Sirius' Shrieks in the Shack

"There's really nothing to worry about, you've seen Daddy do it loads of times."

"No. I don't want to," said four-year-old Sirius Potter. He was clutching his mother's skirt and refusing to move. Ginny placed her hand on his head soothingly.

"Tell you what, Daddy will go first then Lily. Okay?" Sirius just nodded. Harry had already put a handful of Floo Powder into the fire. He stepped in to show his young son that there was nothing to worry about.

"Number twenty four, Hogsmeade!" stated Harry. It was Ron and Hermione's house that they were visiting. Sirius flinched as his father disappeared in a fiery green flash. Lily simply stepped into the fire without a fuss and did as her father had done. She couldn't believe what a wuss Sirius could be. After Lily had gone, Ginny knelt down to talk properly to Sirius,

"Do you remember what it is you need to say?"

"Number twenty four, Hogsmeade," mumbled Sirius. Ginny kissed him on the forehead.

"It'll be over before you know it, sweetheart,"

"Can I take Beaky?"

"Of course you can. Go and fetch him." Sirius picked up his favourite toy, a large cuddly Hippogriff from the dining room table. It was a birthday present from his 'granddad' Hagrid. After Hagrid told him the story of how Buckbeak miraculously escaped the executioner's axe all by himself (Harry had never told Hagrid what really happened) Sirius decided to name his toy Beaky. It hardly ever left his side. Sirius stepped into the fireplace, holding Beaky tightly and firmly closing his eyes, he yelled,

"Number twenty four, Hogsmeade!"

~|~

When Sirius next opened his eyes the dizziness that usually comes with travelling by Floo Powder caught up with him. He stumbled forward and was caught by someone. He looked up to see a woman with bushy brown hair. She knelt down and began cleaning his sooty face with a handkerchief.

"Well someone's a big boy now, using Floo Powder all by yourself!" She took his look of dizziness for confusion and it was. "You remember me, don't you Sirius?"

"Sure you do," said Ginny as she stepped out of the fireplace making Sirius jump, "This is Auntie Hermione." Hermione gave her nephew a kiss on his cheek. He smiled now that he remembered her.

"Would you like some pumpkin juice?"

"Yes please," said Sirius politely. Hermione and Ginny went into the kitchen to get everyone drinks. Sirius looked around, exploring the living room. He had been to Uncle Ron's before but being so young his memories were vague. Lily had gone to play with the girls that lived next door to Ron and Hermione. Henry and Jonathan were playing outside while Uncle Ron and Daddy were talking about grown up stuff which Sirius found very boring.

"How's Donald doing in Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"Last time Hermione checked he's staying out of trouble," Sirius wandered over to his father and hugged his leg. He looked thoroughly bored. Harry patted his son on the head.

"This one's nothing but trouble. Aren't you?" teased Harry.

"I'm not trouble Daddy!" retorted Sirius grumpily. Ron bent down to Sirius' level, who noticed that people did this a lot when they were talking to him. He hated being little.

"I bet you'd like to go exploring with Henry and Jonathan. Would you like that?" Sirius smiled for the second time that day.

"Yes please. I would like that very much."

~|~

"Come on Sirius! Keep up for crying out loud!"

"I'm trying! Slow down!" called Sirius in his tiny voice. Henry and Jonathan had been asked to take Sirius into the shops of Hogsmeade. He was trying his best to keep up but his legs were considerably shorter than his cousin's. Harry had given them each a Galleon to buy something at Honeydukes. Just before they arrived at the infamous shop, Jonathan put his hand out to stop Henry.

"Hey, how about we take ickle Sirius to the Shrieking Shack instead. Remember that secret way in that we found?" Henry nodded in agreement. Their cousin was really boring and was basically slowing them down. It was time for some fun. They turned so that Sirius could catch up.

"Hey Sirius, how would you like to go somewhere really exciting? Somewhere amazingly fun?"

"I thought we were going to the sweet shop, Henry,"

"I'm Jonathan," he laughed, "we can go to the sweet shop later. First there's a cool place we want to show you."

After walking for several minutes they arrived at the Shrieking Shack. It hadn't changed much over the years, as it hardly ever did. Sirius clutched Beaky tighter then tugged on one of the twin's sleeves.

"Jonathan, I don't like this place. It's scary."

"I'm Henry and there's nothing to be afraid of," he said, trying to hide the amused look on his face. He pointed at Sirius' stuffed toy. "Look, Beaky's not frightened. He's a Hippogriff and Hippogriff's are fearless!"

"Well I'm not a Hippagiff," stated Sirius. Jonathan ruffled the younger boy's hair, much to Sirius' annoyance.

"Don't worry, we'll look after you." To anyone else his tone would have been unconvincing, but Sirius was persuaded to go inside. They walked right up to the house where the twins showed Sirius their secret entrance. Three of the horizontal planks were loose and could be pulled out far enough for someone to climb through. This required a considerable amount of force.

The twins both pulled the plank towards them while Sirius stepped inside. He wandered in a few steps then turned.

"It's dark in here," It suddenly became darker when the planks snapped back shut. Sirius ran forward to try and push them open again. His little arms weren't strong enough. "Henry! Jonathan! I can't get out!" He could hear their voices in the distance. In his innocent mind he decided that they must be going to get help. They were playing in the grounds outside the shack.

The only source of light was the few cracks in the walls. The windows were too dirty to let any light through. Sirius decided to try and find his own way out and started walking cautiously down the corridor. On the way up Jonathan had told him that the house was haunted. Sirius didn't quite understand what he meant but he was getting the general idea now. He walked straight into a large spider's web. He waved his hands in front of him frantically to try and get rid of it. Fragments of web clung to his clothing and face. He let out a shriek when he felt something crawl down his left cheek. In a patch of light he saw the largest spider he had ever seen scuttle away into the darkness. Sirius rushed on, gripped by panic.

He came to a large room with an old four poser bed. He couldn't have known that this was where his father's life changed forever. To little Sirius it was just another dark, dusty, scary room. The dust made him sneeze violently but the darkness terrified him. He felt all the way around the room with one trembling hand but found no other way out other than the way he came in. All the time he kept hearing creaks and worse noises from the rest of the house. It was as if someone else was in the house looking for him, waiting for him.

He sat in the middle of the room and held Beaky close to him. "I want to go home!" he spoke to the darkness. Only more creaks came in reply. He began to cry. Through his sobs he called out "Mummy! Daddy!" He buried his face in his sleeves, staining them with his tears. His sobs drowned out the sounds of the house until a loud bang made him jump up. "Who's there?" he whimpered. He walked carefully back into the corridor. There came another colossal crash. Choking back more tears, Sirius kept going.

In the darkness he didn't see the flight of steps leading to the basement. Loosing his footing, Sirius yelled as he tumbled down the steps. He landed painfully on his side at the bottom. His sobs became terrible howls of pain. The fall had given him some bruises but he only found out about his twisted ankle when he tried to stand up. He fell back down at first, shocked by the pain. He crawled forward, feeling in front of him as he crawled. He soon felt an edge. Pulling himself forward he peered over the edge to find a tunnel. Sirius' young mind was set on finding a way out of the horrible house.

He dropped down and landed painfully on his foot, causing him to drop to the ground. His cries got worse and yet no one came. No one could hear him. He used the walls for support as he pulled himself up. Walking was painful, but what choice did he have?

The tunnel seemed to go one forever and every step was as painful as the last. He bit his lip to try and stop himself from crying but to no avail. Every now and then he'd trip over a stone and each time he pulled himself back up. He wanted his mum and dad, to be held by them and comforted by them. Suddenly Sirius noticed how the tunnel was getting lighter. He was coming to the end, he was going home! He finally reached the opening and managed to pull himself up into the dazzling sunlight.

Meanwhile, Henry and Jonathan were still outside the Shrieking Shack. They had been playing for at least two hours and had finally decided to let Sirius out. They chuckled as they pulled the plank open. Henry kept it open while Jonathan called in,

"Oh ickle Sirius, playtime's over! It's time to go back to our house now!" The two of them laughed some more but when no reply or Sirius came they started calling his name. No matter how loud they called, there was still no answer.

"We've got to get help," breathed Henry who realised the seriousness of what they had done. Jonathan said nothing.

~|~

The bright sunshine hurt Sirius' eyes but he was glad of it. He was finally out of the Shrieking Shack. His side and ankle were still hurting badly.

"We're going home Beaky," he sighed. Picking himself up he started walking forward, not really knowing where he was. He could see a castle that he liked, but still he was unsure about where to go. He turned to look behind him to see if he could find anything he recognised. The first thing he saw was an enormous tree by where he had exited the tunnel. Sirius didn't know it, but he was face to face with the Whomping Willow.

The barbarous tree raised one of its branches and brought it crashing down to the ground, landing it just to the right of Sirius. The Whomping Willow is not one to miss twice. The startled child screamed as he turned to run. He tripped over instantly and fell on his front. He dropped Beaky as he fell. As the Whomping Willow raised one of its thicker branches Sirius covered his head with his arms and screamed. The branch came thundering down and then ...

"IMMOBULUS!"

The huge branch halted inches from Sirius' tiny form. Sirius peered up to see a man approaching him. It was a man Sirius didn't recognise. He was too tired and hurt to run so he remained curled up under the branch crying with despair. The man knelt down by the frozen branch.

"Well, it's been a long time since I last saw you. What are you doing all the way out here so very far from home?" His voice was gentle and soothing.

"I don't know you," whimpered Sirius.

"I don't expect you do. I haven't seen you since you were a little baby, but I know you, Sirius Potter." The man had a kind face, but Sirius still didn't move. The man picked up Sirius' toy and offered it to him. "You should take better care of Beaky. Hagrid worked very hard making this."

Sirius crawled out from under the branch and took Beaky. The man's smile seemed familiar, like something from a dream.

"How do you know my name?"

"Let's just say I'm an old friend of your parents. I bet they're at your Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione's house, aren't they?" Sirius nodded as more tears started falling. The man stood up. "Well then, that's were we'd better go." He offered Sirius his hand.

"My foot hurts really badly," whimpered Sirius.

"Then I'd better carry you, hadn't I?" The man picked him up and Sirius felt as if he had been held by this man before.

"Thank you," moaned Sirius.

~|~

"YOU WHAT?" exclaimed Harry. Henry and Jonathan had returned home and their story had a less than welcome reception.

"We tried calling him but there was no answer," explained Jonathan, hoping that the fact that they had tried to find him would make up for trapping Sirius in the first place.

"Let me get this straight," said Ron who was still shocked by how stupid his sons had been, "you took a four year old to the Shrieking Shack and THEN LEFT HIM THERE?" Ron's temper was long gone by now. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Hermione was just as angry as Ron and Harry, but a terrible thought broke through the cloud of rage in her mind.

"Harry," she said in a quiet, choked voice, "if Sirius has found the only other way out of the shack that would lead him to..."

"The Whomping Willow!" gasped Harry. He bolted for the door, followed closely by Ron. As soon as they opened the door they came face to face with Remus Lupin holding a very tired Sirius in his arms.

"Daddy!" wailed Sirius as he held his arms out to his father. Harry took the sobbing child from Remus and held him. Harry began to cry himself. He had gone from being so angry and worried to so happy so quickly that it overwhelmed him.

"Thank you Remus," said Harry as he held his young son close and took him inside. Ron shook Lupin's hand.

"We really can't thank you enough. Where was he?"

"I found him by the Whomping Willow. He'd just come out of the secret entrance. The Willow didn't hit him, but I think he banged himself up pretty badly in the Shack. I've seen to his ankle, it was only twisted. Well I'll be off then."

"Yeah, okay," said Ron absently. His mind was fogged with anger at what his sons had done. He closed the door and went back into the living room. Sirius was being held by Ginny. He was beginning to calm down, Ron wasn't. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO COULD BE SO STUPID! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?"

"We're sorry," muttered Jonathan.

"SORRY? SORRY? YOU THINK SORRY IS GOOD ENOUGH? SIRIUS COULD HAVE DIED!" He stopped to breathe. "YOU TWO ARE GROUNDED! THAT MEANS NO GOING TO THE SHOPS, NO GOING OUT AT ALL!"

"How long are we grounded for?" asked Jonathan a little too confidently.

"FOR AS LONG AS I BLOODY WELL SAY SO! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO ANGRY!"

"We said we were sorry," protested Jonathan.

Hermione was outraged at her son's insensitivity. "WE'RE NOT THE ONES YOU SHOULD BE APLOGISING TO! YOU MARCH OVER HERE AND APLOGISE TO SIRIUS!" Henry and Jonathan stood in front of Ginny who was trying to stop Sirius crying. The four year old couldn't even look at them.

"Sorry Sirius," said Jonathan bluntly. He hadn't really learned anything from the whole experience.

"I -I'm sorry, S-Sirius," stammered Henry as he began to cry. He had learned all there was to learn from the experience.