Ugh, really sorry folks but university work has seriously been bogging me down. I am hoping to get back on track soon but at this stage I'm making no promises. But I do promise you that I will continue this story no matter how long it takes me to reach the end.
Valuris - To answer your question, which I did not allow onto the review page so nobody else would be able to see what it was and get spoilers - yes.
Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix
Chapter 27:- Missing Family
To Sirius, the click of his claws on the tarmac beneath him sounded abominably loud in his ears, even despite all the other surrounding noises from the cars and the pedestrians. He almost felt like some kind of creepy stalker, the same exact way that he'd felt when he'd first escaped from Azkaban and popped over to Privet Drive just to see how Harry was doing before he went after Wormtail.
But this time he was following two young and, it had to be said, very attractive looking young women.
He might have been in the guise of a large dog, but he almost felt as though he should have been on a leash, walking alongside some creepy man trying to act like an innocent dog-walker in the hopes to throw his two targets off suspecting him as they walked back to the place where they were staying.
This isn't you being creepy, he murmured to himself mentally as he followed one behind Erza and Cana, the latter leaning a little heavily against the former and quaffing the bottle she held in her hand like there was no tomorrow. This is just so you can find a way to talk to them and let them know you know who they are… yeah… that doesn't sound creepy at all. Dear gosh though… that Cana reeks of alcohol… she must have had far much more than I thought. I guess she can really hold her liquor…
"You know, I'm sure that if we'd waited just a little longer I could have made at least a hundred more… more… er… what's the name of this money again… I've lost the word."
"Pounds. You would have gained a hundred more pounds!"
"Oi, you saying I'd get fat!?" Cana slurred, laughing raucously. "Nah, I'm kidding… but seriously who thought it would be a good idea to name a money the same as a weight measure?"
"Maybe the money came first in this world," Erza replied. "But please keep it down. Remember, we can't let people know we're not familiar with the customs of this world."
"Roger… You can rely on… hic… me, Cap'n Erza…"
Sirius ears perked up at the captor's words. So… somehow they knew that they were in another dimension to their own. But how could they have known that? Certainly they couldn't have had a run-in with the Ministry, or Kingsley or Tonks would have heard about it. Had they had a run-in with another witch or wizard then… no surely not… if they had then they must have known that Fairy Tail was being hunted by the Ministry. And if they knew that, why would Erza be walking around with her Fairy Tail mark in plain sight? If he'd been correctly informed about her, she was powerful but she was not reckless.
"Then Cap'n Erza decrees that you need to get some rest," Erza chuckled. But just then, she looked back over her shoulder, her eyes came to rest on Sirius. Balking internally, the shaggy dog instantly changed course and approached a tree growing out of the pavement, sniffing around the base of it slightly, his human brain fighting the urge to retch when he realised he could smell the urine of another dog that had been there recently.
Wow… trying to make sure the target doesn't know I'm following her… yeah this really is stalker-like behaviour, Sirius muttered. He rolled his eye slightly to see what Erza was doing… and found she was still staring at him.
"Huh? What's wrong, Erza?" Cana asked.
"That dog…" Erza replied… "It's cute."
Sirius' ears shot up. Cute? A girl had just called him cute? Wow… normally people described his canine form as rather fierce-looking or something of that ilk… but cute… that was a new one…
"Eh… you wanna take it home with us?" Cana snickered.
"Well… um… I have always wanted a pet," Erza blushed slightly.
"Really?" Cana blinked. "I never knew that."
"Well… I've never really broadcast it. But I've always thought it would be nice to have something I can just… dote on a little… But I wouldn't have the time. I'm always going on missions so I'd have to have someone look after it for me all the time and… with the way most of the men in our guild act its like we've already got ourselves a little zoo sometimes."
Cana burst out laughing. "Well that's true. But I don't think we can take a dog with us on the train."
"You're right of course," Erza nodded, before they turned back and headed away once more. Sirius allowed his tail to wag a little just for the benefit of anyone else that might be watching, head tilting up to watch the two mages wander away. Now that Erza had registered he was there he couldn't follow them by sight anymore, or she'd suspect something was up. But fortunately he was a dog, equipped with their brilliantly versatile sense of smell. So when he lost sight of them he placed his nose to the ground and followed along jauntily, inhaling the fresh scene of more dog urine, cigarette smoke, car exhaust… ugh, humans really were polluting their cities… oh, he could smell fish and chips too. He fancied some of that.
But he could also smell the scent of the two women, although it was almost drowned out by that of the alcohol Cana was… probably still drinking.
He meandered down two more streets, following the scent, before it veered off sharply into a narrow, dank-looking alleyway. Hmm… odd… why on earth would they have come in here? But he cantered down it anyway… right before something crashed down in front of him and suddenly there was a sword levelled right at his face.
"GGRGG!" Instinct took hold and Sirius sprang backwards, fangs baring as a vicious snarl peeled forth from the back of his throat, hackles raising in defiance of the woman standing before him. Somehow Erza had managed to don what appeared to be a suit of armour that covered much of her upper body and was fixing perhaps the most intense stare that Sirius had ever seen right on him… it was a stare that rivalled that of Lily Potter's… or even Dumbledore's.
"I was right," Erza noted. "You are no ordinary dog, are you? I noticed you following us right back at the pub and deliberately went off down random side-streets just to see whether you would continue to do so… what are you really?"
Sirius growled, wrinkling his nose, his animalistic instincts telling him to either flee or attack, and his human brain fighting for control for a moment - after all any animal would panic with such a large sword being levelled at him. His eyes flicked to the side when Cana moved out of the shadows too, eyeing him warily and with several splayed cards clutched in one hand, while the other… was still holding the same bottle as before. Was she incapable of putting it down?
"Talk," Erza growled lowly, extending her arm to inch the blade's tip closer to Sirius' face. "I am going to assume that you can. Were you a simple animal you would have acted in some way by this point."
"You hope," Cana muttered. It would be pretty embarrassing if Erza really was just yelling at an ordinary dog.
But… well… now was as good a time as any. If Sirius could have shrugged his canine shoulders he would have done, but he couldn't… so he slowly shifted back into his normal shape and shrugged his human shoulders instead, holding up his arms and giving both the girls his most charming smile.
"Okay, okay. You caught me," he said. "I give you full marks for your observational skills. Well done."
"So… magic does exist in this world," Cana murmured. "We were starting to wonder… what was that, Transformation Magic or a Take-Over."
"The magic is not important," Erza countered. "It is the man that is. Who are you?"
"The name's Sirius. And I'd like to request that you refrain from trying to cut my head off when I tell you that I am already fully aware of who you both are… Erza Scarlet and Cana… um… no wait, your surname's not Clive, is it - it's something else."
"Clive?" Cana barked, looking far more sober now than she had five minutes ago. "That's my father's surname. You know him?"
"Indeed I do. I was just talking with him not two hours ago actually. He and several other of your Fairy Tail friends…"
"And why should we believe that?" Erza interjected. "If that were true, then what was stopping you from just coming up to us in the street and talking to us about that? Why the need to stalk us in the shape of a dog?"
"It's complicated," Sirius held him arms up demurely. "But hey, how can I be lying about the fact I know Cana's father. I would hardly just be able to make something like that up, could I?"
"There exist techniques in our world where it is possible to read the mind of others," Erza stated. "I have encountered first-hand a man with such sensitive hearing that he was even capable of hearing people's thoughts. And even if it were true that you knew Gildarts, I have also been to a world which had duplicate members of myself and everyone from our world. You could mean that, and for all we know the Gildarts of this world is a powerful warlord hell bent on destruction."
"There's a scary thought," Cana shivered.
"So, I reiterate… why should we believe you?" Erza concluded.
"…Er… well… you've pretty much covered all the bases that I would use and crossed them off as being unreliable…" Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "By that logic, I don't think that there is anything I can say to make you believe me. I can only ask you to at least hear me out."
Erza stared at him hard for an uncomfortable ten seconds before she glanced to her companion. "What do you think, Cana?" she intoned, her armour rustling as she lowered her blade ever so slightly. "Should we give him the benefit of the doubt for now…"
"I think… it would be pretty stupid of us not to. I mean, yeah he could be lying, but he could also not be. We'd be idiots to just turn him away without even listening to what he has to say. We can decide for ourselves later if he's valid."
"…Good point," Erza nodded and lowered her blade, the tip clinking against the ground as Sirius let out a sigh of relief that he didn't know he'd been holding. He didn't fancy his chances in a fight with this woman, especially without a wand. His only option would have been to turn canine and leg it, but for some reason he didn't think that would have been enough.
"Alright then," the scarlet warrior placed both of hands on the pommel of her sword and stared fixedly at Sirius while Cana took another swig of her bottle. "Talk. Tell us what you know."
"Well, for a start, I know why you and the rest of your friends were not vaporised by that black dragon, Acnologia. And I can tell you that as far as I'm aware, every one of your pals that were on that island are still alive. I'm not sure where all of them are yet but, most of them are accounted for. But the point is, you were saved by the ghost of your first Master, Mavis Vermilion…"
Sirius' storytelling skills weren't the best, and he had to keep doubling back to mention something he'd forgotten and try to create the full picture, but Erza listened attentively to every word. As did Cana, or at least Sirius assumed so. But eventually everything was told, and Sirius spread his arms and gave them a disarming grin.
"That's the lot. Believe me or not, that's what I have to say."
"Well…" Erza placed an armour-plated finger to her chin. "It is a very comprehensive story… quite detailed as well… it would impressive to make something like that up on the spot."
"Yeah, but there's still something you haven't told us," Cana raised a brow. "Why you were stalking us through the streets like that instead of just walking up and asking to speak to us in private or something. I'd be a lot more inclined to trust your word if you'd done that."
"So would I," admitted Sirius. "But I'm afraid I can't really show my face in public. It wouldn't end well for me."
"And why not?" said Erza.
Sirius grimaced, passing a hand over his face and groaning internally… let's see how much they trusted him if he told them this:-
"Because… because I'm a wanted fugitive. For a crime I didn't commit!" he added hastily. "But… yeah… if any of those people out there had been a wizard or a witch and they had seen me, they would have contacted the authorities immediately. I was tailing you back to your place so that I could try and confront you in private."
"What crime?" Erza asked bluntly.
"Mass murder. But it wasn't me, it was the man that I was confronting - a snivelling little coward who blew up half the street we were in and then faked his own death to make it look like I'd killed him. Most of the people in this world still think I'm guilty. If I'm caught it would probably mean the death penalty… or worse…"
Cana's eyes were narrowed suspiciously, eyeing Sirius up and down, clearly sceptical of everything he was saying. But Erza… she suddenly looked a little taken aback. A faint breeze wafted at her long red hair, and briefly imprinted in her mind's eye was the image of another man… one with blue hair and a strange, arrow-like tattoo running down one side of his face.
A man who really had committed murder…
…although not of his own will.
"You realise we still have only your word that any of this is true," Cana began, but Erza suddenly dispelled her sword, the blade vanishing in a flash of pure light. "Um… Erza…"
"Very well," Erza said. "I will believe you."
"You will?" Sirius blinked. He'd been certain that she would try and impale him on the spot when he confessed to being on the run from the law.
"You will?" Cana agreed, equally nonplussed.
"For now," Erza nodded sombrely. "I… could not in good conscience condemn a man without knowing the full picture. Not after…" she paused, her face reddening slightly before she shook her head. "I choose to believe you. But, if it turns out that you are lying to us and you really are a threat, you will be the one that regrets me ever trusting you, not the other way around."
"Well, I… very much appreciate it," Sirius coughed, before turning to Cana. "And you?"
Cana wrinkled her nose but lowered her cards. "I still dunno about this. But… Erza's intuition is pretty good. Hmm… alright, fine. I'll run with this for now too."
"Glad to hear it," Sirius grinned.
"So… our friends are at this… Grimmauld Place that you mentioned?"
"Yes, at least most of them are. And that's in London which is… where are we?"
"Preston," Cana replied. "That's the name of this city."
"Ah. Well then, its a long way south of here."
"Then it is fortunate we ran into you," Erza stated. "We were planning to head north, towards those mountains we saw on that visual box… television, I believe it is called… where the avalanche was stopped by what we were certain was our friend Natsu. If he is now at the other end of the country, it's good you found us before we went off on a wild goose chase."
"Indeed, and I will be more than willing to take you there. Though its a long journey so we'd still have to catch a train. And you should make sure to cover up those Fairy Tail marks of yours. You're lucky that the Ministry haven't cottoned on to the fact that you're here…"
"Noted," Erza nodded.
"Um… by the way… now I've told my story I really think I should hear yours. "How are you… here in the middle of a city without drawing attention to yourself. The way you Fairy Tail mages usually act… your incredible magic… the Ministry should have come falling on the two of you like a ton of bricks by now."
"And perhaps they would have done, had we been openly using our magic in public. But… we've been being discrete."
"…Not a word I would use to describe the majority of you," Sirius muttered.
"Not a word we'd use either," Cana snorted.
"But then… how long have you been here?"
"About a week and a half now. We woke up on the side of a riverbank a few miles from here, no clue where we were, freaking out that we didn't know where our friends were, you know - the usual specs for being attacked by a dragon and the next thing you know finding yourself alone in a strange, unfamiliar place," Cana recited. "So we wandered off together searching for someone we knew, but the first thing we saw was this… huge road."
"Road?"
"Indeed," Erza nodded. "We were quite taken aback at the sight of it. Actually though it was more like two roads immediately next to each other. One with all these vehicles going in the same direction in three rows, and the other with vehicles going in the exact opposite direction in another three rows."
"Ah," Sirius couldn't help but smirk, putting on a faux voice of awe as he continued. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, what you are describing there is the world's largest and longest variety of road… they call it… the motorway!"
Erza rolled her eyes slightly. "Clearly it is a common thing in this world. But I am very well travelled back in my country and I had never encountered anything like it before. Most of the vehicles that were on it too were unfamiliar to me. And having been to an alternate world to my own only recently, also full of strange new things, it wasn't hard for me to deduce that we'd somehow landed in another world again."
"It's been known to happen," Cana agreed. "Granted only once that I'm aware of but we remembered Lisanna's story. How she almost died and then woke up in a totally strange place. We figured the same thing must have happened to us somehow. Though of course, Erza was willing to stroll right onto the road, stop a car in its tracks and make whoever was inside answer all her questions about this world," the brunette added with a wry smirk.
"I still don't see what would have been so wrong with that. After all, when I ask people things they usually tell me."
"Unless they don't do it fast enough," Cana shook her head. "But… fortunately… I stopped her and we heading into the nearest town. We reasoned that there was a chance this world was unfamiliar with magic and so searched for any signs of magic but couldn't really find any. So we decided to keep our own magic hidden so we wouldn't scare anyone and I used my tarot-reading skills to earn enough money for us to stay at a little bed and breakfast nearby. And… that's where we've been ever since, trying to work out what our next move will be."
"It's a relief to finally learn that our friends are okay," Erza smiled, before her expression hardened and she added, "Which means if we find out you were lying about that my rage will be doubled, understand?"
"Crystal clear, ma'am," Sirius saluted. "But heck, serious congratulations are in order for managing to keep such a low profile. My guess though is that Preston doesn't have very many wizards and witches in it. With that mark blared across the front page of every copy of the Daily Prophet, you would definitely have had Ministry company if a wizard or witch had seen you. But never mind that now. I'll take you lovely ladies down to London first thing in the morning. And then we can have a big old family reunion at Grimmauld Place as soon as I get Dumbledore to let you in. But for now…er…"
"You want to crash with us?" Cana snorted. "Well, wouldn't that make you a lucky fella, kipping in a room with two ladies like us. Hoping for a chance to see up our skirts, are you?"
"Cana…" Erza sighed.
"You know, if you really do know my father, you should probably not tell him that. I dunno how good his parenting skills are given he only found out he was my Dad the day Acnologia attacked, but I don't think he'd take it well… or… actually he might clap you on the back given how many women he's been with."
"Oh, I used to be a bit of ladies man myself," Sirius barked. "Not so much since my time in prison though. But, well, I could use a place to stay."
"Very well," Erza nodded, and the armour around her torso glowed and disappeared, leaving her back in the white shirt she'd been wearing underneath. "Then let's see if we can convince the landlady to let you stay. And hope we don't have to find a kennel to put you up for the night."
"…I've slept in worse places," Sirius muttered darkly, before transforming into a dog once more and trotting dutifully along next to the two women as they headed out of the alleyway.
Despite the lateness of the hour, Harry was very much still awake. How could he not be, having just seen his godfather snatched straight out of the fire in front of him. He was pacing back and forth across the Common Room at blazing speed, clenching his hands and having to physically stop himself from taking a swing at something.
The first thing he'd done after Hermione had stopped him from screaming Sirius' name and potentially waking the whole House, had been to dash up the stairs and grab the Marauder's Map. He'd scanned the battered parchment rapidly for Sirius' name and was extremely relieved to find it was not there. He could see Umbridge's name, in her office and standing next to her fireplace, probably trying to determine where the heck Sirius had come from and where he'd gone.
He'd then grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and rushed back down the stairs, intent on alerting Dumbledore to what had just happened, but Ron had accosted him before he could get out of the door.
"Mate, slow down," he said. "Lily and Charla just left to talk to Dumbledore. If Sirius has gone from Grimmauld Place I bet they'll be sending out search parties within the next five minutes."
"Yeah, and I should be with them," Harry cried, trying to shoulder past his best friend, but Ron was quite a bit taller than he was and was able to hold him back.
"If you go out looking for Sirius, Umbridge is going to notice!" he reasoned. "She's going to know that Sirius was talking to you."
"I don't care! Ron, what if this was your father that had just been snatched. You're telling me you'd just sit back and do nothing while others sorted it out? He's the only family I've got left!"
"My father's not a fugitive. If he'd been snatched then it wouldn't look suspicious for me to go after him! But you? Damn it, Harry, people are already calling you a deluded attention-seeker just for telling the truth about You-Know-Who. If people start to think you and Sirius are in cahoots before Sirius' name is cleared? They'll start saying you're trying to become the next Dark Lord or something."
"That's ridiculous! That's complete and utter…"
"You think I don't know that? But come on, Harry, the Daily Prophet will say anything and people will believe it. And even if you don't count that, if Fudge learns you and Sirius are in contact, he'd have you arrested immediately."
"Ron's right, Harry," said a voice, and Harry turned to see Ginny coming down the stairs, Hermione close behind her. Evidently Hermione had chosen to rouse her in light of what had happened. "Even if Dumbledore will let you go anywhere until the world believes that You-Know-Who is back in action you're stuck here."
Harry really had kicked something at that, and then immediately regretted it because the sofa was quite sturdy even if it was comfortable to sit on. But then he sagged down upon the cushions for a while and put his face in his hands. Hermione and Ginny sat down on either side of him, while Ron headed up the stairs to wake up the twins - who would be royally pissed if they found out that they'd been excluded from this later on. The two of them had come down looking very white. They'd forged quite a strong friendship with Sirius over the summer, especially when they'd found out he and Lupin had been two members of the Marauders.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Harry," Fred noted, sounding just as much like he was consoling himself as the younger boy. "After all, Padfoot's got years of experience on the run even back here in his Hogwarts days running from the teachers."
"He knows how to keep his ass out of prison," agreed George. "And the Ministry still doesn't know about his Animagus form. If they did, it would have been in the papers by now."
It was fifteen minutes later that Charla appeared on the windowsill to find Harry pacing. The bespectacled boy immediately ran over to her and said, "What's happening, what did he say?"
"Professor Dumbledore says that you should get some rest," Charla replied.
"What, that's it? My godfather was snatched out of his own home and he just says I should go to bed?"
"Realistically Harry, that's all you yourself can do. But he says not to worry. Umbridge won't be able to trace the fireplace that she tried to snatch Sirius out of. The Fidelius Charm on Grimmauld Place extends to the Floo Network."
"But can we track what fireplace Sirius came out of?" Ginny asked.
"Not if he broke free of the Floo stream which he apparently did to get out of Umbridge's grip. He could have emerged from any fireplace connected to the Network between here and London. But Dumbledore advises you not to worry. He's sending out search parties and advises you to remember that Sirius knows the way home. He'll also update you if there's any news."
"I… I can't just… sit here…" Harry floundered.
"But you have to," Charla reprimanded him, sounding almost like she was a staff member. "Also, ten points have been taken from Gryffindor."
"Wait… what?" Ron blinked.
"Dumbledore was very disappointed you were communicating in such a reckless manner without his knowledge," Charla shrugged. "But he can't really do much more than that without giving away you did something wrong so… he docked points."
"I… guess that's fair," Hermione murmured.
"Disagree," Ron heaved a sigh, but looked relieved that they weren't in more trouble.
"Lily and I are going to head back to London to aid in the search," Charla said. "If he's in London, we'll find him. We'll see you soon, okay?"
"Thanks," Harry muttered, grateful despite his frustration, and Charla hopped back off the windowsill and spread her wings, soaring off in the direction of the Hog's Head where Lily would be waiting for them to make a Floo jump.
"Harry, he's right. It is a reckless way to communicate. Anyone could have come downstairs at any time to find us talking to him," Hermione said.
"Yeah, I know!" Harry snapped bitterly. "You don't need to give me the lecture. We're not talking through the fireplace again after this, okay?"
"And you're taking your irritation out on Hermione because…?" Ginny raised a brow. "Just chill, Harry. I'm sure Sirius will be fine. And in the meantime, what's happened here tonight is just another excuse we have for taking maximum pleasure out of defying that squat little toadstool of a woman with our secret Defence group."
"Yeah… yeah, you're right," Harry nodded, clenching his fist and staring at the marks engraved on the back of it that Umbridge had made him put there. "And when Pantherlily gets back we're putting that werewolf thing back into action. We're not going to let this teacher last until the end of the year if I have anything to say about it."
"Got anything, Natsu?" Happy asked as he swept through the night sky over London. It was so dark out that most nobody would really have been able to see them, but he was still flying high enough that it would have taken very careful observation for a pedestrian to realise they were not a bird.
"Nothing yet," Natsu said, swinging his head back and forth like it was a metal detector and inhaling deeply through his nostrils every three seconds. "If I do smell something I'll let you know… damn though, this is a big ass city."
"And I thought that the Royal capital of Edolas was big," Happy agreed. "This one might be even bigger. Probably is actually."
"Yeah… and… somewhere below it…" Natsu trailed off, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist so hard his veins stood out on the back of it.
"Natsu… are you still thinking about the dragons?" Happy asked, nervously.
"I couldn't stop thinking about them," Natsu muttered harshly. "Tickling the girls can only drive it away for so long…"
"But Natsu, you have to try and forget. There's nothing that you can do about that to get the goblins to let them go."
"I know that," Natsu folded his arms, his voice a low growl. "But still… I can't help but…"
He trailed off.
"Hmm? Can't help but what?" Happy asked.
"Nothing," Natsu shook his head. "Let's keep looking."
Happy opened his mouth to say something else - clearly Natsu was in quite a bad mood and he didn't like seeing his partner like this. But he decided against saying any more because there wouldn't be any point. It wouldn't change the fact that there were dragons in chains beneath the city so until Natsu could put that behind him it would not change his mood. At least not for long anyway.
"Although…" Natsu suddenly said, turning to glance up at the blue Exceed. "Happy… we're partners, right?"
"Huh…" Happy blinked, before his face split into a grin, the city lights below flashing in the darkness as they arced over the River Trent. "Aye. And that's something that's never going to change."
Natsu's returning grin though… was just a tiny bit savage.
"Glad to hear it. Cos there's something I think we have to do."
Sneaking Sirius into the bed and breakfast wasn't easy. There was a strict no animal policy and since both girls wanted to avoid paying for another person to stay so that they could have the maximum amount of money to pay for the train, they decided to try and sneak him in through the door.
Fortunately Cana's fortune-telling skills came to the rescue once again, and when she was loudly distracting the woman at the reception with her predictions, Erza hurried the dog-shaped wizard through the lobby and up the stairs before anyone could notice him, whereupon he turned back into a man just before the stairs and they waited for Cana to rejoin them.
"Well, that woman's not going to have a good week," Cana shrugged as she appeared and they headed up to the room that the two of them had booked. "It looked like she was going to get the fright of her life in the near future, but I didn't tell her that. I fudged the results a bit this time just to keep her happy. After all, she wasn't paying me."
"So you really can tell fortunes then?" Sirius asked curiously.
"It's a talent," Cana smirked.
"Could you tell me mine?"
"Probably, but usually its not all that clear unless you ask me a specific question."
"I think we've probably had enough fortune-telling tonight," Erza said as she entered the room, which contained a bunk bed, a desk and a wardrobe and pretty much nothing else. Almost as soon as the door was shut, Erza's body glowed and, for a split second Sirius was pretty sure she was stark naked beneath the glowing light. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to look away (or whether he should take a closer look) but before he could do either Erza was suddenly dressed in a pair of pyjamas, just like that.
"Huh, that's handy," Sirius said. "I'm surprised we haven't come up with a spell that lets us do that."
"You can sleep in the top bunk tonight, Sirius," Erza stated with a nod of her head as she walked over to the window.
"I can? But what about you? Aren't you planning on sleeping?"
"No, I shall keep watch," the redhead drew up a chair and settled down into it, giving Sirius a wide smirk as she made herself comfortable. "You haven't quite passed the barrier of trust just yet, after all. And even if everything you've told us is one-hundred percent true… you still might try peeking up Cana's skirt in the night after all."
"Naughty boy," Cana laughed as she collapsed into the bottom bunk and almost immediately fell asleep, having been a little more inebriated than she looked.
"Fair enough," Sirius said, before clambering into the top bunk and shifting back into a dog, curling up into a ball and settling himself down amongst the covers, flicking his tail lightly. Erza had to admit, he really did look kinda cute like that. But she settled herself down for a night of vigilance - something that was more than used to.
But… what none of them had reckoned with was the fact that while the rooms of the bed and breakfast were free of surveillance… the stairwell and hallways were lined with security cameras. Security cameras that led to screens behind the reception. And on one of those screens was a paused image that had been zoomed in to frame Sirius' face.
The receptionist frowned, racking her brain as she tried to summon up the memory. She'd watched on the cameras as the two women had ferried this strange man right up to their room. A man who very definitely had not paid, and who knew what kind of hijinks they might be getting up to behind closed doors! That certainly wasn't on! And she'd been about to storm up the stairs to confront them and probably throw them out… except…
There was something familiar about that man. Who… who was he? Where had she seen his face before?
And then… Cana's prediction came true and the woman got the fright of her life when she remembered! Oh no! Two years ago… it had been all over the news! Word of a mass murderer that had escaped from prison and armed himself with a gun!
Although Sirius Black was a wizard, the Muggle population had been warned about him nonetheless…
Oh gosh! Maybe the girls were in danger! Maybe they were being forced to harbour this man! Whatever the case, her next course of action was clear!
She picked up the phone… and called 999.
The night wore on, and still Natsu and Happy could find nothing. Eventually they were joined in the air by Gajeel and Wendy, the two other Dragon Slayers taking to the skies as soon as their Exceed popped in through the fireplace to help with the search. Like giant bats they zoomed over the London landscape, criss-crossing each other's paths constantly and covering every inch within the M25 ring road between them.
But after they found a grand total of nothing, the three of them regrouped on the roof of the tallest building in the city - a skyscraper with a pyramid roof called One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, right in the heart of the wide city sprawl.
"Well, that's that then," Gajeel huffed. "If he was in the city we'd have found him by now."
"What do we do now?" Wendy asked.
"There's not a whole lot we can do. If he's not here, he's not here. We can't go trawling the entire country for him tonight," Charla said.
"We should go back to Grimmauld Place," Lily agreed. "Let the others know."
"You can do that if you want," Natsu muttered in a low voice. He stood framed against the skyline, his scarf billowing out to one side in the late night wind, the mosaic of lights spread out before him like fireflies. "I have somewhere else to be. Happy… let's go."
"Natsu, are you sure about this?" the blue Exceed asked hesitantly.
"Dead sure. I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't. Let's go!"
"…Aye sir!" Happy nodded determinedly, leaping up to grab Natsu's back and heave him off the roof, diving straight down the side of the building like a falling meteor.
"Oi! Salamander! Where are you going!?" Gajeel roared as he bolted to the side, Wendy right beside him. When they saw Natsu level off and swoop away on Happy's wings, the Iron Dragon Slayer grimaced and threw himself into the air, going into instant free-fall down, down, down towards the pavement.
"Gajeel-san!" Wendy yelled, as Lily dived off after him, snatching the heavy man and twisting into flight. Moments later, Charla scooped up Wendy herself and both Dragon Slayer and Exceed duos rushed off in pursuit of the third.
"The hell do you think you're going!?" Gajeel yelled.
Natsu grimaced and looked back over his shoulder. "I found it," he said. "While flying over the city. That place that Charlie was talking about earlier. That Gringott's place."
"What?" Gajeel blinked.
"The place where the goblins are holding the dragons captive?" Wendy gasped.
"Wait, say what?" Charla, who had missed this conversation due to being at Hogwarts, gaped. "Dragons held captive?"
"That's right!" Natsu snarled, veins pulsing in his forehead as Happy shot low over the building rooftops, snaking his way around the topmost floors of the skyscrapers. "And I'm going to free them!"
"What? You can't, Natsu-san!" Wendy cried. "If you attack something important like a bank then the Ministry will surely think that we…"
"I DON'T CARE!" Natsu roared, cutting Wendy off before she could finish. "Tell me you weren't the same, Wendy. Tell me you weren't picturing the same thing as me when you heard what Charlie was saying?"
Wendy faltered and bit her lip, screwing up her eyes as her imagination welled its way up to the surface again. Her ears were filled with stricken, agonised roars and screams, and the rattles of chains. Her mind's eye flared with the images she'd tried to push to the back of her mind. Images of a dragon weighted down by chains, wings cruelly tethered to its sides and screeching, struggling madly for freedom as men crowded around it (she'd never seen a goblin so she substituted for men) and poking at the dragon with scalding brands, hacking it with swords and axes, turning the dragon's world into nothing but a ball of pain.
But it was not just any dragon that Wendy was picturing.
"Grandine…" Wendy shivered, watching as the imaginary version of the beautiful white Sky Dragon bellowed in pain. "I imagined that it was Grandine in captivity. I imagined.. that she was the one they were tormenting."
"I knew it. I'm the same. I picture it to be Igneel…" Natsu growled, watching as his valiant foster father struggled with all his might only to be pinned down and muzzled like some violent guard dog. "There's no way that Igneel would ever let himself be taken down by some crappy goblins but I still can't stop imagining it."
Wendy rubbed her eyes and turned to their companion. "What about you, Gajeel-san? Do you imagine Metalicana?"
Gajeel snorted. "You kidding me? There's no way Metalicana could ever be chained down. After all he'd just eat the damn chains and get some serious payback."
"But did you imagine it anyway?" Lily questioned.
"Mgh…" Gajeel grunted, a sour looking crossing his face slightly. "…Yeah, I imagined it. Not that I care… the guy was always a jerk…"
Lily rolled his eyes. He certainly hadn't known Gajeel very long compared to Happy and Charla knowing their partners, but he'd already become very good at spotting when Gajeel wasn't being entirely honest. For someone who wanted a cat as desperately as he apparently had, he was oddly stand-offish about people knowing he missed his dragon foster-father.
"Well, I can't stop picturing it," Natsu stated. "It's messed up. Now I wonder if Igneel really did get captured. Maybe that's why he disappeared."
"You don't think that could really have happened, do you?" Wendy asked.
"I dunno. But I can't do anything about that right now. All I know is that I can free the dragons in that bank place! If Igneel was down there I'd do it in a heartbeat! So why should I hold myself back from freeing other dragons? I can't… and I won't… I'm going in! You guys with me?"
Wendy glanced at Gajeel for his reaction but Gajeel was staring into space, his studded brow creased as he allowed himself to dwell on Metalicana for a moment. He'd never mentioned it before but when the Iron Dragon had disappeared he too had spent long months searching for him, and despaired when he'd found nothing. And as he allowed himself to imagine, really imagine now, the dragon that raised him tormented and in pain… his blood began to boil.
"Alright… it's time for us to go on one more rampage!" he growled.
Wendy swallowed, but her face twisted into a mask of resolution. "Okay, I'm in! Let's do it!"
"Wendy, think about this!" Charla cried. "We promised the Order that we would work with them from now on, consult them about things before we…"
"Charla… Natsu-san's right. We have to do this!" Wendy shook her head. "I can't not do it. And the Order can't help us. They can't interfere with the Goblins, they said so."
"But we can!" Natsu grinned fiercely. "So let's do it now while the Ministry still thinks we're enemies anyway!"
Bill Weasley sighed as he stepped out of his office and placed his hands on his hips, bending over backwards in an attempt to work the kinks out of his spine from where he'd been bent over a desk all night. Ugh, he missed the tombs in Egypt. At least all-nighters over there were fun. His work here required him to mostly sign and stamp about five-thousand forms every half an hour. It was exhausting and it often kept him so busy that he missed out on hearing important Order updates. Like now, for instance, as he was totally unaware of the fact Sirius had disappeared.
"Ah, Monsieur Bill. It looks like you 'ave been 'aving quite ze long night."
Although… working here did have its perks.
"Oh, hello Fleur," Bill cleared his throat quickly as a beautiful Quarter-Veela with long, luxurious silvery-blonde hair approached him. Fleur Delacour, the young witch from France who had recently gotten a job here as well in an attempt to improve her English speaking skills. Though she had been quite good at it to begin with and her accent was still just as strong as ever even after a couple of months. "Just finished your shift as well, have you?"
"Oui," Fleur flashed him a breathtaking smile. "It is most tiring, but I am grateful that ze goblins are at least generous wiz zose that work 'ard. It means I can keep up with my rent quite easily. I was just about to 'ead 'ome when I saw you zere."
"Well, I was just about to do the same," Bill nodded. "Um… why don't I escort you to the fireplaces?"
"Ooh, 'ow dashing, Monsieur Weasley," Fleur batted her eyelashes slightly, which she seemed to do to everyone so Bill wondered if it was a behavioural reflex that just came from being part Veela, though of course he didn't ask that.
"Just like your brozer, Monsieur Ron and his friend 'Arry. 'Ow are zey, by ze way?"
"Well… I think they could be better in all honesty," Bill said. "It doesn't sound like things are going easily at Hogwarts, what with that Umbridge woman there and all. And of course Harry's having to put up with being slandered every day by the general public."
Fleur huffed. "Oh, I know. It is disgraceful. I 'ave been reading ze zings zey 'ave been saying about 'im. I zink it is a load of trollop. I did not know 'Arry very well even zough 'e was also a Triwizard Champion but from what I saw 'e is one of ze bravest and yet most modest people I 'ave ever met. And I was zere… zat night that Cedric…" she trailed off, biting her lip shaking her head, the clack of her heels on the polished floor of the bank's entrance hall sounding very loud in the awkward silence. "It is so ridiculous zat your Ministry is zo obstinately refusing to listen to 'im."
Bill was surprised at Fleur's vehemence. Given that he was part of the Order and couldn't really afford to be seen backing Harry too strongly even though it was common knowledge he was friends with the Weasley family, he had not really discussed this topic with Fleur before now. "So… you definitely believe him then? That You-Know-Who is back?"
"Of course. Don't you?" Fleur asked. "'Arry would not lie about something like zat. I remember well 'ow un'appy 'e was when 'e was forced to become a Champion. 'Ow much 'e wanted to fade into ze background. 'e would not make something like zis up, especially given what 'appened to 'is family. Madame Maxime agrees with me on zat fact, and so does Monsieur Krum."
"Victor Krum?" Bill blinked.
"Oui. I asked 'im before we left 'Ogwarts last year," Fleur nodded.
"Oh right," Bill nodded. Now he was seriously considering asking if Fleur could become a member of Order. She might not have performed as well as the other competitors in the Triwizard Tournament but she was still a highly capable witch otherwise she wouldn't have been picked for it by the Goblet of Fire. And she seemed very much on Harry's side, plus Madame Maxime was an honorary member as it was. She might make a good fit.
"Well, I agree," Bill nodded. "I think its stupid the amount of flak that Harry's getting. This is going to bite the Ministry in the backside at some point, I can tell you. But they're much more focused on catching these Fairy Tail mages right now."
"Oh yes, I 'ave 'eard about zem. What do you make of zem? Do you zink ze Dark Lord would try and reach out to zem as allies?"
"He might try," Bill snorted. "But to be honest I don't think he'd have much luck. I don't think that these Fairy Tail mages are quite as bad as the Ministry's painting them."
"Really? What makes you say zat?"
"Well, if you think about it, based on the power they seem to have they could have probably levelled the Ministry if they wanted to. But they didn't, they only damaged some parts of it and escaped. And they haven't attacked anywhere since then even though they probably could. I'm willing to bet that as long as we leave them alone, they'd be perfectly willing to leave us alone too."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The colossal fiery explosion fifty feet away sent the bronze doors flying clean off their hinges. Goblins screeched and scattered as they clanged down with enough force to shake the room. Bill, who was used to having to react to something sudden and fast thanks to being a Curse Breaker, twisted around and seized Fleur's waist, pulling her backwards and away from the door just in time for them to see three figures come swooping in through the smoke, the one in the lead bellowing at the top of his voice.
"I'M ALL FIRED UP!"