Hey everyone,
So, Amare has had her time to shine. But she is both a shrink that I still believe some people would PAY BIG MONEY to help them with their problems – and a married woman.
Also, with this chapter – or next if things keep running out of hand like they have these past two chapters – I hope to fully flesh out the backstory that is Lady Destiny and her motivation behind – well, everything.
Because looking back, that is one thing that has been REALLY inconsistent over the course of this story and I really want to fix that.
Let's do this, people,

Venquine1990

Chapter 70

Richard And Sirius

1st of February 1996

Destiny Islands

Richard's POV

When Amare admitted that she needs more information on Sirius, I saw my chance. So while Molly can't see it as she still has her head in her hands, I lie a hand on my wife's shoulder and ask: "Mind if I take it from here, Amy?"

Amare shakes her head and smiles at me.

I smile at the group at large, keeping my happy smile aimed Molly's way a little longer than with the others to help her ease her conscience and talk:

"You see, the whole reason I'm only unofficially my wife's aid is this. I can absolutely easily put myself in the shoes of any other guy.

Be they a 5-year old kid who did something wrong, but is too young to understand why what he did is wrong. A teenager who is at odds with himself because of his development into a young adult. Or a full-grown man who went through something deeply traumatizing.

What I absolutely suck at is trying to do the same – with anyone else.

An emotional woman – I struggle with anything other than understanding her for her motivations.

A young girl who just doesn't understand why boys would rather build a sand castle than play with dolls – I can explain that all I want, I doubt she'll like what I have to say.

A hormonal teenage girl – I'm not even going there if you paid me.

No offense, ladies. I know that those periods of your life are hard, but I'm too glad to be a man to really ever be able to give you the level of empathy you deserve."

It really wasn't my intent to make Molly chortle, yet I am glad that I got her to cheer up.

"So now, like my wife, I would like to understand Sirius better. So I would like to ask you guys to clarify a few things for me.

Once I have my answers, I genuinely think I can describe Sirius' life from his POV in such a way, it's as easy for you to understand as it is for me to empathize with other men.

You guys up for that?"

The three nod, all of them with smiles on their faces that give me the impression that they definitely want to help me with this.

I happily start asking the questions that have come up in my mind since I started listening to these people.

"Alright, first question and I am, kind of, going to take a page out of the book of Lady Destiny, so to say.

If you had to catalogue Sirius' life into chapters, how would you do this and how many years would each chapter contain?"

Molly and Arthur seem hesitant to answer this, which makes me know that they haven't really talked about their or Sirius' past with the man in the weeks they shared a home.

Hermione also seems to be deep in thought for a while before she exclaims: "I got this!

Okay, so the first chapter would be Sirius' youth, his birth to age 11.

Then the second would be his Hogwarts years, from age 11 to age 18.

Then there'd be his three years working for the Order, age 18 to age 21.

Then the betrayal and his time in Azkaban prison, from age 21 to age 33.

Then the two years he was out on the run, from age 33 to age 35.

And I guess we'd end with the last half a year in Order Headquarters."

I beam at the young girl together with the rest of us and happily tell her: "Thank you, Hermione. This makes it much easier for me to know what to ask about."

The girl's smile proves that she deeply enjoys proving her intelligence and, naturally, that she also enjoys being recognized for it.

Yet then, for some strange reason, Arthur's eyes widen as he looks down at the photo that now lies in Hermione's lap.

"Great mother magic, it doesn't move! How is that possible?"

His question startles my wife and me and makes his wife stare at the photo as well. Hermione turns to him and tells him:

"Mr. Weasley, Collin told me back in Second that it's a special potion that makes wizarding pictures move. That potion doesn't exist here in this world now, does it?"

Some people might think that the girl is being disrespectful or something, but my wife and I can easily hear that she is just jesting with the man.

"Right you are, dear. How silly of us. We're so used to moving pictures that we forget about vital procedural steps in their creation.

Still, I have to admit. That – border collie, you called it? (I nod at her). Well, if you turn those white spots black and change the muzzle a little –."

"SWEET MAGIC, it could be mistaken for Sirius' Animagus form! I didn't even notice how much the two of them look alike. You're right, Mrs. Weasley. The only differences really are just the patches of white fur and the snout."

My eyes widen at hearing this and I happily tell them: "Well, that's convenient to know. I was actually going to ask a little more about Animagus transformations and Sirius' form in general.

Those were some of the questions I wanted to ask after learning more about Sirius himself."

The trio smiles at each other and then at me.

"Okay, so let's cover these chapters one at a time and start with his youth. If you had to describe it in two to ten words, how would you?"

The smiles on the three faces slip off and Arthur answers: "To be honest, all of us only really met Sirius between last summer and two years ago.

But, we did spend last summer and Christmas at HQ, so based on what that's like – I – I really only have one word to describe the place;

Uncomfortable."

The two women on either side of him nod in agreement.

"Okay, that's fine. That's enough for me. Let's move on.

When it comes to his time as a student and Order member, I just have a few questions.

1. Was Sirius popular?

2. Was he in a lot of contact with Dumbledore?

3. Could the same be said for his time as an Order member?"

The three seem very relieved with these very basic questions. Yet I know my wife is smirking at me as I can easily get the full picture from their answers to all of my questions.

"Was Sirius popular? Absolutely. He, Mr. Potter, our old Professor Lupin and – that rat – were even known as The Marauders. They had nicknames and everything.

Was he in a lot of contact with Dumbledore? Probably yes. They were pranksters, after all, so they probably broke a few rules in their youth and got send to his office for it.

Could the same be said for his time as an Order member? I – think so. He seems more cordial with the Old Crowd these days, but I did hear him talk about old battles a few times over summer. And he even mentioned two where Dumbledore stepped in."

Molly seems a little startled and displeased to hear that Hermione heard Sirius talk about this. Yet I don't give her time to get annoyed over this.

"Okay, so in those 10 years, Sirius would definitely have been given some ample opportunities to gain and return Dumbledore's respect and trust.

But then he suddenly, within a short amount of time, has his whole life turned on its head in the worst ways imaginable.

And while he spends 12 years in that hellish prison you described, Arthur, he must've had several periods of time where he would be expecting Dumbledore or others in the Order to speak up for him, to believe in his innocence.

But 12 years pass and that never happens. I – I can only imagine how that must feel for someone whose other form is known as Man's Best Friend."

Everyone around me cringes as I mutter. Then Hermione mutters: "According to Sirius, he also took that form several times during that period of time. He said it's because the mind of a dog is less complex than that of a man, so it made the effects of a Dementor – those guards – easier to bear."

I silently calm my concerns for the man with the knowledge that he is with Sora and his daughter in Lady Destiny's realm.

"Okay, onto the period you claim to know more about. Do either of you know what inspired him to escape a few years ago?"

Hermione perks up and her voice sounds as enthusiastic as when she answered my first question:

"Yes, I can. Sirius told Ha-Jess, Ron and myself at the end of our Third. Oh, we're halfway through our Fifth right now.

Ahem, either way. When I first heard it, I had trouble believing it.

I mean, how crazy fortunate can it be that the Weasleys win the annual lottery of our national newspaper, use the money to travel to another country to visit one of their kids, get their picture taken for said paper and that then after our Minister – our leader – takes that same paper with him on his annual trip through the prison?

I mean, am I the only one who, as of the past week, started believing that this was Lady Destiny's work or something? Or is that just me?"

And because of how the girl just described the whole event, I chortle while I also find myself agreeing with her.

"As for how that's relevant. Well, like you know, Pettigrew chose to hide with us in order to spy on Albus. See, we're actually known to be close to him and to be really loyal to him and all."

I nod and finish the whole thing as I say: "So Pettigrew, not seeing any danger in it, let himself be seen on the picture. He never imagined that the issue would ever end up in Azkaban, let alone in the hands of the one man who knows who he really is.

I don't like it, but I can see why – after all that time – he would feel content and confident enough to believe that to be impossible.

Okay, so – going by what I was told earlier by Arthur – I think I can fill in the blanks myself a little. So Sirius broke out, went hunting for Pettigrew, probably got a little too close for Pettigrew's comfort and he went to seek protection with his former master, right?"

Hermione shrugs and says: "Close enough. We actually caught Pettigrew and were ready to hand him over to the proper authorities, but –

I'm sorry, the circumstances of his escape concern a secret that isn't mine to tell –."

Yet I raise my hand to silence her and reassure her before I ask her to continue. The girl gives me a relieved smile and says:

"Right, so that was the end of our Third. Sirius went on the run, even left the country, I think. But then he started noticing signs that worried him, signs to do with Him. So he came back and right in time too as He had tricked Harry.

You see, Dumbledore had organized this Tournament with two other schools, but a Death Eater – His follower – had infiltrated Hogwarts and entered Harry into the Tournament.

And – that's what led to His return."

Had it not been for the fact that this is about me getting to know Sirius better, I definitely would've wanted to know a bit more about several things the girl just mentioned.

Especially the concept of countries – which I can only assume is like the various Islands of our world or something similar – deeply intrigues me.

"So He came back, Dumbledore called the Order together and Sirius went into hiding at HQ.

Okay, I'm going to be honest. These are, to me, going to be the most important questions. Not only because they concern the most recent events in Sirius' life, but because of everything else I already learned so far. Okay?"

The trio nods.

I turn to focus my gaze on Arthur and Molly and ask the wife: "Molly, I get that you'd rather not answer this question with Hermione in the room, but please work with me.

Could you tell me how Dumbledore addressed Sirius' situation when he first met up with the members of the Old Order?"

I seem to have hit the nail on the head as Molly does indeed turn to Hermione with a worried look. But the girl looks back defiantly and says:

"This is about Sirius, not Him. And I already know about most Old Crowd members. A little hard not to when I see them walk in and out of HQ before or after meals so often over summer."

The woman is clearly even more unhappy with having to concede to the girl's arguments and she sighs before she complies:

"Well, he – he naturally had to silence a few of them at that first meeting. But he – he did address it. He said that Sirius was innocent, that Pettigrew was the real traitor and with – Him – and then started discussing how they'd go about gathering new members."

I had thought that I would either get happily or unhappily surprised. But I genuinely hadn't expected an answer like that.

I quickly make a mental note to get back to this point a little later and decide to just cover the last two sub-topics that I need to have more information on.

"Okay, right. Ahem, my next questions concern your magical skills and what they can accomplish. To put it simply, is it possible to use your form of magic to make Sirius look like our old dog's twin or something like that?"

The trio returns to look at the picture again and they answer one at a time.

Molly says: "Well, they already look almost eerily similar, but – yeah. A few coloring charms could definitely give Sirius the same white spots as your old dog."

Arthur: "And I think the right Glamour could make Sirius' snout resemble this dog's more, if only by a bit."

Hermione: "Though unfortunately, I am studying Coloring Charms right now, so I know that, at least, those are only temporary."

And while Arthur confirms that the same goes for Glamours, I still feel very happy with learning what I did and happily tell them this.

"Okay, onto my last question. And please note that I experienced something myself in my teens that makes me feel – 60% sure that I am going to get a positive answer to this question.

Though please note that that's a good thing as that will also guarantee that I will be able to create a description of how Sirius has experienced all of this that I feel confident is, at least, 80% accurate.

So tell me, over the course of the last few months – especially the last – am I correct to presume that Sirius spent the majority of time alone in his room?"

Even though I explained myself ahead of time, the three still seem shocked at hearing my question. Yet then I realize that they're not shocked at the question – but at the fact that I am indeed right. That answers my question by itself.

"Okay, so – I'm going to describe how I think Sirius experienced all of this and then I'm going to tell you how I knew the answer to my last question ahead of time, okay?"

The trio nods.

"Before my husband does, I feel the need to readdress a topic we previously discussed. You see, the biggest difference between dogs and cats – cats can spend their entire lives indoors, if they are trained, raised or bred this way.

Dogs can't.

And please, don't use Sirius' stay in Azkaban as evidence. I am sure that Sirius knew what he was talking about when he spoke of the complexity of a human mind compared to that of a dog.

But in reality – he really was just exchanging one evil for another. Yes, he was less affected by those Dementor fiends, but his canine instincts probably, at the same time, drove him wild and crazy with the need to move about.

And within a cell, that's just barely possible to completely impossible. So that, now that he's locked up again, Sirius craves moving about, but locks himself up when no one answers that desperate call of his – it makes perfect sense."

The trio cringes, grimaces and clearly feel uncomfortable with the realization that they never saw things this way.

I even hear Arthur mumble about all those times that Sirius would make a suggestion like that. I suppress a grimace and start my evaluation.

But then I suddenly realize something.

"I'm sorry, guys. I just realized I forgot to ask one important question? Can you tell me when exactly it was that Sirius first gained the ability to change into a dog?"

Hermione tells me that Sirius told her that this had been in his own Fifth. I quickly, mentally, add this new bit of information to my evaluation and start voicing it.

"Okay, to be honest, that makes this whole thing quite a bit more tragic.

After all, that means that Sirius was already in tune with his canine other side and instincts when he battled those Death Eaters alongside his partner, these other members and Dumbledore.

And because of this, any bond of trust he would form with any of them would, instinctively, be more valuable to him than to others.

Meaning that, when he transformed while in Azkaban, he probably whined for help on more than one occasion. After all Sirius himself might have given up, but the dog within would still be longing for those he formed bonds with.

Like any dog he'd want to rely on those who had his back.

And naturally, when he reunited with Harry, the instincts probably also increased how fondly he treated his son, his pup.

He'd probably be willing to risk more than others for his pack, he'd probably be more wild and bold in handling things in his son's life and his canine instincts would probably spur him on with instincts that, if put into words, would probably say we lost mate, we not lose pup."

I don't know why and I don't like it, but it seems as if, the more I try to guess how Sirius would feel and how his dog form's instincts would influence, the more my words increase a sense of guilt within the woman opposite of me.

"And then catastrophe happens, He comes back and Sirius is forced back into the worst position ever for someone like him; inside.

I mean, sure, HQ is way bigger than a cell, but still!"

Arthur seems driven by Hermione's ire with the whole situation as he interrupts her: "And then for Albus, who everyone looks up to, who knows just fine what Sirius is, to treat that terrible period of Sirius' life so callously and flippantly. To only merely mention it and nothing else."

"OF COURSE Sirius would be expecting apologies from the Old Crowd!

OF COURSEhe was staring them down through most of that meeting!

OF COURSE he was hesitating before he claimed that he'd be happy to have us!

OF COURSE he kept suggesting to get walked and then stare at us expectantly again!

He was testing us! He was trying to see if those other members felt bad. If they realized how terribly they had betrayed him. If they were willing to put effort into earning his forgiveness.

But what do they all do? They, like me, keep ordering him to stay indoors, to stay indoors, to obey –

FOR MAGIC'S SAKE, WE WERE TREATING HIM LIKE A DOG, WHILE ABUSING HIS HOSPITALITY AND IGNORING THE NEEDS THAT COME WITH HIS SPECIE!

We could have easily given him those tufts of white fur, Glamoured his snout to look different, Apparated somewhere away from prying eyes and just walked him!

He would've probably loved it, even if it was only for, say, half an hour or so. He's a smart wizard, he knows Coloring charms don't last long. He probably would've been fine with that!"

My wife and I nod and Amare says: "Most dog breeds do need to be walked two to three times a day. But because Sirius is a Dog Animagus and thus not a full-dog, I think that, if nothing else, would've probably lessened those needs.

So, considering his previous residence, I think half an hour a week or every couple of days would've been enough to, at least, break the slur he was forced to go through in Azkaban."

Yet then Molly brings up something I have been silently worrying about ever since I learned about Sirius' skill.

"But what about right now? He's in Lady Destiny's realm! Is there a garden or something of the sort in there? Somewhere he can be outside?"

The woman is now clearly deeply worried about the man she previously had a lot of trouble with. And Hermione is quick to reassure her:

"Not quite, but one of the rooms in the realm is like that room we're using back at Hogwarts. You know, for meetings and all that.

I arrived there a few times and, while it looked like a combination of a living room and Gryffindor Common room, it was as large as the Quidditch Pitch.

And Sora grew up here, so he probably made that room look like these islands on more than occasion already."

And then we all get startled by an ethereal voice: "Not to mention that Sirius actually doesn't have a bedroom. He has a large hammock hanging in the middle of a grassy field with walls that are hidden by an illusion spell to make them look like the night sky.

And yes, there is a doggy bed in the room as well, if he feels the need for it."

I didn't think I'd ever find myself hearing a powerful deity being cheeky, but I find myself snickering at the remark all the same.

Hey everyone,
So next chapter, we're going back to Amare and Molly. We're going to discuss a few more things – both Canon and not – and I'm going to, hopefully, give Lady Destiny a chance to clear up everything in regards to why she did what she did.
Aka, what over the course of me writing this story, became the backstory behind why this story takes place when it does and why it doesn't take place in, say PoA or GoF or even any other point in OotP.
Hope you enjoy,

Venquine1990
PS. Sorry if some of the paragraphs are full of text again, I promise I'm still trying to work on that. Sometimes I just lose myself to my old writing method.