"So what's your favorite color?"

Leah tilted her head to the side. She glanced at Sirius out of the corner of her eye. They had been trading questions for a little over an hour now, slowly passing the time as they hiked towards Little Whinging. "What?"

"Your favorite color," Sirius said. "What is it?"

Leah blinked. She turned and continued walking, stepping over the long blades of grass. She bit the insides of her cheek. Glancing up at the sky, Leah hummed to herself. "Blue," she finally decided.

"Why?"

"It's the color of the ocean. What's yours?"

"Red."

"Red?"

"It was James's favorite."

Sirius shrugged when Leah gave him a look. "Think what you will, but it's the truth."

Leah looked away. She bit down on her lip. "I know."

"You do?"

Leah sighed, but she didn't say anything else. Because she didn't know. Not anymore.

Hopping over a log, she jogged ahead of Sirius. They had been traveling since dawn, and there was no end in sight. The field they were currently running through was considerably vast. Rich in colorful wildflowers, it grew plants of all shapes and sizes that tickled at their ankles. They attracted several creatures—bees that buzzed in their ears, ants that marched in lines, and mice that scampered away from their paths.

It was a beautiful day, yet Leah found herself more anxious than she had ever been. With every second, they were getting closer and closer to London. Closer to people, wizards and muggles alike, and closer to the Ministry of Magic. Closer to answers.

"What about your favorite animal?" Sirius asked.

Leah shook herself out of her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder and waited for Sirius to catch up. "A blackbird," she said. "For obvious reasons."

"Besides that."

"I don't have one."

"Do you have a favorite sweet?"

Leah stared at Sirius blankly. "Isn't it my turn to ask? You've already had two in a row."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Right," he said. "Are you going to ask if we can stop again?"

Leah glared. "No!"

"Go ahead, then."

Huffing out a breath, Leah rolled her eyes. She pursed her lips, hands curling into fists when she couldn't think of anything. "Fine," she said. She gritted her teeth together. "What's your favorite sweet?"

Sirius smirked. "Honeydukes chocolate," he said.

Leah stopped in her tracks. She stared at Sirius in disbelief. "That's it?" she said. "Just chocolate?"

"Just chocolate," Sirius confirmed.

"But what about Fizzing Whizzbees or exploding bonbons or something? You don't like those?"

"I didn't say that."

"What?"

Sirius crossed his arms. "What's wrong with chocolate?"

"Nothing! I just thought you would like something more... dangerous?"

"Those can get annoying. What if I want to eat something without the chance of injuring myself? Besides, after Azkaban, I think I could use a whole tub full of chocolate."

Leah couldn't argue with that logic. "Oh."

"What's your favorite?"

"Sugar quills."

Sirius snorted, looking away as he tried to cover up his laughter. "Really?" he said. "Sugar quills? After that lecture about boring sweets?"

"That's right," Leah said. "Sugar quills."

"They are just sugar."

"So what? They're good."

"They are the worst kind of sweet out there. Everything is better than them."

"Yeah? What about Cockroach Clusters?"

Sirius paused for a second. His eyebrows drew together. "Good point," he said. "Almost everything is better than sugar quills."

Leah nodded, and she found a grin spreading to her face. "Better," she said, relishing in her triumph. "Okay, what's your favorite book?"

"You know me better than that," Sirius muttered. "I don't read."

"Because you can't, right?"

"We've had this conversation before. I'm not stupid."

"I see you're still denying it."

"I'm not denying anything."

"Right."

"You're unbelievable."

"Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

"Shut up."

"Okay."

The silence barely lasted five seconds before Sirius spoke again. "Who are you and what have you done with Leah Reeves?"

Leah blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Very funny," she said. "I can be quiet if I wanted to."

"As if."

Leah didn't say anything. She shrugged off the incredulous look Sirius gave her and pushed forward. While she still distrusted him, Leah found that Sirius could be tolerable at times. He still managed to ruffle her feathers and boil her blood, always walking the thin line of her patience, but there was something else too.

Perhaps, it was just the sunlight thawing her barriers or freedom getting in her head, but Leah thought that Sirius was surprisingly pretty good company. He easily matched her snide remarks and rapid quips, never one to back down from a challenge or fight. It reminded her of the reason they became friends back at Hogwarts in the first place.

If anything, Leah would dare to admit that Sirius was at least a good ally to have. From the week they had spent together, Sirius had proven that he wasn't afraid to do anything. He was determined and steadfast, and he never strayed from his goals.

However, his goal left something to be desired. Good ally or not, Leah would not follow him to the end. She couldn't. Even if Sirius was telling the truth, how could she just look her once best friend in the eye and pull the trigger? Even if Peter was a murderer, would everything that they had gone through together be nothing? Would she still be friends with a follower of Voldemort?

Leah frowned, sighing. She forced herself to relax. She shouldn't be thinking about any of this. Peter was innocent! He wasn't going to all of a sudden be evil. She trusted that he was living in the midst of a big misunderstanding. He'd done nothing wrong. He would be fine.

Sirius, on the other hand... Leah would have to deal with him in the end. She would have to kill him. She should just kill him now—there was no point waiting.

But she couldn't.

Could she?

What if she did?

"Shouldn't be too far now, I think. We should change just in case."

Leah yelped. Her heart leapt out of her chest. She stiffened, jaw tightening as she let out a breath. She shut her eyes for a brief second.

"Leah?"

"Don't do that!" she snapped, spinning towards him. "You'll give me a bloody heart attack!"

Sirius blinked. "Oh," he said. "Sorry."

Shaking her head, Leah sighed. She looked around. They had made it past the large meadow and were now standing at the edge of a hill. Rows and rows of wheat filled the land below them. In the distance, she could just about make out the silhouette of a small farmhouse.

"What were you thinking about?" Sirius said.

Leah swallowed down a gulp, looking down. Heat flooded her cheeks, and she flushed under his stare. She wasn't about to tell him that she was considering homicide. "Nothing," she said. "It's not important."

"Are you sure?"

Leah nodded once. "Positive," she said. "Come on. We should get going. Like you said, we're almost there."

Leah looked down at herself as she shrunk. She pushed off the ground as her feathers sprouted from her skin. Her peripheral vision grew, expanding her line of sight to either side of her head. Twirling in the air, she quickly found her balance as she steadily beat her wings up and down. When she looked at the ground, she found a dog in Sirius's stead. Their eyes met for a split second before they took off.

Before long, small signs of civilization rolled past. The gentle hills turned to country homes, farms with grazing livestock and growing crops. The farms turned into homes, connected to each other with an intricate road system. Small neighborhoods turned to larger ones, and soon enough, Leah flew past a sign. Little Whinging.

Leah flew closer to the ground, trailing behind Sirius from a distance. She knew it was a stretch, but she couldn't help but keep a lookout for Ainsley. They were close enough to London for her to be around. Who knew where her new place of residence was?

"Here we are."

Leah looked at Sirius, swooping down to perch on a tree branch. As animagi, they were able to communicate basic principles with each other. They didn't necessarily need to call out, but they couldn't just think it either. It was a mutual understanding, a feeling or emotion. Telepathy was the closest thing to describe it, but it wasn't that exactly. Leah didn't even know how it worked. She had never been inclined to study the inner workings and complexities of being an animagi, preferring to play than to study.

Sirius gestured towards the house across the street with a paw, number four of Privet Drive. From the outside, it was a lovely home. Boring but lovely. The bushes were perfectly trimmed, and the flower beds were symmetrical. It was flawless, impeccable. And impossibly so. It reminded her of her own home.

Leah winced. Her childhood home, at least.

"What now?"

Sirius glanced up at her. His tail flicked to the side as he settled down on the sidewalk. His silver eyes glinted in the afternoon sun. "What we can only do. Wait."

Waiting.

Leah sighed. It was the one thing she had done for the past fifteen years. It was the one thing she still did. Before her time in Azkaban, she had been so annoyingly impatient. Now, she never complained. She just sat. She just stared. She just let all her thoughts into her head, and it felt like a dam had been broken. It muddled her brain and messed with her mind, but what else could she do?

She thought about Julian and Elsie. She thought about Tyler. She thought about Ainsley. She thought about Shelby. It was always the same. Leah watched the memories unfold in her head—the morning chaos, the afternoons by the beach, the evening peace. She wondered about Remus. How was he doing? Was he well? And she prayed for Peter. What kind of a mess had he gotten himself in? Was he okay?

And Leah thought about what could have been. What would have happened if none of this ever happened? What would have happened if she had graduated Hogwarts? What job would she have gotten? Would she have fallen in love? Would she have been happier?

A scream.

Leah didn't flinch. She looked up as if she had been awakened, called to by an old friend. For a second, she thought she was back at Azkaban. She shook her head, chirping out in confusion. The world spun in circles as she oriented herself. She was at Harry's home, not Azkaban. She had escaped. She was free.

Leah hopped off the tree branch, landing onto the ground next to Sirius. Shaken out of her dreamlike trance, she looked around.

The sun was setting, sending streaks of pink and orange through the sky. All around them, cars had filled up the driveways. It was all silent. Each and every single home in the neighborhood was hushed. All but one.

She looked at Harry's home. Of all the houses, it just had to be his. And what she saw was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Her eyes widened.

One of the muggles had been turned into a balloon. She floated up into the evening sky, drifting higher and higher. Her face was beet red, eyes of confusion and fury. Even from a distance, Leah could sense the fear. The muggle's cheeks expanded. She was yelling something. Her eyes bulged out of her head, and her mouth was stretched far too wide to be a smile.

Sirius laughed beside her, but Leah stayed silent. Maybe if she was younger, she'd also be laughing. If she was oblivious. Maybe if she was still an unscarred girl, bright and full of ideas.

But she wasn't. She would never be. Because Leah knew the consequences. She knew the repercussions like it was the back of her hand. Harry could be arrested. He was underage, and he was living in a neighborhood full of muggles. The Ministry could send him to Azkaban for this. He was too young for that.

The door slammed open. More yelling.

Leah gasped. Her breath was caught in her throat.

Nothing would have prepared her for laying eyes on the great Harry Potter for the first time. It was like seeing a ghost. He was identical to James. His glasses were round-rimmed just like his, and his hair was styled the same way—jet-black and stubbornly untidy. And when the gentle breeze brushed against his hair, Leah could see a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Her heart ached. No doubt it was from Voldemort.

Leah watched as he turned his back against his muggle caretaker, dragging with him a brown trunk and an owl's cage. Livid anger twisted his face, ruddy red. He walked quickly, shoulders hunched forward and eyes dead set ahead. In the dark, he didn't notice them on the sidewalk.

Spreading her wings, Leah took off. She followed Harry from the skies, losing Sirius as he slipped into the shadows. Tension built in her muscles as Harry wandered further and further, running past several blocks. He didn't look back. That was when Leah realized that he didn't have anywhere to go.

Harry was just running. Running away from his responsibilities and away from home. He was putting as much distance as he could between himself and his problems.

Leah could hear her heart crack a little. She understood that feeling a little too well. She had done it herself in her Fifth Year, running to James's house for the Christmas holidays. Coincidentally, Sirius had left his home that same year.

Harry finally stopped past a sign that read Magnolia Crescent. He collapsed on a swing set, breathing heavily as if he had just realized what he had done. He buried his face into his hands, and Leah could see his body shiver.

She flew down to a nearby tree, glancing down when Sirius emerged in the bushes underneath her. Their eyes met, and Leah knew he was thinking the same thing as her. She knew the crazy thought that was running through his head. It had come across her mind too, and she had considered it, entertained it.

They couldn't, though. They were wanted criminals—the dangerous Leah Reeves and savage Sirius Black. They couldn't just walk up to Harry and take him under their wing. They were on the run, hunted for by every single person in the wizarding world. It would be irresponsible of them. It was absurd.

But what if?

Leah shook her head. No. They couldn't. Harry had to find his own way. He had to fend for himself. He had to—

Leah almost squawked when she saw Sirius prowl forward. Her eyes spun towards Harry, who was suddenly aware of their presence. His wand was out in a blink; a light sparked from its tip.

Sirius was not swayed. He walked into the light, a great black hound with eyes of the moon. Leah's chest constricted as she screamed silently. It was like drowning all over again.

She chirped sharply, trying to get Sirius's attention. He didn't turn. She froze. What was she supposed to do? Jump down and reveal herself to Harry? What could she do as a blackbird? And if she turned human? Harry would recognize her, then. He would call the Ministry. They would be caught.

They would go back to Azkaban.

Or worse.

But if she did nothing, it was guaranteed death.

Unless...

Leah jumped out of the tree. She willed herself to be human. She hadn't even fully transformed when her hand shot out as if she was hailing a taxi. A loud, firework-like bang followed.

The ground neared. Squeezing her eyes shut, Leah bit down. Her hands broke her fall, elbows collapsing in on her. She hissed at the deafening noise. Pain shot through her arms.

A bus popped into existence. The gold lettering on its windshield read The Knight Bus. It was bright purple and several stories tall. Its wheels were gigantic, almost half the size of Harry. The headlights flickered. Leah scrambled back when she heard the sliding of a door. Stan Shunpike's voice resonated in the night.

Ducking into the cover of the shadows, Leah let out a breath as she crouched in the bushes. Sirius had also retreated, but she ignored his obvious glare. She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, nursing her arms.

She didn't even notice when they had gone until she felt the shifting beside her. Sirius took in a shaky breath. Leah barely registered it when he grabbed her by the collar and dragged her onto the road. She fell onto her knees.

"Why did you do that?" he growled.

It took all of her strength to stand. A hand on her heart, Leah stepped back slowly. She swayed on her feet, taking in a deep breath. "You were going to give us away," she said. "We can't take him with us."

"I know that!" Sirius wagged his finger at her. He gritted his teeth. "I wasn't going to change in front of him! I just wanted to see him close up. I'm not stupid!"

Leah threw up her hands in frustration, flinching at the pain that ran up her arms. "How was I supposed to know that?"

"Because we're supposed to be friends now! Friends trust each other."

"You and I both know that's not how it works," Leah muttered.

Sirius scoffed, and he looked like he was going to say something back. But he didn't. He looked away, the same unreadable look in his eyes that Leah hated. They stood in silence for a few moments, taking everything in.

Leah looked down at herself. Her arms throbbed from her fall, and she gulped. She hoped she hadn't broken one.

"You're hurt," Sirius said as if he had read her thoughts.

Leah blinked. "I'll be fine," she said. "There are worse things ahead of us." Clearing her throat, she looked up at the night sky. The Ministry would hear about this soon, especially with the muggle balloon. "Come on. We should find a place to stay tonight. Maybe an alleyway or something."

Sirius didn't look convinced, but he nodded. "Yeah, okay." he said. "Let's go."

Leah nodded and followed him back onto the sidewalk. She ignored how heavy her arms felt, eyes set on her feet. One foot after the other, one by one. Just as she finally found a steady rhythm, her breath hitched.

She stumbled over herself.

"Leah!"

She ignored Sirius, staring at a nearby dustbin. A newspaper sat at the foot of it—clearly, someone had done a bad job throwing away their trash. She gaped at the headline, eyes traveling down to see the picture. Her heart was beating faster than ever. Her body trembled.

Leah bent down. She went to take the paper in her hands, but her fingers didn't seem to work. Sirius stood over her. Chills danced through her body when he read the headline out loud.

"Prime Minister Shelby Reed warns of two escaped prisoners."

Prime Minister Shelby Reed.

Shelby Reed.

Shelby Reeves?

Leah's hand clamped over her mouth. She didn't push Sirius away when he caught her as she fell forward. She didn't protest when he pulled her to the safety of the shadows, drawing her away. He took the paper from her hands.

"What's wrong?" he said, a frown on his lips. "What happened?"

"I need—" Leah hesitated. "I need to go."

"Go?" he echoed. "What's going on?"

"I have to find her."

"What?" Sirius said. "What are you talking about? Didn't I tell you already that the Prime Minister is after us too?"

"Yes, but—you didn't—I didn't know—you—" Leah huffed in frustration. She closed her eyes, her hands covering her face. She inhaled, exhaled.

"Her name." She finally choked out. "Shelby Reed."

"Yeah?"

"That's not—that's not her name."

Sirius stared blankly at her.

"Reeves. That's her last name. She—I—we're sisters. She's my younger sister."

"Hold on." Sirius drew together his eyebrows. He scrunched up his face. "But that doesn't make any sense."

A pit opened up in Leah's stomach at his next words. She couldn't breathe. Everything she had ever done was catching up to her. Because what went on at home, stayed at home. Her head spun.

"You don't have a younger sister."

<><><>

Dun dun dunnnnnnn... 

At last, we come across a wild Shelby Reeves. Except she's Shelby Reed. And apparently she's also the Prime Minister of the UK. And she's looking to recapture Leah and Sirius. And she might not even be Leah's sister anymore. Or is she? AND WHO KNOWS, SHE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE A REAL PERSON. HONESTLY, SHE COULD JUST BE AN IMAGINARY FRIEND BUT I GUESS YOU'LL FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I had way too much fun with this chapter; it should be illegal. 

Also, Leah summoning the Knight Bus. I'm way too proud of that. I had a friend of mine read part of this chapter, and she got to that part and was like "oh wait that's actually cool" and I was all O.O. She, of course, immediately went "I MEAN IT'S BAD. STAVEY, I DISLIKE YOU." 

we have a lovely friendship as you can see 

and yes, i intentionally spelt my name wrong there because several of my friends now call me stavey instead of stacey because they keep typing it wrong and autocorrect ended up just changing it to stavey whenever they actually type it correctly. 

Oh. Also, yes, I am one day early with this chapter. I got too excited.

If you enjoyed reading this chapter, I strongly encourage voting and commenting! I love reading your reactions and everything. <3