Mystery Girl • Sirius Black

Big Secret

Ailee had a secret.

A big secret.

A big secret that not even Lily knew about.

A big secret that Sirius would soon come to know.

***

It was a Friday afternoon a few weeks after the Hogsmead visit. Since their 'date' she and Sirius hadn't held hands again, but they were more friendly than ever and he was most certainly one of her best friends.

Ailee was sitting alone outside on a blanket by the lake reading and basking in the unusually warm weather. As an introvert, she really needed moments like these where she could just recharge after a stressful week of socialization.

She was so relaxed that she thought she would take a quick nap before heading in for dinner. Unfortunately, her body decided it was time for a full on sleep. She awoke to a night sky littered with stars and the grounds around her illuminated only by the full moon above.

But, the moon wasn't what woke her, it was the howling.

She quickly tried to pack up her things to head back inside. She had no idea how long she had been asleep but it had to be well past curfew. She was in the process of stuffing her blanket into her book bag when she heard movement within the woods just behind her. She froze and looked towards the trees when she heard a low growl.

Growling and slowly stalking towards her was none other than a werewolf. Her breath caught in her throat in surprise. The werewolf was large, sandy brown with golden eyes. It walked slowly, eyes never wavering from its pray, but before it could get within arms reach, a large shaggy black dog ran and placed itself between her and the beast barking and seeming to try to move it away from the girl.

Of course Ailee knew all about werewolves, she wanted to be a magizoologist after all. But it wasn't until she saw the dog that she remembered how werewolves would only be drawn to attack humans. In that instant she transformed. Her hair was replaced with fur and her hands with paws, a beautiful golden retriever now stood where the small girl had been only moments ago.

The werewolf cocked its head to the side in confusion looked between the two dogs in front of it. Eventually it turned and wandering back the opposite direction toward what looked like a... stag?

The black dog turned around to check if Ailee was okay, surprised to see her belongings on the ground and a golden dog standing he had seen her standing only moments ago. He looked around the grounds and sniffed the air to see if there was any sign of the girl, but there was only the golden dog with baby blue eyes and what seemed to be freckles across the bridge of its nose.

Surely he was dreaming. There was no way. No possibly way that Ailee and the dog were one and the same.

Of course they were one and the same. It really shouldn't have be been so much of a surprise to him. Of course she, of all people, would become an illegal animagus and risk going to Azkaban just to be able to get closer to the animals she was going to devote her future career to.

The Black dog padded slowly over to its golden companion. Ailee found the other dog very familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger.. (or paw?) on how.

She grabbed the strap of the book bag between her teeth and dragged it toward the castle. She found a secluded nook and was about to transform back when she noticed the Black dog had followed her. She tried to growl to warn it to leave her alone, but it just sat waiting expectantly, for what, she wasn't sure.

Finally, she gave up and transformed back into her human form regardless of the strange dog. She bent down to grab her bag when she heard a voice of a certain raven haired friend of hers.

"AILEE! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Sirius shouted. She whirled around and saw Sirius Black standing where the Black dog had been just a moment ago.

'Oh you've got to be kidding me.' She thought to herself as she realized he was the dog.

"AILEE YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" He bellowed. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING OUT THERE?! DO YOU KNOW HOW LATE IT IS?!"

"Sirius. I fell asleep. I'm not dead. But you will be if I end up getting detention because your shouting woke up the whole flipping castle." She said calmly, yet firmly. "By the way, when were you going to tell me you were an animagus?"

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Probably never. Not even Lily knows.. considering I'm an illegal animagus, I didn't particularly fancy telling every person I come across in case I end up going to Azkaban." She replied. "I'm assuming you're illegal too." She said lifting an eyebrow. He smirked back and nodded. "Well looks like we have more in common than we thought.. now can, you please explain this whole werewolf situation?!!"

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