13. Feeling Proud Of Yourself?

James was tapping his head with his long nails. "Go away Prongs." He mumbled. James didn't stop. He decided to ignore that prat. James had a hobby of irritating Sirius.

But James was dead.

Sirius woke up abruptly and noticed that it was an owl who was tapping him. Partly relieved, and partly sad, he sat up as his stomach protested loudly.

"Hello there." His voice was cracked and rough from lack of use. The owl was looking at him with an expression that could only be impatience. Apparently, it was unaccustomed to waking up people to deliver their post-

Hang on!

He had post?

Someone wrote to him?

Without wasting a moment, he reached for the owl's leg, who quacked at the sudden action. Muttering a distracted apology, he found-

"Food? Who the hell would send me food? Are you sure you got the right person?" he asked the owl, who looked offended. Muttering "Owls these days!" under his breath, he reached for a piece of parchment sticking out of the parcel.

I want to talk to you. Send a date and place with the owl.

I remember that you liked grilled chicken. Cancel the featherweight charm.

The note was unsigned but Sirius knew whom it was from. Almost crying out loud at the smell of Andromeda's delicious cooking; he grabbed a piece of grilled chicken and took a bite. Accustomed to stale and rock-hard food, the spicy and juicy strip of flesh took a few seconds to adjust with his taste buds. It was heaven. Or better.

After taking three mouth-watering bites, he put the rest of the piece back to the bag. And then, for the first time in twelve years, Sirius Black cried.

…

"Jennifer Dawes."

"I don't recall anyone by that name, but I will look for her in the ministry employee list. Why do you need her again?" Amelia asked.

"Oh I have to deliver a little something to her." Andromeda replied easily. Amelia knew that Andromeda was politely telling her that it was none of her business and she wisely dropped the subject. "So where are Harry and Dora? Are they out?"

"Amy, you should probably spend more time with your family. They are at your brother's manor. And speaking of Harry, do you know why he hasn't received any disciplinary letters for blowing up that muggle woman?"

Amelia frowned at the question. Fudge had been acting strangely since Black escaped. First he asked to be informed of any magic near Harry Potter's residence. Then he started having long meetings with the Azkaban human guards. When Malfada Hopkirk told him about the blow up incident, he forbade her to send any warnings and went to the scene himself. When he found out Harry wasn't there, he started to panic and only calmed down when Arnold, the driver of the Knight Bus, informed him that Harry was in the bus, alone with his trunk and owl cage.

"I don't know. Fudge is acting strange. Not that I want charges to be pressed against Harry, but he just ignored a serious case of underage magic without a second thought. I think something dodgy is going on or he is hiding something from us. Or maybe he is just upset about losing Sirius Black and having to deal with the dementors. Anyways, I'll get going. I think I might drop by the kids to say hello. I'll let you know if I find this Dawes woman." With a final wave, she disapparated, leaving Andromeda to sip her tea alone.

She didn't know what she would do when she found Jennifer Dawes. If she found Jennifer Dawes, she corrected herself. It was highly possible that she was out of country or changed her last name by marriage. What would she do if she found her? Tell her that Sirius Black is innocent and that she should leave everything else and come back to him because he was in love with her? What if she had a family? What if she was too scared to hear Sirius' name? Andromeda knew she had no right to bring up what was obviously a bad memory for her. It is never a happy occasion when you find out your boyfriend is a convicted mass-murderer and a Death Eater.

Still, she would try to gather information about her. And if she was still single, she would try to convince her about Sirius' innocence. It was funny that Andromeda was thinking of convincing someone else of Sirius' innocence when she wasn't fully convinced herself. If she could convince her, she would set up a meeting between the two. They had to do the rest for themselves.

The worst part was that she had to do all these in utmost secrecy.

Unless Sirius caught the traitor Pettigrew first and he was cleared.

…...

Hey Tonks,

How are you doing? We haven't met for a long time, but I'm sure you still remember the time we had together. I'm really sorry it didn't work out, but do you think we could give it another try? How about I take you out to lunch tomorrow? Do you still have that red dress you wore at the Higgins' party? You should definitely wear that. Strawberry blond hair goes nicely with that dress. I'll be at your house by twelve, okay?

Love

Darren Corner

Darren,

I don't have that dress anymore and if you don't want a couple of boiled eggs to be pushed up your arsehole, you better not come anywhere near my house.

And in case you didn't get the hint, I'm not going to lunch with you. I have plans for lunch with a very handsome, smart and charming guy. Not to mention he doesn't always 'forget' to bring his wallet on dates.

N. Tonks

"Can I borrow Hedwig, Harry? Thanks." She wasn't sure Harry even heard the question, but she knew he would say yes, so she didn't bother to wake him up and went on to the stand that held Hedwig.

Red dress and strawberry blond, my arse. She thought with disgust. It was in her third year, she bought the dress without telling her mother because she would never approve of it. She later regretted the decision when all the guys in the party eyed her like a delicious piece of meat and the girls gave her looks that clearly screamed "SLUT!" She wanted to be noticed as more than the troublesome tomboy but she was feeling uneasy at this new kind of attention she was getting. Darren Corner asked her out and within five minutes, he pulled her to a nearby empty room and kissed her. It wasn't her first kiss and she didn't enjoy it very much. But before she could say anything, Darren was grabbing her breasts over the a-bit-too-revealing dress.

Now, she didn't mind being touched by a guy, but she always thought it would be sweet and a moment to savour. What Darren was doing was, to put it simply, taking advantage of her. She tried to push him away but the slightly drunk boy's hand was now travelling rapidly downwards and was trying to undress her. Gritting her teeth, she kneed him in the groin and without wasting a second; she stormed out of the room, fuming in anger, not giving a damn that the state of her dress was worse than ever. The only good that came out of that was that she learnt that getting attention is not as good as she thought.

"And he has the nerve to ask me out." She muttered under her breath. Unfortunately, Harry, who was dozing off next to her, woke up at her movements and looked at her questioningly. Considering him for a moment, she handed him the letter from Darren.

"Well, he is a bit demanding. Seems to have assumed you'd say yes. So what did you say?" He asked after reading it. He hoped she told no, mainly because this one didn't seem like a decent guy. Another reason was that if she said yes and they got together, Harry wouldn't get to spend much time with her.

"Of course I said him to go fuck himself. First time he asked me out he was trying to get into my pants within five minutes. Kicked his balls before I came home." She said with a satisfied voice. For some strange reason, Harry wanted to hurt the guy himself; badly. He told himself he just hated people who harassed his friends. But the phrases 'break his hands' and 'favourite girl' were jumping at his mind.

"Um... how do you know he er… forgets to bring his wallet to dates then? Did you go out with him again?"

"Hell no! I heard other girls gossiping about him. I met him and was done with him that day. I know what you were thinking and you're right. Call me a slut, but I was tired of being noticed just as the troublemaker kid who can change her nose. I wanted someone to notice me as a girl. Don't think I'm still like that. I do date men, but I don't think I want that kind of attention anymore. Come to think of it, I haven't dated for a while. In fact, the last time I dated was in Halloween in your first year. That date was the reason I was shocked to death when I saw that troll. And of course, my hero Harry came to save me from the big bad troll!" she ended dramatically, placing a sloppy kiss on a reluctant Harry's red cheek.

He would die before he admitted it to her, but when she said that, he felt rather proud of himself.

…

Maybe this wasn't a very good idea, after all. Maybe he was lying about it all. Maybe he is really a Death Eater and probably she was going to be killed tonight. She promised not to go without a fight.

She was standing in a deserted street in London. She was supposed to meet a convicted mass-murderer. It was getting late and the only living thing she spotted was a black dog that went past her a minute before. If he failed to show up in-

"You've lost weight." A raspy voice said from behind her. If it was someone else, they would probably be shocked to death or screamed. Andromeda, however, swiftly pointed her wand at the man. He raised his hand as a peaceful gesture.

"No need to get twitchy. Here, take my wand. I'll even turn my pockets so that you know I don't have a spare wand. Happy?"

"Turn around." She ordered coolly. He obliged. She pressed her wand to his neck and asked, "What was the name you wanted to give Nymphadora?"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "I didn't want to give any names to her." This was a technique Andromeda taught him when he joined the Order. If someone was impersonating you, it was possible to search your memory and look for specific things you did. However, they couldn't find an answer if you didn't do it. Only the real person could answer that sort of security questions. It wasn't widely used because not many people knew it and most of the ones who did were from Slytherin.

"So what's your story?" she asked him.

"You have to swear you won't tell this to anyone until I say so."

"You aren't in a position to demand."

"Please Meda. You are the only one I trust." He said pleadingly, his rough voice cracking. Andromeda looked into his eyes for a long time, as if trying to read what was beneath, but the only thing she found was a terrifying hollowness.

"Start talking." She ordered.

And Sirius did. He told her everything. Being an animagus to help Remus, the Potters offering him to be their secret keeper, his brilliant twist in the plan, Pettigrew accepting the position after being assured no one else would know about it and finally that fateful night when he lost everyone and everything he loved. He told her how Crouch threw him to Azkaban without a trial. He skipped his time in Azkaban and went to the visit of Fudge, seeing the traitor in the newspaper with the Weasleys, and finally breaking out of the hellhole to avenge the deaths of his best friends.

"You aren't lying, are you?" Andromeda whispered with a hint of pleading in her voice. Sirius shook his head and then swore an oath for her. No sooner than he finished the oath, she pulled him to a fierce embrace. Sirius returned it with, if possible, more energy.

"I've missed you Meda." He said in a croaked voice.

The two Blacks mourned for everyone they lost, including each other on that night. After a long comfortable silence, Andromeda asked, "So you want to kill Pettigrew?"

"I do. And his death would be painful." Sirius replied with a dangerous growl that somewhat scared Andromeda.

"Have you considered handing him over? That way you can have a good shot at getting your name cleared."

Sirius looked at her stupidly for a moment, and then, for the first time in twelve years, he smiled. "Thanks Meda, you're a lifesaver."

"That's what family is for, you mutt!"

…

Miles away, a small, watery-eyed man was weeping in the smelly attic. Peter Pettigrew knew Sirius Black was on the run, and he would most definitely come after him. His only solace was the knowledge that Sirius had no way of knowing where he was.

From what that Arthur Weasley discussed with his fat wife, he was after Harry Potter. Most probably trying to get the boy to live with his godfather. Not that he gave a damn to where the boy lived, but if he did spend more time around Sirius, there was always a danger for Peter to be recognised. That would definitely not go well. He was supposed to be dead. He was quite lucky that the Weasley twins didn't come across the Marauder's Map yet. It wouldn't take them long to discover that a second person was sharing the bed with their youngest brother.

Two years ago, he felt some regret to what he had done. Lily was never anything but kind to him, and James always helped him. Sirius pulled harsh pranks on him, but he was always there when he needed him. And now the Dark Lord was dead, Peter was left alone, friendless, not daring to live as a human.

His thoughts changed when he came to know that the Dark Lord wasn't totally gone. He heard what Harry Potter discussed with Neville Longbottom about Voldemort going after the Philosopher's Stone. He was initially scared out of his wits at the thought of escaping all the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself when he came back to power, but then he thought of the place where he spent most of his time.

In the same dorm as Harry Potter.

What more could the Dark Lord ask for when he would come back, than the boy who destroyed him? Peter was in the perfect position. He would bide his time until the Dark Lord came back, and then he would return with an unconscious Harry Potter.

He would be the most honoured Death Eater.

He had enough of being the tag-along with the mighty James Potter and Sirius Black, being the subject of their jokes. He would never go near the werewolf if James and Sirius didn't. And there was Lily Evans, the pretty bitch who wouldn't even look at him twice. He wasn't good enough for them.

Now he was better than all of them.

A/N: Reviews are like fire to my cauldron. More you review, quicker I try to update. This was not one of my favourite chapters, you can think of it more as a filler.

And for the story's sake, the twins didn't have their hands on the map.