Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

6- Dementors Suck Away The Fun

On the day of the first Quidditch match of the season, Sara and Sirius made their way through the heavy rain, towards the stadium.
Sara was wearing several layers, and she had most of her face covered, so that no one would be able to recognise her.
The day before the match had been a full moon, so Sara knew that Remus would not be there, as he would still be recovering. So she wasn't worried about being seen by him, as he wasn't going to be there.
Since Sirius was in dog form, Sara had to have conversations with him, without getting anything back, which she found rather strange.
The rain was also heavier than it had been all year, so after a few minutes of standing in it, Sara was drenched right down to the bone.

But as soon as Harry stepped out onto the pitch, with his team mates, all of Sara's negative emotions dissappeared.
It had been many years since Sara had seen Harry, as she often watched him from affar, when he had been very small, and he had grown up so much since then.
And even though they were standing quite far away from him, it was easy to see that he looked exactly like his father. His confidence in the air, was just like James' as well, as he too, had been a great flyer.
Though the rain was heavy, Sara still managed to keep up with the score, and Gryffindor was winning, which pleased her.
When the snitch was spotted by the Hufflepuff Seeker, the whole crowd began to shout even louder than before. Sara too, was screaming for Harry to go faster, and he did seem to be gaining on his opponant, and the snitch.

Suddenly Sara began to feel very cold, but it had nothing to do with the rain dripping down her neck.
She felt her skin crawl, and her hair stick up, making her feel very uncomfortable.
An eerie silence filled the stadium, and Sara looked up to where a group of Dementors had suddenly started to swarm.
A second later, someone began to scream, as a small body began to fall towards the ground.
Sara screamed, when she realised that it was Harry.
Before she had a chance to remove her wand to save him, Dumbledore had already stepped onto the pitch, with his own wand raised.
The headmaster slowed Harry's fall, before turning his wand on the Dementors, forcing them to flee the grounds, by using his Patronus.

Dumbledore conjured a stretcher, and quickly exited the stadium, with Harry's body floating on the stretcher in front of him.
Sara turned to face Sirius, but he had already begun to make his way down the steps, towards the ground.
The people around her were also beginning to make their way out of the stadium, so Sara joined the swarm of people, and headed down the steps.
Once she was out of the stadium, Sara made her way over to Sirius, who was waiting for her.
"I'm sure Harry's fine, right? Dumbledore stopped him falling, and hitting the ground, so he's going to be O.K, isn't he" quizzed Sara, as the pair headed back to the Shrieking Shack.
Everyone else was so shocked at what had just happened, that no one paid them any attention.
Sara continued mumbling to herself, all the way back to the shack.

When they approached the killer tree, Sara levitated a branch to hit the kno,t which immobilised it.
Sirius reverted back to human form the second they entered the tunnel, so that he could talk to Sara.
"I can't believe those creatures. Knocking Harry off his broom like that. The Ministry need to rein in their Dementors" insisted Sara.
"Dumbledore won't be happy about this, that's for sure" replied Sirius.
"I understand why Fudge has placed them here, to keep an eye out for you. But why would they attack at the Quidditch match, it doesn't make any sense?" Questioned Sara, almost as if she hadn't heard Sirius' reply.
"I expect they were hungry. They normally have prisoners to feast on all day long. But they aren't allowed to feed on the students here. All the happy emotions at the stadium must have been too much for them to resist, which is why they attacked" Sirius answered.

"They really are the foulest creatures ever" spat Sara angrily, as she stepped inside the Shrieking Shack.
"Tell me about it. I've been stuck with them for the past 12 years. They suck out all your happy thoughts, leaving you with only your worst memories" Sirius mumbled.
"And I've got plenty of those" added Sara.
Sirius placed his hand on Sara's shoulder, and squeezed it tight.
"We both have" he said softly.
"I feel their effects, even when they're really far away from me. Merlin knows what I'd be like, if I actually got close to one" shuddered Sara.
"Well, that is never going to happen. I'm not going to let those things get anywhere near you" promised Sirius.

Sara smiled, and stared down at Sirius's soggy clothing.
"You need to change out of those wet things, or you'll catch a cold" she warned.
"But I don't have anything else to change into" reminded Sirius.
"That doesn't matter. I'll dry them off with my wand, as quickly as I can. Just go and stand in the bedroom, and chuck your clothes at me, so I can dry them. You can use the blanket to dry your body with, and I'll dry it, before I use it myself".
Sirius nodded, and headed into the bedroom. A few seconds later he threw his clothes towards Sara.
Sara flicked her wand at Sirius' tattered, soaking wet clothes, drying them in seconds.
She then picked up the clothes, and stepped into the bedroom to hand them back to Sirius.

Sara's jaw dropped, as she stared at Sirius.
He had his back to her, with nothing covering his body, except from his underwear.
His bones were so prominent, that he looked like a skeleton.
Sara had never seen him look like that, as he had always been clothed, ever since they'd been reunited.
Sirius had always been so well built, and muscular, that seeing him like this, made Sara's heart sink.
The floorboard beneath Sara's foot creaked, and Sirius turned around to face her.
Sara bit her lip awkwardly, and handed him his clothes.
"Thanks" muttered Sirius.

Sara nodded her head.
"You're welcome".
"I'll get changed out there, so that you can strip and dry your own clothes in here" replied Sirius.
"Err, yeah, thank you" Sara mumbled.
Sirius lowered his head, and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him, allowing Sara to dry herself off.
But Sara struggled to get the image of Sirius's extreme thinness, out of her head.
She hadn't realised just how much of a physical toll, as well as a mental one, Azkaban had had on Sirius.