Sirius had fallen asleep, laying on his back on the cot with the mattress rolled up into a log, his body wrapped around the mattress. He hugged it close to his body, his face pressed into the cleft made by the end of the roll. It had taken hours to fall asleep, and admittedly there had been quite a lot of tears involved and his hair was whipped around his face in a whirl of black, his stocking feet hanging over the too-short-even-for-Sirius slab.
He was half in and half out now, eyes closed, but hearing the voices of people talking outside of his cell by the cluster of desks where the aurors had been sitting, keeping watch, until Underhill had come down to 'babysit'. Mr. Underhill had spent the better part of the night playing cards with Sirius - teaching him loads of card games, some of which he really didn't know how to play before Underhill taught him, others he faked ignorance and just let the bleeder waste his time.
There were two voices.
"Reckon a dungbomb could be set off by his head and he'd go on sleepin' through it... I heard he sang the entire night relentlessly, he's probably done lost his voice. You're not likely to get much out of him."
"I'm willing to give it a go."
There were some footsteps and a clang against the cell bars. "Oi, Sirius! Wake up, you tosser!"
Sirius clung tighter to his makeshift Remus Lupin and buried his face.
"Hey. Sirius. Wake-up, will ya?" Frank Longbottom's voice carried over. He took his wand and banged it against the rungs of the cell. "Oi! C'mon, talk to me."
"I have nothing to say to a traitor."
"How about words to say to a traitor what's got your breakfast?"
"Leave the breakfast and wank off, traitor."
"C'mon Sirius. It's a grand breaky. Toast and eggs and the lot... My mum made it. Was supposed to be mine, but -- I know the porridge crap they give the prisoners is more PVA than it is food, so I wanted you to have a real meal."
Sirius stayed hugging the mattress roll.
"Hey, I got something more than just the eggs for you, too. I've got a visitor."
Sirius sat up. "James?" he asked, looking over.
"It does start with a J, at least?" Jasper Odair popped his head 'round the side of the cell and waved.
Sirius tried to hide his disappointment.
It felt like ages since he'd seen James Potter.
"Hey Jasper."
Frank sighed and handed Jasper the plate of food he held and he left. Jasper paused and said, "I'd hand this through, but the plate's wider than the bars, mate, you'll have to come over here to eat it."
Sirius slid onto the floor and, as he did, the mattress unrolled itself and fell limply back onto the cot. He scooted himself along the stone floor to the cell bars. Jasper sat down on the stone, handed Sirius a fork, and proceeded to hold the plate for him as Sirius ate feverishly. He hadn't had anything since taking an early morning lunch the day before. The food had gotten cold in the process of getting it from the Longbottoms to the cell door, but it didn't matter. Cold eggs were better than no eggs.
Jasper was patient, just sitting while Sirius scarfed enough of the food down to quiet at least the immediate hunger. When he was slowing down and just picking at the plate, Jasper said, "Better?"
Sirius nodded, slipping one of the extra pieces of toast in his pocket for later.
Jasper smiled and put the mostly empty plate down to one side, then slid so he was leaning against the wall, his legs extended out in front of him alongside the bars. "I stayed in this one, too, you know, for my forty-eight hour hold." He looked around the walls.
"Yeah, Underhill told me."
Sirius mimicked him, sitting alongside him against the wall on the inside of the bars. His legs didn't extend as far out before him as Jasper's did so he slouched a bit more against the wall to make them look a little closer to even, but even doing that Jasper was still taller.
"Oh, did Harry come and visit you for a time?"
Sirius looked at Jasper, "Yeah he came down."
Jasper smiled, "He did for me, too."
"Look, I know you were looking for James, but - hey I'm the knock-off, I'm told. The James they take when they can't get the real thing, you know?" Jasper smirked and elbowed Sirius. "He'd come if he could, I'm sure. They don't allow most visitors down here, though, shoddy policy. "
"Why are you allowed to visit then?" Sirius asked.
Jasper shrugged. "I found a way."
Sirius laughed. "Good one, Jasper."
Jasper smiled. "I figured you'd find it amusing."
"One of my favorite jokes."
"Mine, too," Jasper admitted. Then, "Oi, remember when I hated it?"
"You never hated it really."
"I really did."
Sirius smirked. "But you liked me."
"I thought you and Potter were right idiots."
"We were right idiots."
"As long as you know," Jasper said, laughing.
"You know, I made like half the department of magical law enforcement quit last night according to Underhill?" Sirius said. "I was singing all night."
"Explains the raspy voice."
"Yeah. Did you sing all night when you were here? Dad did. Did you know Mr. P spent his 48 hour hold here, too?"
"Yeah, I knew - Mr. P told me himself," Jasper said. "Underhill came down to see me because Charlus Potter asked him to. Turned out ol' Harry and me had a lot in common - by our family backgrounds, I mean."
"Oh," Sirius said. Then, realizing what the implications of having a similar family background as Jasper Odair meant, Sirius said, "Oh."
Jasper nodded, "Yeah. It really messes with a guy, having a shoddy family background."
"I suppose it would," Sirius murmured. As if he didn't know. As if he were normal. As if his mother gave a damn about him.
Jasper looked over at Sirius. "I had a really hard go of it for a long time," he said slowly. "You know I did. You were one of my drinking buddies - you and Bil both."
"Yeah," Sirius murmured.
"It gets better, Sirius, if you let it."
Sirius shrugged. He stared at his feet.
"No, it really does. And the thing is, you gotta let it before stuff gets ruined, you know? Bad stuff happens and you realize you were headed down a bad path and you weren't getting much out of it, really, not like you thought you were and not like what you could've had if you'd just... done better before it was too late." Jasper picked at a thread on his jacket cuff.
Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"That's why Ethel left me, you know."
"What? Really?"
"I'm just saying, when Edgar died, I started drinking a lot and what'd I go and do? I lost Ethel over it. She left me because I was drinking too much with you and Bil and -- blimey, mate, the drinks weren't worth the way it hurt when she was gone." Jasper shook his head, "No, remember that night you and I were arrested by the muggle police and Lily had to come and get us out? I got home and Ethel was right pisser - not only had I gone and gotten drunk and the lot but I'd been late and when I did show up, it was with another woman after being arrested. She left me like any sane person would in that situation." He nodded. "I don't blame her a bit. Especially knowin' my family background. You know, drinking like that can be hereditary and my dad was a real tosser when he drank - and he drank loads."
"Still a pretty shoddy way to leave a guy."
"It was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back is all," Jasper said, shrugging. "Honestly, she was incredibly patient to have put up with me as long as she did with the way I was acting." He sighed.
"But if he hadn't left, you wouldn't have Meg - seems like it worked out in the end."
"I got lucky, Sirius, that the one who couldn't take anymore from me happened not to be my bleedin' soul mate." Jasper looked up at him. "Me losing Ethel wasn't as bad as it would be for you to lose Remus, for instance."
Sirius stiffened. "What did you hear?" Sirius asked, "Did you talk to him? What' he have to say? Is he angry --"
"I didn't talk to him. I read the charges and I can imagine what he's thinking."
Sirius looked down at his lap. "Yeah. Well. At least half of that wasn't true."
"Well that's good, I suppose," Jasper said. He raised an eyebrow. "So you didn't threaten to release a werewolf on her in the middle of the full moon?"
Sirius laughed, "No, I said I wished she'd get bit so she could feel a mite of compassion."
"Did you know her sister was killed by Greyback?"
Sirius was quiet a moment. Then, "Oh. Well. Doesn't give her the right to make up lies about me threatening her, does it?"
"Unless she misunderstood what you were saying and she thought she was reporting the truth."
Sirius looked down at his lap. "Then she should clear out her ears."
"Or someone else could learn to control his temper."
"Why should I have to? I wasn't the one being prejudiced."
"I guess. But prejudice just means to pre - judge something, doesn't it? You prejudged that she reported lies without knowing she had a perfectly good psychological reason for possibly misunderstanding and overreacted to a threat that wasn't necessarily intended." Jasper paused, "I'm not saying she's in the right, she's not, I'm saying that we can't control what other people do, only what we ourselves do, and hope that the changes we make can add up with other people's changes and eventually change the world."
"Deep," Sirius murmured. He looked at Jasper with a smirk.
Jasper said, "Yeah it really is deep, though." He paused, "Anyways, I decided to change myself and that's what changed things around me. That's how I met Meg again, too."
"How?"
"Ran into each other at a sort of therapy program. It's like AA, but covers a bunch of different topics since it's in a small community and there's only so many alcoholics." Jasper chuckled, smiling, "Which is a good thing. We'd rather like to run out of recruits. But you know - everybody's got something, and honestly, the program works with more than just alcohol."
"What's Meg go for?"
"I can't tell you," Jasper shrugged. "Sorry. Confidential. You understand."
"Alright." Sirius was curious, but didn't push it.
"I'm just saying it might help you out." Jasper shrugged. He went back to picking at the thread on his sleeve.
"That why you could come in?" Sirius asked. "You work for this AA thingy and they let you come talk to prisoners and try at getting them all recruited?"
"I volunteer," Jasper answered. "And it's more about trying to get them help when they're stuck in something bigger than themselves and they need help getting out of it." He shrugged, "Sometimes, you just need a hand-up to recover from a fall."
Bradley Scamander was seven - nearly eight - years old and he had grown like an absolute weed since Remus had seen him last. He could barely believe his eyes when he saw the kid laying on the ground reading what looked like a muggle comic book with vigor. The cover featured two superheroes - THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN, the top of the comic read, and below it a man in blue and red spandex was fighting another man in yellow and green ones.
"If the FLY has all my powers -- then how can I ever DEFEAT him?" Spiderman was asking.
"The answer should be OBVIOUS, Web-Slinger! YOU CAN'T!" read the reply.
Bradley was crouched, half kneeling, half sitting, his eyes wide and lips moving as he read the dialogue on edge, his excitement obvious.
"Bradley, I'm back," Tina called as she shook off her jacket and hung it on a hook just at the bottom of the ladder in the briefcase.
"Uh huh," Bradley called, distracted, thoroughly engrossed in his comic.
Tina looked exasperated. "Bradley, I'm not alone, either! Come visit our special guest."
"One sec, mum, Spidey's about to kill the Fearsome Fly! POW! BANG! SMACK! YES!" Bradley dropped the comic carefully keeping the page where he was ad enacted the pow-bang-smack with his arms. "Get'em Spiderman!" he turned back to the book.
Some things had changed about the briefcase, though not much. There were separate habitats for each creature, looming mountains, desert landscapes, dark forests, even deep water for creatures of the seas. A wide observatory window ran along one wall - Remus recognized it well, it had inside of it a forest to explore as a werewolf, with unbreakable glass and doors that locked safely closed.
What was new was where there had once been a small wood shack for supplies, there was now a small but comfortable-looking house, very idyllic and nice. Another addition was a singular black door at the far end of the wall from the observatory window, which simply had a sign upon it which read EXTREME CAUTION, DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT CHOCOLATE in big bold letters upon it.
"What's that?" Remus asked Tina, pointing.
"Remus?" Bradley's voice pitched with excitement at the sound of Remus's voice and he dropped the comic book immediately, springing up, and ran over. "HEY! REMUS! HI!" Bradley cried and he hugged Remus quickly, jumping back, "I didn't know you were coming! This is so cool! are you staying for full moon?" Bradley was ecstatic hopping foot to foot.
"Well look who can suddenly put Spidey on hold to say hullo!" Tina said, rolling her eyes. "I see how it is, little man, greeting Remus before your own mum."
Bradley said, "Well I see you all the time, mum!" He looked at Remus, "I'm so excited you came. You should come see my comics collection - it's BRILLIANT," Bradley grabbed at Remus's hand.
Remus laughed, "Yeah? How brilliant?"
"THE MOST BRILLIANT EVER. Do you like Marvel or DC? I've got both. But you better say Marvel."
Remus had no idea what that meant.
Bradley was appalled when he admitted this and ran off into the house, the door slamming behind him.
"Sorry, he's very enthusiastic about sharing his comic book collection with anyone that will listen for longer than five minutes," she said apologetically.
"It's alright, maybe I'll like them by the time he's finished," Remus replied.
"I've tried so hard. I just don't understand, but he loves them so we do our best to." Tina smiled.
Remus nodded, "As the best parents do." He paused then pointed again at the black door. "What's that about, Mrs. Scamander?"
She looked. "Oh. That's -- well, Newt is doing a study on dementors."
Remus stared at the door. "There are dementors in there?"
Tina shivered, "Two. He found them loose in the woods around Fallengunder and captured them. He scares the jeebies out of me working with them." She shifted uncomfortably, just thinking about it. "Luckily, he's been distracted from that now that you're here. I'm hoping he finds something new to become obsessed with soon, I don't like the dementors being here at all and much less him going off and locking himself in there with them."
"Is he mental? Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. I honestly haven't been able to pay attention to what he's talking about when he's going on about them. Dementors and I - we don't get along... It's the one thing that Newt's brought in this briefcase that I cannot and will not help him with maintaining. I can't function 'round them."
"I don't blame you," Remus mused.
The door of the house burst open and Bradley came running back out and he was carrying a stack of comics in his arms. He ran to Remus's side, breathless, one of the books folded open and he waved it at Remus. "Look. Look. You're going to love this. He is my favorite, but he doesn't ever get his own comic but maybe someday... Look Remus, look at this." He held up the comic for Remus to see.
There was a lot going on on the page, and it took Remus several seconds to figure out how the pictures were ordered, but Bradley leaned over and pointed, "See look at this guy right here. That's Wolverine."
"Wolverine?" Remus asked.
Bradley nodded, "Remus! He's a WOLF. He's like us! And he's a SUPERHERO." Bradley's face was alight with wonder. "He helped the Incredible Hulk and he helps the X-men and he's so cool... and he's like us!" There was an absolute radiance on Bradley's face as he said those words.
Remus smiled. "That's so cool."
"RIGHT?" Bradley was hopping foot to foot. "I love him so much, I really hope he gets his own comics someday. I want to read every single one! It's so cool, isn't it? That he's a wolf AND a Superhero?"
Remus nodded, thinking of the warrant still in his pocket and all the hateful things that had been said to him or near him about werewolves in the past few days and how horrible it all made him feel. He looked at Bradley, beaming up at him, and was thankful that there was something positive out there that a little kid like Bradley could hold onto in the times like the ones Remus was going through... Maybe, Remus thought, if there were enough kids who accepted this wolfish super hero, maybe someday there would be a place where werewolves could be accepted, or at least not hated. Maybe someday the werewolves wouldn't have to hide what they were, and they could live happy and respected, and maybe even be superheroes in their own stories.