A Little Risk ★𝒮𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓊𝓈 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀☆ |On Hold|

Caught

Chapter 22

Caught

Sirius was sprinting, his chest heaving, his head a jumble of incomprehensible thoughts. One rang clear with him though. This plan, his plan, that he'd spent the most of a year creating, had been shattered in a matter of seconds. 

But that didn't matter right now. Peter may have been gone, but the more worrisome thought was that so was Remus. Loose on the Hogwarts grounds, he could cause quite a lot of havoc and damage, not only to his surroundings but to himself as well. 

Eventually, Sirius had to stop. He couldn't run anymore. As Snuffles, he was panting frantically, scanning his surroundings, hoping against hope that he'd see Remus's fur between the trees. He growled in frustration, then set off again, albeit at a slower pace, figuring that he couldn't just stop looking. 

 He made it to the lake, and in the darkness, that accursed full moon glinted off its surface. He went right up to the edge of the water and looked into the murky black depths, then took a few laps of water. And then he looked up, thinking he'd seen a shadow, and his heart very nearly stopped beating. 

The sight was horrifying. Dementors, too many to count, eerily heading in his direction. And suddenly, everything went cold. The air around him, inside his lungs, he couldn't breathe, he was drowning in the cold, his mind screaming for him to escape this peril he'd landed himself in. 

He transformed back into a man, the pain too strong for him to keep his animagus form going. 'Nooo,' he pleaded to the darkness. 'Noooo .... please ...' But it was no use. Sirius had hated dementors from the first time he'd heard of them. The idea of a creature so devoid of any emotion, stripped of all morals, was horrible, and now here he was, at their mercy, or rather, their lack of.

As though the sound was coming from all the way across the lake, though Sirus could distantly feel the boy's presence, he heard Harry's voice shout, "Expecto Patronum!" over and over again. But that was the last thing Sirius heard, as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

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Sirius woke up in a very dark room, where he peered blearily at his surroundings, wondering how he'd managed to get there. Before he could decipher where he was, however, a knock came on the door. Though it was insistent, as though the knocker had done it once before. 

Not knowing what else to say, Sirius reluctantly croaked, "Come in," and watched as an old man with a long white beard strolled into his room.

"Hello Sirius," the man greeted pleasantly. 

"Dumbledore... how-" Sirius tried. 

"I'm afraid Sirius that you have been captured once more. You face the same charges of 13 years ago, as well as those of attempted escape."

"Professor please no- those charges, I was wrongly accused, you have to believe me!"

Sirius found himself subject to the old man's inquisitive stare. Then he sat down in a chair behind a desk, which Sirius now found to have not changed since he was at school. They were in Flitwick's office, a place Sirius knew far too well given the detentions he'd had to serve in here, most often accompanied by his partner in crime, James Potter. 

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Time is of the essence Sirius, I need you to explain."

He didn't know where to begin, until he realized that he'd taken part in sharing a similar story with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with Remus's help.

"Well," he started, "Professor I don't know if you were aware, but my friends and I, as you might have known as the Marauders, became animagi to help Remus Lupin... you know, with his problem."

He looked up. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling, and Sirius thought he saw a flicker of a smile on his face, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. He forged on, determined to make his point across. 

He explained about them becoming animagi, and how they'd handled joined the Order of the Phoenix despite their young age. He described how in those times, the paranoia had driven them all to suspect one another of being spies, and how he and Remus had suspected each other. 

The story became darker still, with Sirius telling Dumbledore about his worries that Remus could have spilled the truth that he was the Potter's secret keeper. So Sirius went off to the Potter's house with Peter Pettigrew, convinced James and Lily to make the switch, and worst of all, Peter betraying every one of them, and framing Sirius for his wrongs. 

When he was finished, he looked up at Dumbledore once more. "Professor...?" He continued, "Professor I would rather die than betray James and Lily please... you have to believe me."

But the old man had stood up. "I've heard enough Sirius, I will consider what you have told me." With that, he strode out of the room.

Sirius shouted, "No professor wait!" He dragged himself over to the door, pounding on it. "No please!" 

He leaned up against the door, burying his face in his hands once more, willing tears not to fall. He'd blown it. It was over, all over. In mere hours he would take the Dementor's Kiss, and Sirius Black would be no more. Why oh why couldn't he have explained himself to Dumbledore, the only person in the castle who had the power to free him?

He didn't know how long he sat there. Hours? Try days. He felt lonelier than he ever had in Azkaban, because this time, he knew it deep in his heart. All hope was lost. 

Wallowing in despair, he almost missed it. A tap on the window. Sirius looked up, figuring a bird must have slammed into the glass. He felt his jaw drop as he stared at the creature flapping in front of his window. It was a bird alright, a creature with the head of one anyway, with the body of a horse, a hippogriff. And the two people on its back, Harry and Hermione. 

Without missing a beat, he scrambled over to the window and attempted to open it, but it was no use, it was locked. 'Stand back!' Hermione called over to him through the glass, and Sirius pressed himself up against the wall. 'Alohomora!' she shouted, and the window swung open immediately. 

Clutching the frame, Sirius felt the urge to say something, but what? Display his gratitude, his shock at how they'd managed to get him? All that managed to come out was 'How- how-?' 

He was cut off by Harry. 'Get on- there's not much time,' he said as he steadied the hippogriff. He continued, 'You've got to get out of here- the dementors are coming. Macnair's gone to get them.' Sirius knew he was trying valiantly to stay calm, yet the note of urgency and panic in his godson's voice was unmistakable. 

Sirius held onto the window frame and heaved himself through, his thin frame making it incredibly easy. Before he knew it, he'd mounted the hippogriff and was sitting behind Hermione, who was still clutching Harry tightly. Then they were off, up to the West Tower, where the hippogriff, or Buckbeak as Harry had called him, landed and Harry and Hermione slid off.

'Sirius, you'd better go, quick' Harry said, his voice nearly as hoarse as Sirius' own by now. 'They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you've gone.'

Sirius knew he was right, yet he had to make sure he left everything in good condition. 'What happened to the other boy?' He tried to remember his name, then it came to him, 'Ron?'

'He's going to be ok- he's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick- go!'

Something more had to be said. 'How can I ever thank-' Sirius tried, only to be cut off once more by the two of them. 

'GO!' they both shouted. 

In resignation he wheeled the hippogriff around, facing the sky, then looked back at his godson. 'We'll see each other again,' he said. 'You are- truly your father's son, Harry ...' And with that, he squeezed the hippogriff's sides with his heels, felt the enormous wings rise on either side of him, and Buckbeak took off, bearing Sirius, into an unknown future.

Yet Sirius knew one thing. This wasn't their last goodbye. He would see Harry again, even if it was the last thing he did.