Raylynx's POV
I woke up sometime in the night. My eyes fluttered awake, and I found myself still in my bed, pressed against Sirius. He was sleeping peacefully, as peacefully as I'd ever seen him sleep since he'd escaped Azkaban. I could feel his bare legs pressed against mine, and I softly and blurrily remembered what had happened between us. My mind was not fully awake, and some part of me wondered if I was dreaming…
With fumbling fingers, I reached out to touch his chest, to feel his warmth, and remind myself that this was real. In some ways, I thought about how pathetic it was that I was constantly trying to find reassurance that this was reality.
But after the First War, after losing everyone I loved in the span of a few years, often through violence and betrayal, there was always this fear in my heart that every good thing in my life was only a dream. After losing my parents, Lily and James, Marlene, Dorcas, Alice, and Regulus, among other friends and allies, some part of me felt like I never deserved to be happy again.
But as I reached over tiredly to touch Sirius, I realized that his shirt had been pushed up somewhat to his stomach. I hesitated. Is that just the moonlight or is his side discolored? Like he's been badly bruised?
I blinked tiredly, forcing myself to actually observe. Then, I frowned as I realized that it was bruise. It was an old one now, mostly healed, but the deep and blotchy purple showed that it must have been quite bad at some point.
Oh Sirius, I thought, what have you been up to? And why didn't you tell me you were hurt? I gently rolled up his shirt, just to make sure the bruise was fully healing. It was, thank Merlin. I let out a soft sigh of relief as I traced my fingers very lightly over the edge of his bruises. Then, as I began to pull his shirt back down, I noticed his Azkaban prisoner number and the "felon" designation still stamped across his chest. It wouldn't disappear, I knew, until his name had been cleared.
A sharp, painful pang rang out in my heart.
Why has the world done this to you, my love? I wondered. Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself softly tracing the number on his chest with my fingertips. Then, my mind beginning to go hazy with want of sleep once more, I leaned over and managed to softly press my lips to his chest before I pulled his shirt down and fell asleep again.
Sirius lay there, his heart thudding along softly in his chest, as he had secretly woken up when my fingertips pressed, in a bit of a disoriented manner, against his chest. Then, he felt me pause, before pushing up his shirt. Sirius nearly grimaced and gave himself away, but before he opened his eyes, he noticed my fingers lightly tracing his number on his chest, and my lips followed soon afterwards. By the time, I'd pushed down his shirt and fallen back asleep, Sirius was fully awake. Not wanting to wake me back up, he slowly but surely pulled me tighter into his arms and reaching down, he slid his fingers into mine and gripped my hand in his much larger one. I mumbled a little and pressed myself closer to him. He smiled, feeling my legs sliding between his. Then, he closed his eyes, and fell asleep again, marveling at the fact that despite everything, we had come together again like this. And yes, that wretched number was still stamped on his chest, and yes, this was one night together out of years and years of not being able to be together, but it still counted. It still counted, he told himself, more as a prayer than as a belief.
The next morning, I woke up all tangled up with Sirius. My head was on his chest and he had one arm wrapped around me. His other hand was holding mine, and our legs were tangled together.
For a long moment, I just lay there. But slowly, as I came to my senses, I realized how hot I was. I subtly tried to slide away from him.
Instinctively, his legs locked around mine and he held me tighter, squeezing me to him.
"S-Sirius," I said, my voice muffled by his chest. A bit taken aback, I pushed my palm against his chest.
He frowned, and I saw him starting to wake up. He looked down at me. "Lynx?" he murmured gruffly.
"You're – You're squeezing the breath out of me," I complained.
"Oh," he said, his voice slightly hoarse, "sorry, love."
He let me go, and I shifted away from him. When I moved sideways, I felt myself tugging the blankets away from Sirius. Not wanting to rip the blanket off of him altogether, I started to roll over, to roll out of the blanket.
"Hey," Sirius grunted out. He abruptly reached out with one arm and looped it around my waist. "Not too far. You'll fall."
As it was, I was already staring over the edge of the bed and at my floor, having nearly rolled off the bed. "Oops, right. Good catch," I said.
I missed how the corner of Sirius' mouth came up in a tired, but satisfied smile, as he pulled me a little ways back onto the bed.
Memories of last night slowly came back into my mind. I smiled to myself.
"What?" Sirius blurted out suddenly.
"What?" I repeated back to him, surprised. I wasn't even facing him, so how did he know -?
"You're thinking something, I can tell," he murmured.
I turned around and looked up at him, amazed. "How'd you know?" I asked him. Even more impressive, his eyes were closed again.
In truth, it was because I had stiffened slightly in his arms, and Sirius knew that was a telltale sign that I'd fallen into my thoughts, but he preferred to keep that his little secret.
Instead, he remarked, "Just do. So fess up, what was it?"
"Oh…" I paused, trying to figure out how to say it without sounding like some love-smacked teenager. "Well, it's just that… I know this shouldn't be a big deal, at our age, but… you know, we made love together last night."
Sirius' eyes were still shut, but he smiled. "Yeah, we did."
"It was… nice," I said softly.
At this, Sirius' eyes shot open. "Nice?" he said indignantly. "That's it? That's all you're going to say? Nice?"
"Well, what else would I say?" I responded at once, feeling my immaturity responding brilliantly to his.
"I have been told everything from 'best thing that ever happened to me' to 'godly' by any number of girls – and you give me 'nice?'"
I rolled my eyes at Sirius. "Sirius, whenever you say things like that, I can feel myself losing brain cells by the second. If you keep talking like that, I swear to you that we will never make love again."
At this, Sirius immediately came down from his high horse. Leaning down until his face was just above mine and opening his eyes, he gave me his best puppy expression, as he said in his best apologetic tone, "I'm sorry. I didn't meant it. You're right. It was nice. It was really nice."
Laughing, I reached up and pushed his face away. "All right. All right," I said. "Stop it. I can still feel my intelligence regressing with every passing second."
Sirius laughed gruffly. Pulling me back into his arms, he squeezed me tightly as he whispered teasingly in my ear, "Luckily, you've got loads of that, so you shouldn't mind if we regress for a bit longer…"
"And if I say it's you that I'm worried about?" I shot back snarkily, though I was unable to keep from melting against him happily.
Sirius chuckled again. "Well, there too, you've nothing to worry about, love. I'll have you know that I am brilliant."
I laughed, and then he kissed me, and I'd never been happier in my life.
The happiness, however, was not to last. For as I made to leave my house to go back to Hogwarts, Sirius hadn't been able to resist seeing me off. He'd walked me to the front door to give me one last good-bye kiss – and that was when Jasper Riley caught us.
It all happened so quickly.
One moment, Sirius and I were in some blissful universe where only we existed, and foolishly, we were pretending, just for this one night and morning, that there was nothing else of consequence but our love –
And the next, Jasper Riley was on my front porch, pointing his wand at Sirius.
I screamed.
I instantly shoved Sirius back into the house with one hand. With my other hand, I tried to grab Jasper's wand.
But Jasper was insanely quick – quicker than both me and Sirius.
"Stupefy!" A red jet of light shot past my outstretched hand and over my shoulder, flying into my hallway.
Fortunately, Sirius had sprinted into his room (to grab his Demiguise cloak and his wand) and the Stunner shot down the hallway, right past the doorway of his room.
Jasper tried to dash into my house, but I physically blocked him.
"Get out of the way, Raylynx!" Jasper shouted, trying to shove me away without hurting me.
"No, Jasper! Please listen!" I cried out. "It's not what you think!"
"Not what I think?" Jasper said furiously. "I saw him with my own eyes!" He managed to shove me aside for a moment, but my shoulder bounced off of the doorway, and I was right back in front of him.
"Jasp -!"
"You've been lying to me this entire time!" Jasper accused me angrily, and I heard the deep pain of betrayal in his voice.
Just then, my Muggle neighbor, Mrs. Lionel, having heard my scream, came running out of her front door and onto her porch.
Jasper had to frantically stow away his wand, to keep it hidden from sight.
"Everything all right, dear?" Mrs. Lionel, asked me worriedly.
"Y-Yes!" I called, even as I grappled furiously with Jasper.
"You sure?" Mrs. Lionel called.
Then, her husband, Mr. Lionel appeared besides her. He croaked out, "Oh, I remember that young man. He used to come over often. He's very nice. Helped me fix our mailbox once. I'm sure they're just getting frisky, as these youngin's do. Come away. Breakfast is getting cold."
"It looks serious, though," Mrs. Lionel replied. She paused, then she ordered her husband excitedly, "Quick, get me my binoculars."
"No, no, come inside," Mr. Lionel wheedled.
Meanwhile, Jasper had managed to overpower me. He grasped my wrists and crossed them in front of me, so as to render me physically stuck, but without hurting me at all.
"Raylynx," he growled through gritted teeth. "Stand aside!"
I tried valiantly to stop him, but Jasper, abruptly letting go of my wrists, ducked down and managed to slip under my outstretched arms and run inside my house. He immediately tried to shut the door on me. However, I kicked it open and slipped in before the door shut behind me again.
Jasper, abandoning the attempt to lock me out, raced forward, bursting into the different rooms.
I pulled out my wand. Pointing it at Jasper, who was darting from my bedroom to the kitchen, I yelled, "Incarcerous!" Ropes burst out from the end of my wand, but missed Jasper, who had insanely quick reflexes. He ducked under the kitchen counter.
A moment later, I heard him shout, "Petrificus Totalus!"
I threw up a shield, shouting, "Protego!"
Jasper used my moment of defense to dart out from the kitchen and into Jamie's old room – now Sirius'.
I shouted, "Collorportus!" The bedroom door shut with a squelch.
But a moment later, I heard Jasper yell, "Alohomora!"
It was a battle of wills at this point, with us magically fighting to keep the door shut or open. I was at a slight disadvantage, for it was always easier to fight to keep a door open than closed.
After a long, strained moment, Jasper's Unlocking Charm grew strong enough to overpower my Door-Locking Charm. The door flew open.
Pushed back by the force of our spells imploding outwards, I fell back onto the floor.
However, when I saw Jasper dart out again, I raised my wand and shouted, "Incarcerous!"
Jasper dropped to the floor, and the cords merely fell against the hallway wall.
Finally, Jasper and I both got up from the floor at the same time, and we found ourselves standing only a few feet apart in the hallway, wands raised at each other.
Jasper was holding one of Sirius' shirts, which he had found in Sirius' room just now.
Shit, I cursed in my head. I prayed that Sirius had managed to grab Buckbeak and take off by now, but I couldn't be sure.
In a thin voice, Jasper snapped, "I know he's here, Raylynx. You can't hide it any longer. Tell me where he is, and I'll make up an excuse for you. I'll say he Imperiused you. I'll say he held you captive. Just tell me -"
"He's not – He's not here," I said breathlessly.
We were both still pointing our wands at each other.
Jasper replied bitterly, "I suppose it makes sense that you'd lie to me again. After all, it's what you've been doing this whole time, hasn't it?"
"What?" I said. I desperately tried to keep from looking towards the living room, as I did not want to give away the bunker site.
"You knew I was hunting Sirius Black. You knew that was the reason why I couldn't see you for months, why I didn't sleep or eat for weeks at a time…"
My heart dropped as I realized what Jasper was getting at. Oh Merlin, he thinks I was cheating on him, hiding Sirius and being with Sirius while I was still with him. But I wasn't. That was never true. I ended things with Jasper months before I could be entirely sure that Sirius was innocent, and months before I reunited with Sirius… But there was no way I could explain this to Jasper without giving away that I was, in fact, hiding Sirius.
Jasper saw my miserable expression and thought it was guilt. "And yet you were the one hiding him from me the entire time?" His eyes flashed furiously at me.
"Jasper, no!" I began to protest. "Please, listen to me!"
Suddenly, the front door blasted open from behind me. I'd barely started to turn around when I heard someone shout, "Stupefy!"
I shouted and tried to put up a Shield Charm, but the Stunner reached me a second before my Shield Charm could fully form and stop it. The red bolt of light caught me in the chest.
Voices rang out in my head, shouting, Sirius! Run! Run! Run!
Then, my mind went dark.
Jasper Riley's POV
Dawlish, Savage, and Vance walked into the living room. I was carrying Raylynx, who had been knocked out by a well-placed Stunner, in my arms.
"Who invited you, Vance?" Savage barked out at her. "You ain't an Auror."
"Nobody. I invited myself," Emmeline said, lifting an eyebrow at Savage for his impertinent attitude. "I heard Riley needed help, so I came."
She looked over at me, but I missed her gaze, as I was setting Raylynx down on the couch.
Savage lifted his wand, and magical binds appeared on Raylynx's hands and feet.
"Savage -" I started to protest, but Savage shook his head at me.
"Calm down. It won't hurt her," he assured me. "I'm no sadist. I just like to be thorough."
I gazed down at Raylynx anyways, to make sure that she wasn't expressing any discomfort. I knelt down besides her for a moment to check on her. It was then that a slender line of wood, poking out from between the sofa cushions directly behind Raylynx where was lying, caught my eyes. I paused. Then, I subtly reached over and pretending to push Raylynx's hair out of her face, I managed to grasp onto the wood and pull it out.
This is my sister's wand, I immediately recognized, identifying the pattern. Sirius Black must have taken it from her when he escaped the basement of the Bureau of Information, I realized. I hurriedly concealed it, sliding it into my shirt sleeve.
"Anyways, Riley," Dawlish said crisply, "what are we supposed to find here? Savage and I searched this place before. We stripped the house down to find anything and everything – and we found nothing. Not only was there nobody in the house, but there's no magical protections on the house, either. It's just a Muggle house. Sirius Black couldn't hide here. Even the Muggles would spot him in mere minutes in a house with no protections."
I finally straightened up from besides the couch. Looking at Dawlish, I inquired, "Did you check for Runic Magic?"
"Did we what?" Savage said bluntly.
"Runic Magic," I repeated.
"Well, no. We did the usual – Homenum Revelio and Specialis Revelio." Dawlish looked at me strangely. "When do we ever check for Runic Magic?"
"Right," I said grimly. "That's what I thought."
"I'm not following you, Jasper," Emmeline said, frowning. "I took Ancient Runes at Hogwarts. I don't see how they'd be of any use here."
I kneeled on the ground and pulled out my wand so that the tip hovered just around the floor of the room. Then, closing my eyes to focus, I murmured, "Rune Revelio."
At first, there was nothing. Then, I felt a subtle strain of a magical shield, trying to push back against my mind and misdirect my magic, encouraging me to forget about this endeavor. "Nothing to look for here!" the magic sang. I pushed harder, forcing myself to focus.
The magic pushed back stronger and stronger, trying valiantly to push me away. It would have succeeded, too, if I hadn't been expecting it, but I already knew what I was looking for. I knew so deeply that this was Raylynx's magic, and thus, I could not be shaken from my mission.
But it was still difficult to overcome the Runic barriers of secrecy. I found myself growing confused and my mind became hazy. Look away, look away! The magic sang to me.
Mustering my magical strength, I repeated, "Rune Revelio!"
"There's nothing -" Dawlish began impatiently, but he was cut off by Emmeline's gasp.
I opened my eyes, exhausted from fighting Raylynx's magic. Reaching up, I wiped the sweat off of my forehead. When I brought down my arm, I could see that the living room was shining all over, for golden Runes had been coaxed out from every side of the room – the floor, ceiling, and all four walls. The space of the entire room was shivering brilliantly in the light of these golden Runes. They hovered in the air for a long moment, surrounding us.
"Plain View Illusion, Dimensional Secrecy, Mirrored View... And a lot of them, I've never seen before," Emmeline murmured, trying to make sense of as many Runes as she could. But soon, they vanished without a trace.
"Well, that was a pretty sight, but it didn't do anything," Savage grunted.
I stood up and pointing my wand high in the air, I said, "Apierta!"
Every single cabinet in the room shot open. The trunk standing in the corner opened to reveal a stack of games, with a set of wizard's chest at the very top. The tank lid flew open, too, to reveal smoldering embers, but nothing was inside. The small stand next to the couch, which had a little drawer, opened, to reveal a stack of family photos and a few letters…
"Oi, Riley!" Savage shouted.
I whirled around. Upon seeing something rise up out of the ground under the heavy rug covering the floor, Savage had leapt forward. He jerked his wand in the air. The rug flew to the side, hit the wall, and fell into a heap.
"Well, well, well," Savage chuckled. "Would you look at that?"
There was a trapdoor in the floor, made to blend into the floor, with no visible hinges or knobs, but at my spell, it had opened, with the door rising out of the floor.
The trapdoor opened to a flight of stairs that led down into the ground.
"If it isn't a textbook place to hide a criminal," Dawlish muttered under his breath. Frowning, he said, in a most disappointed voice, "How did we fail to catch this last time?"
"Yes," a new voice barked out gruffly. "How did you fail to catch it last time?"
We all whirled around to see two newcomers enter the living room: Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye.
"Mad-Eye? Thought you were on a break, doing a favor for Dumbledore or the like," Dawlish said, surprised.
"This is me doing another favor for Dumbledore," Moody replied.
Shacklebolt was staring at Raylynx Kingsley, still asleep on the couch. Then, his eyes flickered over to the yawning trapdoor on the floor.
"What have you found?" Shacklebolt asked us crisply.
"Nothing yet. Haven't gone in," Savage replied succinctly.
"What, scared of the dark?" Moody scoffed. "Then, you guard Kingsley. Rest of you, with me." Then, he tromped in first himself down the stairs, and the rest of the Aurors followed, wands held out, in case we ran into the likes of Sirius Black.
Raylynx's POV
I groggily came to. I found myself lying sideways on my couch, facing the living room. However, I instantly remembered what had happened. Leaping up, I cried out, "Jasper!" Well, that is, I attempted to leap up. But my hands and feet had been magically bound, and I toppled over unceremoniously from the couch, straight onto the floor.
"Oof!" I gave a muffled cry as I hit the floor in quite an embarrassing manner.
Then, instead of Jasper's voice, another familiar voice replied, "Well, hello there, rebel. Or should I say – monkey? That's quite a pose you've gotten yourself into."
I looked up to see Savage leaning against the wall, twirling his wand in his fingers. He grinned at me. "I didn't think to check for such complex Runic Magic, you know. But good ol' Jasper, he knew you through and through. He knew how to crack you, all right."
To my horror, I saw that the bunker door had been opened. A rumble of voices told me that there were several people below.
"No," I whispered in a terrified, hushed voice. "No…"
However, a voice in the back of my head whispered to me, Raylynx, shut up. If Sirius managed to get out, you have to pretend like you don't care. You have to pretend as though he was never here.
So, I quickly tried to control my features as I murmured, "No, that's my father's storage room."
"What?" Savage said, frowning at me.
"What are they doing to it?" I asked him, pretending to panic for an altogether different reason. "That's my father's room!"
"Aw, hush up. This clearly isn't a storage room. It's a living space," Dawlish told me, as he stomped up the stairs. Behind him, Jasper, Shacklebolt, Emmeline, and Moody came trumping up, too.
I paused. What are Emmeline and Moody doing here? They're not Aurors on duty…
"Bandages, Healing Potions, and food wrappers," Jasper recited, purposefully not looking at me. "I know Sirius Black was injured recently. This fits the bill."
"How d'you know he was injured?" Moody asked him, catching on quick.
At this, Jasper's mouth turned into a grim line. His hand tightened on something in his pocket as he replied, "I heard from Krawley that Sirius Black's dead body was going to be for sale on the Black Market. It only makes sense that Sirius Black got away, but was injured in the process of escaping.
Both Savage and Shacklebolt frowned at this, sensing that Jasper was not telling them everything.
However, I quietly breathed out in overwhelming relief because Jasper's hypothesizing meant that they had not managed to capture Sirius red-handed. Sirius was gone, then, in hiding somewhere else. Thank Merlin.
"What do we do with her?" Dawlish asked, nodding at me. "Or maybe we should call Fudge now. Once he sees the place, I think he'll agree that we need to take her into custody."
"Fudge is on business at the moment," Shacklebolt replied. "We'd have to receive authorization from someone else."
"Umbridge?" Dawlish suggested.
"No, I hate that hag," Savage spat out. "Someone else. Anyone else."
"Shall we call Crouch?" Emmeline asked. "He used to be my supervisor. I know he's no longer in his old position, but he still holds a lot of power. I'm sure if he signs something, we might -"
"No," Moody barked out suddenly. "Don't call Crouch. Old Barty should keep his trap out of this. He's not in Law Enforcement anymore."
"But Moody, you of all people, should know how important it is to move fast, to secure the criminal," Dawlish protested.
"Exactly," Moody said gruffly. His magical eye turned and swiveled onto me as he spoke. "You dunderheads have all missed the obvious point, haven't you?"
Jasper frowned. "Obvious point?"
"We've got everything – except the criminal," Moody said, thumping his walking stick on the floor. "Bandages? Healing Potions? What good does that do us? It could be any number of people. Take Lupin, for instance. You're good friends with him, aren't you, Kingsley?"
I slowly nodded. Is Moody trying to help me? He must be. It's strange that he's here in the first place, since he's technically a teacher and not an Auror at the moment. I wonder if Dumbledore sent him. But then, how did Dumbledore hear about this in the first place?
"He comes over, doesn't he? Isn't that what you said, Riley?" Moody jabbed Jasper in the hip with his stick.
Jasper hesitated. "Yes, I have seen Lupin come over from time to time."
"About once a month, eh?" Moody grunted. "So, who's to say he doesn't come over here to transform every month? Would explain the bandages and the Healing Potions."
"It's not Lupin," Jasper said at once, shaking his head.
"How d'you know?" Moody countered.
Jasper paused again. Jasper knew because when he'd seen Remus come over to my house before, it hadn't been during the full moon. Jasper, being a werewolf himself, knew that well enough. But he wasn't about to reveal himself in front of all of the Aurors, even if some of them already knew, thanks to Umbridge, so he kept silent.
"Jasper…" I called to him softly, but Jasper ignored me.
"I'm not saying Kingsley's innocent," Moody growled at me. He gave me a warning look, as if telling me to shut up and let him do the talking. "She's obviously a prime suspect. Any fool would agree to that. But I'm saying we don't have the evidence to get her – or Sirius Black. So where does that leave us, eh? What will we show the Wizengamot when the time comes?"
"I wasn't intending on turning her in to the authorities," Jasper replied quietly. "I'm sure it wasn't Raylynx's fault. Black probably held her captive or Imperiused her."
Moody scoffed loudly. "Got a soft spot for her, do you, boy? Well, that isn't going to do you a spot of good in this mess."
"I know," Jasper sighed. "I know that already, Mad-Eye."
"Then you best learn, boy," Moody said. "And stop merely 'knowing.'"
Then, Moody turned to me and told me, "Dumbledore will be wanting a word with you, Kingsley. Off to Hogwarts with you."
My eyes flickered up to Moody gratefully, as his words just now confirmed that Dumbledore must have sent Moody to protect Sirius and me.
But then, my eyes couldn't help crease with worry at the thought of Sirius, and finally, when my eyes landed on Jasper, standing just behind Moody, the guilt that slammed into my heart felt utterly crippling.
"Be on your way!" Moody barked at me loudly.
I jumped. "R- Right," I said, flustered. "Oh, but, um, where's my wand?"
"Here." Moody tossed it at me. "Took you long enough to realize you didn't have it, eh? CONSTANT VIGILIANCE!"
I jolted again, and found myself grimacing at Moody, but he had already moved away from me and was speaking to Shacklebolt.
"Jasper…" I murmured again softly.
"I know he was here," Jasper said, staring resolutely out of the backyard window. "I may not have the proof, but I know Sirius Black was here. You were helping him, weren't you? No one else here will believe me, not without further evidence, but I know."
"Why… Why do you keeping saying that?" I asked, swallowing hard.
Jasper's eyes slowly dragged across the window, then the room, and finally met my eyes. "For countless reasons," he said quietly but without hesitation.
"What?" I said, in disbelief. I haven't left any tracks. We – that is, Sirius, Remus, and I – have done everything to keep ourselves quiet. How could Jasper have possibly found anything, when there's nothing to find?
"For example, finding Roslyn Selwyn's wand in your living room," Jasper murmured. His eyes seemed haunted as he spoke.
Roslyn Selwyn? I don't even know who that is, I thought numbly.
"And even before that… Raylynx, I found your hair pin in front of his old apartment the night he escaped," Jasper told me. "You had already been there, before me. And you didn't tell me."
"I knew, of course, that it was your hair pin. You'd worn it the night before, at the dinner we went to together. I remember because it was in your hair that night when we…" Jasper's voice trailed off quietly. But then, his breath caught slightly as he whispered, "I was waiting for you to tell me. But you never did."
My mouth fell open. My hair pin? How did my hair pin end up there? Then, I remembered. As soon as I'd heard about Sirius' escape, I'd gone looking for him in all of the old places. I had visited his old apartment, and Remus had caught up to me there. Remus had tried to literally shake some sense into me, pushing me against the outer wall of the building to force me to listen to him. My hair pin must have fallen out then… Then, Jasper, who had been assigned to Auror patrol that apartment building later, must have found it there. What awful luck, I thought miserably.
More than anything, I wished I could convince Jasper to Sirius' innocence. If Jasper knew the truth, and the timeline of things, he wouldn't be feeling this way. He would realize that I hadn't betrayed him, that I had really tried to love him in my own way… But of course, what did it matter, when in truth I had always loved Sirius and only Sirius? What did it matter when I had been hiding Sirius away from all of the Aurors, including Jasper?
And yet, I wanted Jasper to know that in hiding Sirius, it wasn't so much about my love for him, as it was in my belief that he was innocent – and that he was, in fact, innocent. But how could I ever relay that to Jasper?
I hadn't the foggiest idea of where to begin, but I figured that I owed it to Jasper to try. Keeping my voice very low, I started to say, "Jasper, I know the last thing you want is to hear this from me, but I have to tell you: Sirius Black is innocent. He never committed the crime he was imprisoned for. He -"
"DO I HAVE TO SEND YOU TO DUMBLEDORE MYSELF? KINGSLEY, GET THE RUDDY HELL OUT!" Moody roared at me. He grabbed my arm and threw me forward, away from the others.
In my ear, he said in a low growl, "Get out of here before you implicate yourself any further. If that Riley boy has a soft spot for you, you've got a soft spot for him. Leave, before you tell him something you regret!"
Then, he shut my own front door after roughly tossing me out onto the front porch.
I heard Mrs. Lionel muttering from her porch, with her binoculars held up to her eyes, "I have seen many an odd crowd through these binoculars, but today takes the cake, Adam!"
To which, Adam, or Mr. Lionel, called back, "Get in here, woman! It's none of your business what's going on over there. Lunch is getting cold, too!"
Mrs. Lionel shouted back, "Ham and cheese sandwiches don't get cold, you colossal idiot!"
"They're toasties!"
"Shut up!" she snapped at him so hard, her voice turned into a croak. "For God's sake, let me gaze!"
Damn it, I thought to myself, I can't let her see what I'm about to do.
I hesitated. Then, drawing on my wandless magic, I murmured softly, "Obscuro…"
Although it took ten long seconds of concentration, a soft, dark fog began to bloom from my hands. It filled up the front porch.
When I heard Mrs. Lionel squawk in surprise, I knew it was my opportunity. Whipping out my wand, I whispered, "Expecto Patronum!" A silver lynx soared out and bounded away into the air. Then, before the smoke vanished, I turned and Apparated.
Sola Kingsley's POV
I marched up to parent's Muggle house – now Raylynx's house – furiously. I drew my wand. A second later, at my command, the front door banged open.
I stomped in to see many Aurors still inside, just as Raylynx's Patronus had told me.
Raising my voice, I said, "On what grounds are you executing a warrantless search of my sister's property?"
"Damn it, Sola's here," I heard Dawlish curse. "I told Moody he left too early."
My eyes flickered over to the open bunker door. I kept my countenance, however, as I demanded, "This search was not signed off by a High Judge of the Wizengamot."
"It didn't need to be," Savage grunted. "There was strong enough cause."
"What cause?" I shot back.
"Information, from - erm, an informant," Savage replied.
"That's it?" I said, lifting her eyebrow. "Just information from an informant? Of all the pathetic reasons I've ever heard - "
Savage growled at me, highly annoyed, "Miss High and Mighty, you - "
"Yes, but not merely any informant," Shacklebolt replied, cutting across Savage's remark. Shacklebolt, who had also once been a member of the Wizengamot, respected me more than any of the other Aurors here.
I looked at Shacklebolt and questioned, "What type of informant, then?"
"One of our own," Shacklebolt answered, trying to soothe the tension of the situation with his authoritative, yet calming voice. "A highly respected Auror. The source was trustworthy. So, you understand now why cause was enough."
"Perhaps. It depends on the cause. An Auror or Hit Wizard can say anything they want in retrospect to justify any number of events," I replied thinly, not to be dissuade. "So, what was this purported cause?"
"I saw him," Jasper replied quietly, unexpectedly outing himself as the informant. He looked up at Sola with a hard gaze as he repeated, "I saw Sirius Black in this house with my own eyes. With your sister, Raylynx Kingsley."
Under Jasper's intense and pained gaze, I found myself waveringly. I blinked. But I managed to keep my wits about me, to protect my little sister, as I pressed, "You saw someone inside the house? That sounds like spying. What grounds did you have for that watch, then?"
At this, it was Jasper's turn to be flustered. Because, truth be told, Jasper had pieced it together from Sirius' run-in with his family's illegal activities, and because of his long relationship with Raylynx, neither of which were grounds he was willing to formally admit yet.
"Just a feeling," he murmured.
"Just a feeling?" I crossed my arms at him. "Not enough. Get out, all of you."
"But Sola!" Dawlish began.
"Out!" I shouted, and none of them dared to challenge me.
Raylynx's POV
I raced up to Hogwarts, cursing vehemently in my head. Stupid – bloody – Apparition – restrictions – on – Hogwarts!
I dashed into the Great Hall, and then I made straight for Dumbledore's office.
"Dumbledore!" I called anxiously, shouting as I ran in. "Dumbledore -!"
"My dear girl, I beg you to calm yourself," Dumbledore said, standing up at his chair.
I froze when I saw Cornelius Fudge standing besides Dumbledore's door. I had missed him at first glance because Fudge was standing next to Fawkes' stand, and it nearly covered him from vision from my angle.
I swallowed and then said feebly, "Headmaster…"
Fudge glared at me with incredibly distrusting eyes. "It doesn't look good for Hogwarts at all, Dumbledore. Not in the least because of your questionable employment of Professor Lupin last year, and your retainment of Professor Kingsley here…"
"Your skepticism is misplaced, Minister, I assure you," Dumbledore said calmly. "And so is your time spent here. I have no information whatsoever on the whereabouts of Sirius Black, and I am certain your Aurors, who are working so diligently on your behalf, are patiently awaiting your presence."
Fudge sighed. "Sometimes you can be so very uncooperative, Dumbledore. And I can't tell whether it's your brilliance or your dislike of the Ministry that's sending me away with no answers every time…"
Dumbledore chuckled. "It is not my intention to frustrate you, Minister. Quite the opposite. I am trying to help in my own modest way. Now, I shall see you out."
"No need, Dumbledore," Fudge said shortly. "I shall see to it myself, thank you. You should stay and entertain your – er – Professor."
Fudge shot me another nasty look before he left Dumbledore's office.
"Dumbledore -" I began again, but just then, Fawkes glided in through the window and squawked loudly.
A second later, a silver wolf Patronus followed. I hesitated as I looked up at the Patronus. Something about it was incredibly familiar, and yet, I knew I hadn't seen this particular Patronus for a very long time…
"Headmaster," the Patronus spoke, and it was Remus' voice.
Oh, I realized, that's why. Remus never conjures a formed Patronus, if he can help it. He hates that it's a wolf…
"Contact made," the wolf relayed. "Safe for the moment. Possibly watched. No reply, please."
I looked over at Dumbledore, asking him to confirm what I had understood from that message – that Sirius and Buckbeak were with Remus and that they were all safe for now, although possibly watched.
Dumbledore nodded once.
I sank to my feet, and sat there, mind buzzing with quiet relief as all of the tension flooded out of me.
"Professor Kingsley," Dumbledore said quietly, "you should not have gone back last night."
I looked up at Dumbledore, stunned. "How did you know?"
"Professor McGonagall mentioned that you were not around to help with supervising the Ball last night," Dumbledore replied knowingly. "She had a handful of names for you, if I remember correctly."
Still numb with relief, I heard myself mutter aloud, "Did they all start with the same letter?"
Dumbledore' eyes twinkled through their sadness as he replied, "Yes, I believe they did…"
Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s POV
I could not believe my own luck. These idiots dug holes for themselves. I had often wondered how Peter Pettigrew, that witless worm, could have managed to hand Lily and James Potter over to Lord Voldemort. Now I knew. Dumbledore, and all of his followers, were so stuck on their idea of "loyalty" that once inside the circle, they never questioned each other. It was thus painfully easy to win Raylynx Kingsley's trust. I saw the look of relief on her face when she saw me appear, as Moody, in her home.
But, what was even more amazing, was that in truth, she and I were, momentarily, genuinely aligned. You see, I also did not want the Ministry getting their hands on Sirius Black. No, rather, I, too wanted to find Sirius Black – and kill him myself. I could deposit his dead body either to Lord Voldemort for my Lord's satisfaction, for I remembered well the days during the First War when Sirius Black had caused us trouble, and I knew my Lord would quite pleased to see Sirius Black's dead body being devoured by Nagini. With his background and relations, Sirius Black had often been one of the shrewdest members of the Order, seeing through our tactics quicker than any of the other innocent lambs that made up the Order, and he had an aggressive fighting style that put him head-to-head with us Death Eaters, making it harder for us to exploit his hesitance in fighting, the way we did with all of the other Order members.
However, if the Dark Lord decided that he had no interest in Sirius Black's corpse, and ordered me to do as I pleased, then I knew I could make quite a pretty penny by selling Sirius' corpse on the black market. I, like everyone else in that circle, had heard the call go out. It would be a way for me to humiliate Lucius Malfoy as well, that faithless traitor, who had bought his way back into the Ministry of Magic, and had denounced Lord Voldemort as soon as he could to remain in good standing in society. My tongue flickered out as I thought of his arrogance and cowardice. Malfoy, how I'd like to see him suffer…
But, anyhow, the point was that neither Raylynx nor I could let the godforsaken Ministry get their hands on Sirius Black first, so I was surprised, but very pleased indeed, when Dumbledore sent me to Raylynx Kingsley's house to "get her out of trouble." Furthermore, having seen the bunker, I was one hundred percent sure that Raylynx had been hiding Sirius. Thus, by earning her trust, I knew that I could learn Sirius Black's whereabouts hereafter and that was an absolutely delightful position. I could not wait for the day I got my hands on Sirius Black and wrung his neck beforecasting the Killing Curse on him. And my pathway to him was through none other than Raylynx Kingsley.
Quite a useful Mudblood, as it turns out, I thought to myself, feeling incredibly pleased.
Remus Lupin's POV
"We've tried this before. It doesn't work," I grumbled.
"Tried what?" Sirius asked me.
"This." I pointed to him, and then at myself. "You and me. Living together."
"Oh."
I repeated morosely, "It doesn't work."
"Well, there's a third party now. Might do the trick," Sirius replied, looking over at Buckbeak, who neighed unhappily at both of us.
Sirius, Buckbeak, and I were all crammed into the tiny flat I had rented out, the flat that was just above Flourish and Blotts.
Buckbeak had to keep his head low, and even with his wings folded, it left very little room for Sirius and I to move around in.
Still, Sirius was pacing – well, he was pacing as much as one could pace around a fully matured hippogriff crammed into what now felt like a shoebox.
Brushing by Buckbeak's feathery wing, Sirius touched his face nervously with his hand as he muttered to himself, "She'll be okay, right? I mean, Sola's on the Wizengamot. I'm sure Sola will help her. But what if the Aurors don't tell the Wizengamot? What if Raylynx is sitting in a cell right now, being interrogated? Shit, shit, shit. I can't wait here any longer. I've got to -" He suddenly broke and started for the door.
"Sirius," I said sharply. "Sit down."
"Remus, I can't let her -"
"You have to. The worst thing you can do Raylynx now is to go after her," I interjected, telling Sirius what he already knew. "And the best thing you can do for her is to be safe and stay out of sight."
Sirius groaned lowly and turning around, he sank onto the floor with his back sliding down the door.
"How did this happen?" I wondered. "The bunker was holding up so well this entire time."
Sirius shook his head. "It's not that the bunker wasn't working. Rather, I was caught – red-handed. Bunker or not, I couldn't stay there, not when the Auror had already plainly seen me in Raylynx's house."
"I can't believe that Auror caught us," Sirius murmured, still slightly in shock at what had happened. Everything had been so blissful one moment, and the next, it'd all shattered, and the pieces had fallen into hell.
"Did you recognize the Auror?" I asked him.
Staring at the floor, Sirius murmured, "I only caught a glimpse of his face, but I did recognize him. It was that bloke that Raylynx was seeing before…"
"Jasper?" I supplied.
Sirius nodded.
Astonished, I asked, "How in Merlin's name did he know that you were at Raylynx's?"
Sirius shook his head. "I'm not sure myself. My best guess is that he must have picked up on the fact that I was in the house when Raylynx came back so suddenly… She and Harry had just left, after all. It likely seemed odd that she came racing back so quickly, and then only stayed one night."
"Why did she come racing back?" I questioned, trying to understand what had happened.
But Sirius wouldn't say.
A few hours later, we discovered, most unhappily for all of us, that Sirius and I had to creep around Buckbeak to access the bathroom.
"Sirius, this really will not work," I said, crossing my arms. "Either we've got to put the bird somewhere else, or you and I have got to go."
Buckbeak, somehow sensing that I was speaking ill about him, looked at me beadily and snorted loudly.
"Well, don't take it personally," I said to him. "I wouldn't be saying this if I was rich. It's the place, not you, so don't maul me, please."
"Relax," Sirius responded. "I'll get Buckbeak out of here once the coast is clear."
I sighed. "When do you think that's going to be?" I asked hopelessly. "We can't move as we please. I think we're being watched."
"Well, I got here without being spotted, you know."
"Yes, which speaking of – how did you manage to come here without being spotted?"
"Demiguise Cloak for me, Camouflage Charm on Buckbeak," Sirius replied nonchalantly.
I shook my head at Sirius, but even so, I had to admire the strength of his Camouflage Charm.
After a brief pause, I looked over at Sirius to see that he was staring down at his hands with his brow furrowed and a look of deep concern on his face.
"Sirius, I'm sure Raylynx is all right," I said, instantly realizing what was bothering him. "It's you we need to worry about protecting."
"I can't help it. I don't think I could forgive myself if she suffered anymore on my behalf," Sirius murmured.
"Well, what can you expect? It's hard to love outcasts like us, Sirius," I said wryly.
Sirius finally cracked a small smile at my gruff words. In a soft voice, he told me, "Thanks, Moony. I'd have nowhere to go without you."
I paused. Then, I replied, though a bit tiredly, "Don't worry about it, Pads. As long as you're safe."
Jasper Riley's POV
"So," Umbridge said shrewdly, staring at Shacklebolt, Dawlish, Savage, Vance, and me in turn, "you failed to secure Sirius Black, is that right?"
"He wasn't there when we arrived, ma'am," Dawlish replied.
"The report says that someone in this group saw him." Umbridge snapped, "Who was that?"
"It was me," I replied quietly.
Umbridge turned on me and asked expectantly, "And you saw Sirius Black with Raylynx Kingsley, is that correct?"
I hesitated. If I say yes, they'll go after her, and if Umbridge signs a warrant, they'll be no stopping Raylynx's capture or interrogation. Perhaps she deserves it, after all the lying she's done to everyone, to me. But…
"No," I said quietly. "I saw Sirius Black alone. Raylynx Kingsley arrived only after I began chasing after Black."
I saw Emmeline turn her head towards me, and her eyes were narrowed into a thoughtful and intense gaze.
Umbridge's mouth turned into a most irritated thin line. "Very well," she huffed. "We'll have to get to her another way. In the meantime, double the watch in London for Sirius Black."
With that, Umbridge dismissed us.
Raylynx's POV
Even knowing that Sirius was safe with Remus, I couldn't sleep. There was so much guilt in my heart, stealing away my ability to sleep and threatening to overwhelm me.
Guilt, because giving into my foolish desire to be with Sirius had led to his being exposed.
Guilt, because Jasper somehow believed that I had cheated on him during our relationship, and even lied to him about Sirius while Jasper was suffering from his grueling hours as an Auror on the hunt for Sirius.
Still, at least Sirius got away, I reminded myself. Sola also wrote to say that the house is safe and intact. And, thank Merlin, nothing happened to Harry at Hogwarts where I was away…
I tried very hard to take a deep breath, counting my blessings in my head and stopping myself from wallowing in guilt and anxiety.
Quincy stared at me from his tank, watching me quite nervously as I tossed and turned in bed all night. He, too, copied me, and circled his tank of flames into the early hours of the morning, where, woozy with running around, he fell over onto his back and fell asleep with all six of his feet pointing into the air.
