Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Six

Yuery Turns Twelve

Hogsmeade

Sirius watched long enough to know Dumbledore's routine before he approached the man. Dumbledore always went to the Pub alone; he always came out alone and slightly drunk. It would be easy to get information off of him when the man was drunk. So, Sirius followed him back out of town. He returned to his true form while they were out of sight of the village, just before they were in sight of the castle and grabbed the older man by the shoulder.

A large part of Sirius wanted revenge against this man for failing to protect James and Lily. For allowing him to rot in prison for over a decade, but this man had information he needed, so for now he would simply ask his questions. "Where is Harry?" Sirius growled.

"Far from here, kept away by those who took him to begin with. I cannot reach him." Dumbledore frowned. "You will not harm him."

"Why would I bring harm to my godson? I never wished to harm him; you were the one who failed to protect him." Sirius growled again, fighting the desire to return to his dog form to be more animal than man. "You allowed Severus Snape access to a child he hates."

"Why would Snape hate the boy?" Dumbledore frowned in confusion. "He long left my side to join those who are currently keeping the boy. He has no loyalty to anyone here."

"Where. Are. They?" Sirius demanded, and Dumbledore frowned further. He knew he didn't want this man involved, but he also did not want him returned to prison. He knew enough of what had happened to know Sirius had not harmed anyone, but that did not mean he was to be trusted. He had tried to make Remus understand that years ago, and Remus had gone behind his back and given Sirius information anyway. It was strange he was asking Dumbledore instead of contacting Remus. Perhaps the other man had finally listened to reason about the madman. "No one can enter the spell, not without invitation. It does not matter where they are because you cannot reach them."

"Then where is this boy and his damned rat?" Sirius held out a crumpled newspaper page with a photograph of the Gryffindor first years.

"That isn't Harry." Dumbledore deflected, concerned for the Weasley child's safety. Sirius was clearly unhinged.

"Of course, he isn't you moron. That rat needs to die!" Sirius roared. Before he could demand again, they heard voices coming from around the bend. "I will return." Sirius growled as he transformed into a large black dog and disappeared as Dumbledore blinked after him uncertain if he had seen correctly. He may have had too much ale after all he decided as Hagrid and McGonagall appeared on the road, which is why he decided to say nothing about the encounter he was not entirely certain actually happened.

Amestris

Fuhrer's Summer House

Edward decided that they would spend a couple of weeks outside of the city before sending the boys back to school. Maes would be joining his brothers in Xerxes this year, and he didn't feel comfortable going far from Command at the moment with the wizard government continuing to try to contact them following his removal of Yuery from Hogwarts.

Yuery had been allowed to invite Huan and Draco to his birthday this year, and Ling brought Huan to stay with them for the week. Draco had arrived that morning with Severus and Narcissa. Draco looked at his mother briefly before rushing over to the other children. Yuery and Huan were outside in the garden, the other children still inside when they had arrived.

"Happy Birthday, Yuery." Draco said when he sat next to the other two boys.

"Thank you, Draco. Now that you're here, please help me tell Huan we are NOT going to explore the woods." Yuery said as he frowned at Huan.

"Didn't you get in trouble for that a few years ago? I remember you telling me about it." Draco frowned. "Why would we do that then?"

"It would be fun!" Huan insisted. "My aunt talks about it all the time, wandering around the Amestris wilderness with your Dad."

"Yeah, my Dad tells that story very differently. I'm not sure he's entirely forgiven your aunt for it yet." Yuery snorted. "At any rate, I am not wandering off and neither are you because if you do your Dad won't let you come back here next summer."

"Didn't you wander off several times last year and get into a big fight with a couple of men last year?" Draco frowned, since Yuery seemed to be trying to pretend complete innocence.

"My Dad still hasn't forgiven me for that and I'm on thin ice as far as the probability of being sent back to the tutors." Yuery shuddered. "Plus, I wouldn't qualify that as a couple of men. It was one possessed man, and it was a nightmare."

"Okay, I'll drop the adventure." Huan sighed as he stared at the woods one last time.

"Thank you," Yuery and Draco sighed with relief now that the chances of trouble had been dropped.

"If you tell me what really happened." Huan added smugly as the other two groaned in frustration. "Unless, of course, you would rather go exploring."

"Now you are sounding just like the stories my Dad told me about yours. "Yuery growled with irritation as he walked toward the house, "Come on if I'm talking about this, I want to be comfortable."

"Well, you aren't sounding much like your Dad at all, from what my Dad said your Dad was always willing to go along with his schemes." Huan said as he happily followed Draco resignedly taking up the rear of the group. He guessed it was going to be a long day, it generally was when Huan was in this mood he had learned long ago.

London, England

Sirius had been hiding among the muggles since his escape, frequently traveling to Hogsmeade in search of answers but living as a stray not far from the train station. He hoped to spot the children on their way to shopping or school, and he hoped to find that traitorous little rat. He was going to rip him to shreds, damn the consequences.

He almost bit the old lady as she came up to him, as distracted as he was, but she didn't seem to mind. She never did when he was jumpy. He had been hiding in this ally for about two days the first time she approached him. He had thought she was going to try to capture him but instead she offered him food. Now every time she saw him, she offered him a meal. "Your okay pup." She said as she set down a bowl of chicken and vegetables. "I didn't mean to startle you. You know, my son says I', going to get myself bit by feeding strays, don't go proving him right today, okay?"

He crawled forward until he could reach the bowl and sniffed it carefully. Still nothing in it to make him sleep so he began eating as the old woman ran her hand down his back. The first time she tried that, he had been so frightened he ran away from her. It had been years since anyone had touched him. He was ashamed of his fright, but she had left the bowl for him when he worked up the courage to return. He supposed this woman may intend to adopt him and would be saddened when he moved on, but then it wouldn't work to allow her to take him in either, because he had to find that rat. He had to protect Harry. He wasn't what she thought he was, and, in the end, which would be far more upsetting than him leaving now.

Amestris

Yuery's Party

Yuery, Huan, and Draco arrived back in the garden before anyone came looking for them, after Yuery had given Huan a brief edited version of the events a few weeks ago. Huan seemed subdued having heard that his friends had been in danger without a trusted adult around.

Winry noticed the boys reappear and frowned at their expressions, but before she could go over and find out what was wrong Yuery spotted the Hughes and was happily waving them over. Winry made a mental note to ask the boys what happened later as Ling and Edward reappeared as well, having taken a walk into the woods with William, Maes, Tad, and Trisha. Yuery's party was ready to begin so it didn't seem the time to drag her son away and demand answers.

"Keep a close eye on them." Severus said quietly to her as he poured glasses of lemonade for the party goers. "I already warned Edward, but I overheard Huan trying to talk the other two into an adventure. I did not intervene when Draco and Yuery refused the idea immediately."

"Well, that partly explains their frowns, but not completely." Winry sighed as she helped hand out cups and smiled at Gracia who had come over to join them. "Though who knows, it could be because they were arguing over it."

"It could be because Huan roped Yuery and Draco into telling him about the fight Yuery got into last month. I heard them talking about it before they came down." Al shrugged as he helped hand out plates of sandwiches. "Yuery sounded irritated to be talking about it, but if I learned anything from having Edward as a brother it is that it is better to make them talk it out than let them stew on it when something traumatic happened."

"I am not entirely sure that is true, especially if who they are talking with is another child. No offense Al, but I would rather he talks to adults when he's ready than forced to talk about it with peers." Winry frowned concerned for both her son and his friends.

"Okay, before we begin. Please everyone, please, please, tell me no one bought my kid a live pet this year. I am done with people giving him animals without my permission!" Edward said loudly from the other side of the garden while several people laughed, and Winry rolled her eyes at her husband's antics.

"Well, Alex had his heart set on giving Yuery a puppy from our litter." Heymans said with a smirk, "But since I still refuse to let Alex adopt a dog it isn't a problem." Which caused everyone to laugh louder as Alex just shook his head at the joke and Edward glared at the idea. "No, Sir, no one bought your kid a pet, I promise I personally went through the pile this year to ensure the safety of the items." Heymans finished after everyone had finished laughing.

Yuery stepped up next to his Dad before they could continue and said with a small frown of confusion. "Dad, I've only ever gotten two pets for my birthday. When Yeye gave me Franky and when Hagrid gave me Hedwig. Why do you make it sound like it happens every year?" everyone was laughing again, and Ed was frowning as he grumbled that it was two times too many as everyone sat down to begin eating.

As usual Jean and Rebecca, Alex and Heymans, Kain and Sheska, Gracia and her girls, Pinako, Ling, Al and Mei, and several of Yuery's school friends had come to his party. Severus and Narcissa, and Remus had also come of course. Remus had brought gifts from Hagrid and McGonagall which had at least partly prompted Ed's question about pets though he had mostly been joking. He had been undecided about how he felt with wizards sending presents to Yuery, though since none of them came from Dumbledore he decided it was fine in the end.

Minerva, as she insisted Ed call her, was angry when she had heard the things that had happened. She and Hagrid were both outraged with Dumbledore's scheming, ready to abandon their posts and join the others here in Xerxes, but Severus had managed to talk them into staying where they were for now. At least long enough to ensure that should Sirius Black arrive at Hogwarts the children were kept safe. He knew that Remus didn't believe Sirius to be dangerous, but Severus was not as certain.