumbledore's idea of protection?
I stopped abruptly when I reached the gate of the park because Harry had stood up
abruptly from his trunk. I followed the direction he was looking and saw a large black dog standing between the garage of a house and the wall. My heart plummeted into my stomach as I recognized the dog. I jumped over the fence and pulled my wand from my boot. Harry lit the tip of his wand, probably thinking that it was a stray cat in the alley…not a monstrous black dog, that wasn't really a dog at all.
"Harry!" I yelled as he fell back over his trunk. He threw his hand out and there was the sound of tires grinding on pavement approaching. I reached Harry and grabbed him, pausing only for a moment as if I was looking at ghost. Harry looked just like his Father, but with Lily's emerald green eyes. I turned back to the alley and flicked my wand, sending light flashing. There was a small explosion and I saw the dog run off away from the garage where it had been hiding. I dashed after it, but I ran at the wall Harry had been leaning on, I realized that he was gone. The dog was gone.
"Who the heck are you!" Harry said when I returned to him and pulled him up.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard—" said a pimply teenager stepping down from the bright purple triple decker Knight Bus that had pulled up next to the curb.
"Get on the bus," I said shoving Harry towards the bus in a rush. He tripped again, obviously not very fast on his feet, and fell to the curb where the pimply teenager had just stepped down.
"What are you doing on the ground, mate?" he asked.
"Well I didn't get down intentionally," Harry said dusting himself off. "What is that?"
"The Knight Bus," said the kid. "I'm Stan Shunpike, conductor of the Knight Bus."
"Great, nice to meet you," I said grabbing Harry's trunk. "Come on, let's go."
"Whoa," said Harry grabbing his trunk from my hand. "I don't know you. I'm not going anywhere with you."
I sighed with some annoyance and pulled the letter that I was going to show the Dursley's out of my cloak pocket. I handed it to Harry, who looked it over shortly, but still looked up at me with skepticism. I snapped my fingers and with a light pop a photo appeared in my hands. I looked at it with a sad frown and then extended it to Harry, who took it slowly. He bit his bottom lip and nodded his head as he stared down at the picture of me and Lily Potter, leaning together cheek to cheek as I took a picture of us while she held a newborn Harry.
"Hey, what's that on your head?" Stan asked Harry.
"Nothing," Harry said brushing his hair in front of his face. It looked like a habit, something he did often subconsciously. I frowned slightly and took Harry's shoulder, pulling him away from the Knight Bus for a moment.
"Excuse us for a moment," I said to Stan. Harry and I stepped a few feet away and he immediately questioned me.
"How long did you know my Mother?" he asked offering the picture back to me. I took it and slipped it into the inside pocket of my cloak.
"About five years," I whispered. "We met when we were in our sixth year once I moved here. The last time I saw her was your first birthday, before you all went into hiding."
He nodded his head slowly. "And what do you want now?"
"Well," I sighed slightly. "Like it says in that letter, I'm your Godmother."
"So?" he questioned, interrupting me.
"So, I'm here to take you to Hogwarts early," I said with some annoyance. I did not appreciate his tone, despite understanding why he was being so lippy. "The Minister and Dumbledore want you to go there."
Harry was studying me very seriously. "How about, since I don't know you," he said. "We got the Leaky Cauldron."
"What?" I looked at him confused. "Why?"
"Because I don't trust you," he said turning and going back to the bus.
"What'd you say your name was?" Stan asked when Harry returned to the bus, dragging his trunk with him.
"I didn't," Harry responded.
"Well then what is it?"
Harry hesitated for a moment. "Neville Longbottom."
A piece of my heart broke when Harry said that name. I had known Neville Longbottom's parents, Alice and Frank. They were members of the Order, good people. I had read in a paper that shortly after Harry's defeat over my Father Bellatrix LeStrange and her husband had been caught torturing the Longbottom's. They were tortured until they lost their minds.
I grabbed Harry's owl cage and made to follow him on the bus.
"This lady giving you trouble, Neville?" Stan asked puffing his chest out at me. I looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"No not really," Harry said after a second.
"I will give you trouble, Stan, if you don't mind your own business," I said crossly. He stepped aside with a huff and bid me entry to the bus. Stan showed us to a set of beds near the front of the bus. Harry sat down on one and sighed loudly. I took a seat in an arm chair next to the bed and crossed my arms over my chest, observing the other passenger's on the bus. The entire ride I remained quiet, allowing Harry to talk with Stan.
"That man! He was on the Muggle news!" Harry blurted suddenly. I sat up straight and looked at him with concern. Harry was looking at the front page of the newspaper Stan was reading. I frowned slightly; he was pointing to Sirius Black's picture.
"Sirius Black," Stan said. "Of course he's been on the Muggle news, where've you been Neville?"
Stan shook his head as he laughed lightly to himself. He pulled the front page of the paper off and handed it to Harry who looked confused.
"You should read the paper more, Neville," Stan said then disappeared behind his paper again. I leaned over towards Harry who was reading the article quickly.
"That's the reason I came to get you," I said point to the picture of my ex boyfriend. Harry looked up at me with confused eyes.
"He really killed thirteen people?" he asked softly.
"With one curse," I said nodding my head. I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes sadly. I could feel Harry's eyes on me; he could see that there was more about Black then him killing thirteen people that bothered me. I didn't know how much Harry knew about Sirius—like the fact that Sirius was his Godfather, and that he had betrayed Harry's parents; obviously he didn't know that Sirius and I were together for nearly five years.
"Scary looking ain't he?" said Stan poking into our conversation. "People say he was a big follower of You-Know-Who—"
"You mean Voldemort?" Harry questioned. I smacked my forehead the moment he said my Father's name. Stan looked like he was about to have a heart attack and the driver of the Knight Bus swerved in the street.
"What'cha doing saying his name!" Stan snapped. "My heart is racing!"
"Sorry, sorry," Harry said quickly. "So…you were saying that Black was a follower of You-Know-Who?"
Stan shook his head. "Could have bloody killed us…" He sat up straight and sighed slightly, then continued with his story. "They say that when You-Know-Who was destroyed by little Harry Potter—" Harry subconscious patted down the front of his hair again. "—that all of his Death Eaters started to go into hiding, or turned themselves in all quiet like, but not Sirius Black. Nope, no he didn't. He thought he was second in command or something with You-Know-Who gone."
I was looking at Stan with high eyebrows. This was the most ridiculous story I had ever heard. First of all, Sirius was about to flew the country when Gabriel caught him. He was definitely keeping quiet, trying to disappear. Secondly, my Father had no second in command. My Father made many people believe that they were his most loyal follower, but he didn't have one. He was completely independent and he always would be.
"Anyway, they corned Black on a Muggle street, full of Muggles in the bright of day," Stan said leaning forward. "And what does Black do? He blows half the street up! Killing one wizard and twelve Muggles. You know what he did then?"
"What?" Harry asked eagerly. I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Laughed," Stan said after a moment of silence, as if he were pausing for dramatic effect. "He just laughed until they carted him off to Azkaban. He's mad, I'm telling you."
I could only stare at Stan. Was this the story that the papers had released? That the Ministry had released to the papers? I was going to have serious words with someone about the story because it was absolutely ridiculous—although there wasn't much they could do about it now, twelve years after the story had been created.
After that Harry and Stan grew silent. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, watching Harry who looked very nervous.
"You alright, Neville?" I asked. I was weird calling him Neville, but obviously I couldn't call him Harry.
"Yea," he said. "Just a little…nervous."
"Don't worry about your Aunt," I said suspecting that he was nervous about performing illegal magic on his Aunt Marge. "I'm sure the Minister will understand."
"What?" Harry questioned. I smiled and patted his shoulder. "Try and get some rest."
"Hey, Neville, where you headed?" Stan asked.
"Diagon Alley," Harry said once he glanced at me.
"What are you going to do once we get to the Leaky Cauldron?" I asked.
"Write to Dumbledore," he said instantly. "Ask about you…"
"Alright," I whispered. "Whatever you want."
I had to show Harry that he could trust me. If he wanted to go to the Leaky Cauldron to write to Dumbledore that was fine. I didn't blame him; and I was actually proud that he would check up on me before traveling a long distant with me. Harry was very smart and I was sure just from the few moments I had spent with him so far that he would make a spectacular wizard some day.
We arrived at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley shortly after that. Stan helped Harry with his luggage and I followed them off the bus.
"Harry," said a voice with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Minister!" I said with surprise.
The Minister himself stood before Harry and I; he looked cold and tired, which didn't surprise me, it had been quiet a day.
"Hello Miss Coleman," said Fudge with a slight glare to me. "Aren't you supposed to be taking Mr. Potter to Hogwarts?"
"Well yes, Sir," I said. "Things didn't go as planned—"
"I expect a full report on my desk tomorrow," Fudge said with annoyance. "I don't understand how a thirteen year old boy could get away from a fully trained Auror, especially one of your qualifications."
I frowned deeply. The Minister's words were uncalled for. Harry had run away before he was my responsibility. And I had found him! I made to speak, but I bit my own tongue as Harry looked up at me with sad eyes.
"You believe me now?" I asked softly.
"Yea," he nodded. "I wasn't sure if I could trust Cadence, Minister. We agreed to come here so I could write to Dumbledore before I traveled with her. She didn't do anything wrong—"
"That's alright Harry," Fudge said. "Come on, let's get inside. You're excused Miss Coleman, see you tomorrow."
I sighed and shrugged. "Very well. Good evening to both of you." I looked at Harry and pulled the picture of me and his Mother out of my pocket. "It was a pleasure Mr. Potter." I handed him the picture and turned on my heel, walking away in the gloomy night. At least Harry was safe, that was all that mattered.
What I had seen earlier that night in the alley near the park finally sunk in as I walked home. In the calm of the night I was able to think and review what had happened. I frowned as I walked in the rain. Should I put in my report that I had seen a massive black dog watching Harry in the park? Should I report that I had seen Sirius Black, in his unregistered Animagus form? Was I even sure that the dog in the alley had been Sirius? It had been ages since I'd seen Sirius as a dog. I honestly think the last time I had seen him like that was when we were still in school, about fifteen years ago. I probably shouldn't put it in the report unless I was one hundred percent sure of what I had seen.
I sighed as I reached the block that Gabriel's apartment was on. As I walked by it, I looked up and remembered the short time I had lived here after Sirius had left me. I stopped in front of the gate of Gabriel's home and looked up at the empty house. There was a prickle up my spine, making me think that someone was watching me. I turned and saw a tall skinny man standing on the other side of the street. My breath caught in my throat and I stepped into the street without looking. The sound of a screeching horn erupted. I froze in shock as a Muggle car sped at me. I dived out of the way, but the car clipped me, knocking me onto the ground. I rolled across the cement into the gutter as the car slammed on its brakes, stopping near by.
I groaned in pain, feeling my body ache all over from the impact of the car. I looked up as someone fell to their knees next to me. Those dark midnight blue eyes were unmistakable. Reaching up, I grabbed onto Sirius Black's collar. He pulled away and jumped off as a Muggle ran towards us. I rolled on my side, watching Sirius as he ran off down the street and disappeared into an alley. I sighed, holding my side and took a long breath as I stood up.
"Hey, hey," said a Muggle man grabbing me. "Are you okay? Sit down, you shouldn't be on your feet—"
"I'm fine," I said as I gritted my teeth together. I could feel my insides flipping. I was going to throw up from the throbbing pain in my sides and legs. I grabbed my knees and bent over, throwing up on the Muggle's shoes. I sighed with embarrassment and stood up straight, feeling mildly better.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered as he held onto my arm. He smiled at me.
"It's only fair, since I hit you with my car," he shrugged. The man was very attractive; tall with sandy blonde hair falling in front his dark blue eyes. He had a sharp jaw and clean shaven face. "What were you doing in the middle of the street?"
"I thought I saw someone," I sighed as I fell backwards, off balance. The man held onto me tightly and lowered me down to the curb.
"I think you should go to the hospital—"
"No!" I said crossly. "Thank you for your help, but you've done enough. You can go. I won't press charges."
The man raised his eyebrows at me. "Alright," he said bewildered. "Well is there someone I can call for you?"
"No," I shook my head as I held my side. It hurt to breathe; I was sure I had broken my ribs, again. It was amazing I had any ribs left. The man knelt down next to me and reached for my side. I grabbed his hand instinctively and he looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"I was just going to feel if your ribs were broken," he whispered. "My name is Jonathan Clover, I'm a medic."
I frowned nodding my head. I laid back on the sidewalk as Jonathan Clover's Muggle hands touched my sides. I gasped in pain and recoiled from him when he touched just under my breast on my left side.
"Yea, that's definitely broken," he said. "You need to go to the hospital. I'll drive you."
"No, no," I sighed as gasped for breath. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Gabriel with all my might. I needed him to come get me…I needed to channel him with Legilimency. It was so difficult to focus while I lay on the cement in pain, and Muggle blabbering about how I had to go to the hospital. I bit my lip and focused—I had been in worse situations. Being hit by a car was nothing…
Gabriel!
In the distance I heard the faint crack of someone Apparating near by. I was surprised with how quickly Gabriel had responded, but I wasn't going to complain.
"Cadence!" he called from far away. I turned my head to my right and saw Gabriel running down the sidewalk towards me. "You! Get your hands off her!"
Jonathan pulled away instantly and raised his hands in the air. I frowned slightly; I hadn't expected Gabriel to respond like that. I felt a little guilty, it wasn't Jonathan's fault that he had hit me with the car and he was just trying to be nice by helping me.
"Gabriel," I sighed. "It's fine…he's just helping…"
"Looks like he molesting you," Gabriel said grabbing Jonathan and pulling him to his feet.
"Gabriel!" I yelled sitting up. I cursed loudly as pain seared up my side. I grabbed my side and curled over, groaning.
"I was just trying to help her man," Jonathan said nervously. "She jumped in front of my car, I side swiped her…she has some broken ribs."
Gabriel released Jonathan. "Get out of here."
Jonathan gave me one last glance, but then turned and ran back to his car. I looked up at Gabriel with a frank smile.
"You're so charming," I said.
"Shut up," he said bending down and scooping me up in his arms. I gasped as he held me, touching my damaged ribs. "What the bloody hell are you doing outside of my apartment, in the middle of the street? Why'd you jump in front of his car?"
"Sirius was across the street, I didn't look before I went to chase after him," I sighed as Gabriel carried me across the street to his apartment. He mounted the steps and I opened the front door for him with a key he kept on a chain around his neck. Once we were inside his apartment he Apparated me home.
There was a single candle light on the kitchen counter when we arrived. I sighed slightly when Gabriel carried me all the way upstairs to my bedroom.
"I could have walked up here," I said.
"Shut up," he said to me for the second time that night. He placed me gently on the bed and pulled out his wand as I light the candle in the room with my mind. The flames danced as I took off my cloak and shirt. I laid back in the bed and let Gabriel poke me with his wand, tapping and repairing my damaged ribs.
"Do you still have that brace you wore thirteen or so years ago?" he asked.
"Probably, but I won't wear it," I sighed, gasping each time he poked me hard with his wand. Repairing bones was not an easy or painless job. It hurt more to repair them then it did to break them. I cried out suddenly when there was a crack from the rib repositioning itself. I looked down at my body with frustration. The entire left side of my torso was already bruising.
"He really clipped you good," Gabriel said.
"Carrigan is in bed?" I asked with another gasp.
"Yes," he nodded. "So keep your voice down."
"Stop poking me so hard," I snipped. Gabriel smiled at me with passion filled green eyes. I don't know when they had changed color, but as he looked at me in the candle light, with my shirt off, I could only see an emerald tint in his irises. I sighed and laid back in the pillows. I was frustrated that I had been hit by a Muggle car—did this show dedication or what? I'd jump in front of a moving vehicle if it meant catching Sirius Black.
"Or it just shows how dumb you are," Gabriel said. I glared at him for reading my mind and he laughed. "I think that will do it." He stood up and I thanked him. "I'll sleep on the couch again."
"Good night," I said sorely remaining in the bed. Once he left the bedroom I blinked my eyes and the candles went out. My body ached from the injuries, but so did my heart. Seeing Sirius up close, him touching me…it sent chills through my body and broke down a part of my heart I thought I had shut down.
I rolled on my right side and pulled a pillow against my body as tears took over my eyes. I had loved him all this time, despite everything—him leaving me, betraying my friends and me—I had to. Everyday I looked at Carrigan and I saw him; my heart hurt so much for him that eventually I just shut down. I had turned cold and rigid…but when he touched me in the street just then all feeling returned—and it hurt. The loving memories I had blocked from my heart hurt too much to handle, causing me to cry into the pillow sheets that night. I was still madly in love with Sirius Black…I probably would be for the rest of my life, with any means.