Soon All the Suns Will Rise

Across the Hallowed Ground

Chapter title from "Howl" by Florence and the Machine

Warnings...Very Explicit. ❗️If you get squicked out by Omegaverse and all that comes with it, then you should duck out for this chapter. You know me by now— when I decide to go with something I really go there. 😆 This one is completely skippable.

(But if you opt to stay, let me know what you think...? 🐺 🌒 😉)
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Sirius obeyed Snape's orders and became Padfoot once again, but instead of returning to the shack right away, he sped off into the darkness to explore the Hogwarts grounds. He felt a burning need to become one with them again, to know the ins and outs, the scents, the trails, the hiding places. If this indeed was the site of the final battle, then he wanted to be an expert in the current terrain. And if he were to complete this soul bond according to the natural order of their connection, then he needed plenty of time roaming as his beast.

He charged through the tall spring grasses for over half an hour. Running on this hallowed ground gave him a euphoric feeling— memory mixed with purpose— in touch with the very roots of his magic and the reminiscence of where he'd first tasted freedom, fun, and happiness. Knowing he had Colleen here with him now, and that she could actually see it firsthand through the magical bonds that already connected them, made the high even better. Just as he was about to head back to her and share the power of his excitement, his eye caught sight of a small door at the base of the castle stone, just at the edge of the Black Lake. He trotted toward it, his wet black nose trailing the ground as a particularly potent memory filled him.

Lizzie. Sirius didn't know her last name, but the girl was the reason he had a wand, since his had been confiscated in Azkaban. Big, dark eyes, even darker hair, bright red lips. A bold, daring Gryffindor. Reckless, just like Sirius himself. She'd shown him this little door that guarded a secret entrance to Hogwarts, and she'd told him the spell to make it accessible, all on the Halloween night he'd broken into the castle in pursuit of Pettigrew. Lizzie had helped him escape capture. She'd been his first since Azkaban, and he'd been her first, ever. Merlin, he hoped she was happy, wherever she was. And her little secret passage may come in handy soon as the battle descended upon them.

Why the hell is almost every one of my good memories connected to sex? Sirius wondered, even as Padfoot. He truly was a beast. The blood currently pounding in his veins told him that. Adrenaline. Instinct. Aggression. He'd shown Colleen this side of him to a certain extent that one night at Grimmauld Place. But he hadn't been running as Padfoot for long that particular night prior to transforming back, and that night hadn't had the same grave significance this one did. The sense that this may be it— the last chance to hunt her, to capture her, to possess her, to tear his way into her.

He smelled her halfway through the tunnel. It was glorious— not just the herbal, woodsy musk of her perfume, but the very essence of her. The scent— like sugar glazed fruit drowned in sweet cream then warmed until piping hot— but more than that. Deeper, more complex, feminine, sexy...his.

While he'd been exploring, Snape had left the bag of provisions in the tunnel as promised. The man cared for them, whether he'd ever admit to it or not. Grateful, Padfoot grasped it in his teeth and dragged it with him up the stairs, pushing it aside with his nose once he reached the top.

He stood there, his panting breath on the air, lit by a single candle they'd managed to find among the rubble. Colleen laid on her side, her blue eyes almost a translucent gray in the incoming moonlight as she started solemnly through the generous cracks in the old wood. Slowly her head turned and focused on him, her expression a bit bewildered to see him as a beast, but also registering something else. Something unspoken, something he could tell mirrored what she'd been musing upon as she stared at the waxing moon.