Whither Thou Goest

9- A Game Changer

ANNA'S POV

"So what have you been up to?" she asked Sirius, three weeks after she last saw him. She had gotten up before the students had and headed for the forest.

"Waiting," he said plainly as he popped a grape in his mouth.

She sipped her coffee. "For what?"

He leaned back, staring up at the gray-blue sky. "The right moment to get in. As you recall, my first attempt failed- miserably."

She chuckled. "Yeah. You did."

Sirius reached for the sandwich in the basket of food she'd brought along. Her stomach rumbled, making her yearn for one. But to think of Sirius's life, in Azkaban, the streets, the forest.

"So what's Harry like?"

The question shook her out of her thoughts.

"Um, see, well, I don't know him well, but he's a sweet child. Looks like him, you know, and has Lily's eyes-" she paused. He was looking at the castle.

"He is like Lily, reserved and compassionate. And kind," she said intelligently.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "James was compassionate and kind, too."

Her cheeks flushed. "No, he wasn't."

"What would you know?"

"Enough."

"Yeah, because-"

"Meow."

Anna looked at Sirius. "You never told me you had a cat."

Sirius looked at Anna, a smirk on his face. "I don't."

She got up to her feet, knife in her hand. "Hello?"

"Meow?"

A black cat with gray eyes popped out of the bushes. 

"Oh, by the Angel, another animal?" Anna said tensely.

Sirius stood up as well. "Yeah, him. He's followed me since the Dursleys."

She spun to look at him. "Sirius! How could you overlook that? He could be an Animagus! Did you even check? If he's followed you, he could be!"

There was a reason why he wasn't in Ravenclaw. 

He rolled his eyes. "Okay Mister Cat, are you or are you not an Animagus?"

 The cat bobbed its head.

"So... yes?" Sirius guessed.

She smacked him. "Obviously! Nodding means 'yes'!"

The cat bobbed its head again.

She grew irritated. "Okay, can you, like, change, please?"

The cat blinked its gray eyes. 

Gray eyes.

Oh, Merlin.

She pointed her wand at it. "Are you a Death Eater?"

It nodded again.

"Can you change?"

It shook its head, and ran deeper into the woods.

"Follow it," Sirius commanded, sitting down to eat his sandwich.

She shot him a dirty look. "You know something, don't you?"

He smirked. "Maybe, maybe not."

She huffed and ran after the cat.

After a good two minutes, the cat paused and sat down.

"Okay... can you tell me anything?" she pressed.

The cat dug under a bush and resurfaced with a scrap of parchment in its mouth, and handed it to her. 

It read in elegant handwriting:

DON'T FREAK OUT.

"Huh?"

POP!

Like a speed up film, the cat elongated into a tall human form with a head of black hair and gray eyes like Sirius's-

"Reg?"

The man nodded. "Anna, by Salazar, you're finally here-"

She slapped him.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she covered it with one hand while the other held her knife to his throat.

"First of all, Regulus, how are you alive? And secondly-" she slapped him again "-how could you leave me like that? You promised- you said you'd stay..." she trailed off, staring into his eyes, never breaking contact. They were still bright and intense, a perfect storm.

He shook her hand off his mouth. "Anna, you know I was a Death Eater- I found a way to do some serious damage to Voldemort- but I was severely injured- I stayed at Grimmuald for several years in a coma. I woke up a few years prior. Nothing was the same. I couldn't find you in fear of other Death Eaters finding you."

He backed up, eyes shining. "Please, Annalise, I am sorry, I just didn't want to lose you."

The words 'you already have' were lodged into her throat. But had she lost him? 

"Anna, please, say somethi-"

He was interrupted by her lips brushing over his.

She drew him closer, eyes wide and hungry. "I don't know if I can fully forgive you," she whispered. "But I missed you."

He pulled her closer, desperate for a spark, as the flame died thirteen years ago. "Yes, Anna, I have too."

His chapped lips crashed onto hers, claiming the territory with his tongue. She moaned and clinged onto him as if her were her lifeline. 

Regulus pushed harder, and finally, she let him in. Her hands roamed through his wild, unkempt hair, pulling him still closer. "I hate you, Regulus Black," she let out.

He smiled. "I hate you too," he said softly.

"HEY!"

They sprang apart, hearts beating wildly.

"I leave you alone for five minutes, and you're about to do it," Sirius shouted.

Anna and Regulus looked at each other.

"We weren't about to do it!"

"Yeah, 'cause you already were," Sirius said, leaning against a tree.

Anna grinned. "You're just jealous that Remus is not here."

"Rot in Hell," he growled, smiling however.

Regulus stepped between them. "Alright, you two, we've got to figure out how to get in. After that, our lives will be what it used to."

The three of them smiled and got to work, knowing the emptiness in his words.

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How was it? Comments are most definitely appreciated!! 😄

Thanks for reading!!