Chapter 8: A Visit to the Granger’s and a Prison Break. Part 4

Ted steepled his fingers. "We need to secure Sirius as soon as possible, then we have to confirm his side of the story. If he is indeed guilty, we will just hand him over to the authorities. If not, we have to find ways to ensure his safety and his eventual freedom."

Andromeda and Harry nodded mutely. Harry frowned, "How are we going to track him down?"

No one answered his question. Andromeda suddenly raised her eyebrows and stood up straighter. "What about an owl?"

"An owl?" Harry and Ted repeated at same time, befuddled with her suggestion.

"Yes, an owl. We can send an owl with a howler enchanted with my voice."

Ted shook his head. "Surely, he will think of this as a trap."

"I helped him get away from those monsters Ted, I know he will trust me," Andromeda fiercely retorted.

"But neither have we done much to save him from his plight for than a decade! We left him out to the dogs," Teddy replied in an equally heated tone.

A tense silence settled in the room. Harry then remembered a little tidbit from his past life. How Kreacher tracked down Fletcher. 'Except, lets use this logic to track him differently.'

Harry released a deep breath he was held on to. "I think Andy is right, this might be the best chance for us to get to him. Except, as you said Ted, he might not trust the sender at all and try to run away."

Harry let his words hang in the air, the tense atmosphere did not shift at all. "But I think I have a solution to the problem."

Both adults now quizzically looked at Harry. Harry called out, "Dobby."

With a pop, Dobby appeared in front of them. A realization dawned on the two adults, and almost simultaneously they let out a groan.

Dobby bowed flamboyantly to his audience. "You called, Master Harry?"

"Can you track mail owls Dobby?" Harry grinned at his little friend.

Dobby bobbed his head furiously. "Dobby is the master of all sneaky-sneaks. Dobby can track down anything! Dobby has watched all the spy movies and learned the moves sir!"

Andromeda, Ted, and Harry blinked at the excitable elf. Harry shook his head slightly and continued.

"We are going to send a letter through Hedwig, I want you to follow her and make sure that the mail reaches the person. If he tries to run away, restrain him and bring him here immediately."

Andromeda quickly left the room and Ted busied himself with some parchment work. Dobby looked around the room for interesting objects and Harry amused himself by observing his elven friend.

Andromeda soon returned with a red envelope and a picture. The picture consisted of a big, black dog that resembles the Grim. Dobby shivered a bit when he took one look at the photo.

"Here is the letter Dobby. Also, your recipient is an animagus and that picture is his form. If you see him try to run away in that form, just drag his flea-bitten arse here."

Dobby's eyes widened comically, and he quickly nodded in affirmation. Ted raised an eyebrow at his wife.

"How did you know that he is an animagus?"

"Sirius could not keep a secret from me even if his life depended on it," she gave a haughty smirk towards the two males who felt a slight shiver do down their spines.

Dobby suddenly slapped his forehead. "Master Harry, you better give Her Owlness the letter. She does not like it when Dobby does anything for her."

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He felt the morning rays of sunlight lightly tickle the skin of his pale and skeleton like hand. He experienced the wonders of rain and sunlight once again. Then he recalled the adventures of the past, or misadventures for most sane humans.

Once upon a time, he used to wander freely through the woods with his mates. Friends that were supposed to stick through thick and thin. He remembered fondly how they became animagi to help ease the pain of their friend's lunar transformations.

A furry little problem, that was what his best mate called those lunar transformations. James Potter always managed to brighten the day and bring hope to those without hope. Sirius admired his friend, and he still does.

But as he remembered those sweet memories, he felt a stab of pain in his heart. As if someone plunged a cold steel dagger through his heart. At least this nightmare would be over if that were true.

He stood up and raised his hand to the sky and wriggled his fingers. He closed his eyes and then he remembered. He remembered the cold dead bodies of his best mate. He remembered the exact feeling of numbness he felt when he first set his eyes on his dead body.

He remembered calling for Lily with no response, he remembered the wails of the now orphaned Harry.

'Harry, oh Harry. I am sorry. I am so sorry. They died, they all died! This all my fault.'

Then he remembered the rage. He felt his body tremble with the sheer force of anger. He remembered chasing after the traitor, the betrayer, the destroyer of his life and everyone he loved.

He remembered the lies of the puny man, the murder of thirteen innocent souls and then nothing.

He remembered waking up, his soul felt heavy, his most miserable moments were constantly replayed in his mind. He remembered how he nearly lost himself many times over. His only saving grace, his other form.

He remembered the anger for the betrayer slowly festering within him. He spent many an hour imagining the worst forms of torture he would inflict on the rat. How he would heal the rat halfheartedly and repeat.

'Make him beg, MAKE HIM BEG FOR MERCY. Make him die a slow and painful death.'

But he did not know where the traitor hid. He knew not of the fate of his godson; he knew not of why none of his allies helped with his plight. Thus, his will to resist waned over the years.

Then, after many miserable years, a spark finally kindled. The bumbling fool of a Minister of Magic dropped a newspaper. Lo and behold, the traitorous rat was featured front and center on the newspaper.

"He is at Hogwarts," he whispered softly.

Just then, he heard a shuffle of wings. A beautiful snow owl glided down and dropped a red envelope. The said owl then elegantly rose to the sky and circled the surroundings.

Before he could even comprehend what happened, the envelope burst open.

"Sirius Orion Black!"

Sirius stilled. Blimey, is that Andy?

"Listen to me. I want you to please come to talk to me. Please let me hear you out. I want to help you Sirius. Do not do anything rash. Meet me at my house, it is still the same place as twelve years ago.

I want my baby cousin back. Please come back to me."

The red letter burst into flames and the ashes got swept up in the wind. Sirius was dazed for several minutes when he finally gathered his wits.

"No, no, no, no. I cannot trust anyone. I must kill the rat. I cannot let that traitor go. I cannot, I cannot, I CANNOT."

As he transformed into his other form, he lost consciousness. As he lost his consciousness, he heard a squeaky voice.

"Bad, bad big black doggy!"

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Harry spent the night at the Tonks residence. He woke up early in the morning and walked to the kitchen. He found Andromeda seated at the kitchen table with Nymphadora "Say What Now" Tonks. Ted bustled around the kitchen and prepared breakfast for the family.

Nymphadora raised her eyebrows when Harry entered the kitchen. "When did you get here?"

"Wouldn't you like know Nymphadora," Harry smirked at Tonks, who hair instantaneously turned scarlet. Andromeda's eyes were focused on her paper when two paper projectiles hit both Harry and Nymphadora on their foreheads.

"I shall not have you two fight like five-year-old children. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Harry replied promptly as he sat down on the kitchen table, and Tonks just glared at Harry. Andromeda looked up at her daughter from her newspaper who huffed and nodded reluctantly.

Ted whipped up a traditional English breakfast. He placed the food on the table and sat down next to Andromeda.

Just when everyone finished their food, Tonks suddenly said, "Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban."

Andromeda hummed, while her father gave a slight indication his head towards Harry. Harry just stared at Tonks.

A realization dawned on Tonks, and she covered her mouth. Harry chuckled, "He is the guy who apparently betrayed my parents and killed a bunch of people"

"Harry, I know that- "

Harry raised a hand and Tonks hunched over her chair slightly. He drew a breath. "Your father checked his trial records, he found nothing but expired confundus charms."

Tonks eye widened and her hair turned red again. "That reeks of foul play. Who would want to go through all that trouble to keep him away?"

"I got a feeling because he is the heir of the House of Black and he is also Harry's godfather," Ted sighed.

Tonks leaned back and let out a whistle. Andromeda folded her paper and set it on the table.

"I thought Aunt Walburga managed to kick him out?" Andromeda frowned. She knew the implications of what the control that the House of Black can exert in Magical Britain.

Ted shook his head. "Apparently Orion Black wanted to have a son on both sides of the war. In case one dies, the house continues through the other. Or at least that is I what I think happened. I checked the archives in the ministry for confirmation."

Andromeda sucked in a breath. Harry was just impassive. Harry knew most of the information that Ted revealed.

Sirius was in real danger and we must first secure him before we can even think of the next step. Too many sharks circling around Sirius.

Nymphadora looked at Harry who was impassive. She pressed heatedly, "Why are you not reacting to any of this? He is your godfather!"

"Because this is what my life is on the regular," Harry wryly smiled. Tonks looked a little disturbed by that revelation, but she knew better than to press for details.

"So, what you doing here? If a 'dangerous' criminal broke out of Azkaban, shouldn't you be helping the search," Harry asked quizzically.

"Not if the Minister wants to set the dementors on the said escapee instead of sending qualified aurors," Tonks finished with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

"Not that our honorable Minister has the bare minimum brain power required for the job," Andromeda murmured before she took a bite of her breakfast.

Ted snorted into his coffee. Harry tilted his head slightly. "Dementors?"

'This pretending business is just tedious at times.'

"Aye, they are soul sucking monsters that are probably the worst monster you could come across. There are only a couple of ways to handle them and all of them require significant magical ability," Tonks explained as she shivered in remembrance of the ghastly creatures.

"Sounds like something I have to prepare against for the next year," Harry responded brightly. "At least this time, I know exactly what I would face."

The Tonks family looked at him like he suddenly sprouted horns on his head. Harry ignored them and continued eating.

Just then, they heard a loud thud and they all jumped up from their seats. Tonks instantly had her wand out and was ready to face any intruders. But then, their fears were allayed.

There stood Dobby with one foot atop an unconscious black dog who looked eerily familiar to a depiction of a grim. Hedwig barked angrily on top of Dobby's head.

"Master Harry, Dobby dognapped the big, naughty, not-house-trained, doggy sir!" Dobby exclaimed as he jumped up and down with a big grin on his face.

"Well, at least Sirius will laugh his tits off when he hears of this. Hopefully," Harry muttered to no one in particular.