7

Chapter 7: VIINotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

It wasn't right, Sirius knew. There was a part of him, that was glad that Kakashi had offered his help. The task seemed less daunting, with another person around. Hogwarts and Surrey didn't seem quite so far away now. But it wasn't right, and he knew that. Kakashi was just a teenager. Sirius shouldn't drag him into this mess. What would James and Lily say, if they knew he set a child Harry's own age on a path to revenge that had nothing to do with the child itself?

Already, for Sirius himself, having decided that he would kill Peter was a big step. A daunting task. He'd never killed anybody, nor had he thought he ever would. Yet, dragging a teenager into this mess… That was something else entirely.

Still, he hadn't argued very hard against it, when Kakashi offered his help. He didn't have the energy for it. Part of him was so glad that he wouldn't have to do this alone, that he couldn't even muster a decent argument against it. Although there were a hundred arguments he could come up with in his head, none of them quite passed his lips. He felt like a coward for it. He couldn't even really muster the decency to regret it. Sirius had always been a sociable person. The company was nice.

So, they continued their journey together, although Sirius knew they shouldn't.

In the evening Kakashi found them a nice resting place in a small stretch of woods. The land was flat here, tall grass was hiding the dog away as soon as Sirius crouched down. He rather liked it. There was a river close by.

"Fishing," Kakashi said, leaving Sirius where he was as he walked up to the shore. Curiously Sirius followed him. He hadn't seen the boy fish yet. He'd seen him hunt, which was always exciting to watch. He used small knives of that, something Sirius had never seen before. However, when he followed Kakashi, his steps seemed odd. Something in his scent made Sirius fur bristle. As if the boy was on edge. There was nothing obvious on his face or in his posture, though, just his scent and the way his steps weren't quite so feather-light anymore. Was he worried?

He said he believed Sirius being innocent. But maybe that was a lie? Told out of fear for his life if he didn't play along. Sirius had even grabbed his neck in a moment of despair… it wouldn't be a big surprise to find out the boy was still afraid of him. And why wouldn't he be? All he had was the word of a madman.

Looking left and right and still hidden in high grass and the reeds along the shore, he turned back to his human form.

"Are you afraid?" he asked quietly watching the boy who now stood in knee-high water.

Kakashi didn't even look at him, focusing on the water. "Afraid?"

"Worried," Sirius used a different word.

"I know 'afraid'. Why you think?"

"Why do you think so?" Sirius corrected automatically. Kakashi looked back at him. For a moment Sirius thought his corrections weren't wanted, but then Kakashi's eye closed in his typical smile.

"Why do you think so?" Kakashi repeated after him.

"Your scent. I'm not sure," Sirius admitted and pointed at his nose in case Kakashi didn't know the word yet. "I have a keen nose."

"Dog's nose," Kakashi said and there was a sort of amusement in his voice. Sirius couldn't quite put his finger on it. As if there was some inside joke, he didn't pick up on.

Sirius nodded. "Right. You smell on edge."

"I smell worried?"

Sirius frowned a little. He wasn't certain if the boy asked, because he didn't know the meaning of 'on edge' or if this was a ploy to avoid the question. Every question Sirius asked, he got a question in return. "Ever since we passed Norwich," Sirius specified. He wasn't certain if that was when it had started. It had been the first time he had noticed, however. They hadn't gone into the city. Sirius felt uncomfortable and unsafe in settlements. The bigger the worse was his anxiety, the fear of being found out. Still, the day before, Sirius had made it a point to lead Kakashi to the villages and towns in the surrounding area. It was the only way for the boy to learn English, never mind find his parents or travel companions. That was a different topic he should ask about.

Finally, Kakashi relented. "How many people are there in Norwich?"

The question was odd, besides the point, and came out of nowhere to Sirius, still, he tried to answer. He had never bothered to learn these things. "100 000 maybe," he shrugged. He could only guess. They had only seen the outskirts and suburbs around the city, and he had never actually been there even before his imprisonment. Never mind that he didn't bother learning the populations for muggle cities. "I don't really know."

Kakashi looked at him oddly, as if he was supposed to know. Sirius bristled a little at that. He'd been twelve years in Azkaban. Why would he know these things?

Thoughtfully, Kakashi looked back into the river. He made a few steps. Inward, until the water reached up to his hips. "Be careful," Sirius warned half-heartedly. The water wasn't deep, but he'd still rather not have the boy slip and fall in.

Kakashi didn't react to his warning. "That's much people." His voice was impossible to read.

"Many," Sirius stopped thinking. "Or a lot of people." Then he shrugged once more. "I guess."

"It's the capital?"

Stunned, Sirius stared at the boy. The capital? He snorted. Very funny. "No, London is much bigger. I don't even know… Five million?"

He heard a splash of water as the boy whirled around to stare at him. "Million?" he repeated his single eye wide open in surprise. He'd never seen Kakashi react so strongly to anything. "How?"

Sirius barked in laughter. "You must come from a tiny place," he chuckled. Which begged the question… How did the kid not know that London was the capital? Being stuck alone in a country he did not speak the language of was one thing, not knowing where he was, was also curious… but he didn't even know that London was the capital of Great Britain? Surely a smart boy like him would know that. Especially when he went to England for vacation.

Which was what Sirius assumed this was. The boy must have traveled here for vacation and then gotten lost, right? That was the only thing that made sense. Only it didn't make sense at all, because wouldn't the parents be searching for him, wouldn't he be searching for them as well? Or his friends or travel group? What business would he have offering his help to Sirius instead of trying to get to the first muggle auror office, to get back home? Never mind that, from what he knew, there were some big cities in Japan. London was huge, but at least Norwich shouldn't be that impressive to a fourteen-year-old Japanese kid. Even if he came from a smaller town.

"How did you get here?" Sirius asked finally. He should have asked this sooner.

Kakashi eyed him warily, then he turned back to the water and cursed quietly in his own language. The way he had splashed around earlier, all the fish had likely fled. (Not that Sirius knew how he intended to catch them this way. He didn't have a net nor a fishing rod.) "I got lost."

Sirius laughed. "Lost?" he repeated not believing it for a second. "What did you run away from your hotel? What about your parents?"

Kakashi didn't answer. He stood still searching the water for fish.

"Your friends then, or a travel group? How did you get separated?" When the boy didn't answer, Sirius growled in frustration. "Won't they be worried?"

Kakashi peered at him. Behind the mask, Sirius couldn't see his face, but the way the skin around the single eye tightened, he seemed to grimace. "I'm alone. But right, I should send where I am."

Frustrated, Sirius let out a sigh. This didn't answer any of his questions. How would the boy contact his family, if clearly, he had no means of communication? Never mind why hadn't he already. At least, it was something, though. "Good," he nodded. "Do you want to go back to Norwich for that? You could use a phone booth there." Kakashi obviously had no idea what a phone booth was, and Sirius didn't know how to explain it, as he barely understood the concept himself.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I—" And then it all went very quick. His mouth snapped shut, his hand cut into the water, there was a surprisingly quiet splash, and then a fish came flying towards Sirius. "Don't let it jump in water," Kakashi instructed, as Sirius awkwardly struggled to catch the small trout.

"What just—" Sirius cried out, but the question stuck in his throat as he helplessly tried to get a hold of the fish. "How did you do that?"

"Not back to Norwich," Kakashi said instead of answering Sirius' most recent question. He still stood in the river. He stopped moving again, lurking for the next victim fish. "I do tonight, don't worry."

How should he not worry, Sirius thought a little miffed. There was a fourteen-year-old boy virtually alone and although Sirius appreciated the company, he knew Kakashi shouldn't be here with him. "When we're in London, you can get help," he suggested. "I'm sure they'll have some means to contact your home country."

At that moment, Kakashi's hand splashed into the water again, and another fish came flying for Sirius. This time, he was better prepared. Instantly, he shifted into the dog, swiped at the flying trout with his paw, and then bit down on its head to kill it. When he turned back, he moved his jaw testily. There was still a taste of raw fish between his molars. Kakashi looked at him curiously.

"Can all make magic," Kakashi asked after a while. "Five million in London?"

The sudden shift in topic back to the population size of London was jarring for Sirius. He was now almost certain that Kakashi for whatever reason didn't want to share any information with him. "No," Sirius answered anyway. He had no issue sharing what he knew. In fact, he quite enjoyed telling this boy everything he wanted to know about the magical world. If only to tell the magical world that they could go bite Sirius. All-day, he had quite the fun, imagining Fudge's purple angry face, knowing what Sirius had done just to spite him. Of course, he would never see it. He hoped not to at least – it would mean back to Azkaban for him. "We're not many. I don't know… maybe 100 000 in total. Probably even less. Most are muggles."

"Muggles?"

"People without magic. Like you. You're a muggle. You're not supposed to even know of the magical world. Most don't know anything about it."

Kakashi followed his words with a very focused and concentrated eye. Now that he finally had his full attention, Sirius quickly added. "How did you find me a week ago?"

Kakashi's brows furrowed a little. "You on coast. Hungry."

"Yes," Sirius agreed not needing a reminder of that. He was still hungry, starved, and easily exhausted. But he didn't feel that same gaping hole in his stomach anymore. "But how did you get there."

"Foot."

"On foot?" Sirius laughed. The boy had to be joking. He was intelligent enough to know that was not, what Sirius had asked. "Okay, you walked, from where?"

Kakashi peered at him for a long time. Then his eyes traveled down to the water. For a moment Sirius thought, he was trying to find the words to come up with an answer, then he jumped in surprise when Kakashi's hand slashed into the water again. He prepared for the fish to come flying, but nothing came. Instead, Kakashi waded back to the shore. He shook his legs out. Trousers and sandals were sodding wet and some of the water even sprayed on Sirius. The boy held the third trout – the biggest one yet – in his left hand.

"How did you do that?" Sirius asked, seriously impressed. It had been one thing when he saw the boy throw a knife at a duck to kill it, earlier this week. The bird hadn't been expecting anything and it was a slow bird anyway. Successfully catching three fish with his bare hands though… It ought to be impossible. He'd quite naturally assumed that the boy was a muggle, however, there was something magical about him. "You have to teach me one day. It seems nifty."

Kakashi eyed him wearily, then he gave a half-hearted smile.

"I don't know," he said finally. "Don't know how got to you." He shook his head. "Now I'm home, then in forest."

Stunned, Sirius couldn't help but stare at this explanation. "You just woke up here?"

"Yes, woke up in forest."

Sirius shook his head. "But that makes no sense. Were you kidnapped?" But even that wouldn't explain how he couldn't remember anything about the journey. It must have been hours from Japan to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Norfolk. They must have poisoned him or given him some sleeping drought. Maybe erased his memories? But why just leave the boy alone in some forest? None of this made sense. "Abducted," he used a synonym when the boy didn't understand. "Somebody took you against your will."

"Don't know," Kakashi said with a half-hearted shrug that was unnerving. "Don't think…kidnapped." He had trouble using the word right, Sirius registered absentmindedly. Sirius' thoughts however were still stuck on the half-hearted shrug. How could a kid be so casual about suddenly waking up in a foreign country? He should be panicked, crying, begging for his parents to find him. But he seemed just fine.

"Then what? You just teleported?" He meant it as a joke, but as his words were out, he suddenly realized, that might be the only option. Clearly, one could not just travel from Japan to Cromer, Norfolk in such a short time, that they wouldn't even remember it. Clearly, if the boy had been kidnapped, he'd know, and his kidnappers wouldn't just throw him out in some forest. Never mind there would likely be traces on his body, of some form of abuse, but the way he walked and smelled, he was completely uninjured. How can you be kidnapped and not get a bruise at all? Clearly, he also wasn't just on vacation with his family, or they would have already started a search party for the kid. So, what other option was there than that some form of magic was involved.

Maybe he had gotten into contact with a magician or a magical artifact that sent him here by pure coincidence. Maybe, he had indeed been captured and taken away by a kidnapper who was a wizard and healed all his injuries as well as made him forget… or… well? Was he too old for a sudden burst of accidental magic? Sirius was certain, the boy had never heard of the magical world, but Sirius also didn't know how they did it in Japan. Maybe there was a small community of wizards who practiced their magic differently? Or maybe Kakashi was a muggle-born wizard who had fallen through the cracks and nobody ever told him, what he was? A spontaneous apparition as a form of accidental magic was not uncommon, although jumping all the way from Japan to England seemed a little much. Still, Sirius assumed, at least it was possible. It even seemed the most likely possibility so far. It wasn't unheard of, that a wizard child only had their first bouts of accidental magic in their preteens just before going to Hogwarts. There were also cases, where subtle forms of magic went completely under the radar. Sometimes things vanishing could easily be confused with things just getting lost in a chaotic child's bedroom. Was it possible, that nobody had ever known or told the boy about his magical talent? He didn't know much about Japan's magical society, but he guessed it could be possible.

Certainly, assuming that a bout of accidental magic had brought a kid who didn't know they were a wizard to a different continent was unlikely but… it seemed at least more likely than a child falling asleep at home, then being somehow kidnapped, dragged off to England dumped in some forest and then left there within a short span of time, never waking up in between nor knowing what had happened.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Sirius asked still skeptical.

Kakashi looked up into the darkening sky. "I see—" He cut himself off. "I have bad memory. Headache and— room was spinning and… that's all."

Spinning… It had to have been an apparition. "When it happened," Sirius continued to make sure, "do you remember what you were thinking? Were you afraid? Did you want to get away from there?"

Kakashi leveled a glare at him as if Sirius hadn't listened to him earlier. "I had bad memory."

Sirius nodded. If something triggered a traumatic memory, he likely felt fear, he must have wished himself away… That could cause a spontaneous apparition, Sirius knew. He remembered a few of them himself, from when he was a child. At eight, when his mother had been angry and yelling at him when she'd raise her hand… sometimes he'd just apparate then. It wasn't in his control, and he never got very far. Most of the time, he just landed in their garden, but one time he landed in Victoria Park and two muggles saw him. It caused a minor incident. He remembered that when it happened his mother had been both furious and somewhat proud. There was a belief going around in magical families that the younger a child was, the more often it accidentally used magic and the more impressive the individual bouts of magic were, the more powerful the wizard would get. So, her son teleporting himself to Victoria Park was something Walburga Black had been quite proud of, even if she'd been angry that he'd escaped her anger like that.

Still in thought, Sirius followed after Kakashi back to their camp. He was distracted when Kakashi started collecting dry leaves and brushwood for a fire. Sirius had seen him light a fire several times now, but to this day, he hadn't figured out how Kakashi did it. There was no match, nothing to cause a spark nor even an ordinary muggle lighter in Kakashi's hand. So far as a dog he hadn't paid much attention to it – mostly because Kakashi often got the fire going before Sirius even settled down for the night or woke up in the morning. Now, he watched more closely.

Having already come to the conclusion, that Kakashi might be or at least connected to a foreign culture of magicians, Sirius watched for any detail that might give away a charm or hex Kakashi was using. Anything that could give away that he was using magic.

Kakashi lowered his hands to push the brushwood together, then he hesitated, and looked up at Sirius. With measured movements, his hand dug into the small pouch he was wearing at the belt. To Sirius's surprise, Kakashi pulled out a small knife and a stone.

A quick movement, the metallic clank of metal on stone, and a flurry of orange sparks lit up the dry leaves. The leaf immediately caught fire, the flames quickly spreading to the brushwood. It was done in a second as if it was the easiest thing in the world. And before Sirius had even caught up to the fact, that this was different, Kakashi was already putting slightly thicker branches of wood over the fire. But it was different.

"You normally do that differently," Sirius noted. He was certain, Kakashi hadn't used this rock-knife method before.

"What you mean?" Kakashi asked blinking up at him in innocent confusion.

"The fire. You didn't use the knife and rock yesterday."

But already, as he said that, Sirius knew he wouldn't get an explanation. Kakashi simply smiled at him, as if he didn't know what Sirius was talking about. What was with this boy and his many secrets?

"Where did you learn that?" Sirius asked instead of fishing for more information regarding Kakashi's other secret fire-making methods. "And who taught you to catch fish like that?"

Kakashi took a moment to answer in which he started preparing all three trouts with some herbs he distractedly pulled from the bushes around them. Sirius who hadn't cooked nor even entered a kitchen in over a decade didn't know what he was doing.

"Tradition," Kakashi answered with a single word.

Sirius gaped at him. "You just do it like that where you come from?" Surely that couldn't be. It seemed more like a very special talent. Sirius couldn't imagine that there would be a culture out there where catching fish barehanded was just considered normal. But he realized he wouldn't get a better answer out of the boy. "What is that?" he nodded at the herbs.

Kakashi gave him two small twigs of the fresh green herbs he had plugged. Sirius them up to his nose. In his human form, he had to try hard to recognize the scents at all. Even still he couldn't be sure, but he tried to remember whatever knowledge had remained from his UTZ-level herbology and potions classes. "This is rosemary," he told Kakashi giving one of the twigs back. With the other one, he wasn't quite as sure. "And thyme, I think. How do you call it?"

"Rosemary and Thyme," Kakashi repeated. Then he gave a shrug. "Don't know them home."

"You don't have them at home? How do you know to cook with them?" And if Sirius knew anything about cooking, at least both herbs were edible, but how would Kakashi know.

He watched the boy silently mouth the words, then he gave a shrug and shook his head.

"You're experimenting," Sirius guessed. "Just trying things out and looking what works."

"I… I am experimenting."

Sirius noted a special emphasis on the 'am'. These small words he already knew, Kakashi often forgot. He was learning quickly.

"Do you like cooking?" But he didn't get a definite answer. "The fish is called trout. Do you have trout in Japan?"

"Masu," the boy said with a nod. Curiously, Sirius watched how the boy hung the fish head up on a branch using a thin wire he produced from his pouch. He used a thin needle – also from his pouch – to thread the wire through the trouts' jaws. Only when he precariously balanced the fish a bit over the fire, not directly into the flames, did Sirius realize that he wanted to smoke the fish.

"Masu? Is that what you call trout?"

Kakashi nodded.

After that, they continued their conversation about benign topics so Kakashi could practice his language a bit better. Sirius corrected him every now and then, but a lot of time he just let Kakashi's mistakes pass. Soon their dinner started smelling really good. It was the first time Kakashi went through that much effort cooking. While he had prepared food for himself and Sirius before, he had fed bland cooked fish and meat and random vegetables to the dog, and not bothered to cook anything more elaborate for just himself. It seemed now, with another person eating with him, he went through extra afford. Sirius felt comfortably warm in his chest. The fact that this boy didn't just feed him… but even cook for him!

And it really smelled good. Sirius was admittedly not a judge for gourmet food anymore. His palate was used to the blandest food imaginable. Everything that tasted of something at all was heavenly to him. But this… it really smelled great and he was sure that wasn't just from his palate not being used to good foods anymore.

"It smells good," Sirius said his mouth already watering.

Kakashi looked up at him, gave him a short smile, and then took the trout from the fire. With the tips of his fingers and quick movements, he freed the fish from the wire. It was hot and steaming and he never touched it longer than necessary.

They had no plates and Kakashi could only offer one of his knives – apparently, he had multiple of those to help Sirius eat. They ate off two relatively big stones they had found and Sirius looked at Kakashi to copy the way he deboned and skinned his trout. It was a bit of a mess, but it was the best fish Sirius had ever eaten.

Sirius felt oddly humbled thinking it was the first meal he had eaten in years that was actually prepared for him with care – prepared for a human, not a dog or the monster they saw him at in Azkaban. He didn't know who prepared the food in Azkaban – probably some house-elf – but whoever it was clearly didn't consider the prisoners human.

He ate slowly, savoring the taste and chewing on every bit of rosemary trying to get the most intense taste out of it. Silently he choked several sobs when his feelings overwhelmed him. The mere idea of good food… It had him close to tears. But he didn't want to fall apart in front of Kakashi. The boy had enough on his plate – being stranded in a foreign country – without having his hands full with a wailing convict on the run…

Which brought him back to his initial thought. Sirius solemnly stared down at the second trout Kakashi had offered him. (He couldn't eat it. His human stomach was much less agreeable than Padfoot's had been.) Kakashi shouldn't be here.

He shouldn't follow Sirius around through this foreign country trying to get revenge for something that didn't concern him. He shouldn't have to feed and nurse Sirius back to health. He shouldn't be dragged into this whole business and Sirius shouldn't use him the way he did. He was awfully and uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was leeching off this boy. As nice as the thought was, as much as he relished in the idea that he didn't have to go this path alone… He had to. He knew it. Kakashi's path shouldn't lead him to Hogwarts to help kill a man he didn't even know, it should lead back to his home, to his parents, his friends who were surely waiting for him. But that didn't seem to be of any concern to Kakashi.

He looked up at Kakashi contemplating. Surprised he realized, that Kakashi had already eaten his trout – which by itself wasn't that surprising – but even more so: Sirius hadn't seen him eat. While all the days before, Kakashi had comfortably settled down, pulled down his mask and eaten slowly, savoring every bite, now – despite this being the first time he went to the effort of actually preparing something nice and seasoned – he must have gulped the whole fish down in a matter of seconds without Sirius even noticing.

"You already ate?" Sirius asked surprised.

What caused this change? Sirius' grey eyes rested on the dark cloth mask over Kakashi's face. He didn't know why the boy was wearing it, but he had thought it might just be an odd fashion statement. Or maybe to hide the scar on his cheek. "Why the mask?" he asked.

"Always have it," Kakashi answered with a shrug.

"You always had it?" it was again such a non-answer… It made Sirius think…

This odd sense of nervousness he had detected earlier, the fact that he didn't give him any information whatsoever nor answered any of his questions, and now he wasn't showing his face anymore? Was the sense more than just a fashion statement and instead a way to hide his face out of anxiety or insecurity? Did that mean, he didn't trust Sirius anymore?

Of course, …

It all made sense then.

Kakashi had felt safe around the dog, Shaggy. That didn't apply to the mass murderer Sirius Black. And why would it? Kakashi might have said that he believed Sirius, but who would? Why would Kakashi believe him over the newspapers? And even if he did, Kakashi was smart and wouldn't throw all caution into the wind, just because of a hunch that the escaped convict might be telling the truth.

Indeed, Kakashi was so smart, wouldn't it be the most viable and safe strategy in his mind, to just pretend? Suddenly finding himself in the presence of the convicted murderer of roughly 20 people, including some of his best friends… Kakashi had to be terrified.

The idea that Kakashi might be faking it, horrified Sirius. What was he doing? Kakashi had no reason whatsoever to trust him and the fact that he did it regardless… How had Sirius been so naïve, to believe, Kakashi would trust him when it was so much more likely that he was simply trying to appease the convicted murderer and survive the week.

That was why he was so nervous.

That was why he didn't answer any of Sirius' questions.

And it was also why he didn't feel confident showing his face anymore.

Did Kakashi fear, exposing information about his home and family would put them in danger? Maybe he was only trying to protect his loved ones. A brave boy.

It was so plain to see and yet Sirius in his hopeful cluelessness had just ignored it. It was the most obvious explanation: The boy was still terrified of him. And why wouldn't he be?

The realization cut deep into Sirius. This kid, Kakashi, who was kind and caring, who treated him like a human even now… he was putting this boy into a state of deadly terror, surely…

He didn't know for sure, but it seemed the most likely explanation for the boy's behavior. And that wouldn't do. Sirius never wanted to frighten the boy. He didn't want to be the cause for sleepless nights and fearful thoughts.

Sirius shook himself. Quickly he changed into his dog form for the night. He had come to a decision. If the boy insisted on playing this charade – if he insisted on acting as if running across a foreign country following an escaped convict on his quest for revenge, was his free will and not something he only did out of terror and survival instinct… Sirius would make the choice for him. He would free Kakashi of this horrific situation.

And how could he have been so naïve… now that he thought about it… in hindsight, it seemed so obvious. Following an escaped murderer across a foreign country to murder a stranger… which teenager would simply agree to that unless he did it out of self-preservation? Sirius had just been blind to it, self-indulgent, trying to bath in the idea that he wasn't alone anymore.

But he was… and he should be… this wasn't a quest for a teenager. This rotten path, that could only lead to damnation or right back to hell – it was one he had to go alone.

London, he thought, curling in on himself in his dog form. Burying his snout into the rosemary bush, the strong fragrance making him almost unaware of anything else.

He would bring Kakashi to London. He would have plenty of time until then, to teach him the English language well enough, that he could get along just fine on his own. In London, there would be a muggle auror office or maybe even the Japanese embassy. They could take care of Kakashi there. There was help for Kakashi in London.

They would split paths then. He could continue to Surrey, to see Harry, and then start the arduous journey north to Hogwarts, and by then Kakashi would already be back home with his family, where he belonged.

Sirius slept restlessly that night, but he didn't dream. There was the overwhelming scent of rosemary that took any other thought away making him dream of a buffet of smoked trout with rosemary.

When he woke up, still feeling groggy, he thought he heard voices. A foreign language. Kakashi… Was he talking to somebody? But who would he talk to? Maybe he was praying. Praying to be free of the murderer? When the voice quieted only shortly after Sirius woke up, he thought he imagined a different voice, however. One gruff, and deep.

Sirius jumped up, but the voices were gone, and instead, Kakashi came through the trees back to him. He looked just the way he had in the evening, and he was alone. Nobody else was with him.

Had Sirius imagined the second voice?

He sniffed the air testily, but there was no other person. Just him, Kakashi, the last remaining trout that he hadn't been able to eat the night before, cold ashes and the overwhelming scent of rosemary. Something was different though. Sirius thought he smelled a lingering scent of dog coming from Kakashi that wasn't Padfoot's own body odor. But that was impossible. Where would Kakashi have met a dog tonight? Maybe it had brushed him outside Norwich and Sirius simply hadn't recognized the scent until now.

Something else concerned him far more. It was too early. Still dark and long before morning… Kakashi hadn't slept or slept bad, just as Sirius had feared. The boy looked dead tired. He'd never seen him like that, with bags under his eyes and shuffling steps on wobbly legs. Sirius' company clearly wasn't good for him.

This was enough. It had already gone too far.

Notes:

I just want them to actually bond now! Kakashi feeding Sirius real food is just the most precious thing for me. I remembered the filler scene when Kakashi was trying out recipes and Rin and Obito ate with him and then thought... a personal cook for Sirius!

Also Sirius angsting over the morality of his actions. Kakashi might have offered his help and not actually be afraid of Sirius, but to Sirius, the idea that somebody might actually feel safe with him and trust him/believe him is so foreign that he draws up the most horrible pictures in his mind. This is just a fourteen-year-old muggle kid and Sirius is a convicted mass murderer, in Sirius's own mind, they shouldn't bond like that, instead, Kakashi needs to find his family and get back home. So, while Kakashi is now very much hell-bent on trying to help his new companion, Sirius wants to just get him to London, where he can get help and then continue his journey alone.

Next chapter I'll get a little more into the technicalities of how Kakashi got to the magical world...or well, first realizing that he's not just in some other country.