Hogwarts: The Missing Relative - BOOK 3 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

1: Sirius Black

I was sitting in a tree house in the middle of the woods. I had a backpack filled with food next to me. I sat with my back against the wall, staring at the entrance. At any minute, a dog would bark down below and I would have to help it up. I glanced down at the Daily Prophet that was sat next to me again. The headline was Sirius Black escaped Azkaban and it had a massive picture of a man with long black hair, empty black eyes and an expression of clear madness on his face. That was my father.

Suddenly, a dog barked. I immediately ran to the entrance and dragged a huge, black dog up into the tree house. As soon as it was up it changed into a man identical to the one on the front of the Daily Prophet.

'Hey,' he said. He had a gleeful grin on his face, he seemed overjoyed to see me.

'You said you wanted to see me,' I replied curtly. I was not very sure about this. I mean, he had apparently killed thirteen people. And now I was alone at his mercy. I would be the first to admit that I had had better ideas.

'You brought food?' he said, sniffing the air and I nodded.

He stared hungrily at the bag. I shifted it behind me slightly and narrowed my eyes.

'Tell me what you wanted to see me for,' I said, my face not betraying any emotion.

'You look so much like I did,' he said, 'And I am so sorry I have not been with you for twelve years of your life! You are so grown up!'

I hugged him and buried my head in his shoulder. I couldn't stop myself. He was my father, my father I could barely remember. He hugged me back and said, 'I didn't kill anyone. I'm not a murderer.'

I pulled myself away and brought my emotions under control then said, 'What evidence do you have?'

'This!' he said and pulled out a newspaper clipping. It was of Ron Weasley and his family. They were in Egypt and they were standing outside a pyramid. I frowned, what did the Weasley's have to do with anything?

'There,' said Sirius, pointing at a rat in Ron's hand.

'What about it? It's his rat?' I asked.

'Peter Pettigrew!' he spat, 'He was the one who betrayed the Potters. He was their Secret Keeper! Me and James decided that he would be a safer choice than me, they would have gone straight to me to get the Potter's whereabouts. We thought, just in case I cracked under torture, it would be safer to make our weakest friend the Secret Keeper. They'd never suspect it! But little Peter decided Voldemort was more to his liking than us and sold James and Lily out.'

'So... Pettigrew's Animagus was a rat?' I asked and he nodded.

'I never managed to kill him... The filthy coward cut off his own finger then transformed and ran into the sewers. I didn't get to shoot a single spell, it was all him... Those Muggles were caught in the crossfire, if I'd succeeded that would never have happened,' said Sirius, clenching his fists in anger.

I gasped. It had never ever crossed my mind that my dad might have been innocent. Remus had told me that he had betrayed Harry Potter's parents and sold them to Voldemort then went after Peter.

'Do you believe me?' he asked and I nodded, a bright smile appearing on my face. I pushed the bag of food towards him and he ate it all in about five minutes.

'That was delicious!' he said and let out a long burp, 'How is Remus?'

'He's fine!' I said.

'Is he OK with his transformations?' asked Sirius and I nodded. Remus was a werewolf and he used to have Sirius, Peter and James to accompany him during the full moon, now he had no-one.

'But he seems more tired recently,' I frowned, 'It started a few years ago, but since you got out he seems to be getting worse. Stress, I'm guessing.'

'Hopefully things will be better soon,' he said, 'How are you getting on at school?'

'Fine, I'm top of the class in most subjects! But I suppose it's because only me and another girl, Hermione Granger, actually study!' I replied.

'Excellent! You're going back tomorrow, aren't you?' asked Sirius and I nodded. Just the day before, me and Remus had been out shopping for all of the stuff I needed.

'Well, good luck!' he said, 'And, am I correct in saying that Remus will be teaching DADA?'

'Yeah, he is looking forward to it!' I said.

'Good, good!' he said before examining me closely, 'You're skinny, skinnier than me.'

'I'm fine,' I said, shrugging.

'Molly, I've been living in Azkaban, wasting away at the hands of the Dementors. You should not be skinnier than me,' he scolded.

'I don't have a huge appetite,' I shrugged again, 'I'm fine, I don't starve. I promise Remus feeds me.'

I glanced at my watch and realised the time.

I sighed then turned back to Sirius, 'I have to go. I'm really sorry! Bye!' I said and hugged him.

'I will be seeing you around!' he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I jumped down from the tree house and ran back home. I got to the front door and I almost screamed when it was pulled open. I looked down immediately, avoiding the eyes of the figure standing at the door. I fidgeted with my hands, refusing to look up. I was in huge trouble.

'Where have you been?' Remus was not happy, 'I've been worried sick.'

'Er...' I felt guilty, 'I needed some fresh air...'

'Molly, it's too dangerous!' Remus pulled me inside quickly, 'Your dad... This will be one of the first places he will come and I don't want him to hurt you. If he did, I couldn't live with myself. You can't just go wandering about!'

'He's my dad!' I argued, 'He wouldn't hurt me!'

'He's unstable, nobody knows what he's capable of,' Remus told me, 'He hated your mother, for all we know he could hate you just as much. I don't want you to get hurt. Go to your room and do not even think about doing some midnight wandering again.'

'Sorry...' I sighed. I knew he was looking out for me but he was being so blind.

I closed my eyes and smiled. My dad was innocent. At least I knew that if no-one else did. I fell asleep quickly that night and dreamt of Hogwarts and how great it would be to get back...