That Way

Chapter Fourteen Dog in a Cave

 It's the middle of March, and time for a Hogsmeade visit. Harry said he wanted to ask me something before, so I agreed to talk to him before the twins and I set off.

It's finally warm enough that I don't need a thick coat, so I throw on my jumper and head down to the common room.

"I'll catch up with you guys, Harry wants to talk before."

"Okay." George agrees, zipping up his jacket.

"Yeah, we'll probably be in Zonkos." Fred smiles and the two of them set off, joking and counting their money to spend.

I plop onto the couch to wait for the Boy Who Lived, and after about a minute he comes down from the stairs.

"Dabria, I wanted to ask you something."

I stand up, leaning against the back of the couch. "Sure, what is it?"

"Well, today, Ron, Hermione and I are going to do something... And Hermione thinks I should invite you... but it has to stay a secret—" Harry looks and sounds so unsure I cut him off.

"Look, if you three are growing cannabis, I want nothing to do with it." I say with my most serious tone and facial expression.

"What?" Harry looks shocked, and I laugh, brushing my hair out of my face.

"I'm just messing with you Harry." I assure him, and he slowly smiles, laughing softly.

"Well, Hermione informed me that—" Harry drops his voice despite how few people are in the common room and leans closer to me. "Sirius is your first cousin, and that he's like you in the sense of background and what he chose instead, and the three of us are going to meet up with him today. So, you're invited if you'd like to come along."

I pause, thinking about the invitation. On one hand, it'd be nice to meet someone who's related to me and understands where I'm coming from. On the other hand, I know he's innocent, as I believe Harry, but it's still scary to think I'll be sneaking off to meet an accused mass murderer.

But what's life without a little danger and stupid decisions?

"Sure, I'd love to go. Thanks for thinking of me." I smile and follow Harry out of the common room as we head off to collect Hermione and Ron, who's carrying a basket, before going to Hogsmeade.

I link arms with Hermione as we head off the main path and towards the edges of Hogsmeade, where there's not much besides a few abandoned buildings and landscape. "Thank you for inviting me, Hermione." I smile at her.

She furrows her brow in confusion. "It was Harry's idea to invite you, I just very much agreed."

"Oh." I reply, confused. "Harry said—" I pause. Harry said Hermione invited me, but he also said she was the one that informed him that I'm related to Sirius. "Huh." I finish with, and Hermione laughs at my confused expression. "No matter." I smile and we laugh together as we head up a hill.

"Padfoot!" Harry's face lights up and I follow his pointer finger to a shaggy black dog lying limp against a tree.

I look at Hermione in confusion. "He's an Animungus. We call him Padfoot when he's a dog." She explains in a whisper as Sirius leads us into a nearby cave.

"That name sounds so familiar," I mutter to myself. "Where have I heard it?"

"Hm?" Hermione asks.

Oh. My. STARS.

"Padfoot! That's one of the names on the Marauders Map." I whisper excitedly to myself. The twins are going to freak when they find out that a mass murder is someone who helped us more than all the professors put together.