Never Alone Again

Chapter One: The Family Dog (August 18, 1993)

The sun hung low in the sky as a bear-sized black dog made his way down a dusty road that cut though a grassy meadow. He was limping heavily and felt ready to collapse. It was hardly surprising. His shoulder and the side of his chest were dark with blood and it was dripping onto the ground as he walked, leaving a red, spotted tail. The pain was making him so completely oblivious to the world around him that he didn't even notice the girl that was following him. She had dark hair that glistened in the red, setting sun. She tossed it out her face, the better to observe the animal. She was wearing overalls with a jacket pulled sloppily over her sun-tanned shoulders. This girl was eleven, though her height suggested that she might be twelve.

She leaned on her bike, which looked very old, as though it had seen many adventures. Her pale gray eyes narrowed as they fell on a bloody wound on the dog's shoulder, which made her think that he'd been hit by a car. The girl had been watching this dog for quite a while now, wondering what she was going to do. She had fondness for animals, especially dogs. But his matted fur and thin body showed that he was a stray. She had learned long ago that touching a stray animal was a bad idea. The scars on her thigh, which she had carried since she was five, told the story. She waited patiently, thinking that her best chance was probably to follow it until the dog actually did collapse, she was sure that this would be soon. Just a little longer . . .

She looked away for a second (the dog was getting slower) to watch a particularly large owl flutter down to an old house at the edge of the grassy fields not far away, where the wood began. There was thud as something heavy collided with the ground and the girl looked at the dog. It lay spread-eagled on the ground. She approached him cautiously. His chest rose and fell rhythmically, but more slowly than the girl thought normal.

She pried one of his eyelids open. He didn't give any response. She sighed with relief, it wasn't that she wanted the dog to be worse, but he wouldn't get any better if she couldn't get him to safety and medical care. Her grandmother and mother would know what to do.

Now came the problem she'd dreaded--how to move a bear-sized dog to house that was probably two hundred meters away. She had been pondering this for a long time before and still came to no conclusion. She searched her resources. All that she had other than her bike was a backpack with a blanket, swashed sandwiches, a heavy textbook (she'd gone out to read in the middle of the meadow) and bit of rope.

And then it hit her! She could drag the dog! But that probably wasn't the best solution. What if she hurt him more? But maybe if she got--

"Oy, Vesper, what're you doing?" a sixteen-year-old boy called.

Normally, the girl, Vesper, would have groaned, but at the moment she was happy to see her overconfident and annoying cousin as walked nonchalantly towards her, cutting a trail through the tall grass. He too was wearing overalls and his dark brown hair was as untidy as ever.

"Tryin' to help this dog!" she hollered back.

He began to run towards her. Vesper felt sure he was going to ask if the dog had bitten her, but when the grass had stopped blocking his view of the dog, he asked, "Good Lord, what did you do the poor fellow?"

"I didn't touch him before he passed out, Robert," said Vesper crossly.

"Big ole bugger, isn't he?" said Robert, inspecting the dog. "All ya gotta do is fatten him up and you've got yourself the best guard dog on the face of the planet."

"I dunno," said Vesper, giggling, "that Fluffy of Hagrid's is enough to make a dragon squeal."

"So how're you planning to get him to the Kennel?" asked Robert.

The Kennel was a small fenced-in area where the Family kept injured animals that they found, or it was where Robert and Vesper slept if they misbehaved.

"I was thinking of dragging him in this blanket," Vesper explained. "But he's so big and heavy that I might hurt him."

Robert was considering the dog, which didn't seem to have the slightest idea that he was being rescued.

"I'll tell you what," he said after awhile, Vesper braced her self for an extra dose of chores, and sure enough, "I've taken a liking to this dog . . . "

"What chores do you want me to do?" Vesper asked before he'd finished.

"Dearest cousin," said Robert in alarm, "how could you ever think that I, Robert, your loving, gracious cousin, would ever ask you for anything as payment for rescuing this poor helpless animal--"

"Stow it Rob," said Vesper impatiently. "The dog's not looking good. Just name your price and help me so that we can get out of here, okay?"

"Pushy, pushy," said her cousin scornfully. "But, now that you say it . . . " Vesper braced herself again, canceling all of the explorations and walks through the woods she'd planned. "I could use someone to clean my room, the owl cage, and reorganize my sock drawer."

"Is that all," said Vesper, but then at once she wished she hadn't.

"No," snapped Robert. "I want you to clean my Moke's cage too."

"Yes, oh wonderful Robert," said Vesper, bowing as though he was a king.

"That's better," said Robert. "Now, lets get him home," he gestured to the dog, "I think he's beginning to come round."

They heaved the dog onto the blanket, which they had spread out. Each grabbed two corners of the blanket, Vesper to the dog's right and Robert his left. Slowly, but surely they made their way towards the kennel. It was dark by time they were finished and they left the dog there. But before they left, Robert, with a kindness Vesper never would have expected, laid his cloak like a blanket over the animal.

"C'mon," he said, pushing Vesper out of the enclosure. "We'll get him something to eat in the morning."

He and Vesper trudged through the grass to their warm and welcoming house.

"Where on earth have you two been?" asked Vesper's mother in a deadly whisper when they had closed the door and she had turned to see them.

She was a beautiful woman, though not ravishing, with a (normally) kind face, a mild temper, long light brown hair that was up in a loose bun and light brown eyes that almost exactly matched her hair. But at that moment, she was just the opposite of kind-faced and mild tempered person she usually was. Instead she was a tiger pouncing upon them with red eyes and a murderous stare.

"We were--" Robert began but she was so angry that she didn't hear, or at least not what he'd said. She did know that he had spoken.

"Don't you talk back to me, young man!" she shrieked, prodding a finger in his chest.

"But I--"

"Not another word!" the mother yelled.

"Alcyone," said Vesper's uncle, Ceyx, "my darling, calm down."

Uncle Ceyx had dark brown hair, a bearded and tired face, dark eyes and heavy eyebrows. At the moment he was wearing dark green robes and a red and black striped tie around his neck. Vesper thought of him as a dad.

Vesper's mother was married to her uncle, who was her father's older brother. She had married after father had been--well, she didn't want to think about it. But the moment Robert's mother had found out what Uncle Ceyx's brother had done, she had left and later gotten a divorce, leaving Robert, her son.

But the family had recovered since the disaster. And Vesper's mother, who had been just barely pregnant with her at the time, gave birth and the Black family lived on.

"We just got--" Vesper tried to start but Uncle Ceyx told her to just go to her room. Vesper began to argue but he told her that it wasn't because she was in trouble.

She went obediently to her room, which was mostly an attic, but she alone had chosen to sleep there instead of sharing a room with Robert. She climbed up a latter to a trapdoor, which she pushed up and scrambled through. It was dark except for dancing bits of color on the wall until Vesper flipped the switch and the room was illuminated. A bed lay under the window at the far side of the large room and a desk to her left. Piles of textbooks, parchment and unfolded clothing littered the rug and half filled trunk was at the foot of her bed.

But was probably the table to the right that made the room most interesting. There was a huge fish tank filled with water and five silver fish. A plaque on the side read: Ramora. To its right was another glass tank, but this one was larger with a top to it and it was filled with rainbow fire. At the base were about a dozen little lizards. The plaque on the side of this tank explained that they were salamanders.

Vesper rarely stayed in her room, or in her house. She had become a member of a program called Adolescents Involved in Care of Magical Creatures and Beings or AICMCB. Its name was self-explanatory. Vesper and group of other witches and wizards (there was five of them in her group) would take care of magical creatures and beings. They would check up on the magical beings like the centaurs, mermaids, hags and other such beings (they very much disliked the hags). Also, for most of the summer, they would live in the Congo National Magical Preserve, which was a wildlife preserve for magical creatures. They took care of the animals and basically ran the park. She loved it there, but this place would always be her home.

Vesper worked together with four other kids: Daniel Diggle, Amada Figg, Michael Moody and Sevrin Snape. Together they helped run the park and took care of the creatures, great and small, gentle and fierce. But Vesper had been ten when she joined program, but hadn't gotten to know them--not yet. She had been in training for the entire summer. It was a random process that chose her and these other wizards and witch. They just took them from different parts of the country. The ministry had been most reluctant to allow Vesper into the program.

But Vesper had proved very talented. She couldn't wait until she got to actually work in a week. And with these thoughts swarming around her head, Vesper yawned and flopped down on her bed. Almost immediately, she drifted off to sleep. She hadn't even had time to slip into dreams when she heard shouting coming from down stairs. Wondering what on earth could be wrong, she went to her trapdoor and put her ear to it.

"How can you have let them do this?" screeched her mother's voice. Vesper heard footsteps walking around the kitchen and she suspected that her mother or someone was pacing downstairs.

"We haven't got any choice!" her uncle yelled back.

"SHE'S NOT DONE ANYTHING TO HELP HIM AND YOU KNOW IT!" her mother screamed. Vesper had no idea what she was talking about

"If I said no, the Ministry would think that we were up to something!" said Uncle Ceyx, his voice a great deal lower.

"TO HELL WITH WHAT THEY THINK!" now her grandmother, Aradia, had joined in.

"OUR FAMILY HAS TO KEEP OUT OF TROUBLE!" hollered Uncle Ceyx.

"She's a little girl!" said her grandmother. "Did you stop to think about how it would affect her?"

"They're not going to kill the child!" boomed her grandfather, Lucifer.

Vesper suddenly became angry that their arguing had woken Grandfather. He was ill and needed rest. The house was very silent below.

Her grandfather said, "They will take her for questioning and then bring her back, I discussed it with the head of Magical Law Enforcement."

"You?" inquired her mother. "You, permitted this to be done to her too?"

"My dear Alcyone, we have no choice, they would have done anyway," said Grandfather. "It's better for the Black Family to cooperate with Ministry best we can--at least until He is caught."

"Should we tell her?"

"No," her mother said sharply. "No, it'll make her look too nervous and they might give her too much."

"Alcyone, they're not murders--" Uncle Ceyx began, but Vesper's mother must have given her husband a venomous look because he was silent at once.

"It is settled," said Grandfather. "No more arguments."

It was quiet for a long time afterwards. As Vesper heard the sounds of footsteps going towards their bedrooms, she wondered what the family had been talking about. She climbed onto her bed again, but instead of lying down, she sat cross-legged on the bed.

There had been a lot of fights since her father had escaped from prison. Vesper had no idea what they were talking about. Probable about some kid at work, she thought dismissively. She hated her father for what he'd done to them.

Trying to displace the gnawing feeling of hatred, she looked out of the window and noticed that the dog was still there. Well, it was hardly surprising, he was still severely wounded, but she had forgotten about him. When she was sure that everyone was safely in bed, Vesper crept out her room, got some milk, a slice of chicken from the fridge and went out the door.

* * *

Sirius felt like every part of his body was lead. He could smell blood and began realized that the left side of his chest and shoulder was hurting almost beyond tolerance. Normally he would have yelped, but he was completely drained of energy and settled of a soft whine. A softer voice answered it.

"You poor thing, I'm sure that hurts!"

The gentleness in it made Sirius forget what was going on, how old he was, the troubles he'd seen and think he was at home with his mother. He opened his eyes slowly. Everything was foggy and dark.

Something soft and wet touched the wound on his shoulder, making it sting. He whined, too sleepy and weak to do anything else. But the touching of his injury persisted, also brushing the gash on his side, which was close to his lung and the most painful. He let the person go on cleaning and soon it was soothing and he struggled not to drift off again, thinking of Harry.

"What ever happened to you?" the voice said. Sirius noticed that it was female and could tell that she was not really talking to him. "I don't think you could've gotten this in a dog fight."

Sirius remembered how. He had been stealing food from a muggle restaurant for the past weeks and apparently the restaurant had paid a man to try and kill Sirius, but was unsuccessful, not yet anyway. He remembered the pain as the bullets had collided with his shoulder and abdomen.

"Here," said the voice, he could hear something being pushed towards him. "Drink this. Come on, now."

He smelled warm milk, and for the first time in a long time, he wasn't hungry. Something was lifting his head. He could smell the milk just below his nose. He tried in vain to lap it up, but it was no use. The force holding his head above the ground laid it back down again and carried on cleaning the wound. He felt disoriented when all he saw was dark, even when his eyes where open.

"Oh, my," said the girl. "Someone shot you, didn't they?"

He whined in response and shut his eyes again. The girl must have cleaned the wound enough to realize what it was.

"Must have been twice," she muttered. "You stay here, Dog, I'll get you a blanket and things so you'll be comfortable until my gran can have a look at you."

Why not now? Sirius thought. He waited for long time, and drifted in a place between consciousness and probably death. Finally he heard footsteps approaching. The person put a hand to his chest to and then heard a quiet, "Thank heaven!"

The girl was back. She put something soft under his head and vague memory in the back of Sirius' head told him that this was a pillow. She laid a warm cloth over him and he suspected that it was quilt. It must be night, thought Sirius as he opened his eyes to see the mist and dark again.

During the assumed night the girl sang and cleaned Sirius' injuries again. She stroked his head and sang more. She often told him to stay awake. It had been a long time since anyone had cared for Sirius like this and at first he listened in amusement to the songs about the country, love, Christmas, and, towards the end of the night, songs that sounded completely made up. But he felt more like sleeping, which seemed to be forbidden.

Maybe she thinks I'll die if I fall asleep, he thought. But that seemed quite reasonable as the night progressed. Soon he inhabited a place between consciousness--a place where he didn't think, but merely watched as the world revolved around him, not taking any of it in or understanding. Finally, all faded gently and blissfully into blackness.

* * *

Vesper had spent all night with this dog and wasn't going to give up easily. But even as the sun rose the dog's breathing became more labored. She stroked his thin head and her eyes fell upon the milk jug and piece of chicken. She hadn't gotten a single bite of food down the dog's throat during the night and she knew that food was probably the best cure.

She touched his chest to feel the faint thud of the dog's heart. Vesper heard the rooster cry from their barn house, which wasn't far off. She stopped worrying about waking her gran too early. The dog would die if she didn't do something quickly.

"You're gonna be all right in a minute, Dog," she said reassuringly to the beast as she rose to her feet. The animal gave no reply, but lay motionless at her feet.

She sprinted up to the house with her thoughts racing. Of all the animals that she'd saved and found homes for, none of them had yet died in her care. She didn't like the idea of this dog being first.

"Gran," she hissed as she opened the door to her grandmother and grandfather's bedroom. Grandpa slept like a log.

"Wha . . . ?" muttered her grandmother.

"I've found hurt dog," Vesper whispered, knowing that it sounded stupid and not caring much, she had stopped caring about what people thought a long time ago.

"How bad?" Grandmother murmured.

Her grandmother Aradia was a kind woman. She had dark gray hair, lighter gray eyes, which were shining with anxiety behind her oval spectacles. Each line on her face was for all of the times that she was shunned away from a job because of what her son had done. Probably most them had come from all of the magical nursing at St. Mungo's that she had been denied. But she kept the run of the house and was the second in command apart from Grandpa Lucifer.

"Real bad," said Vesper. "He's been shot and I think he's dying."

Grandma Aradia sat up. Her fondness for animals almost doubled that of Vesper's. She got out of bed and snatched up her wand and bedroom robe.

When she went out the Kennel, she said, "Dear me, he's huge."

"He's really sweet, too," said Vesper. "He let me clean his wound and everything when he was awake. He kept whining though."

"Looks like a bullet wound," said Grandmother, entering the Kennel and bending down next to the dog. "How long has it been since you found him."

"Robert and I found him at sunset yesterday, we didn't tell you because Mom was angry."

"Did you spend all night with him?" asked Aradia.

"I woke up at about mid-night and came down," Vesper told her. "I brought him some food, but then I realized that he was hurt worse than I thought."

"And you didn't come to get me?" said the old woman crossly.

"I thought that you would want to sleep," Vesper muttered, blushing.

"Vesper," said Aradia exasperatedly, "if you ever think that it is a matter of life and death then I permit you to wake me."

"Yes ma'am," said Vesper, looking down at her slippered feet.

Grandma Aradia conjured a stretcher out of thin air. She magicked the dog onto it, quilt and all.

"We'll heal him up in the barn," she said. "I don't suppose you thought of a name for him while you out here, hmm?"

"No," said Vesper. "I was busy trying to keep him awake. I thought that he would die if he passed out again."

"Probably would," said Aradia. "I still can't believe that you didn't come to fetch me."

"I guess I was so worried that I didn't think," Vesper thought out loud.

"Vesper," said Aradia sadly, "You must understand that you cannot save all of the animals and tramps and strange beings that you come across."

"But I want to try," said Vesper desperately.

"Then you will fight a losing battle, dear," she said. "I'm just trying to ready you for the time when an animal does die in your care, as talented as you are in the area in of caring for the sick, wounded and homeless."

Vesper couldn't see when that would be, but understood that her grandmother was probably right.

They reached the barn. Vesper was very fond of this place. It was full of the smell of animals and life (though the smell of animals wasn't all that appealing) and she had played here quite often with Robert, sometimes they still did. Aradia magicked the dog onto a bed of straw. He twitched slightly.

Aradia took out her wand and pointed it at the dog's gashes.

"Accio bullets!" she cried.

Two small cylinders came flying out of the wounds. There was a sudden gush of blood. Vesper leapt forward and pushed the blanket up against the lacerations.

"I didn't know that was how you get a bullet out of wound," said Vesper.

"I developed it," said Grandma Aradia proudly. "It's a good thing that muggle-borns in the medi-witch business know about guns, or many wizards would have died for lack of information."

"Yeah," said Vesper. "And good thing they had you."

She watched with fascination as her grandmother healed the wound. This took longer than was normal because it was so deep. The holes in the dog's shoulder and side shrank into nothing. She stroked his head.

"Now, this poor brute will be needing some sleep. Don't wake him, Vesper, but watch him like a hawk. If anything's different, come and see me. I'll come back in an hour."

"Okay," said Vesper. She sneezed.

"I hope you put on a jumper last night," she said incredulously.

Vesper didn't answer, but sneezed again. She snuffled and looked up at Aradia, who said, "I'll bring you some pepper-up potion."

"'Kay," said Vesper.

The dog was beginning to twitch. Vesper smiled and creased his fur.

* * *

Sirius was becoming aware of his surroundings. He could feel a gentle caressing of his fur. He opened his eyes. Everything came gradually into focus. His shoulder and side weren't hurting nearly as bad. He wondered vaguely who had healed him. He looked up into the face of a girl.

He automatically knew that this was girl who had been caring for him all night. She had black hair, sun-tanned face and arms with a purple shall wrapped around her shoulders. It reminded him of the shawl his mother used to wear. But it was her eyes that startled him most. They were pale gray, like his--exactly like his!

He lifted his head, which wasn't nearly as heavy as it had been before and gawked at her. She seemed a little nervous. He suddenly wondered if he was still in his dog form. Without withdrawing his gaze from the girl, he moved his right front limb. It was definitely a paw. He let his body relax. The girl reached out a hand.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm not gonna hurt you." She touched his head and petted it gently and without fear. "That's it. You're a good boy."

He wanted to tell her same. He thumped on the ground his tail reassuringly. She smiled and Sirius had to force himself not to bark in surprise. She smiled just like he did! Or at least, like he had done many years ago. He looked around him. He was apparently in a barn; a horse stable was to his left, where three horses stood staring at him. Most of the barn was filled with hay and bags of wheat.

He recognized this place. He had grown up in this barn, playing and riding the older horse, which was the only living animal that seemed to recognize him. But how could he be here? What luck came into play, he thought, that I should end up here of all places?

A figure appeared in the entrance. Sirius surveyed her from bottom upward, comprehension dawning on him. She had long, old green robes on, a wrinkled face, dark gray hair and the eyes--the girl's eyes--his pale gray eyes. He forced himself to stay in his human form. The words were forced to stay in his head, Mum?

She smiled down at him.

"I see he's doing better," she said. Sirius' tail thumped again without him noticing.

"My goodness," she said, holding a wrinkled hand with an old wedding on it to her heart. "The two of you look so much alike!"

The girl looked at him and grinned. "They always say you end up looking like your pets," she said. "But instead my pets end up looking like me. Can we keep him Grandma?"

"I've taken a liking to him," said his mother.

"That's what Robert said," the girl told her.

Sirius' mind jumped to his nephew, who was called Robert. He had heard while in Azkaban that the moment his brother's wife had figured out that what he, Sirius, had supposedly done, she had left her husband and her son. He wondered how the family was getting along.

"I think he belongs in the Black family," she said thoughtfully.

"Robert and I think that he could rival Fluffy," the girl said.

"Who's Fluffy, Vesper?" asked Aradia.

So the girl's name was Vesper.

"He's that dog Dumbledore used to protect the Sorcerer's Stone--belongs to Hagrid. Robert and his friends told me about it."

"You believed them?"

"It was in the paper," Vesper explained. "About how Potter stopped Voldemort from regaining power and stuff in his first year."

Harry? Sirius thought. And had this girl said the name?

"Don't go saying the name at Hogwarts, darling," said the old lady sternly. "They'll think you're up to something."

"For saying the name?" said the child. "Oh, Grandma, it's not like they're going to pounce on me and accuse me of supporting Voldemort the moment I walk through the door! And even if they do, I'm not and that's the truth."

"But that doesn't matter if you're Sirius Black's daughter, Vesper!" said Aradia. "They've no justice for this family anymore!"

Vesper was silent. Sirius stared at her. His daughter, he thought. His daughter? How did he get a child? He and Alcyone hadn't even been married, but engaged; for fear that she would become a target if she became a member of his family, as he was very close to James and he'd been a legendary auror. Unless . . . that night before the Fidelius Charm had been performed . . . and Sirius had made that one wrong choice of trust. He and Alcyone had said goodbye . . . they'd done more than that . . . he regretted it now.

But Vesper was his daughter. There was no turning back. He had a daughter. So he had more to lookout for than Harry. And it sounded like she would be going to Hogwarts this year. She and Harry would be in danger--the two most precious things in the world to him. Yes, in a matter of seconds Vesper had become his pride and joy, even though he didn't know anything about who she was, except that she was caring and gentle.

Vesper sneezed again and he became concerned.

"Come along dear," said Aradia. Vesper didn't move. "It's not because of you, love."

Vesper looked up with tears in her eyes.

"Oh my darling!" said the grandmother, embracing her grandchild. "I would do anything so that our family would not be treated like this--anything so that you could say whatever you want and not be questioned for it!"

The girl hugged her grandmother for a long time. Sirius watched and wondered if his strength would allow him to get to his feet so that he could somehow try to comfort his mother and child. He decided to give it a try. He heaved himself up, but tottered on his paws and fell back to the earth thud and a crunch of straw.

"You can't get up yet, Dog," said Aradia, releasing Vesper.

Sirius whined in disappointment.

"I think you can get some food for him now, dear," suggested Aradia.

Vesper left for few minutes in which Sirius' mother considered him. He felt very nervous. What if she found out?

"You look so much like him," she muttered. Sirius was sure that she was talking about him in his human form.

After Sirius spent about five shifty minutes with his mother, Vesper came back holding a bowl and a chicken leg. Sirius' heart leapt. Chicken! She placed it before him and he ate the meat gratefully. He gulped down more warm milk.

"He was probably eating out the dustbins," said a voice.

Sirius looked up. It sounded like . . . but no . . . well, he was at the Black House . . . maybe it was him. It was indeed his nephew, Robert. But it wasn't the three-year-old that Sirius had left behind twelve years ago. No, he was tall, tanned (it was hard not to be in this area), and muscular. The boy continued.

"That's probably why he was shot, they thought he was a threat."

"Wonder if he attacked anyone," said Vesper, looking at him with a new caution.

"I don't think so," said Robert, coming over and patting Sirius gently on the head. "He's just so big--looks like a bear from far off."

"You think Grandpa will allow a pet?"

"I've just asked him," said Aradia. "He said yes."

Vesper and Robert cheered and coaxed Sirius to his feet. They had to coax him because he didn't want to move after falling before. Finally, Sirius decided he was strong enough to rise. He trotted happily behind them and entered the house through the familiar back door.

At table sat his father. But he wasn't how Sirius remembered him. He was not as tan as before, nor as muscular. He was balding, but what remained of his hair was light gray and almost white. Sirius knew that he was ill. His father, Lucifer, was reading the paper with Sirius' human face on the front page.

At the stove was . . . but, no . . . it couldn't be . . . it was her--Alcyone, the person he had loved. She had blue robes on and a white apron with a spatula in her hand, she had always been good at cooking. He noticed that she had a wedding ring on her hand. Of course, she probably would have married someone else. She looked down at him. For split second he wondered if he had ever told her that he was an illegal Animagus. But she smiled and said, "Quite a big one, isn't he, Vesper."

"Yeah," said Vesper. "He's really nice though."

"That's a relief," said Alcyone. "I've taken a liking to him already!"

"So has everyone else," Vesper giggled.

Sirius was staring at Alcyone with such a fixed stare that she suddenly looked frightened.

"Something in his eyes, though," she said. "Like he's seen terrible things."

"Well, he was shot twice and he's walking skeleton!" said Robert, patting Sirius fondly on the head again. "You can't blame him."

He felt quite at home for the first time in twelve years--and he was at home. Sirius lay down at his father's feet. The old man looked over his newspaper and down at him warmly--something Sirius had never even hoped to see again. He beat his tail on the ground.

"He'll be a good family dog," said Lucifer. "Besides, we've been needing one."

* * *

Sirius spent the whole morning following his nephew and daughter around. He found more evidence that what he had heard that morning was true. He felt a mad urge to become a father--well, to play the role of the father that he was. He chased chickens (something that he and Ceyx had enjoyed as boys), watched Vesper clean the owl cage, and reorganize a sock drawer. He'd almost completely forgotten why he'd escaped from Azkaban until about noon.

There was a sharp knock on the door. Everyone in the house had left for work, even his father, who, he'd realized with a sickening split of his stomach, was a janitor at the Ministry. All had left except for Robert and Vesper. He raised his head from the rug and yawned openly. Vesper looked up a copy of Wild Wizard, a magazine with a blonde man with a very toothy smile on his face. Apparently, this man's name was Gilderoy Lockhart and all girls went wild for him while Vesper would scoff.

"It's been ages since someone's come to our doorstep," she remarked as she made for the door.

The person, who ever it was, hammered harder than before on the door.

"I'm coming!" said Vesper. She opened the door with a faintly annoyed expression. "Can I help you?"

From where he was positioned, Sirius could see that the man on the doorstep was from the Ministry. He could smell others behind him.

"A-are you Vesper Black?" the man stammered. "Sirius Black's daughter?"

"Yes," Vesper said slowly and cautiously.

"We--we've come to take you in f-for questioning ab-about the whereab-bouts of your f-father."

"I don't know my father," said Vesper, "let alone where he is."

"F-failure to co-cooperate will le-lead to serious--"

"How do I know that you're from the Ministry?" asked Vesper boldly.

"If you do not cooperate, we will be forced to take you into custody by means of--"

"I'm not failing to cooperate," said Vesper as coolly as Sirius thought possible. "I want to know whether or not this is some big scam, that's all. It's not failure to cooperate--it's common sense!"

"Right," said another man. "Here."

Vesper took a piece of paper that he handed to her. She read it carefully. Feeling he had to help somehow, Sirius trotted to his daughter's side and stared threateningly at the five or so Ministry members.

"I see," Vesper muttered slowly. "Okay. I just want to leave a note--that's allowed, isn't it?"

"No." they all said as one.

Vesper looked taken aback. "Alright," she said shakily. "I'll just go with you then--without leaving a note."

They took her by the arms, as though she might run away and pulled her to the fireplace. She went quietly, but they treated her like she was struggling violently. Sirius growled and bared his teeth. He leapt at one of Ministry members. The wizard put a hex on him. He crumpled to the ground and was unable to move.

The Ministry members started a fire and sprinkled floo powder inside it. The fire became green. They forced the child inside and yelled, "Ministry: Interview Room four!"

And Vesper was whooshed away in a whirl of green flame. The Ministry members followed one by one. Once they were gone, Sirius suddenly able to get to his feet. He barked and scratched at the fireplace, more to vent his frustration and anger than to try and rescue his daughter. The door opened and he jumped, turned and snarled at the person in the doorway.

It was Robert. He immediately stopped acting vicious and mad and dashed over to the boy, whining and trying to communicate. He had completely forgotten that his nephew was still home. He had gone horseback riding. The dirt on his bottom suggested that he'd fallen off.

"S'matter, Dog?" Robert asked, bending down next him. "What the--?" He saw the green flames. "Where's Vesper, Dog?"

Sirius whined. "They taken her to the Ministry, haven't they?" said Robert. "Oh that damn Sirius Black--ruining our lives by what he did!"

Sirius felt a rush of guilt and an urge to flee. But Robert got to his feet and snatched his cloak from a hanger.

"I have to look out her," he said, more to himself than Sirius. "Stay, Dog."

He grabbed a handful of floo powder from the mantelpiece, through it in, muttered something Sirius couldn't hear and was gone. Sirius sat on his haunches, wondering what to do. If he went to save his daughter, the Black family would be in more trouble, but if he stayed here, horrible things could happen to his child.

Nonsense, he told himself, they're not murderers!

But then again, they had given him a lot of Veritaserum, which had nearly killed him. Veritaserum was not to be used in large quantities. But then, maybe the Ministry had changed. After all, he'd been in Azkaban for quite some time. He finally decided not to go, he didn't want to cause his family anymore pain.

He waited for, according to the clock on the wall, hours. One o'clock in the afternoon soon turned to one thirty in the morning. He was really beginning to worry. He paced the living room, explored the house, read magazines, paced the living room, read the Daily Prophet and paced a bit more. It was two o'clock a.m. when someone finally came stumbling out of the fireplace.

Sirius retreated to a distance, so that he wouldn't get in the way. It was his mother. She quickly followed by Alcyone, who had shadowed eyes. Next was Vesper. She looked terrible. She was white as a ghost, her open eyes were empty of consciousness, and her breath rattled like a dementor. Her legs were trembling so violently that they gave way instantly, as though they were water. Alcyone and Aradia caught her without effort, carried her to the sofa and laid her on it.

Sirius' father came after. He seemed furious, but didn't speak. Robert followed. He rushed to Vesper's side like everyone else did. Alcyone told him to fetch a blanket and pillow. He left obediently. Last was Ceyx, he hurled out of the fireplace and gathered with the rest of the family around the couch where the girl lay.

"How is she?" he asked.

The others shook their heads at him, except for Alcyone, who was kneeling next to her daughter and telling her that it would be all right. Robert came back with the quilt and pillow. Sirius was desperate to know what had happened. The family began to work. Aradia made for the stove while Lucifer went to the bookshelf, Robert went to the sink and Ceyx said, "I can't believe they would do this to a child!"

"How many drops did they give her?" asked Robert as he turned from the sink, holding a bowl of steaming water and a bottle of some leafy herbs.

"Ten!" said Ceyx angrily.

"Why?" inquired Robert.

"They want someone to pin it on," said Lucifer, pulling a dusty old book from the shelf that read: Cures for Common Potion Poisonings. "They want to prove it wasn't their fault. Anyone will do, even a child!"

Sirius had a pretty good idea what had happened, Vesper had been given too much Veritaserum in an effort to prove that Vesper was lying. He went to the girl's side and watched her chest rise and fall. He whined in worry.

"He knows she's sick," said Robert, glancing at Sirius, adding the herbs to the water in the dish and grabbing rag. "He knows she's his new owner."

He placed the bowl on the table next to the sofa and handed the cloth to Alcyone. She began to dab at Vesper's forehead, tears running down her face.

"And it'll never get better for us," she sobbed. "They'll always jump to the conclusion that one us did it! The Black family with never have justice!"

Sirius wanted to cry himself. So this was the torture that his family had endured. He began to loathe the Ministry for the first time in his life. Later he would say that it wasn't a healthy feeling. Vesper moaned, which was lucky, because Sirius needed the distraction from his anger.

"Shhh," said Alcyone. "It's going to be all right, dear. You'll feel better soon."

Aradia was making a potion. Sirius touched Vesper's hand with his nose. The girl looked at him and smiled. She looked so ill that Sirius had to look downward in order to stop the howl of misery from bursting out of his chest and turning back into a human.

"Put the dog out," said Lucifer to Robert.

Robert didn't seem to agree with this suggestion. "But I think he's--"

"An animal in the house is not what we need at the moment," said Lucifer. He was so stern that Robert obeyed instantly and dragged Sirius out the door.

Vesper looked like she didn't like this idea, but just closed her eyes again. Sirius could hear her mother speaking gently to the child even as he was shoved out the door. Once outside, he decided that he had to leave. He had to leave his family before it all became to much and he transformed without meaning to. He would kill the rat and save his godson and daughter. He would come back a free man and rid the Black family of the troubles that were burdening them. He would be back . . . someday.