Chapter Fifteen: Padfoot

Artemis sprang back from the dog as if it had shocked her. "What?" she demanded. "Are you crazy? What do you mean, it's a man?"

"It's Sirius," he said. "Sirius Black."

I gasped. "Padfoot!"

There was a flicker of recognition in the dog's eyes.

This didn't mean anything to Artemis, of course. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

Remus said, "He's the one they've been searching for. The murderer." His jaw hardened with the last word, his wand still trained on the dog.

"You're crazy," said Artemis.

"Please, get away from him," said Remus. "I don't want him to hurt you. Get behind me, both of you."

Artemis stepped in front of the dog, her hands on her hips. "I'm not gonna let you just shoot my dog, or whatever you're planning on doing with that thing."

I gripped Remus' arm harder. "Remus? What are you going to do?"

"I won't hurt him. Yet. I'm just going to force him to transform back into a man. If he is just a dog, the spell won't hurt him at all. I'm sorry. But I need to know."

Artemis scowled at him.

"Artemis. Please," I said.

She hesitated. "All right," she said warily. "But I'm warning you. If you hurt my dog I'll make you wish you'd never been born."

"I used to wish that," he said, but under his breath, so that only I could hear.

Still scowling, she came to stand beside me. "Thank you," said Remus, his voice tight with emotion.

Remus took a few steps closer to the dog and leveled his wand at him. This spell didn't require any words, apparently—a blue light shot out from the end of the wand.

The blue light crackled through the dog's body, which stretched out and become human limbs. The dog became a skeletal man in dirty rags, sitting in the grass, his long black hair the same color as the dog's fur, hanging in tangled mats around his face.

Artemis gasped. I put my arm around her to steady her. I had passed out the first time I'd seen someone transform like that.

The dog-man, Sirius Black was staring up at Remus with wide, desperate eyes.

"Remus," he croaked. It sounded as if his vocal cords had grown rusty through lack of use. "I didn't betray them! I didn't kill anyone! I swear it! I swear to you." He made no move to run, just held out his hands, pleading. It was hard to believe that someone so pitiful could be the man that had haunted all our fears for the past few months.

"Why should I believe you?" Remus' voice was choked with anguish, his wand still leveled at him. "If you lied to Lily and James, you'd lie to me too."

"It was Peter!" he cried. "He's alive. He's at Hogwarts! That's why I came back, came looking for him!"

"What?" said Remus, lowering his wand slightly.

"He switched places with me at the last minute, claiming it would be safer, because no one would suspect him!" He laughed mirthlessly. "He was right about that."

Remus stood there, staring at him. With the long hair, they looked like strange mirrors of each other—not identical, but as if you were looking back at yourself in a photograph of how you were, or what you might become. It was strange, but in that moment, I realized how much better Remus looked now than when I'd first seen him, his hair pulled back, dressed warmly, his face filled out, some color in it—even if right now that color was the result of anger. The scars were still visible, but they had become a part of his face, rather than something that fractured it. He'd lost some of that gaunt, haunted look. But that first day I met him, he'd looked a lot like Sirius.

I stood there, panic-stricken, racking my brains for some kind of solution to this mess. I didn't have a solution, just instinct. Lord knew if those instincts were good or not. "I think you should listen to him," I said.

Sirius's eyes flickered to me, surprised.

"You said you could never quite believe it," I said. "That he had done it."

"I know," said Remus, stricken.

"The map!" I said, struck by a sudden remembrance. "He'd be on the map, wouldn't he? Your other friend."

"Yes," said Remus. He reached into his pocket with his left hand, his eyes and his wand still trained on Sirius Black. "You'll have to read it," he said to me.

I snatched it from his hand and unfolded it frantically. "Tell me the name again."

"Peter Pettigrew," they both said at the same time. It was hard to focus on the huge map and its tiny intricate parts. "How do you know he's at Hogwarts? Where do you think he is?"

Sirius' voice was slightly stronger. "I saw him, in the Daily Prophet. One of the boys had him as a pet. One of the Weasleys. He's been hiding as a rat."

I scanned the pages frantically for what seemed like an eternity. "I found him!" I cried. "He's in Gryffindor Tower. And there's Ron Weasley's name next to him." I wasn't sure I fully grasped what this meant, to be honest, but it seemed to confirm the dog-man's narrative.

Remus lowered his wand, slowly. "The map never lies."

Sirius crumpled with relief.

It was starting to snow. Big fluffy flakes were landing on his dirty clothes and matted hair.

From somewhere behind us, Artemis said, "I think I'm going to need that drink now." Without another word, she turned and stumped off back into the house.

Not really sure of what we were doing, we followed Artemis—Sirius in front, so Remus could keep an eye on him, and me in the back, so I could keep an eye on Remus.

We ended up in the kitchen. Now that she was back inside the house, Artemis took charge. "No one is going to kill anyone in my house. Understood?"

Both men nodded meekly.

"Sit at the table," she said, gesturing to it. We sat. Remus and Sirius were at opposite ends of the table, with me between them. Artemis rummaged in the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass. She poured a generous portion of it and sat down. Then she drained the whole glass in one long, slow sip and set it firmly back down on the table. Looking at Sirius, she said "You better have a damn good explanation."

Sirius swallowed nervously. "I've been on the run since the summer. I escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban. The guards have been hunting me ever since."

"What did you do?"

"I put my faith in the wrong friends," he said grimly. "I was accused of murdering thirteen people and betraying my—friends to their deaths."

Artemis stiffened. Something had clicked. "You. You were on the news." She half rose from her chair. "Oh God."

"Yes," he said, with a wicked grin. "The notorious mass murderer, Sirius Black."

She stood up, looking as if she were about to run. I grabbed her arm, wondering, as I did so, if she actually had the right idea.

"Ophelia," she said, in a way that made me wonder if this was going to be the end of our friendship. I couldn't blame her. "Ophelia how the fuck did you get mixed up with a serial killer?"

"I don't know!" I said, throwing up my hands in exasperation.

"I'm not a serial killer!" said Sirius. He took a deep breath. "Look. Tie me up if you like. I just need you to listen."

"You'll just turn into a dog again and slip out of it," she said.

He gave a wry smile. "You'll just have to trust me, then."

"I let you come in my house!" she cried out, gesturing wildly at him. "I let you sit on my couch!"

I buried my face in my hands, completely at my wit's end. "Remus, please do something."

Remus muttered something under his breath, and a glowing cage of magic appeared around Sirius. "There. That should contain him, man or dog."

Artemis stared at the glowing cage, startled out of her (very justifiable) rage. Cautiously, she reached out and touched it. It was solid, like a wall against her hand. She looked at Sirius. He was breathing hard, his eyes wide with panic, the horror of those twelve years in prison written in every line of his face.

"You say you're innocent?" she said.

He nodded.

She gripped the top of the kitchen chair beside her. "Tell me what happened."

"How much do you know about our world?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Not much."

He ran his hands through his hair. "Okay. Um. Oh God." He looked at Remus for help. Remus just looked back at him.

"Twelve years ago, there was a war in the wizarding world. A dark wizard tried to take over everything. My friend, James, he fought back against him. And this dark wizard—" he hesitated, and then, apparently deciding he might as well risk it, said, "His name was Voldemort—"

Artemis let out a nervous, incredulous laugh. "Voldemort? What kind of a name is that?"

This seemed to release a fraction of the tension. "A stupid one," said Sirius. "Well. He wanted to kill James, and his family. We set up a spell to protect them. Only one person would know where they were. A secret keeper. The spell was such that once you were enchanted, no one could get the information out of you, not by magic, not by torture. Only if you gave it up voluntarily. No one else would be able to reveal it. I was supposed to be their secret keeper. But, at the last minute, our other friend, Peter, convinced me to let him be the secret keeper instead. Everyone knew that James and I were like brothers. It would be too easy to guess, he said." He took a deep breath. "And I believed him." He stared at his skeletal hands. "And he betrayed them." He turned to look at Remus, his face twisted with grief. "I'm the reason they're dead."

Artemis didn't say anything. None of us did. I think we were scarcely breathing.

"When I found out they were dead, when I realized what had happened, I confronted Peter. I meant to kill him. We were on a crowded street. I wasn't thinking. I knew I had to get him. When he saw me, he shouted out that I had betrayed James and Lily. As I raised my wand, he blew up the street. The explosion killed twelve people. It nearly killed me. Sometimes I wish it had." He paused, looking down at the ground. "As I looked up through the rubble, I saw him cut off his finger. Then he turned himself into a rat, and ran off down into the sewer. With the other rats. The next thing I knew, I was being arrested. They thought I'd blown him up, along with everyone else. I was imprisoned without a trial."

"Isn't that illegal?" asked Artemis.

"Not in the wizarding world," said Remus grimly. "We were at war."

"Still," said Artemis. "That seems like it would be a violation of the Geneva conventions, or something."

"What are the Geneva conventions?" asked Sirius.

I facepalmed.

"What kind of fucked up justice system is this?" asked Artemis.

"I keep asking that," I said, thinking about the Dementors.

"How did you get out?" asked Artemis.

"I turned into a dog. As you can see by my…stunning physique," He glanced down ruefully at his half-open shirt, where we could see his emaciated chest and prison tattoos, "we weren't exactly fed well. I was thin enough to slip through the bars and swam across the sea to the mainland."

"Why didn't you escape before?"

He sighed. "In this place, Azkaban, they…torture you, torture your mind, until all you are left with are your worst memories. Most…lose the will to live within a few years."

Artemis turned to me, horrified. "Is this true?"

"Yes," Remus and I said at the same time.

She cursed again. "Then why didn't you?"

"I knew I was innocent," he said. "And I was able to transform. My emotions are less…complex as a dog. It was enough to keep me alive, but not much else. And then, by chance, I got hold of a newspaper." He reached into the pocket of his coat, causing us all to jump—and pulled out a crumpled newspaper. He smoothed it out as best he could, and held it up to the bars. "And there was Peter, as a rat. With one toe missing. Living as a pampered family pet."

Remus moved closer and peered at the paper through the bars. I heard his sharp intake of breath. "That's Peter."

"When I read the article, I realized he was hiding at the school. With Harry."

"Who's Harry?" said Artemis, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"He was their son—Lily and James. He's my godson. The only family I have left. He survived, somehow, the night his parents were killed. No one really knows how. The only reason I could think for Peter to be hiding at the school was that he was going to try to finish Harry off. I knew I had to escape, I had to get back to him, to protect him. And to kill Peter."

Artemis pinched the bridge of her nose. "So let me get this straight. You're not a murderer. But you're planning on murdering the guy you went to prison for killing?"

"Yes," he said, looking her straight in the eyes. Which was a ballsy thing to admit, under the circumstances.

She looked back at him, very hard. Then she looked at us. "And what about you? Are you gonna let him?"

I looked at Remus. "I'm probably going to help him, if I'm being honest," he said.

Now they were all looking at me. "Do you trust him?" asked Artemis.

"I trust Remus," I said.

Artemis ran her hands through her hair, so that it stood on end. She looked Sirius in the eye for a very long time. He looked back at her, breathing hard, but unflinching.

"Let him go," she said, her shoulders slumping. "I can't stand seeing someone caged like that."

Remus waved his wand, and the bars around Sirius dissolved. "Thank you," he said, in a shaky voice.

He turned towards the table, and staggered. Remus put a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Sorry," said Sirius. "Not used to being on two legs."

"Sirius." Remus looked at him long and hard, his face filled with emotion. "Can you forgive me for thinking it was you?"

"If you can forgive me, for not trusting you. After I found out about Peter, I didn't know who to trust, anymore. I should have gone to you before I confronted him."

Remus threw his arms around him and hugged him fiercely. Sirius didn't move, just stood there, stunned, as if he couldn't quite understand what was happening. I wondered how long it had been since someone had touched him. Then he hugged him back.

When Remus let him go, Sirius' eyes were bright with tears. Sirius rubbed his hand over his face. "Right, then," he said. "What's our plan of action?"

"We've got to get back to Hogwarts," said Remus. "And find Pettigrew. Before he does something to Harry."

"Hold on," said Artemis to Sirius. "What have you been doing all this time? And how on earth did you end up here?"

"I've been trying to catch Pettigrew and reach Harry," he said, sitting down. "I went to where he lives with his aunt and uncle, but I'm afraid I frightened him away, in my dog form. For the past several months, I've been trying to get into Hogwarts without getting caught by the guards. I succeeded twice, but I didn't find Peter. I nearly got caught the second time, and I knew I had to lay low for a while and think of another plan. So I headed for the Muggle villages a little beyond Hogwarts, and then you found me going through the garbage." He looked at her. "It was getting colder, and I was hungry, and you were kind to me. So I decided to stay. For a little while. Until I could figure out what to do." He looked down at the table. "I'm sorry."

"You chewed up my best pair of boots!"

"I am sorry about that," he said, biting back a smile. "I was under a lot of stress. I'll get you another pair! A better pair. I have lots of money. It's just a bit difficult to access at the moment."

"And then you ate that whole rotisserie chicken off the kitchen counter," she added. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god, that's why you were so bad about stealing food!" She leapt up. "You must be so hungry."

"Well, yes, now that you mention it," he said. "Not that you haven't been feeding me well. But dog food isn't quite the same as human food."

She opened the refrigerator and examined its contents critically. "You may as well all eat. What time is it, anyway?"

"2:30," I said, glancing at the kitchen clock.

She began throwing things onto the counter. "Well, I've got stuff for sandwiches. And I think there's a leftover meat pie."

I glanced at Remus. "Well, this rat hasn't done anything yet," I said. "I think it would be smart to figure out a plan before we get there."

Artemis paused abruptly in her sandwich making activities and turned to Sirius. "But before you eat, though, you need a bath. I can smell you all the way over here."

It was true. He stank. Imagine dog odor and people odor combined. It was so strong that I wasn't sure how we hadn't noticed it before, except that circumstances were pretty dire.

She looked him up and down. "And we probably need to burn those clothes, if you don't want to get caught. You haven't got lice, have you?"

"Dogs don't get lice," he said. "And the flea shampoo got rid of the fleas."

She buried her face in her hands. "Oh God. I gave you a bath."

Remus let out a choked laugh.

Sirius winced. "Let's just agree to never speak of it again."

"Fine," she said, groaning. "Ophelia, you make the sandwiches. There should be some grapes in the bottom drawer." She left the kitchen. A few minutes later, she put a bundle of clothes on the table. "I don't really have any men's clothes, for obvious reasons, but it looks like you're about the same size as I am, so these might fit. Except for the underwear. You'll probably have to go commando. Although I do have a box of incontinence diapers in the clinic because we sometimes need them for the wolves. There should be a new razor and an extra toothbrush under the sink. Go get cleaned up. And use the blow dryer, or you'll catch pneumonia like Ophelia did."

"It was just a cold," I said.

Sirius opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again. He picked up the clothes and went.

There was a brief pause. Remus looked from Artemis to me. "I see why you're friends," he said. Then he grinned, and called out "Oi, Sirius, shall I fetch the diapers from the clinic?"

From the other end of the house, we heard a muffled "Fuck off, Remus!"

We all snickered. It seemed to ease some of the tension.

He looked at Artemis. "I don't suppose there's a Tesco or anything nearby?"

"There's the co/op in the village, but that's about an hour from here."

"Not a problem," he said. "I'll just nip round and see what I can find. Anything you need or want, food-wise? As a contribution towards our appalling abuse of your hospitality."

Artemis folded her arms and considered. "Pizza. And whatever cake looks good. Preferably chocolate."

"Right," he said. "Anything else?"

"That's it."

He pulled out his wand, waved it, and then vanished. Poof. Gone.

Artemis leaned against the counter. "What is happening to me?"

"I'm sorry." I said, covering my face with my hands. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

She sighed. "You really know how to pick 'em, Ophelia."

"I swear it's not always like this," I said.

"How?" she demanded, turning on me. "How did you get mixed up in all this?"

"I don't know," I said, leaning against the counters. "One minute, I was riding on the train, reading my romance novel, minding my own business, and then all of the sudden this demon comes along, and I tell it to fuck off, and then I went to yell at the driver, and Remus was there too, then I passed out and then he helped me, and he was really sweet—"

Artemis stared at me. "You know, I don't think I can handle any more weird shit today," she said. "But why didn't you tell me any of this before now?"

"I didn't tell anybody! You would have thought I was crazy! And we're not supposed to. It's like against the magical law. But I really needed this job. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you everything, I swear. It's been so hard, and I felt terrible about it."

She was silent for a moment, as we finished making the sandwiches. "I take it back. You gotta at least tell me how you met this guy. He is hot, I'll give you that much."

So, I told her how I met Remus, as we ate Cheetos straight out of the bag—the terrifying train ride, the demons, the unicorns, the library, Halloween, the kiss.

"And then the entire school saw us," I said. In a louder voice, I added "because fucking Sirius Black decided to come down the hall at that exact moment."

I heard a hoarse chuckle from the other room. "You called?" he asked, coming around the corner, with a spark of mischief in his sunken eyes.

All things considered, he cleaned up remarkably well, despite the fact that he was wearing Artemis' other "Team Jacob" sweatshirt and her low-rise bedazzled jeans. He looked a little bit more like the happy, handsome boy in Remus' photo album. His hair was very clearly washed, brushed, and blow-dried. It was long, black and glossy, except where it was streaked with gray. He had also shaved, which made him look years younger. He was still achingly, terribly thin.

"Wait," he said, grinning. "That was you? And Remus?" He threw back his head and laughed outright. "I thought it was a couple of seventh years."

"Don't make me regret asking Remus to listen to you," I said sternly.

Sirius' eyes flickered to Artemis, as if he was particularly interested in how she'd react to him.

Artemis had definitely noticed that Sirius cleaned up well, but she pretended not to. She sniffed the air suspiciously. "Is that my perfume?"

"Just trying to help with the smell," he said, raising his hands defensively.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm never letting a stray dog into my house again." She gestured to the food assembled haphazardly on the counter. "Help yourself. Remus is bringing us a pizza."

"Thank you," said Sirius, darting over to the counter. With feverish haste, he began piling his plate high with food.

There was a loud CRACK and Remus suddenly appeared in the kitchen with a pizza and a bagful of groceries slung over one arm. "I'm sorry it took so long. It's been a while since I've been to a muggle shop, and everyone was there. Pizza's hot, though."

There wasn't any more room on the tiny countertop, so he set the pizza and the grocery bags on the kitchen table, where Sirius was quietly devouring most of the sandwiches.

"Cake!" said Artemis appreciatively, lifting it triumphantly out of the bag. "This is the best kind."

"There's also a bottle of wine and a rotisserie chicken, to make up for the one Mr. Snuffleupagus over there ate." He looked at Sirius. "I'm billing you for all this, by the way."

Sirius made a muffled exclamation of dismay, but quickly turned his attention back to the pizza. Remus tossed a smaller bag at him. "And here's your underwear."

Sirius paused in the middle of a pizza slice, wiped his hands on a paper towel, leapt up, and dashed out of the kitchen.

"Are those…bedazzled jeans?" Remus asked.

"They're the only ones that were clean," said Artemis grimly.

Remus chuckled, and went to make himself a plate.

"I think we should tell McGonagall about all this," I said. "Our boss," I added, for Artemis' benefit. "If anyone knows how to deal with a rat, it's her."

"What about Dumbledore?" said Remus.

"Heck no," I said. "He can't even keep the Dementors out of the grounds."

"Fair enough." Remus glanced in the living room. "Have you got a fireplace? I could probably contact her on the floo network, see if she can head him off."

"The what?" said Artemis, through a mouthful of pizza.

Sirius came back. Presumably, he was no longer commando. Remus laughed as he noticed the sweatshirt.

"I don't suppose you could magic the clothes to make them more manly?" Sirius asked.

"No," said Remus, grinning. "Have you got a wand, by the way?"

Sirius shook his head as he sat down at the table. "Confiscated."

"There's a firepit out back," said Artemis. "Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to have one, but it's remote enough out here that nobody notices."

"That might work," said Remus.

We talked over various plans as we ate, and then all four of us trooped outside to the firepit. It was covered in snow.

"Sorry," said Artemis.

"Not to worry," said Remus. He knelt down and conjured a fire, which burned blue and green, melting away the snow in the firepit. Then he fished out a bag of Floo Powder from his coat, and cast it on the blaze. "Professor McGonagall!" he called out.

Sirius hid himself behind Remus. Which probably wouldn't do him much good, since he was now wearing a multi-neon-colored (but predominately pink) 80s jacket that had belonged to Artemis' mom. It looked like it would glow in the dark.

The flames blazed up into a fireplace-shaped archway. Through the arch, we could see McGonagall's office. But she herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Professor McGonagall?" Remus called again.

Nothing.

He cursed softly. "Well just have to find her when we get there," he said. He tossed the bundle of Sirius' prison clothes on the fire.

Sirius glanced ruefully at the clothes as they burned, and then up at the landscape. "What's that house over there?" he asked, gesturing to the sprawling, vine-covered edifice across the street.

"Oh, that's Cranachan Castle," said Artemis. "It just went up for sale. Most of it's in ruins. Only the barn's livable. But isn't it beautiful?"

"It is," said Sirius.

Friends, let me tell you, he was not looking at the house. He was looking at her.

And then he saw that I was watching him. I folded my arms and raised my eyebrows. He suddenly became very interested in helping Remus put out the fire. While I fully believed Sirius was innocent of the murder business, I certainly wasn't convinced that whatever intentions he apparently had towards Artemis were innocent. And really, she was way out of his league.

Then again, a man who thinks you're beautiful when you are covered in wolf hair and Cheeto dust is nothing to sneeze at. Either way, I was gonna keep an eye on him.

"We'd better get to the bus," said Remus, oblivious. "At this rate, it's going to be dark before we get back."

I put my hand on Artemis' arm. "Thank you for everything, Artemis. I'm so sorry. I'll try to make all this up to you. Somehow."

"Ehm, yes," said Sirius.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Artemis. "You think I'm gonna let you go off alone with a werewolf and a criminal?"

"I told you, I'm innocent!" said Sirius.

"Besides, I wanna see how this turns out."

"It's gonna be dangerous," I said.

She folded her arms. "Ophelia. I literally work with wolves all day."

"We're hunting down a man who killed thirteen people. In a school full of children," said Remus. He pointed his wand in the air and shot out sparks to summon the bus.

"Look," she said. "Here's the deal. If you let me come with you, you don't have to worry about making it up to me. Except for you," she said, pointing two fingers at Sirius. "You still owe me a pair of shoes."

The bus materialized, rumbling towards us.

"Fuck! What about Sirius?" I said.

"Put these on," said Remus, shoving a pair of sunglasses at him.

The bus screeched to a halt as Sirius jammed the sunglasses onto his face.

"Hi Stan," I said.

He looked up from his newspaper. "Picked up some friends, have you?"

"Yeah, this is the wolf doctor," I said. "And her assistant. We've got important Hogwarts business."

"That'll be thirteen sickles each. There's still only one bunk."

"Eleven," I said firmly. "You stiffed us out of hot chocolate last time."

"All right, all right. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

"Staniel Shunpike, don't you dare speak to me that way!"

His eyes widened. "Sorry! Sorry!"

As I handed Stan the change, I noticed Remus glaring ferociously at Stan.

"Don't worry," said Sirius to Artemis as we climbed onto the bus. "I speak fluent wolf."