One lonely and sorrowful man can be found in a remote wizarding prison located on an island in the North Sea. His name is Sirius Black, and he is imprisoned for something he never did. Sirius Black never killed Peter Pettigrew along with twelve muggles. Sirius Black never betrayed Poseidon, Lily and little Harriet. And Sirius Black certainly never served Lord Voldemort. Make no mistake, these crimes were committed, but not by Sirius Black. By Peter Pettigrew.
It was Peter Pettigrew all along. Peter Pettigrew served Lord Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew betrayed Poseidon, Lily and little Harriet. Peter Pettigrew faked his own death killing twelve muggles in the process.
And the rat was still free. Sirius hadn't been sure about that at first. At first, he had assumed Pettigrew had actually killed him self along with those muggles. But then the Minister of Magic had shown up for an inspection. And with him came a number of the Daily Prophet.
Arthur Weasley had won seven hundred gallons and taken the family to Egypt to visit their oldest son. The oldest son was, however, of the least interest for Sirius. His interest was on the youngest son. He would be going back to Hogwarts in September, along with his pet.
Pettigrew was hiding at Hogwarts. Where Harriet would be in autumn. They could even be in the same common room.
Sirius dreaded what could happen if, or when Lord Voldemort would arise.
Harriet had a parentage few knew the truth of, Sirius remembered how she as a baby made a tap explode from water pressure and then being the only thing in the room who was still dry. Only a glimpse of the power she would possess when she grew older. But Peter knew who her father really was. If he were to decide he could gain something from it, then he was already in a position where he could easily stab her in the back before she even realised he wasn't actually her classmate's pet rat. While Peter may have grown greedy for power, he would know better than to underestimate the daughter of a sea god.
Sirius had read the paper time and time again, and with each time he felt his rage grow. He would put an end to it. He had been imprisoned for killing Peter Pettigrew, and he was now planning to do so, no matter the cost. He had nothing left to loose, after all.
He was currently a big black dog. Ironically fitting, since the star he was named after was nicknamed the dog star and his surname was, well, Black. He wasn't so big anymore, though. That's what Azkaban does to you. The dementors drives you insane to the point you're only a shell of your past self on the brink of death.
Death.
That would be a release from this gods forsaken prison, and the only person who knew about the real threat being free and in hiding.
He could die once Pettigrew had suffered a well deserved violent death first.
His malnourished body could be an advantage to get through these bars.
When the door opened to slip him his food, he slipped past them in stead. Before the dementors could recompose, he ran. He had been right. His thin dog body allowed him to get through the bars.
Sirius thoughts cleared slightly once he jumped and landed in sea water. He swam towards some cliffs a few hundred meters from the island the prison was built on.
Changing back to a man, Sirius looked frankly around for any sort of landmark. Had he been a bit more mentally stable at the moment he could perhaps have used the stars to navigate, but there was no point in even trying that. It was a cloudy night. Instead, Sirius used the only means to navigate that he could think of. He dipped his hand in the cold but welcoming water. (Well it's welcoming if you're friends with the right people...)
"Poseidon!" He caught, how long had it been since he last used his voice for real? "James! My old friend! Can you hear me?"
No reaction at first. Then the currents shifted ever so slightly and Sirius felt the water get warmer, as if someone had took his hand in greeting. Yes, James could hear him.
"I need your help! I fear that your daughter might be in grave danger! Peter Pettigrew is at Hogwarts!"
The water shifted again and rose up in the air. Sirius took a step back on the slippy rock. A man, appearing to be around the same age as Sirius himself, materialised from the water.
Sirius immediately recognised James Potter, even though he now officially had dropped the act of a young Gryffindor wizard. He was dressed in casual muggle clothes, the once hazelnut brown eyes that he used to frame with a pair of glasses back in the day was now shining in a bright sea green colour. And he had a beard. But the humorous smile was always the same.
"Why you seem to have seen better days, Sirius," the sea god said.
Sirius almost laughed. For a moment he allowed himself to feel some sort of comfort at the sight of James.
James' expression dulled.
"What did you say about Peter Pettigrew?"
Sirius pulled out the newspaper from his robes and showed him the front page.
"The rat has been disguised as this family's pet rat for the last decade. And he will be coming with their youngest son to Hogwarts in autumn."
James took a good look at the rat on the boy's shoulder.
"We gods can't really keep track on you wizards as we do with the other mortals. We always have to look really closely to see what's going on." James handed back the paper. "But sure enough, I'd be dammed if that old rat is not Pettigrew. What do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to kill him."
James raised an eyebrow.
"How?"
Sirius was quite for a second.
"I will hide in Hogsmeade. Waiting for the right moment. And when I get my hands on him, I'll commit the crime they imprisoned me for."
James looked sceptical but nodded. He then pointed towards the water.
"Follow the currents. They will take you to Iceland. From there you have to figure it out by yourself, I'm afraid. Only interfering indirectly, and all that."
Sirius nodded.
"The currents. Yes. That's enough."
James took a good look at Sirius. After twelve years in Azkaban the man wasn't much more than skin and bones. His hair had grown all the way down to his elbows and hadn't been washed at all during his imprisonment. If it wasn't for his grey eyes that shone with madness, he could have been mistaken for a walking corpse.
Perhaps an inferius or a zombie, James never really understood the difference other than one of them being native to southern US and Haiti.
"Sirius."
Sirius turned to him.
"I've been around for long time. Seen empires rise and fall. But there are few things lost to time that I miss as much as our time together. Just remember that it doesn't have to mean all your chances of happiness are lost."
Sirius was quite, but eventually nodded. James decided it was better than nothing.
"Very well then... I'll see you around, dear friend. Good luck!"
Sirius looked away while the sea god vanished. He turned into a dog and jumped back into the dark water.
The currents changed direction when Sirius managed to find them. Though he was sure they would take him in the right direction it was a struggle to keep his nose above the surface. He swallowed a huge portion of saltwater and coughed violently. He couldn't stay anywhere to take a break as it was by far too deep. Without any source of light, Sirius felt as good as blind.
Maybe he should have waited until the dawn. But that hadn't really been an option. His absence would have been noticed before that and on those cliffs he had been an easy target for the dementors. He didn't know what they would do to an escaped prisoner if the caught one. Nobody had ever heard of anyone managing to escape from Azkaban before. Sirius didn't want to find out, however. There was no turning back now. If he didn't manage to get ashore, the only purpose he had left would be failed. And he couldn't afford to fail it when lives was at stake.
So he kept swimming. He kept swimming for what felt like days but was probably hours. His limbs hurt and he had many times accidentally swallowed more seawater. One time even a small slimy fish slid down his throat. The worst interpretation of a sushi Sirius had ever tasted. An uncountable amount of times when the limbs felt like they would fall off he even considered giving up and surrendering to the almighty sea. Maybe he would drown and come to Elysium.
He could perhaps get to meet Lily again. And the twins Fabian and Gideon. And Marlene and Benjy and the Bones.
But then the image of Peter Pettigrew appeared before him. The confrontation. How Peter pointed and screamed his accusations at Sirius. Accusing Sirius of doing what Peter had in fact done himself. And behind his back casting a blasting curse on the street, killing twelve of the muggles who happened to be unlucky enough to be nearby and also making it look like he had been killed as well. That filthy rat that if he so pleased now could sneak into Harriet's bed at Hogwarts and kill her in her sleep. Sirius had to continue.
He eventually floated ashore at dawn. On a beach near a little village with houses most likely built around the nineteenth century. Once sure he no longer was in risk of drowning, the dog shut his eyes for a few hours of sleep.
~~~~~~~
Sirius stood in an old graveyard. A few meters away he could make out three figures.
One was a young teenage girl with messy black hair. Sirius assumed she was the little girl his best friends had once introduced to him as his goddaughter. Harriet was a beautiful young girl that looked like she had just came back from a fight in the woods. She suddenly moaned and fell to her knees with her hands covering her face.
The other figure was also a teenager but he was older. He looked like he also had been a part of that fight in the woods.
The third one was hooded and merely looked at the two kids in front of him (well, Sirius assumed it was a he). He seemed to be holding something with both his arms. That, for some reason, gave Sirius a bad feeling.
"Kill the spare!" Sirius heard someone say and the hooded figure pointed his wand at the others.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The boy fell to the ground.
Harriet removed her hands and opened her eyes. They immediately fell on her dead friend.
The hooded figure took the chance while she was distracted. He put away the bundle in his hands and lit his wand, then he pulled Harriet to her feet before she could even react. He dragged her to the headstone he had stood beside mere seconds ago. He ruffly slammed her back against the stone. She whined in pain as she was tied to it with magicaly conjured ropes. Harriet tried to struggle but her efforts only gave her a slap in the face.
She stilled and looked at the hooded man.
"You!" she gasped but didn't get a reply.
Once the ropes was secure he shoved some black fabric into Harriet's mouth. He then hurried away and the poor girl was left to look at what was right in front of her; her dead friend, the bundle of robes that seemed to be slightly moving, and a huge snake slithering around in the grass.
The hooded figure was forcing a huge stone cauldron across the yard. Some sort of liquid was slopping around inside it. He lit a fire beneath the cauldron while bundle on the ground started to move more impatiently. Fiery sparks was flying out from the liquid as it quickly heated up.
"Hurry!" said the voice from the robes.
"It is ready, master."
"Now..."
The hooded figure pulled open the robes to reveal the most horrific thing Sirius had ever seen, and Harriet seemed to share that opinion. When he lifted up the ugly thing the hood fell back. Sirius had to bite his lip to not scream out loud when he saw the face of Peter Pettigrew. The rat dropped the creature into the cauldron and a thud was heard when it hit the bottom.
Harriet looked to be both horrified and in great pain where she was bonded to the headstone. Her eyes were red and watery and her nose was snotty.
Pettigrew didn't care about that though. He raised his wand and spoke an incantation with a shaky voice.
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"
Having grown up in a wizarding family like the Blacks, Sirius recognised dark magic when he saw it. He was hardly surprised when the ground cracked and fine bone dust rose up from the grave and fell into the cauldron. The content of the cauldron hissed and turned blue in response.
Next up, Peter pulled out a sharp silver dagger.
"Flesh – of the servant – w-willingly given – you will – revive – your master."
He stretched out his hand that was missing an index finger in front of him. Harriet shut her eyes as Peter chopped off his own hand. He screamed as it fell to the ground. He picked it up and threw it in the cauldron. The potion turned bright red.
Peter gasped and whimpered in pain but Sirius felt no sympathy for him. He only saw his goddaughter whom would probably be traumatised for life after this.
Her eyes was still shut as Peter hurried over to her with the dagger.
"B-blood of the enemy ... forcibly taken ... you will ... resurrect your foe."
'Stay away from her!' Sirius wanted to scream. He wanted to run over to then and forcefully drag the traitor away from his defenceless girl, but all he could do as Peter cut through her skin was to watch.
The blood was caught up in a glass phial that Peter then hurried to empty out into the cauldron. The potion became blindingly white.
Peter dropped to the ground. Cradling the stump of his arm and pitying himself.
Diamond sparks flew in all directions from the cauldron. The spectacle was so bright everything else went dark. Then nothing.
Harriet's face was now wet with tears. Sirius wanted to run to her. Release her from the ropes and assure her that everything would be fine.
But then white steam rose from the cauldron. And through the mist, Sirius saw the outline of a tall man rising from inside the cauldron.
"Robe me."
Once Peter had complied, Voldemort stepped out of the cauldron and glared at Harriet.
~~~~~~~
Sirius awoke. His whole body was shaking. He was now terrified of how right he had been. If anything he had actually underestimated the danger Harriet was in as long as Pettigrew lived. If he could do anything worse than murdering her, it was using her to bring back Voldemort before murdering her. He would strangle that rat when he found him.
But first, he needed to find out where he was, and how to get to Hogsmeade from where he was. It was warm, and it smelled like bacon.
Looking around he found himself in a little combined kitchen and living room. He had been placed on a warm blanket near the fireplace. Two children was playing with a square shaped disk of some kind. A muggle toy most likely. The girl looked up from it and saw Sirius awake.
She bounced up from the floor and turned around to call on someone.
"Mamma! Hundurinn er vakandi!"
Of course, James had said he'd end up in Iceland, so now, he was in Iceland. And found by an Icelandic family that spoke, wait for it... Icelandic!
The girl left the square disk to her brother and ran over to Sirius. She probably didn't have any outright bad intentions, but having a four year old slapping the top of your head in the belief that she was being nice petting you, is rather annoying.
Sirius quietly growled at her so she would back off, just as her mother entered the room.
"Sigrid! Ekki trufla hundinn! Það gæti bitið þig!"
The girl backed away from Sirius and tried to take the square disk back from the boy who screamed at her.
Their mother placed a bowl of water next to Sirius and picked up a smaller square disk from her pocket. She pushed something on it and held it to her ear.
The water was refreshing after all the saltwater he had accidentally swallowed during his swimming through the North Sea.
He needed to figure out how to get to Britain from here. Iceland had their own magical headquarters just like the British Ministry of Magic, the Magical Congress of the United States of America or the Ministry of Magical Affairs of France. The Icelandic headquarters was located in Reykjavik, they would most definitely have a connection to the international floo network there. Therefore, Sirius had to get there. The only question was how?
He pondered over that when a fourth muggle came into the house. She used a device on him that Sirius had seen some of Apollo's kids use to examine their patients in the infirmary. A stethoscope. Sirius growled when she tried to examine his face more closely. The stethoscope alone felt like a violation of privacy to him.
The woman that he assumed was some kind of healer had a conversation with the mother. After she had left again the little boy came up to Sirius. He expected more violent petting but the boy instead tried to put his fingers inside Sirius' mouth!
In a flash, he stood up on his four paws and barked at the boy. Not overly loud, just so he would get the hint.
The mother pushed her son away from him and put him in a leash.
Sirius found himself bound to the fireplace and unable to reach any of the muggles.
The muggles kept him there for two days. The two children giggled and pointed at him when they didn't fight over the square disk. Their mother was mostly using her smaller square disk to talk to someone somewhere else. Sirius assumed that's what it was used for since muffled replies could be heard from the device.
On the second day she took her two hell-spawns for a walk. Sirius saw the opportunity as soon as the door closed.
Switching back to himself he managed to get the leash off of him. He stood up and examined the family's supply of wood. A muggle family had no floo powder, but Sirius had other uses of a fire.
He looked through the kitchen cabinets for something to offer, the mother had stored so many vegetables that he decided they could afford to lend him some. Picking out the best looking carrots he walked back to the fireplace. Sirius threw the carrots into the fire, one by one. He ate the last one himself though. The family only gave him leftovers and those small parts of the steak you either throw away or give to the animals.
He made himself comfortable in front of the fire.
"This is my offering to you, father. If you can hear me, hi! How are you? Didn't think you would hear from me again after that whole secret keeper fiasco, eh?" Sirius sighed. "I need your help. I'm in Iceland, and I need to get to Reykjavik. If you could perhaps send me something to help me with that I would appreciate it."
With no way of knowing whether or not his father had heard him, he continued to stare into the fire. He wasn't entirely sure what date it was exactly, but he was fairly sure it would be around the end of July, start of August.
He wondered if Harriet was at Camp Half Blood now. It was one of the places Sirius missed the most. He would like to visit it once he had killed Pettigrew. He would like to see his old cabin. The lake. The forest filled with monsters. The climbing wall that poured lava over you if you weren't quick enough. He smiled a little at the memories.
There was so much he would like to do once the rat was dead.
His thoughts was interrupted when he heard a car pull up outside the house. He hurried to put the leash back on and turn into a dog again.
The muggles entered their home. All blissfully oblivious to what had just happened. An unknown man was accompanying them. He looked at Sirius.
"Ætli þetta sé hundurinn sem þú sagðir mér frá?"
"Já, við fundum það á ströndinni," the woman replied.
The man crouched down to look at Sirius.
"Hæ, vinur! Þú hefur átt erfitt, ha? Ekki hafa áhyggjur, við hjálpum þér að finna gott heimili, allt í lagi?"
Sirius hadn't understood a word of that, but he followed when the guy untied the leash from the fireplace and led him out of the house to his car. There he was put in a cage.
The trip wasn't long, it just took him to another part of the town. Sirius managed to spot a sign that told him the town was called 'Borgarfjörður Eystri' he wouldn't even try to pronounce that.
The man took him to what he assumed was a dog shelter, (hard to say for sure when you couldn't understand the signs) where he was let into an area with other dogs. This was a turn of events. Earlier his plan was to stay with the family for a bit longer, at least until he received some sort of sign from his father or one of the other Olympians. Now... what did that poodle think it was doing?! He turned around and barked loudly at the very ill mannered poodle who dared to disturb him, then he growled for good measure. The poodle quivered and ran off.
Sirius sighed as well as a dog could sigh and went to find a comfortable place to lie down.
The other dogs spent their time playing and wrestling while Sirius looked at them, wondering what life decisions he were to regret this time.
The next day, however, started with joy. There was a package left for him under the old quilt he had used as a pillow. How had his father even managed to put it there without waking him up? There was a pamphlet about Borgarfjörður Eystri attached to it, in English.
'I knew you couldn't have forgotten me, father' Sirius thought to himself.
His heart sunk as he opened the pamphlet though. A map over Iceland informed him that Reykjavik was quite literally on the other side of the island. Wonderful!
Sirius checked to see that there were no muggles around before turning into human again. Fingers were easier to use than paws. Inside the package he found a pair of jogging shoes in perfect condition. Now his father knew Sirius couldn't simply run all the way to Reykjavik. There must be some thought behind these shoes. They looked very similar to those he once had as a child, perhaps they had the same features.
Sirius decided it was worth a shot and put the shoes on his feet.
"Maia!" he yelled.
A pair of wings spouted out from each of the shoes.
"Thank you, father," Sirius whispered.
He got up from his sitting position and wobbled a little. He hadn't used these kind of shoes in twelve years.
It was still early in the morning. If he acted not he could probably get away unnoticed. Turning his head in all directions Sirius made sure no human was around. He then leaped and the shoes carried him over the fence without too much trouble. Now that was easy.
Now he just had to navigate his way out of this town and get to Reykjavik. And from there he had to take the floo network to the British Ministry of Magic without getting caught by Aurors or dementors, and then travel back north towards Hogsmead. That would not be as easy.
With some shift kicks of his feet, he set off towards the centre of the town. He was fairly sure he was only wanted in Britain so no need to spend too much energy on hiding just yet. These shoes wouldn't fit on his dog paws anyway.
From the centre of town he followed the road signs that marked the way towards Reykjavik. He wasn't that worried over some muggles seeing him. The mist would most likely just let them see some homeless guy enjoying some pair of roller skates he had found, or something along that way. Though, if he happened to run into a wizard, they would of course see what he was really doing, but in all honesty, they wouldn't find it that weird. The worst thing that could happen was that they would ask him where he got those cool shoes from. Sirius would simply tell them they were a gift from his father, which was true.
The roads was pretty much empty. Save from a few cars every other hour. Sirius partly wished he'd had one of those vehicles, but he partly knew he didn't have a muggle license to drive them and wouldn't even know how to. And he was still not in good enough shape to apparate. His shoes was currently the quickest method of traveling.
After almost five hours he stopped at the side of the road to take a break.
"Maia."
The wings shrunk back into the shoes and Sirius lied down on the grass. He looked up at the clouds passing by. Some were darker, maybe it was going to rain soon? The thought didn't bother Sirius that much. He hadn't showered in twelve years after all. A little rain actually sounded refreshing.
His stomach growled as it had done for the last two hours. The best he could find on the side of the road was some wild lingonberries and strawberries. That didn't satisfy his hunger in a significant amount. He could perhaps have changed to a dog and tried to catch some of the small rodents that ran through the grass, but he really didn't have the energy to haunt for the moment. The berries would have to do for now.
"Maia!"
He continued his journey. Sirius was prepared for it to take three or maybe four days to reach Reykjavik.
The landscape of Iceland was a beautiful sight, Sirius would love to visit the island again, after killing Pettigrew. This started to sound a little ridiculous. Other people had a to do list, or a bucket list, and here was Sirius with an increasing list of things to do after killing his former friend.
1. Visit Harriet, (let her know he didn't kill her family)
2. Visit the other Marauders that wasn't busy ruling the ocean. (Let them know he didn't betray Poseidon, Lily and Harriet)
3. Visit Camp Half Blood. (He'd like to see how Chiron was doing, and if Dionysus was still terrorising the place with his whining and Diet Coke)
4. Check how many of his friends from Camp Half Blood was still alive (and visit them)
5. Have a vacation on Iceland.
It would be a lot of things to visit, but Sirius looked forward to it. Once Pettigrew had paid deeply for what he did to the people Sirius did, and still do, consider to be his family.
Maybe he should invite some friends to join his vacation? Of course he should! He hadn't seen any of them in twelve years! There must be a lot of catching up to do. How much had they missed out on?
Too much of course! When Voldemort had attempted to murder the Potters Harriet had been a baby. And around now she would be thirteen, an official teenager. When she was born the Marauders had talked for hours about how they would spoil her rotten with gifts, trips around the world, lots of love, and of course, stuff her full with sweets and return her to her parents around when the sugar rush was kicking in.
Sirius had especially looked forward to taking his goddaughter with him to Camp Half Blood for the first time around the age of ten to twelve.
He would have helped her get settled in her cabin, Poseidon's cabin was number 3. He'd teach her the basic grammar of Ancient Greek, some tips and tricks about Capture the Flagg. Warn her that she should always keep her pockets closed around Hermes' kids.
He knew of course that not ALL of Hermes' kids had a tendency to pickpocket people, he was one of Hermes' kids himself, after all. But Hermes WAS still the god of Thieves, and some of his kids simply reflected on that. That didn't necessarily make them bad people. Like in those stories about earlier demigods.
Like that demigod who sailed the Caribbean Sea in the 1700s. Jack Sparrow.
He wasn't your typical hero. Many people would say he was certainly not a good man. That could perhaps be true. But there was a lot of grey areas between good and bad.
The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters, after all.
Jack Sparrow fought some malicious people in his lifetime despite not being entirely good himself.
Sirius liked to think that Jack Sparrow was a (once) living proof that a trickster could be good enough. He had always preferred them before those protagonists that was all heroic and noble and always did the right thing because of the greater good. The tricksters were more human. They had flaws and they made mistakes from time to time, and sometimes acted somewhat selfish. And then they would use their wits to fix their situation.
That was what it meant to be human. We make mistakes and our judgment varies. Like Jack Sparrow, or Loki, or Anansi, or Māui, or Hermes himself. For Sirius they all served as a reminder for people like Hermes' kids, that simple acts of mischief does not necessarily make you bad.
Sirius remembered discussing these kind of trickster stories about past demigods with his friends at Camp.
"They were all capable of both bad and good, and they did a little bit of both. No one could dictate how they were to live their life," one of his friends, Stephen Strange had once said.
Stephen was one of those Sirius would have loved to see again. He had been one of those unclaimed demigods he had shared his cabin with. He missed him.
What did he do nova days? Had he figured out who his father was? Did he become a doctor like he wanted to? Was he even still alive?
Sirius knew he should not take that for granted. Most demigods doesn't even make it to adulthood and a demigod dying of old age was practically unheard of.
But Stephen Strange was one of the most stubborn people Sirius knew. His fate in his own abilities never faltered, and he was that kind of person who could talk himself out of, or even INTO, anything. He dodged any problem thrown at him and refused to rest until he had reached a satisfying result. For some reason Sirius thought Stephen and Remus would have gotten along great if they ever met.
Stephen, if only their situation had been different... Sirius could perhaps have worked up some of that Gryffindor courage and asked Stephen to be his date for the fireworks at the 4th of July celebration.
But Sirius had been afraid of starting something more than just a friendship. He wasn't only a demigod. He was also a wizard, and his people was on the brink of war. He would sooner or later have to pick a side, and chance was that he would have to die for his beliefs. That along with the fact that he was already attracting more monsters as a claimed demigod, Sirius had estimated that his risk of dying within the next year was approximately twice as high as Stephen.
Entering a relationship under those odds wouldn't have been fair to the other part.
But one part of him had always wondered if his reasoning wasn't just an excuse to not risk rejection. Even though he had felt like they had both been dancing around each other that last summer before Sirius left to join the Order of the Phoenix. It was like they both was waiting for the other to take the first step. And it came to a head the day he left.
Stephen had asked him if it could ever have worked out between them.
Sirius didn't know how to answer him.
He couldn't remember exactly what happened, they shared one kiss that was way to short. And then he left.
Sirius hoped that if Stephen was still alive he had been able to forgive him, that he had moved on and was happy. Perhaps he had managed to find someone else who could keep him away from boredom. Some hyperactive genius who had no regards for his own safety and was a complete dork once you got to know them. That sounded like a good fit for Stephen.
How had it been now if there never was any war keeping them away.
Perhaps they could of had a future together. Sirius would have loved to show Stephen his home country like Stephen once did for him. He could have introduced him to his fellow Marauders from school.
Sirius spent the days on the road imagining a world where all five Marauders were loyal to one another. Where they after graduation would meet every other weekend for dinner with their significant other, where Harriet could grow up as everyone's collective daughter to shower with love, gifts and hugs. Of course James would have needed to leave eventually anyway, he was a Greek sea god in disguise after all. But Lily would have been able to see her daughter grow up and she would still have had the help of the rest of the Marauders, and perhaps even Sirius other friends from Camp Half Blood.
It was an impossible dream and Sirius knew that, but that didn't stop him from imagining that if those muggle theories about parallel universes were true, then there was a universe were this impossible dream were reality. He hoped the other him in that universe appreciated what he had, if he existed.
When Reykjavik came into view after four days following the road Sirius decided it was best to continue as a dog from here. He still didn't think he was wanted outside of Britain, but better safe than sorry.
Most people ignored him as he strolled down the streets holding his magical shoes in the laces with him mouth. That fit him perfectly. Sirius discretely disappeared into a bar hidden from muggle eyes, similar to the Leaky Cauldron.
He inspected the entire area for some wanted posters with his pictures.
When he didn't find any, he grabbed a forgotten newspaper from one of the tables. It was written in Icelandic, obviously, but none of the moving pictures was of him.
Finally confident enough to switch back to a man, he approached the bartender.
"Excuse me, sir? Do you speak English?" he asked.
The bartender looked up from what he was doing.
"Yes, I speak English. How can I help you?" he replied with an accent.
Bless the Norse countries and their ability to learn other languages!
"Oh, you see, I'm about to head home from my vacation but I seem to have gotten lost. Could you tell me how I get to Ministry from here?"
"Oh, yes, I can!" the bartender replied eagerly. "Here I can draw a map for you!"
The map Sirius got was not the most accurate, most of the proportions and some angles was wrong, but after a few wrong turns, he found what he was looking for.
A completely normal, not suspicious at all, photo booth. It was located in a part of the city where not that many people passed. Sirius stepped inside. Below the camera and screen sat a device the bartender had described as a 'card reader'. Sirius had no idea why muggles would need special device to read a card, but he was not to judge them.
He followed the instructions he had been given and pushed the numbers 4, 2, 5, 3, 8 and 7. That being done he sat down just as he was blinded by the flash.
Stepping out again he found himself in a hallway filled with people dressed in robes of various colours. Everyone kept a high pace to wherever they were going, it felt like an environment just as busy as the British Ministry of Magic at home. That seemed promising.
Spotting an information desk Sirius walked over there and asked the witch behind it where he could find the international floo network. She gladly pointed it out and said in a broken English that she hoped he had enjoyed his stay here in Iceland and would return soon again.
No, Sirius hadn't exactly enjoyed himself as this was no vacation for him, but he didn't mention that.
He just walked away to find the fireplaces connected to the floo network and braced himself to quickly transform into a dog once he stepped foot in Britain.
Once the green flames was behind him he set off to run towards the exit. Dog or not, he wouldn't risk blowing his cover before his job was done.
He slowed down once he was out in the busy streets of London.
Oh, home, sweet home! He hadn't seen this beautiful city in twelve years but it was still the same London. He could still remember how he and James, and some times the rest of the Marauders would roam the streets in late August, after Sirius had returned from the U.S but before the school started. How they would play with fanged frisbees in the parks or see who could get to the Leaky Cauldron first when it was time to buy the new course material for the next semester at Hogwarts.
Sirius settled in one of the parks and took in his surroundings. By coincidence, or perhaps not, he spotted a man playing with his daughter on some swings.
There was no obvious similarities. The girl was a toddler, she had blond, curly hair arranged in to pigtails on her head, a red jacket and blue eyes. But still...
"Come on now, Hattie! Time to go back home. Mommy probably has dinner ready."
The man picked up his daughter and walked away. Sirius followed them with his gaze.
Hattie was commonly short for Harriet.
Sirius starred at the little girl, who had nothing but her name in common with his goddaughter. It was not a coincidence. Sirius had to see her before continuing his mission.
He knew were the Dursleys had lived back in the day, and Nr. 4 Privet Drive wasn't that hard to find. Sirius simply had to sneak onto a bus and hope they hadn't moved since then.
He found the neighbourhood to be just as mediocre as Lily had once described it. It seemed like a sad place for a young wizarding demigod to grow up. It was most likely better than Nr. 12 Grimmauld Place where he had grown up, but it still had such a normal aura. All the houses were tidy with spotless gardens, and the street was almost unnaturally clean.
But perhaps that could be good, from a safety perspective? Hide the delicious wizarding demigod in an environment so unnaturally natural that any monster or Death Eater would probably die of boredom and depression at once! That's foolproof, right!
But Sirius had barely thought that when the door to Nr. 4 was slammed open and a thing black haired girl became visible on the inside.
Judging from the screams from further into the house, there was some chaos going on. Sirius hid behind some bushes to watch what was happening.
A chubby man grabbed Harriet by the elbow and forced her to turn around.
"COME BACK IN HERE!" he screamed at her. "COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!"
Harriet wiggled out of his grip. She pulled out her wand from a trunk at her feet and pointed it at the man that was probably her uncle.
"She deserved it," she breathed in a dangerous voice that reminded Sirius of Lily when she had had enough of bullshit. "She deserved what she got. You keep away from me."
She grabbed her trunk and searched for the door handle behind her.
"I'm going, I've had enough."
And with those words she slammed the door in her uncle's face and took off with her luggage. Sirius followed unnoticed. Question marks started to pop up in his head.
He hadn't thought of that earlier but shouldn't Harriet be at Camp at this time? It usually ended in the middle of August. Why was she home early? And why was she leaving the house when it was already getting dark? Had she even been to camp? But how else would you explain that American accent of hers?
Regardless, Harriet seemed furious over something.
Several streets away she slowed down and collapsed onto a low wall to catch her breath. A few minutes passed and she looked around her, perhaps to ensure that she was alone. Then she looked at the wand in her hand. What was she thinking?
She opened her trunk and started to look for something inside it. But suddenly she stopped right in her tracks. Sirius watched as she looked around once more.
As she once more bent over her trunk he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. But Harriet stood up again and turned towards his hiding place. She squinted her sea green eyes.
"Lumos," she whispered and held the wand above her head.
Her eyes widened as she spotted Sirius. She took a step backwards and tripped over her trunk. Her wand fell out of her hand. He had scared her.
The Knight Bus turned up and Sirius decided it was best to leave.
Wandering the streets he pounded over how to move forward here. He was now back on the right land, that was a start. But it was still a long way to Hogsmeade. Perhaps he would need some help?
He felt a bit of paper under his paw.
It was a muggle newspaper. And the front page showed two faces, both of which Sirius immediately recognised. So Sherlock and John had met at last and joined forces to solve mysteries, huh?
Sirius took the paper and set off to find another bus.
After a couple of hours he found the address 221b Baker Street. He snuck inside when an older lady opened the door to take the trash out. He ran up the stairs and turned back to a man. A surprised scream informed him that the lady had been quick enough to follow him.
"You're him! You're that man they've been talking about on the news!" the woman exclaimed.
Sirius sighed and turned around to face her.
"Yes, that would be me. I'm Sirius Black, but I was wrongfully imprisoned and I need Sherlock and John to prove that and catch the real criminal," Sirius explained. "Just let me talk to them, I promise I will try not to bother you."
The lady looked at him for a few seconds before she came to a decision.
"Very well, then, young man. But I have my eyes on you."
She went back downstairs and Sirius turned around to face the door. Taking a deep breath he opened it.
Inside he found one wand, and one celestial bronze sword. And both were pointing at his throat.
"Why did you come here, Sirius?" Sherlock Holmes sounded dangerous, yet almost bored.
"... now, well, you see-"
"Ten seconds, Sirius," John Watson threatened.
"I never betrayed the Potters, we made Pettigrew the Secret Keeper, he is disguised as a pet rat at Hogwarts and I need your help to kill him."
Sirius looked between the two men in front of him. They shared a look and slowly lowered their weapons. Sirius let out a breathe.
"Sit."
Sirius awkwardly made his way around the mess of a flat and sat down on the small chair John had pointed at. He almost expected to be handed a sign to hold. 'I messed up and got my friends killed so now I'm in the Chair of Shame'
But he got no sign.
John and Sherlock both sat down in the to armchairs in front of him. They looked at Sirius expectantly.
"Now tell us exactly what happened," John said firmly.
"Start at the beginning, please," Sherlock clarified.
Sirius was a little startled at how in sync his two old friends seemed to be, but told them his version of what happened twelve years ago that led to Harriet being orphaned and him ending up in Azkaban. How he had found out that Pettigrew was still alive and pretended to be the pet rat of a boy in the same year as Harriet. And his plan to kill Pettigrew for real before he could get a chance to hurt his goddaughter in any way.
He shoved then his newspaper with the front page of the Weasley family in Egypt and point out his proof of the story.
Once he was done he took a breath and waited for the other wizard and demigod to react.
They both took a turn looking at the paper. Looking at each other they seemed to reach an agreement. They turned back to Sirius.
"Alright, so what exactly do you want us to do?" John asked.
Sirius felt the relief wash over him. He got up and started pacing around.
"We need to get to Hogsmeade. I need your help to kill the rat!"