Fear of a Name

Chapter Forty-One: The Second Break-In

"C'mon Ivory, party in the common room!" Harry said, grinning broadly. "We're back in the running for the Quidditch Cup now we've beaten Ravenclaw!"
I shook my head and said, "I think I'll stay out here, if you don't mind."
"Sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Ok then," Harry said, then he turned and walked away from the quidditch pitch after the rest of the team, up to the castle, being followed by hundreds of cheering Gryffindors.

I turned around and walked to the Forbidden Forest, craving the coolness that could be found in the shadows of the trees. I didn't even care that I wasn't allowed in.
I mean, it's not like I can't defend myself, is it? And I'm pretty sure that's the only reason it's forbidden.

After about five minutes I came across something I knew shouldn't have been there — human footprints, far too small to be Hagrid's. I pulled my wand out quickly, a little on edge. The way I saw it, I had two options now — go back and try to forget the footprints, or follow them and see where they went.
After only a moment's hesitation, I started to follow them, ready to defend myself at a second's notice, should it be necessary.

A few minutes later I came across a little camp of sorts, where there was a black dog curled up on a bed of moss, asleep. I studied it curiously, then smiled slightly when I noticed the markings on its face.
"Sirius!"
The dog woke almost immediately, growled, then stopped when it saw me smiling down at it.
"Sirius, I know it's you," I said when he didn't change into his human form. "You know it's not normal for dogs to have a perfect replica of the constellation Canis Major on their face, right?"

At this, the black dog finally turned into Sirius. He looked thinner than he had when I last saw him in the Christmas holidays, and his clothes were dirtier than ever, but he smiled at me all the same.
"You're really very smart, you know that?" he said, sounding impressed.
"I'm not that smart," I said, shrugging. "I'm definitely not the smartest in the class, that's Hermione. She's the brightest witch of our age, apparently."

"You know, smartness is a whole lot more than bookish knowledge," he said, indicating for me to sit down next to him on the moss. "You enchanted that purse of yours all by yourself, didn't you?"
I nodded.
"You can produce a corporeal patronus wandlessly and non-verbally at the age of thirteen, can't you?"
I nodded again.
"You recognised me just now, and again at Malfoy Manor, just by the markings on my face, didn't you?"
I nodded for a third time.
"You're wise beyond your years, Ivory," he said with a small smile. "In time you'll come to realise just how much."
I returned his smile, then silence fell again.

"What're you doing here, anyway?" I finally asked.
"I'm looking for Pettigrew," Sirius said, suddenly looking murderous.
"He's pretending to be Scabbers, Ron's pet rat," I said, rolling my eyes a little. "Last I heard of him, he'd faked his own death again. But that was a couple of weeks ago now, so he might be back with Ron, I can't really remember."

"I want to kill him, Ivory," Sirius said in a cold voice. "He betrayed James and Lily; I want to kill him."
I half nodded, sighing quietly. "I know."
"I'm going to get into Gryffindor common room tonight," he continued. "I'm going to go to Harry's dormitory and I'm going to kill the filthy rat traitor."
"Oh yeah, because that worked so well last time," I muttered, rolling my eyes again.
There was another silence.

"Sirius, you need the password to get in, or Sir Cadogan's going to wake half the castle by yelling about trespassers," I said eventually.
"Who's Sir Cadogan?"
"The crazy knight who's replaced the Fat Lady after you tore her painting to shreds," I explained.
"Oh."

"So how are you planning on getting in then?" I asked curiously.
"I've got a list of passwords," he said, pulling a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket and showing me the long list of words written on it.
I read them all, then shook my head.
"No good. Those are last week's passwords."
Sirius gave a frustrated sigh, and started to stuff the parchment back into his pocket, but then he stopped suddenly and just stared at me.

"What's up?"
"You're a Gryffindor!" he exclaimed.
I nodded slightly, still confused.
"So...?"
"That means you know the password!"
"Well, yeah, of course I do," I said, and I was sure I knew where this was going now.
"Then you can help me!"
I sighed. I knew I really shouldn't be doing this, but all the same, I still hadn't thanked Sirius properly for getting me out of the Manor over the holidays and for giving me the necklace...

"Ok, sure. What're we going to do?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I still don't think you should be doing this," I whispered to Sirius as we approached the common room. "If anyone sees you—"
"I won't let that happen," he murmured, cutting me off. "We've been over this, Ivory; I'll be fine as long as we stick to the plan."
I sighed quietly, then nodded, still not entirely convinced this was going to work.

"What—"
"Pygmy puff," I interrupted Sir Cadogan, not wanting him to wake anyone with his useless rambling.
The portrait swung open on its hinges, and I climbed into the common room, checking nobody was there.
"Clear!" I hissed. "Mind all the rubbish on the floor."

Sirius climbed into the common room as well now, and the portrait hole clicked shut behind him.
"Now, remember the plan," he whispered, pulling out a knife. "I'll go and find the rat, you stay down here and stop anyone from going up the staircase."
I nodded, then whispered back, "Good luck. Remember, don't let anyone see you."
"I won't."

I watched as Sirius silently made his way up the staircase to the boys' dorms, hoping he would just find Pettigrew and leave, and that he wouldn't do anything stupid and unnecessarily dramatic which could get us both caught.

My thoughts were interrupted by a scream echoing down the boys' staircase.