Shelter • wolfstar au

55 ; basement

Anastasia continue to talk to him, but he barely heard her. He swallowed his slices of pancakes quickly and shot to his feet, depositing the plate on the sink. He gripped the kitchen counter with his fingers, so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Are you okay, Sirius?"

It was Elizabeth. He looked at her, feeling an odd sense of misery. She was a muggle, and yet wasn't untouched by the war. She wasn't fighting directly in it, but she was playing a role that was not insignificant – feeding and offering shelter to the soldiers. It may not seem like much, but Sirius knew the importance of emergency supplies during the war, and he was sure that by feeding the soldiers, she and the other muggles that she has mentioned, were significantly increasing their chances of fighting back against Voldemort's forces.

He felt an immense amount of respect for her. She had absolutely no reason to help Robbie, and yet, she has chosen to do it, thereby putting her and her sister's life at risk. It was a form of bravery that he wasn't sure he possessed.

"Yes," he answered. "I'm okay."

"I hope your mission is successful," she offered a smile.

Without answering her, he pulled her into his arms and embraced her. Anastasia wasn't in the kitchen now, and he thought it was the best time to confess to Elizabeth that he has been using her all along, that he has been cheating on her, that she didn't deserve a person like him.

But he remained silent.

He may be a Gryffindor, he may be brave and reckless, he may have the courage to run into a swarm of death eaters defenseless, but he still did not have the courage to admit his own faults.

So when he and Robbie left the house an hour later and Elizabeth smiled at him in goodbye, he couldn't return the smile.

Sirius gripped Robbie's arm when they were away from any sort of crowd. Then he closed his eyes and disapparated.

They came upon a very familiar street – at least familiar to Sirius. He quickly pulled him into a side street so as to remain inconspicuous. They couldn't afford to reveal themselves, not when they were taking such a huge risk with little planning and with a large chance of failure. Tiptoeing, they reached a corner of the street and crouched into the shadows, waiting for their signal.

It came only about five minutes later. Robbie's communicating ring glowed a pale yellow, indicating that their partners in the mission have managed to create the distraction. They inched their way out of the street after placing a disillusionment charm on themselves. On the opposite side of the road, Sirius noticed a large building appearing when it wasn't there just a second before, pushing aside the number 11 and number 13 buildings on either side of it.

12 Grimmauld Place.

The house where he was born, where he grew up. The house he has run away from because it wasn't his home.

As they waited, a tumult of emotions ran across Sirius. 12 Grimmauld Place has never been his home; it was a prison, it suffocated him, gave him the scars he still had from the times Orion Black had caned or Crucio-ed him. When he had left the house all those years ago, he had not thought, even for a second, that he would be returning here. He thought he had left the house for good.

But the universe seemed to work in mysterious ways, for there he was, back at the house he has lived for fifteen years, but that he couldn't call his home.

The front door cracked open and emerged three people in black robes and wands out. They said something to each other and promptly disappeared with loud cracks that would have been heard by the entire street had they not been inside the muggle concealment charm. Sirius and Robbie waited a few minutes to see if anyone else would come out, but when the coast seemed clear enough, they crossed the road and reached the house.