It was now January 1st, the start of the New Year. Harry had been gone for six months now and was also fourteen. For six months he traveled under his cloak or as his animagus form so that he could remain hidden from those who were looking for him. All over England were missing-child posters with his face on them. The only people he had had contact with were Ron and Hermione, and even then it was only a brief conversation here and there. From what they had told him, Sirius and Remus were extremely worried and upset. Hermione said that Sirius was in tears as he showed them the two-word note he'd left behind. Harry was concerned for his guardians' well-being, but it didn't stop him from pursuing Renwick. It had also taken a lot of effort to convince Ron and Hermione not to blab to the adults about his whereabouts. They were worried he'd get himself killed when fighting Renwick, but Harry had told them about all the new spells he had learned.

When Harry had first left the mansion, he'd set up a tent somewhere outside of London and began learning and putting up enchantments to keep others from detecting him. Afterwards, he spent the months studying hard to learn all different types of defensive and offensive spells. Nightmares often plagued his sleep, but they were easy to live with, and Renwick had only visited Harry a few times since he'd left. Currently, Harry was spending his days searching for Renwick and was chasing leads that came from the Daily Prophet that Hedwig brought him daily.

Although Harry had written to Ron and Hermione, he had not sent a single letter to Sirius or Remus. A part of him was still angry over the information they had kept from him. Did they not think Harry was old enough to handle knowing Renwick was still out there? Even though Harry knew it was irrational and stupid of him to run away, he found it exhilarating to be free of the rules. Shortly after his escape, he'd found an experienced wizard who'd been successful in removing the trace from him. No one had any hopes of finding him. Deep down, Harry sincerely missed Sirius and Remus, but he tried not to think about them. One day, he'd return to them and he really hoped that they didn't hate him for what he had done.

One of Harry's darker accomplishments after leaving the security of home was that he'd learnt the three Unforgiveable Curses. When the time came, he knew that he would use the killing curse in order to get rid of Renwick. The thought scared him a lot, that he'd have to commit a murder, but in this situation it was either kill or be killed, and Harry was not willing to risk anyone else's lives.

Wandering down the streets of London as a giant dog, Harry was heading to a building where Renwick was said to have been seen the day prior. As he walked up to the address, he was shocked to see an old, rusty warehouse. What would Renwick have been doing here? The building was large, but looked abandoned and if it hadn't been entered in decades. Nosing open the large door, Harry snuck inside and was immediately met with a terrible smell. It burned his canine nose and stung his eyes.

Looking around, the warehouse didn't look like much. It was just an empty room filled with dust and cobwebs. As he turned to leave, his eye caught the glint of something silver on the floor. Turning around, he walked over and inspected it; it was a handle for a door leading into the floor. Shifting into his human form, Harry grasped the handle in a firm grip and pulled the heavy door. It was locked. He murmured a soft: "Alohomora" and pulled the door open. As it opened, the stench grew worse. Peering down into the dark cellar, Harry whispered "Lumos."

A latter was leaning against the floor and he climbed down it for several steps before landing on concrete flooring. At his presence, the underground corridor was suddenly illuminated by torches that lined the walls. The sudden brightness momentarily blinded him, but as his eyes recovered, he gasped at what he saw. The long concrete hallway was being used as a cell. Bodies were chained to the wall, some men, some women, and even a few children. All of them were dead, and some were decomposing. Tears pricked Harry's eyes as he turned and hurled up the small meal of fruit he had eaten that morning. Walking further down the corridor, Harry gently called out to see if anyone was still alive. After he approached the end of the hallway, a faint voice responded. "Help me, please…"

Turning on the spot Harry looked down to see a young girl, no older than seven, peering up at him from where she was chained to the wall. Other than being a bit dirty and malnourished, she looked fine. Her hair was long and brown, and she had large brown eyes and a small pointed nose. Harry knelt down in front of her. "What happened here?" he asked softly as he broke off the chains securing her to the wall with a few spells. (He knew she was from the magical world because she was wearing an old ripped pair of robes)

"We were kidnapped, all of us individually and brought here to be food for the Dementors," the girl said with a shudder as Harry helped her to her feet. A strange look crossed her features before she gasped. "You're Harry Potter! Uncle Sirius is losing his mind because of you being missing!"

Shock filled Harry. "You know Sirius?"

The small girl nodded her head as Harry led her from the corridor and helped her up the latter. "My older sister is Nymphadora Tonks; I'm Cleopatra Tonks. Sirius and I met for the first time shortly after your disappearance. I've been keeping him company when he wasn't out searching for you, but one day when I went outside for a while, I wandered too far and was kidnapped by an ugly hairy man named Greyback."

Harry jerked at the name. Greyback took these people here. "How old are you Cleopatra?"

"Just call me Cleo," she said in a tone, much like her older sister's. Harry had met Tonks only a handful of times, but she'd always made sure that no one called her Nymphadora. "And I'm nine." Harry was surprised at her age since she looked so young.

As they exit the warehouse, Harry guided the young girl into the bushes so they wouldn't be seen. "I'm going to change into a dog and bring you to the Ministry building, ok?"

The girl nodded but held up her hand. "How come you ran away? Uncle Sirius and Mr. Remus are out of their minds with worry. Do you realize that you've been gone for six months already? You're missing your fourth year at Hogwarts, as are Hermione and Ron." Harry knew that Hermione and Ron had taken a year off to help "look" for Harry. He wished they wouldn't, but they had said "If we're going to keep your whereabouts quiet, than we are not returning to Hogwarts until you do." He'd had no other choice than to concede.

"I have my reasons," Harry said to Cleopatra. He transformed into a dog and signaled for her to climb on. Although she was a bit heavy, he was still able to run at ease with her on his back. Throughout the streets of London, a lot of people did double takes as they spotted a huge dog running with a malnourished child on its back, but no one moved to stop them. A pang went through Harry's heart as he saw his missing poster lining up and down the streets. Shaking his head, he pushed on for an hour until they arrived out front of the Ministry.

As he halted, the girl slid off of his back. Reaching down, she placed a kiss on his forehead and murmured "Thanks for saving me Harry. I won't tell anyone I saw you." He nodded his thanks.

Just as he was turning to start his run back to his tent, a strangled familiar voice choked out his name. "H-Harry?" Looking in front of him, he saw Sirius walking out of the ministry. Harry almost let out a whimper at the sight of his godfather. Sirius was extremely thin and had dark circles under his eyes. More grey hair was mixed with his usual black than he had ever seen before. A dozen expressions crossed Sirius' face at once; anger, love, sorrow, fury, happiness, confusion, anxiety… "Harry, is that you?"