"𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ𝓈 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℱℯℯ𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔?" － 𝒲𝒾𝒸𝓀ℯ𝒹

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟔𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒

Sirius Black tore through the grass of the Hogwarts grounds, racing against the disc that had been thrown with all of George Weasley's strength.

He leapt, catching it in his mouth. Teeth clamped tightly over the edge of the disc — Percy said it was called a Frisbee? — he trotted back to the group of four Weasleys, dropping the Frisbee at Nikki's feet.

     Nikki laughed, bending down to pick up the Frisbee as she scratched behind his ears. "Our reward for slogging through the torture that is OWLs and NEWTs."

     She flicked her wrist, flinging the disc away for Sirius to retrieve with all her might.

     "Hear, hear!" Fred and George chorused in unison.

     Percy glanced up from behind his horn-rimmed glasses, book held in his hands as he sprawled out on the grass. "You sure you want to risk getting dress coded?"

      Nikki flashed a blinding grin over her shoulder, flicking a strand of ginger hair behind her as she rested her hands on her waist, midriff bare due to the crop top and jean shorts she was currently wearing.

      "What are they gonna do, give me detention?" She smirked, "I've already taken my NEWTs, and we're weeks off from graduating, Perce. Minnie doesn't give a flying fuck."

     Sirius raced up to them, dropping the Frisbee at Fred's feet this time.

     "Fucking hell, it's hot as balls out," Fred huffed, stooping to pick up the slightly slobbery Frisbee from the ground. His face shone slightly with perspiration, wiping the back of his wrist against his forehead. "Fetch!"

     The Frisbee went soaring in a perfect arc towards the Black Lake. Sirius took zero seconds to think about what he was going to do.

     He leapt into the Black Lake without a second of hesitation, hitting the water with a splash that seemed to reverberate throughout the grounds.

Nikki sighed. "I swear to Merlin, if my dog drowns, I'm going to kill you and make it look like an accident."

As he paddled back to the shore, Frisbee safely acquired, their eyes were drawn to a commotion occurring on the other end of the grounds.

"Father said I could keep the hippogriff's head!" Draco Malfoy's voice rang out.

Sirius cocked his head to the side, water droplets sliding off his fur and falling to the ground below him. The group listened closer, inching towards the racket as subtly as they could.

Hermione Granger strode sharply down the stone steps, her heart pounding against her chest as her fists clenched.

Draco's eyes — the Black Family eyes — landed on her approach, a smug smirk glossing over his face. "Ah, come to see the show?"

"You," Hermione hissed, voice growing louder with every word, "you foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!"

Her wand came flying up in her hand, tip digging just slightly into the pale skin of Draco's throat.

Sirius dropped the Frisbee.

"Bloody hell," George murmured. "Never get on Hermione's bad side."

"Hermione, no!" Ron exclaimed. "He's not worth it!"

Hermione's wand lowered slowly, a withering glare flung at the blonde boy as she turned as if to walk away.

     Pivoting on her heel, her fist came around and, with a sickening crack, broke his nose with one punch.

     Fred's hand clamped over Percy's mouth as if to keep him from intervening. Percy raised an eyebrow at his twin sister.

     "We won't be Head Boy and Head Girl for much longer," Nikki shrugged carelessly. "And you can't tell me that he doesn't partially deserve it after the insults he's been hurling at them."

     She leaned back on her elbows, turning her face up towards the pristine blue of the sky above. Fred's hand dropped from Percy's mouth with a pleased expression on his face.

     Percy sighed affectionately, returning his gaze to the book in his hands.

     "What the hell are you lot doing?!" Ron huffed as Hermione, Harry, and he came trudging up the path to where Nikki, Percy, Fred, and George were lazing around.

"It's our payment for struggling through our OWLs or NEWTs," Nikki cheerfully explained. "A few extra weeks of freedom!"

     Harry snorted.

     "We're done with school for the year!" George exclaimed cheerfully, sprawling out on the grass as he tilted his head up to the sun. "The only benefit of being in your OWL or NEWT year."

     "Where'd you three come from?" Percy asked, closing his book as he looked curiously up at the three almost fourth years.

     "Divination exam for them, and I just came from Muggle Studies," Hermione answered. "We're planning on visiting Hagrid..."

     "Over Buckbeak," Ron added, his lips turning downwards into a frown. "Bloody Malfoys."

     Dripping wet, Sirius came trotting back to the gradually growing group, his nose raised proudly  as he dropped the Frisbee at the feet of his godson.

     Harry realized what the glimmer of mischief in Sirius' ash grey eyes meant a split second before it happened.

      Sirius shook out his body, flinging water at the entire group and drenching them with a deluge of lake water.

     Laughter mingled with affectionate groans as Sirius stretched out after expelling every last drop of water out of his pitch black fur.

     "Really, Scruffy?" Nikki said, lips quirking into a smile as she pulled her hair over her shoulder and wrung out her dripping ginger locks.

     The dog flopped onto the grass, stretching out as he idly watched Nikki, snout resting on his front two paws.

    Ginny, the youngest Weasley, walked briskly up to the group, her face drawn pale and guarded as her hands trembled.

     Sirius sprung up to his feet, sniffing the air. Fear and fury blended together, casting Ginny's scent in a bitter cloud.

     He didn't understand. The young ginger was only a second year, not even a teenager yet. If she had grown up in the Black Family — hell, the majority of the families hailing from the Sacred 28 — it would have made a depressing amount of sense.

But she hadn't.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts away, nudging the Frisbee closer to the twelve year old with his cool, wet nose.

Sirius lowered himself to the ground, all four legs tensed and ready to spring up at a moment's notice. He looked at her expectantly as Ginny bent over to grab the circular disc and flung it as far as she could.

"Bloody hell," Fred swore, bringing his hand up to his face to shade his eyes from the sun as he squinted to follow the Frisbee's path. "Nice throw!"

     Setting her bag down on the dewy grass, Ginny lowered herself to the ground. Her hands propped herself up, the normal dark ink smudges on her left hand conspicuously absent.

     "You okay, Gin?" George asked, his back leaning against the oak tree that they were gathered around as his brown eyes softened as he observed his baby sister.

     Ginny gave a quiet, brief nod. "Perfectly fine," she replied, cracking a smile that exuded innocence. "Ready for summer holidays, though."

     "Did you find a spell to help clean the ink off your hand when you write?" Percy noted her clean left hand.

     "...Yeah."

     She hadn't. Ginny Weasley was training herself to write with her right hand instead of her left. The ink across her parchment, jet black and glistening, dragged her back into the part of her brain that didn't belong to her.

A shiver ran down her spine, even though it was the early days of June.

Tom.

If she traced a mental rope back into the depths of her head, eventually she would stumble into the head of a sixteen year old psychopath who used her like a conduit to unleash a monster upon Hogwarts.

"Ginny...?" Nikki slowly queried, her head tilting to the side as she kept her voice even and at a low volume. "You can tell us if something's wrong, you know that, right?"

There was silence. Ginny's mouth opened and closed, struggling to think of the right words to properly explain what she was feeling.

     A series of barking sounded from the overgrown garden by Hagrid's hut, a low growl coming after.

     "Did he—" Harry started.

     Fred jogged a couple feet closer to the garden, his eyes widening at the sight. "Nic, there's a guy with an ax!"

     "Buckbeak!" Hermione exclaimed, running an anxious hand through her bushy brown hair. "His appeal's scheduled sometime soon..."

     Nikki scrambled to her feet, striding down the rugged pathway to the gamekeeper of Hogwarts' home.

     "Hey!" She raised her voice sharply. "That's my dog!"

     Percy, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny followed after her. Sirius internally swore darkly.

     This wasn't good.

     First, Lucius bloody Malfoy was there. Second, whoever this guy was, it caused a sick feeling deep in his gut. Third, the fucking Frisbee was just out of his reach, buried in a mass of thorny weeds. Fourth, the Minister for Magic was also there.

Sirius' good day had taken a rapid turn for the worst. He took a step backwards, snarling as he ducked under the ax blade that the masked man was swinging around with seemingly no pattern as a display of power.

His nostrils flared out.

Wait a minute...

Sirius recognized that scent. It was faint, though he could recognize it anywhere. He choked on the thick scent of sandalwood and patchouli that clung to someone that was just a year older than he was in school.

Macmillan? Maclean? Macdonald? No, wait, that was a Muggleborn girl two years younger in school than he was.

Macnair, that was it!

...Wasn't Macnair a Death Eater? He distinctly remembered nearly getting his head cursed off by a spell that flew just past his ear. And then Bellatrix cursing him out.

She did that a lot. He probably could recite it by memory.

Sirius snapped his teeth at the man, grey eyes cold.

"I don't know who you think you are," Nikki scoffed, stepping in between the man clothed in black and Sirius. Her hand rested gently on the top of his head. "But you can't go around swinging your ax all over the place! You nearly hit my dog!"

     She folded her arms in front of her chest, one eyebrow raised.

"Threw the Frisbee too far," Ginny murmured, keeping her warm brown eyes away from the cold pools of blue that were currently following her every movement.

She knew Lucius Malfoy was the reason why she had been possessed by To—

Ginny disguised the shudder of fear as merely bending down to unearth the flying disc from where it has become tangled in the thorns.

"You should control your dog better, Miss," Walden Macnair's voice came from under his black mask, tapping the flat blade of his ax against his leg.

"And you should control your ax better, sir," Nikki huffed. Harry crouched next to the dog, running his fingers through the thick fur at the nape of his neck.

George and Fred moved silently, flanking their older sister as if it were an innate gut reaction.

The door to Hagrid's hut opened, the half-giant's form emerging from the darkness inside the cabin. "Wha' is goin' on out here?!"

"He's trying to execute my dog," Nikki rapidly said, before anyone else could get a word in.

"Firs' Buckbeak an' now an innocent dog? Wha' has he done ter yeh?"

Ginny yanked the Frisbee out from its thorn-filled prison, hissing as a thorn pricked her finger. "We'll leave, Hagrid, sorry about the drama... and about us tromping through your garden..."

Sirius flicked his tail, brushing it against the back of Harry's legs. He began to trot towards a secluded area, near the Forbidden Forest.

"Go after him, Harry," Nikki said softly, running her fingers through her ginger locks tiredly. "He probably wants pets."

Harry cracked a tiny smile and jogged after the dog. Ron and Hermione firmly stood their ground next to Hagrid.

"We're staying," Ron declared resolutely. "Buckbeak doesn't deserve this."

"The beast nearly killed my son," Lucius Malfoy told in a silky smooth tone, his eyes narrowing.

Hermione shook her head. "It's despicable."

"Don't meddle in things you don't understand," Macnair replied, his voice a monotone as if he didn't want to be here a second longer. He began to sharpen his ax.

Ginny flinched backwards, the sound ringing through her ears.

"Get her out of here," Nikki murmured to her twin, Fred, and George under her breath. "She doesn't need to see this."

George turned to his little sister, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. "Let's go back to the castle... you can play us in Exploding Snap?"

Percy, Fred, and George ushered Ginny up the path to the Hogwarts castle, regardless of how she wanted to fight back and be there for Hagrid.

Everyone loved Hagrid at Hogwarts.

Lucius Malfoy, Walden Macnair, Cornelius Fudge, Rubeus Hagrid, Hermione Granger, and Nicole and Ronald Weasley all entered the hut, Hagrid's hands shaking as he slid the deadbolt to lock the door.

As soon as Sirius and Harry had reached the boundary of the Forbidden Forest, Sirius shifted back into human form, his face crinkled in a puzzled look.

"...Why are Lucius Malfoy, the Minister, and a known Death Eater on Hogwarts grounds?"

Harry frowned deeply. "Our first Care of Magical Creatures class, we learned about hippogriffs. Hagrid warned us to not insult them, Draco did, and Buckbeak attacked him — but he was only scraped on the arm and Madam Pomfrey probably fixed it in an hour or so." He let out a long sigh. "But Buckbeak's going to be executed for it."

     Sirius blew out a breath, slouching against a tree as he rolled his eyes. "The Malfoy family breeds peacocks. Great albino ones; they have a nasty temper. Lucy must not have taught Draco how to behave around animals like that... I'm assuming Macnair's the executioner?"

He let out a humorless laugh. "Fitting, truly, he was one of the Death Eaters who wiped out the McKinnons during the War..."

Marlene McKinnon was his dipshit. Sirius Black was her bitch. Their sibling-like nicknames for each other were the direct cause of Harry James Potter's fourth word being "bitch."

"Never mind," Sirius shook his head, pushing himself off of the tree trunk and stretching his arms above his head. "We should get back. Poor Hagrid; he doesn't deserve this."

He turned back into his dog form, affectionately nudging his head against Harry's leg. They made their way back to Hagrid's hut, Harry knocking on the door.

"P—Scabbers!" Ron's voice sounded from inside the hut as Sirius froze.

Peter was there?!

The sun was sinking fast. Sirius cringed internally. It was a full moon night, but Peter was inside Hagrid's.

And his girlfriend was in there as well. Sirius couldn't bear to let anything happen to her.

A low growl sounded in the back of his throat as the deadbolt slid away from the door. Bounding forwards, his grey eyes tracked down the rat clutched in Ron Weasley's hand.

The boy looked slightly green.

"...Maybe we should leave," Nikki suggested slowly, eyes drawn to the dog that was just barely clinging to the shreds of his temper.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed, shooting a dark look at the executioner in the corner of the room. "This is barbaric; Buckbeak did nothing wrong! Draco was healed within minutes."

"Hermione," Hagrid said firmly, shaking his head. "Yeh lot have ter go. Yeh shouldn't watch."

"But—"

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron exclaimed in unison. "We should get back to the castle."

Harry looped his arm with hers, pulling her gently towards the door. Ron followed, holding the rat in his hands with just a slightly tighter grasp than usual.

     Sirius loped after them, his teeth bared. Nikki followed briskly, her eyebrows drawn in a stressed downturn. She chewed anxiously on her lower lip.

     "Ow!" Ron yelped, dropping Scabbers on the ground and shaking out his hand. "Bloody thing bit me!"

     Sirius lunged just as the rat attempted to dart away. His teeth clamped down on Ron's pant leg, the ginger's hand just barely closing around the dreadful looking rat.

     They were off, Sirius dragging them towards the Whomping Willow.

     "BLOODY HELL!" Ron yelled into the gradually darkening sky, face pale with unmistakable terror.

     Harry, Hermione, and Nikki ran after them, Nikki digging into the pocket of her jean shorts and yanking out the mirror.

     "Remus Lupin!" She exclaimed, voice rising sharply. "Dammit, Moons! Pick up!"

Her head snapped up as Harry and Hermione took a step closer to the Willow, the Invisibility Cloak dangling loosely from Harry's hand.

"Fuck — one of you, use the Levitation Charm to prod the knot in the tree with a stick! It'll freeze the Whomping Willow!"

Harry was whacked in the face by one of the branches, ears ringing from the hit. Hermione screamed as a heavy twig scraped against her shoulder.

"Let go!" Ron huffed, hooking his leg on the root of the tree. "I'm on your side here!"

A sickening crack cut through the air like a gunshot.

"For the love of Merlin," Nikki moaned, dragging her palm down the side of her face as she waved her wand in the air, levitating a twig and freezing the tree. "Remus, pick up!"

The mirror warmed in her hand, a breath of relief escaping her. "Found Peter. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are with us. Get Fred and George and get your arse to the Shack."

Nikki didn't give Remus any time to ask questions, hanging up the mirror and shoving it back into her pocket as she hurried after Hermione and Harry.

"...You're going to have so many questions," Harry attempted to explain feebly. "All the advice I have is to keep an open mind and hear him out."

"Really," Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes as he stood on his unbroken leg. His face was pinched in agony. "You better know how to properly cast Brackium Emendo. I don't want to end up boneless like Harry did last year."

Sirius let out a soft sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair exhaustedly. "I'm assuming sorry isn't going to cut it? And of course I know how to — wait, how did Harry end up boneless last year?"

"You broke his leg," Nikki said flatly, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Then again, thinking ahead has never been one of your strong suits."

"Ron?" Harry questioned, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "You know?!"

Ron offered a feeble thumbs up from where he was using the wall as stability. "March 28th. You?"

"Day after the dementor Quidditch match."

"What is going on?!" Hermione shrieked, causing Sirius and Nikki to wince. Her fingers fiddled anxiously with the golden chain around her neck.

"Hermione..." Nikki asked carefully as she tapped her wand gently against Ron's injured leg and mumbled the spell used to mend broken bones. She looked over her shoulder at the fourteen year old girl, a singular eyebrow quirked upwards. "Why do you have a Time Turner?"

The room went silent.

Hermione paled anxiously. Sirius swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing as he kept his wand trained on the Body Bound rat left on the piano.

"Because I had an incident with a broken one and ended up in the 1970s," Nikki explained calmly. "Met this airhead."

Harry snorted.

Sirius shook his head affectionately. "I was an Auror. And that's pretty damn difficult."

"Ayyyyy Weasley family party!" The exclamation came from the stairs. Sirius groaned, not wanting to think of the shared relatives they had.

Remus, Fred, and George rushed into the room, wands drawn.

"You're explaining to Gin why we had to leave like bats out of hell instead of continue playing Exploding Snap with her," Fred stated dryly.

"What the hell happened to you, Ron?" George asked, eyebrows knitting together. "You look like you've been dragged through the Forbidden Forest."

Sirius looked sheepish.

Ron pointed at Sirius, his face showing just how unamused he was. "Got my leg broken because the fucking rat hid behind me."

Hermione's lower lip trembled. Remus sighed, "Have you explained everything yet?"

"Bit busy, Moony," Sirius replied, voice edged sharply. "Actually, backtracking, Harry. What does your friend Ron mean when he says that you were deboned last year?"

Harry shifted from foot to foot nervously, his emerald eyes darting around to think of a way to explain. "...It's fine; the person who did it on accident doesn't have their memory anymore... but we have more important things to deal with right now!"

"No, it is fucking not fine!" Sirius huffed, lowering his wand from the immobilized rat and turning to fully face Harry. "Peter — Peter Pettigrew, the one who framed me for everything I was accused of and an illegal rat Animagus — is currently body bound. We have... ehhh... around twenty minutes to discuss you being DE-BLOODY-BONED!"

He added the explanation for Hermione's benefit, voice rising sharply with the final words.

Harry quickly replied, "All you need to know is someone botched Brackium Emendo after a Quidditch accident and I spent the night in the hospital wing. Skelegro tastes vile." His tone bore a forced lightness to it, trying to move past the incident.

"I would like a name and a bit more detail than a 'Quidditch accident,'" Sirius insisted, his fingers hooking into air quotes at the last two words. "My experience with them has ranged from James breaking a finger after punching a wall because we lost to Slytherin his first game as Captain to Regulus nearly getting his head taken off by a Bludger because our parents had deemed it worthy enough to come watch."

"Gilderoy Lockhart, and there was a rogue Bludger. But again, it's fine, he's a permanent resident of St. Mungo's because he has no memory whatsoever. And my arm's perfectly fine; won the Quidditch Cup with it and everything!" Harry gave an innocent smile.

"Oh bloody hell," Remus Lupin groaned, debating whether to hit his head against the wall of the Shrieking Shack. "Not him."

Sirius' nose scrunched as he tried to remember who Gilderoy Lockhart was. "...Isn't he the one who, on Valentine's our seventh year, sent out thousands of Howlers that were basically a résumé on why he'd be either a good date, boyfriend, or casual shag?"

"Yep." Remus' voice was dull. "That's him."

"Charming," Sirius uttered a single word, every syllable dripping with sarcasm. He cocked his head to the side, sniffing the air.

"I DIDN'T TELL ANYONE!" Hermione's voice shook with betrayal. Her eyes narrowed.

"Um..." Sirius said eloquently.

Nikki facepalmed.

"...Because I didn't do anything wrong? I never got a trial?" Sirius continued slowly.

"I've been covering up for you — he's a werewolf, been helping him into the castle!"

Remus frowned slightly. "One for two."

     Sirius squawked, offended. "Excuse me? I can get into Hogwarts by myself, thank you! I'm a dog. Nobody would suspect a dog to be a human. Also I do have a girlfriend; I don't need Moony."

     "How long have you known?" Remus said quietly, obvious effort needed to force the sentence out.

     "...Since I did Professor Snape's essay."

     Nikki and Sirius scoffed at the name in unison. Remus cooly responded, "He'd be delighted. He assigned that essay hoping that someone would figure it out."

     "Shall we tick off the list of who knows about... his furry little problem?" Sirius innocently asked.

     Nikki snorted. "Shall?"

     "...Don't mention the stuffy pureblood conditioning, love."

     Harry piped up, "I know! Along with all the professors, Sirius, Nikki, Fred, and George."

     "We wrote the Map that Harry has," Remus began, "I'm Moony, Sirius is Padfoot, James was Prongs — deer Animagus — and Peter is Wormtail."

     "But will also soon be was," Sirius snarled under his breath. "I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

     Nikki's head snapped to his. "Excuse me?"

     Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. "...But none of them were on the list of registered Animagi?"

     "Because we didn't register," Sirius explained succinctly. "Animagi can't be turned into werewolves if they're bitten in animal form. And it's not like four fifteen year olds could show up to the Animagi Registration Office and explain that we have a friend who's a werewolf so we went through the process with absolutely no supervision."

"Can we backtrack a bit?" Nikki inserted. "What the bloody hell do you mean that you're going to 'commit the murder you were imprisoned for?'"

Sirius' mouth snapped shut.

"...Thought I said it quietly enough..."

"Turn in Peter and you're a free man!" Nikki huffed, frustrated. "Don't kill him; he's the only shred of evidence we have!"

A loud creak echoed from behind them, the bedroom door opening on its own accord. Everyone turned to stare at the door.

"This place is haunted!" Ron exclaimed, his voice shaking slightly even though he attempted to hide it.

"No..." Remus murmured, eyebrows furrowing as he continued to observe the door, puzzled. "The Shrieking Shack has never been haunted. The screams and howls heard by the village... was me. Werewolves, with nobody around them, bite and scratch themselves instead."

"So, we figured out about Moony's... monthly issue..." Sirius said delicately, "and since then we've been keeping him company."

"You needed better excuses if you didn't want us undergoing the process," Nikki teased. "Great-Aunt Bogdana must be a zombie or something; I swear she's died like four times."

"Or I just have many Great-Aunt Bogdanas..."

"And Snape hates them because of this whole thing in their sixth year regarding the Shack and werewolf-Remus," Harry added.

Sirius scrunched his nose at the reminder. "Can we move past that and to the part where we force Peter into his human—"

Severus Snape pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, wand pointed directly at Sirius.

"...form," Sirius finished his sentence dryly, bringing his hand up to his head and rubbing his temples.

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," Severus Snape declared, throwing the cloak aside as if it had served its purpose and could be discarded like garbage. "Very useful Potter, I thank you."

He was slightly breathless, though his face was filled with undisguised triumph.

"...Do I want to know what happened after I left the seventies?" Nikki murmured to Sirius.

He jerked his head in the smallest gesture of 'no.' Grey eyes remained fixated at the wand that was pointed at his throat.

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof," Snape accused, dark eyes glittering with malice. "Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout."

"What is with everyone thinking I'm helpless?" Sirius grumbled to himself.

"Severus, you're making a grave mistake," Remus urgently said, "You haven't heard everything — we can explain — Sirius isn't here to hurt Harry; Harry's known everything since November!"

"I've known since end of March!" Ron cheerily informed. "After the flower bouquet that put all flower bouquets to shame. Then I was trying to think of a way to explain that I knew."

Nikki's cheeks dusted a slight pink at the mention.

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," Snape declared, eyes now gleaming frantically. "Vengeance is sweet."

"Brilliant, Snape," Sirius rolled his eyes, leaning against one of the walls of the Shrieking Shack and putting on an air of nonchalance. His fingers twitched, wanting to push Nikki behind him. "Once again, you put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and, as usual, come to the wrong conclusion."

Fred and George snickered to themselves at the word 'penetrating.'

"Now, if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"Again, we're not killing Peter!" Nikki interjected, her voice rising over the cacophony of sound in the background. "Evidence, Mr. Auror."

Severus Snape's wand jabbed against Sirius' throat, digging into the pale skin. "Give. Me. A. Reason. I. Beg. You."

"Ooooh the adults are fighting," Ron mumbled to Harry and Hermione.

"Bit sluggish, don't you think, Remus?" Nikki said easily, her lips twitching.

"Don't be a fool, Severus!" Remus tried to placate the hook-nosed man, hands held up in front of his chest in a gesture universally acknowledged as a sign of surrender and peace.

Sirius spoke, "He can't help it; it's habit by now."

"Sirius!" Nikki and Remus scolded in unison.

Snape clucked his tongue. "Look at you two, quarreling like an old married couple."

"Would much rather marry Coley than Remus... no offense Moons — and piss off."

"Witty as ever I see," Snape retorted maliciously. "Tell me, will you be so irreverent when I turn you over to the Dementors?"

"I beat you once in a duel; do you really want a second go?" Nikki snapped.

"Miss Weasley, I wouldn't recommend trying anything funny... if you don't resist then maybe I will spare your parents the details of your... relationship with Black once they are contacted."

"Why don't you run along and play with your bloody chemistry set?" Sirius said coolly, his jaw clenching. "And don't blackmail my girlfriend."

The two men stared at each other, unadulterated loathing radiating in their glares.

"What's chemistry?" Ron muttered to Hermione.

"Seconded and thirded," Fred and George added in unison.

Hermione murmured back, "Muggle equivalent to Potions."

"After you tried to kill me by sending me to your pet werewolf," Snape snarled, "I believe that the universe is just dishing out karma."

"'Did you smell your lost girlfriend in your potion? You'd better keep a store close because the chances don't look too good,'" Sirius quoted the words of a seventeen year old Severus Snape. His voice was a monotone, eyes dull.

     "Fucker."

     It was a single word, though every letter that came from Nikki's mouth dripped with fury.

     Harry's fists clenched as he shouldered his way between the quarreling men.

     "Harry, no," Sirius hissed.

     "You're pathetic!" Harry shouted, eyes blazing with righteous anger. "Just because they made a fool of you at school you won't even listen—"

     "SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Severus roared, looking madder than he had ever been before. His voice dropped to a dangerous, soft tone. "Like father, like son."

     "Yeah, and that's a compliment," Sirius growled lowly.

     "I have just saved your neck!" Snape rebuked the thirteen year old boy. "You should be thanking me on bended knee. Trusting him would only result in you ending up dead like your father. NOW, OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

     Four different spells simultaneously blasted the Potions Professor off of his feet, three Expelliarmus and one that wrapped a piece of fabric over his mouth to silence him temporarily.

     Sirius was silent for a moment. "...Any of you want a Firebolt as well?"

     Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Speeding through the explanation for Hermione, Peter betrayed Lily and James and, knowing Sirius would hunt him down, spouted lies about Sirius being the Secret Keeper. Then, he blew up the street, cut off his own finger, and transformed."

     "He hitched onto our family," Nikki said dryly. "Now we better force him out of his rat form before the Body Bind wears—"

     Her hand slammed down on the piano, pinning the rat that attempted to make a run for it.

     "...And you're positive that I can't kill him?" Sirius huffed mutinously. His eyes darkened.

     Nikki rolled her eyes affectionately, cracking a small smile. "Yes, you muppet. I'd much rather you be free than have to hide you as my dog for the rest of my life — ow!"

     Her face scrunched up in pain, smoothing itself out after a second. "Bloody thing, he bit me! Honestly, I didn't think he had the guts."

     Sirius' face hardened. Pointing his wand at the rat squirming under Nikki's grasp, he nonverbally sent a flash of blue-white light out of his wand, which hurtled towards the rat and hit him in the back.

     Nikki quickly pulled her hand away, taking rapid steps backwards from the piano that bent under the weight of the slightly pudgy man that appeared where the rat had once been squeaking.

     Sirius brought the tip of his wand up to his face, blowing on it dramatically like a gunslinger on one of the old Western movies that Lily had shown him and James.

    "We make good rat catchers, don't we?" Nikki joked.

     Sirius let out an involuntary snort.

     "Hello, Peter," Remus said placidly. "Long time no see."

     "S-Sirius, R-Remus, N-Nikki, my old friends!" Peter stuttered, his voice squeaky as his eyes darted to the door and to the window.

     "Window's boarded up," Sirius said loftily, spinning his wand idly around his fingers as he looked at Peter like a hound dog on the hunt. "And I don't think even you would be daft enough to try and make a jump for one of our wands."

     "He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter deflected, trying to appeal to Remus as he pointed at Sirius with his middle finger.

     "There's children around," Nikki reprimanded dryly. "Mind your hand gestures, would you?"

     "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... you've got to help me, Remus."

      Sirius scoffed. "Believe me, I want to. But currently, there's a Kiss on Sight order out for me and I really don't want to cheat on Nikki with Jerry."

     Nikki smacked him lightly in the arm. "That's not a joking matter!"

     "You're right, it's not," Sirius smirked slightly. "It's a Sirius matter."

     He rounded on Peter, his head cocking to the side as he studied the man who used to be one of his best friends in the entire world. "You hear things in Azkaban, you know. All of Voldemort's cronies think you're dead... lucky for you, that, otherwise you'd have to answer to them. Bellatrix in particular has some words... and curses... dedicated to you for spelling the downfall of the oh-so-wonderful Dark Lord."

     Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's actually pathetic, the fact that your plan to frame me worked so well. Crouch never looked past my last name — no trial, even! — never mind the fact that James and I were Aurors, my mother and father were psychotic bitches that caused me to run far, far away — oh, and Voldemort resulted in my baby brother's death; can't forget that."

     "Er — Mr. Black — Sirius?" Hermione questioned curiously, Sirius jumping at the address. "How'd you escape Azkaban? If you didn't use Dark Magic?"

     "Sirius, please, Mr. Black reminds me too much of my father," Sirius replied. "I'm not quite sure... I was innocent, I knew that, but it wasn't exactly a happy thought because I had resulted in James and Lily's... deaths." His voice cracked. "Dementors suck all happiness out of you until you're an emotionless husk. But I was kept sane because I knew I was innocent. So, when things got to be... too much, I'd transform into my dog form — now dubbed Scruffy — and the Dementors couldn't exactly affect me as much in dog form."

     He took in a shallow breath. "Saw Nikki and Peter in the Prophet article — really wanted a crossword, I think Red got me hooked — and I mustered up the courage and slipped through the bars of my cell after causing a diversion by punching my dear cousin in the nose."

     "Okay!" Nikki exclaimed, injecting her voice with an overabundance of cheerfulness. "Time to get out of here, I reckon?" She pointed her wand at the sniveling form of Peter Pettigrew, flicking it and muttering "Incarcerous."

     "As much as I really couldn't care less," Sirius sighed, raking his fingers through his hair anxiously, "what do we do about Sniv-Snape?"

     "He's fine," Remus said quietly. "His heartbeat's steady, breathing normal. You all were just a bit... overenthusiastic."

     "He implied that I was dead," Nikki flatly retorted. "And Sirius can quote something from sixteen years ago."

     "That's called trauma," Sirius half-joked, his lips thinning. "It's a regular occurrence with me. Back to business, two of us should be chained to... this; make sure he doesn't make a break for it."

     Remus volunteered, Ron stepping forwards determinedly as his face twisted into a savage glare at the rat Animagus.

     Fred and George led the way up the stairs, Remus, Peter, and Ron following awkwardly as they were chained together. Hermione meekly came next, Professor Snape levitating behind her like a grotesque puppet.

     Sirius threaded his fingers with Nikki's, interlocking them as he moved Snape along with the greasy-haired man's own wand.

     Pressing a soft kiss to her temple, he glanced at Harry, who walked at his side quietly.

     "Errr... I... Hell, this is harder than I thought it would be," Sirius faltered. He took in a deep breath. "Since I'll be free, I could freshen up the flat I had when everything went to shit in '81... and your parents named me your godfather... fuck I hope you get where I'm going with this, Harry."

     Harry's eyes widened to the size of Galleons behind his glasses. "Live with you? Leave the Dursleys?!"

     His face blossomed into a wide grin that stretched from cheek to cheek. "Of course I'd love that!"

     Sirius let out a soft laugh. Pursing his lips slightly, he cast his eyes to the side to look at Nikki.

     "...I should probably re-meet your parents first," he joked softly, "but I don't think I can go a day without you with me."

     "Scoundrel," Nikki teased, stretching onto her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek. "Moving in with you without being married? What would Great Aunt Muriel say?"

     The snickering from the Weasley's floated back to them. The unusual group clambered out of the passageway, stretching slightly to alleviate the kinks in their backs.

     The grounds were nearly dark, the last rays of sun fading behind the horizon as the moon began to rise.

     Nikki and Sirius snapped their heads to Remus just as the full moon came to life.

     "Fucking hell," Sirius swore viciously, pressing the wand controlling Snape's body into Nikki's hand. "Get them out of here, love."

     Remus' silhouette was the only thing visible in the beginning of the night. His form went rigid.

     "I'm not leaving you to deal with this alone!" Nikki exclaimed fiercely, handing the wand to Harry. "Think what you want him to do and where to go," she explained rapidly, giving the dark haired boy a light shove to Fred and George.

     "Run!" Sirius ordered, taking quick steps forwards and severing the manacle from Remus' arm just in the nick of time.

     Remus had become Moony.

     And there was no potion that could save them.

     "Go!"

     Harry stood motionless, George grabbing onto his arm and yanking the younger boy forwards. Fred leapt forward, pulling Hermione up towards the castle.

     Nikki and Sirius transformed in almost the same motion, two bearlike dogs leaping forwards to force the werewolf away. They locked into a fierce battle, jaws snapping and claws ripping at each other.

     In all honesty, this was not how Fred and George expected their first day of freedom after completing their OWLs to go.

     But they couldn't think about that. As the oldest conscious humans that weren't traitors, they had a duty to protect their younger siblings. (Hermione and Harry were honorary Weasley's, at this point.)

     A pain-filled yelp sounded.

     George flinched as the echo of Nikki's canine form getting flung into a boulder rang in his ears over and over again.

     Sirius growled fiercely, throwing himself headlong at Moony to keep him away from his love and the children.

     A howl sounded from across the grounds, coming from a spot shallowly inside the Forbidden Forest. The werewolf, giving an answering howl, loped off towards the sound.

     Sirius padded over to Nikki, nudging her with his cold snout. A whimper greeted him.

     "He's gone!" Harry shouted suddenly, "Sirius, Pettigrew transformed!"

     The bleeding gashes across his muzzle and back faded into obscurity. He had only two priorities.

     1. Get Nikki medical help.

     2. Go after Peter.

     Nikki got to her four paws unsteadily, swaying. A faint whine came from deep in her throat. Sirius pressed his furry head against hers gently.

     The two dog Animagi tore after the traitor, noses pressed close to the ground as they tracked the scent.

     Harry charged after them.

     "GODDAMMIT HARRY!" Fred yelled after him fruitlessly, huffing out an exasperated breath as he looked at George. "One of us has to stay with Ron; he can't run on a broken leg."

     "Nic fixed it," Ron replied churlishly, crossing his arms across his chest.

     George sighed. "We have to get everyone up to the castle... Hermione and I'll go after Harry — you, Ron, and Snape go up to the castle."

     Fred nodded, giving his twin a quick hug and ruffling Hermione's hair before he split off from them with Ron and the unconscious Professor.

     Faint whimpers sounded from the ground by the edge of the Black Lake.

     Whimpers that faded into very human-like cries of pain mingled with a panicked frenzy of cursing.

     "Fuck, no you can't do this to me now, love," Sirius' voice was an octave too high as he began to stress. "Not after everything we've overcome..."

     He winced. Her ribs were definitely broken.

     Getting thrown into a bloody boulder would do that to you.

     A chill spread across the lake, the water beginning to freeze over.

     George's eyebrows furrowed, eyes popping open as he realized what was going on. "Harry, if ever there was a time to master the Patronus, now's that time!"

     The hoard of Dementors was the thing of nightmares. Sirius' breath came in puffs, the clouds indicative of the freezing temperatures.

     He shuddered, pressing his forehead against Nikki's shoulder. There was no way he could muster up a happy memory in this short of time against twelve years of trauma and suffering from the Dementors.

     There were at least a hundred of the things. The icy cold sensation penetrated their insides, fog beginning to obscure Harry's vision.

     Sirius slid his wand into the waistband of Nikki's jean shorts, goosebumps pebbling her skin from the frigid weather.

     "Think of something happy," Harry exclaimed frantically, waving his wand and declaring, "Expecto Patronum!"

     George and Hermione followed his lead, though their attempts produced nothing but a faint fog.

     I'm going to live with my godfather. I'm going to leave the Dursleys. We're going to get out of this.

     Pale as death, Sirius bent over Nikki's prone body, pressing his lips against her forehead in a feather light kiss as his body gave out, collapsing on top of her.

     Harry's consciousness began to fade, his mother's screams echoing in his ears as he dropped to his knees.

     George fell to the ground, gasping for air through the ocean of despair that enveloped them. Hermione followed, her voice cracking until it eventually faltered out.

     A Dementor's hand latched onto Harry's throat.

     A hazy thought came to Harry, a wry 'Is this one Jerry or Bob? Hell of a first kiss...'

     A silvery light shone through the putrid breath of the Dementor, growing brighter and brighter with each second.

     Something was driving the Dementors back. The air was warm again.

     The thing was circling around him, Hermione, George, Nikki, and Sirius. It was as bright as a unicorn.

     Harry fought to stay conscious, watching the animal canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore.

     Someone welcomed it back, hand stroking the downy fur of its head. Someone who looked strangely familiar.

     "Dad?" Harry mumbled as he finally succumbed to the blackness encroaching on his vision, head hitting the ground as he fainted.

Word Count: 7,281