A surprise visitor
Leaving Will behind was probably the hardest thing Sirius ever did. The tears in her eyes as she watched him go away would certainly haunt his nightmares. He felt a weight in his chest, he was abandoning her, again.
When he woke up in a cell, after protecting the kids from Remus, he knew he couldn’t escape the Dementors Kiss this time. His last thoughts had turned to all the regrets he had from his life. He regretted not having been able to get rid of Peter, if only to avenge Lily and James. He regretted having to leave Remus when they had just found each other again. The werewolf was going to wake up tomorrow and learn of his death and Sirius knew enough to know that he would blame himself. the worst was to know there would be no one to get him out of his self-inflicted guilt.
He also had a lot of time to think about Will. His little goddaughter was so different from the happy baby he remembered. When he saw her in the street before the beginning of the year, he’d been surprised to see how much she looked like James, she had inherited his rebellious black locks and his bad eyesight, but she had the same green eyes as Lily.
But then he took the time to really think about her appearance, and what he remembered made his blood boil. She was too small, she should’ve been almost thirteen, but barely looked eleven. And now that Sirius thought about it, even the circumstances of this encounter were abnormal. She was out there alone, in the middle of the night, with her trunk packed, and looking completely lost.
She even wore boy clothes that were not only three sizes too big but also in extremely poor condition. She was so thin, she barely had skin on her bones. But before Sirius could think more about the matter, the door of his cell exploded, and he was running away with the children on the back of a hippogriff. It was probably the craziest night he ever had, and he had spent full moons with a werewolf since he was fifteen.
When she said she wanted to go with him, Sirius was, oh so close to kidnapping her little baby girl and leaving, as far away as they could. Somewhere sunny preferably, where no one would ever find them. But Hermione brought him to his senses. They would never be at peace, people would always be looking for them, and Will deserved so much more than to live in fear as a fugitive for the rest of her life.
Their last hug was heartbreaking, he never wanted to let her go, she was so small and seemed so fragile. They clung to each other with the energy of despair, none of them wanting the moment to end. It was shocking to have the confirmation that Will was really as thin as Sirius, and he, had not had a proper meal for thirteen years.
He also had felt how she went still just before relaxing in his embrace. He would have so much preferred it to be a reaction of discomfort because he was basically a stranger, but he knew all too well what all the signs were telling him. And the image that was drawn before him made him sick. And angry.
No, not angry, what he felt transcended anger, surpassed rage. He was furious. Someone was hurting her. Someone. Was hurting. His. Pup. He had to swallow a growl, and the desire to find and kill those responsible as painfully and slowly as possible. Unfortunately, he had to leave the castle, before his dear friends the Dementors decided to suck his soul, once and for all.
Thinking about everything that he discovered, the dull anger that had been his companion all these years, welled up again in his chest. Rage pulsing through his veins, consuming his mind, nearly suffocating him. He had wanted to kill the rat, for James and Lily, for betraying them but discovering what happened to his goddaughter, what they did to her, Sirius just had a lot of new reasons to want him dead. But before he would make him suffer, oh so much, it would be delicious. He could almost hear him screaming, and pleading, begging Sirius to spare him, but he would find no pity this time.
He went out of his thoughts when he heard the questioning’s sound of Buckbeak, he looked at his human accomplice as to ask him where he wanted to go and was that not a good question. He had nowhere to go. The ministry surely knew of the apartment he shared with Moony, the cottage in Godric’s Hollow was... well anyway, and there was no way in Hell he’d go back to Grimmauld Place, he would rather be thrown to the Dementors than to have to see the banshee that was Walburga Black ever again.
Not that he’d hoped for anything on the "family" side. He had turned his back on the Black with immense pleasure and for as far as he was concerned, most of them could rot in hell, his dear mother first. He couldn’t count on his cousins who wanted to either kill him, or already had their own room assigned to Azkaban, Reg was dead, and Walburga would kill him with her own hands. Only his uncle Alphard could have helped him, as he was another white sheep in the Black family. But the man had died even before That Night, he had let Sirius everything-…
Of course! When he died, he left Sirius all his gold, but he also left a small house to be used as a safe place when the war began to become more violent. He had assured him in a letter that no one else was aware of the existence of this house. He had only been there once to be recognized by the protections.
Honestly, he still wanted to go back and kidnap his pup, go far away from England, and never come back but since it was not an option, he would just stay close. If his hypothesis about Will’s family life was true, there was no way he would let her go back there without doing anything; he would have to figure out how to prove his innocence. But for the moment, he was exhausted, freezing because of the lingering effects of exposure to Dementors, and he hadn’t eaten a proper meal since who knew when.
Several hours later he found himself in front of a country house which had clearly seen better days. He was in a Muggle region -which name escaped him completely- a few kilometers southeast of London. Fortunately, the house was surrounded by a large enough field to accommodate his new feathered friend and he also knew that the Muggle-Repelling Charm would protect them from all curious eyes.
The house itself did not look much, the walls were covered with plants, clearly abandoned. Sirius only hoped that the inside would be in rather good condition. But he was not going to be difficult, it was still a noticeably improvement compared to his previous three-square meters in the middle of the ocean with the most unpleasant neighbors.
He turned to Buckbeak, stroking his neck. "Thank you for saving me my friend. You’re free to go if that’s what you want, but you’re welcome to stay here." The hippogriff cooed, pushing his big head against the Sirius’s cheek, before leaving to explore the surroundings, he did not seem to want to leave. Sirius turned to the house with a slight smile on his face, happy not being alone. The front door was slightly decrepit but did not resist before opening on a small entrance and leading to a staircase on the right and the living room on the left.
He had been surprised by the cozy decoration, the first time he had come, with exposed beams and tones of beige and light brown, a beige couch and two armchairs that looked criminally comfortable, arranged in circle in front of a large fireplace.
The living room overlooked a small, fitted kitchen that opened onto a large indoor veranda, with a dining table. The most surprising thing was to discover the presence of a manager, even if his uncle clearly did not think as badly of muggles as the other members of the Black family, he did not expect to find such a device in this house. He opened the cupboards with curiosity, and was surprised to see that all the cupboards were full, and even more surprising was that there was no trace of dust. Anywhere. He turned, panicked when he heard the fireplace light up.
No one should know this place, and now he was at the mercy of this person and unarmed. Sirius quickly changed into Padfoot, hiding in the shadows. He would have more luck with his fangs and claws, and the advantage of the surprise effect. He waited tensely to see who his visitor was, forcing himself to remain motionless despite his heart beating wildly.
He could not afford to be caught, he did not really want to attack the woman -according to the sound of the high-heeled shoes- who had just arrived, especially since he could not just disarm and stunned her, but Will counted on him. If he had to get his paws a little dirty, he wouldn’t hesitate. The witch cut short his bloody thoughts and shocked him when she spoke with a calm voice.
"Well Sirius, do you not know it is not polite for a gentleman to keep a lady waiting ?" He could hear the smirk in her voice. He almost wanted to cry. It's been long time since he’d heard that voice. Regaining human form, he slowly walked towards the witch who turned to look at him, a neutral expression on her face.
“Hello Andy”