Rebirth

Chapter 5: Investigation

The next day Sirius awoke late to find that Ron and Hermione had both left for work. Ron was supposed to have stayed in with Sirius for the day, but Sirius was glad that he hadn't. He hadn't seen either of them since he had returned from Diagon Alley the previous evening. Ron hadn't reappeared from his room all night and Hermione had been out until quite late so Sirius had spent a peaceful evening reading in the sitting room before having an early night.

After he had eaten a large breakfast, he felt much better than he had done since he had been revived. He was starting to feel like himself again and was anxious to do something to find Remus. After moping around the house for an hour or so, depressing himself with thoughts of how he had let Harry down and sent Remus over the edge, he decided it was time for some action.

He had to find out more about Remus's disappearance and this meant a trip to the Ministry. Logic told him that Ron would be the person to speak to, but he knew he wouldn't get a very good reception, so he decided to visit Hermione's office as well. Perhaps if he could get some insight into Peter's movements he would be able to find Remus, and since Hermione was leading the search for all the missing Death Eaters, she would be a good place to start.

He Apparated into the large entrance hall inside the Ministry, and after checking in his wand he made his way towards her office accompanied by a flurry of flapping memos.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed when she saw him arrive. "What are you doing here?"

"Fine way to greet an old friend," he teased. She smiled and indicated to a chair beside her desk while she poured him some tea from a steaming pot.

He sat down, surveying her office with amusement. Every wall of the large room was covered with bookcases, each groaning with the weight of various large volumes, roles of parchment and newspapers. Apart from the bookcases, not a thing was out of place in the office. Her desk was completely clear except for a neat pile of parchment and a pot of quills.

"So how do you feel today?" she asked

"Much better thanks. I got kind of bored sitting around the house, so I thought I'd come and see you," he told her. She pulled a face at him.

"I see, so you're just coming to visit me because you're bored, is that it? Fine way to treat an old friend," she said, smiling as she poked a stray curl back into her otherwise neatly tied back hair. Sirius was relieved to see that she seemed to have gotten over the awkwardness of the previous morning at breakfast.

He noticed a picture of Harry on her desk. He was dressed in his Quidditch robes and holding his firebolt, punching his fist into the air and smiling. He picked it up and traced his finger despondently over the frame.

"Hermione, I meant to ask you," said Sirius, shaking the grief from his head. "How old did you say Harry was when he died?" Hermione paused for a moment, as though caught off guard.

"Erm, sixteen. Why?" she asked hesitantly.

"It was just that I saw a photograph of him at what looked like his seventeenth birthday party. I just wondered if you'd made a mistake, that was all."

Hermione looked a little flustered.

"Are you sure it wasn't his sixteenth birthday party? We did have a party for him when he turned sixteen," she replied.

"Well the banner behind him definitely said 'Seventeen Today'," said Sirius, starting to feel a little uneasy.

"Perhaps you're right," said Hermione. "I must be getting muddled up. I think we did have another party for him. He must have died just after that." Hermione stared down at her hands as though she was nervous. Sirius knew something was not quite right. But why would she lie to him about something like that?

"Is something going on that I ought to know about?" he asked calmly.

"No, nothing. Honestly," said Hermione quickly. "There was just so much going on at that time. It's hard to think straight about when exactly everything happened. It was a really difficult time." She looked up at Sirius, her big eyes filled with emotion and he instantly felt bad for pushing the issue. He changed the subject.

"So how's the Death Eater hunt coming along?" he asked casually. "Did that London sighting of Peter come to anything?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head dismally. "To be honest, I think it was probably just a paranoia attack on the part of the witness. We get a lot of those. The Ministry are taking it seriously because they believe that he's probably trying to round up the other Death Eaters to stage some kind of takeover, but we, that is, the Order, don't believe that's likely."

"No," said Sirius, shaking his head. "That wouldn't be like Peter at all. He's never been a leader. I wouldn't have put it past Bellatrix because she was a fanatic, but Peter was never with Voldemort because he believed in his methods. It was only because Voldemort was the biggest kid in the playground and he wanted to make sure he was allied with the right person. It's no different to him hanging around with us at school. He won't do anything unless he thinks there's something in it for him."

"Exactly," said Hermione. "This is what I've been trying to tell them, but they won't listen. They've virtually given up on searching Hogsmeade since the London sighting."

"Maybe it's time I took a trip to Hogsmeade myself," murmured Sirius. Hermione blanched.

"Sirius, you can't," she said, her face draining of colour. "You promised me you wouldn't do anything rash. You've got no idea what you could find out there. What if the other Death Eaters have found Peter or what if Remus is more dangerous than you think?"

"Remus would never hurt me," Sirius snapped, annoyed that Hermione could think that of him. "He's my best friend. He's doing all this for me."

"Then why hasn't he contacted you yet?" asked Hermione. "He must know you're around by now. Everyone's been talking about it."

Sirius paused for a moment. It was true, he was confused as to why Remus hadn't at least sent him a note. But he refused to believe that he could be dangerous.

"Hermione, I've known Remus nearly all my life," he said seriously. I know how his mind works and I know what he's up to. He's acting exactly the same as I would act in this situation. I went looking for Peter as well, don't forget."

"Sirius, you didn't see those pictures of Bellatrix," Hermione shuddered at the memory. "It was horrible. There was virtually nothing left of her."

"He did nothing more than she deserved," he said grimly. Hermione obviously didn't agree, but said nothing. "Where was Remus last seen?" Sirius asked thoughtfully.

"Well, no-one's seen him, but from the looks of the Shrieking Shack, he's been there."

Sirius said nothing, but stared into space, thinking hard.

"Look, Sirius. Please just promise me that you won't do anything yet. You're still recovering. Just hold fire for a couple more days and let Ron deal with it. He thinks he's quite close to finding him." Hermione said, staring at Sirius pleadingly with her big brown eyes. Sirius stared back at her for a moment before answering.

"OK, I won't. But I want you to bring home everything you've got on Peter's disappearance, and get Ron to bring home the files he has on Remus as well. I'll sit and go through them and we'll talk about it. Agreed?" Sirius had no intention of keeping this promise, but if he could get a look at the files before he did anything, he might be able to find something useful.

"I can't give you a confidential Ministry file!" Hermione squeaked. "I could lose my job!"

"Oh come on," Sirius flashed her a winning smile, his black eyes imploring her from behind his straggly hair. "They can't stop you from taking the files home with you."

"Sirius, you know I can't, it wouldn't be right," she shook her head firmly, still staring into his eyes. Something in her gaze told him that she wasn't far off giving in. He reached over the desk and put his hand on top of hers.

"Hermione, I'm begging you, please. It's been three days. I've got to do something or I'll go crazy. Remus is my best friend." She flushed a little and looked away.

"Alright," she sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you had a look at the sighting reports. "Since you know them both better than anyone, you might be able to shed some light on where they're headed. Why don't you go over and see Ron to get his files." Sirius looked at her awkwardly.

"Well, that might not be such a good idea," he said ruefully. "I mean, it might sound better coming from you."

"Why, what's the matter?" she asked, looking a little concerned.

"Ah, well, we're not exactly speaking at the moment," said Sirius. "I don't think he's likely to do anything if he thinks it's a favour to me. We, erm, had a bit of a disagreement yesterday."

"What about?" asked Hermione, her eyes widening a little.

"Well, you actually." Sirius grinned impishly at her. "He guessed something happened the other night and he wasn't too happy about it."

He expected Hermione to groan at this, or at least look a little embarrassed, but instead a small smile spread across her lips.

"Good," she said quietly. "A little jealousy will do him good. Perhaps it will make him think before he takes me for granted again."

Sirius smiled back at her. If she wanted to use him to make Ron jealous, that was fine by him.

"Don't worry about Ron," Hermione said briskly. "I'll get the files off him. He can't stop me anyway, I'm more senior than him."

"Thank you," he said. "Look, how about I cook us something nice for tea tonight. Can you get home early?"

"OK, but no Firewhisky this time," she smiled sheepishly.

"Great," he said, putting down his cup and standing up.

"Sirius?" Hermione asked as he turned to leave. "You're not going to cook rat are you?" He turned around to see an unmistakeably flirtatious smile spread across her lips as he left for Diagon Alley to pick up some food.