Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

10- The Break In

After watching Harry successfully catch the Snitch, during the Quidditch match, Sara and Sirius returned to the Forbidden Forest. Where they waited below the Gryffindor tower, until 1oclock in the morning.
"The lights have just gone out" Sara pointed out.
"Yes. Lets give it half an hour or so, before we sneak in. We need to give them a chance to fall asleep" whispered Sirius.
Sara nodded, and sat down beside a fallen tree, while she waited patiently for the students in Gryffindor, to fall asleep.
"It's time" announced Sirius, as he shook Sara awake.
She immediately jumped to her feet, and rubbed her eyes quickly with the backs of her hands.
"Sorry, I didn't realise I had fallen asleep" apologised Sara.
"That doesn't matter now. It's time to make our way inside" replied Sirius, before transforming himself into Padfoot.

Sara followed Sirius into the castle, for the first time in nearly 20 years.
She tried to obey Sirius's rule, but it was hard not to lose focus, and just look around the school, that had been her home for 7 years.
The portraits were just as magnificent as they were in Sara's memories, and the moving staircases, were just as grand as she remembered.
Hogwarts was just as exciting, as it had been when she had first entered, when she was just 11 years old.
When they eventually reached the portrait hole, Sirius turned back into a human, and removed the list of passwords from his pocket.

Sara recognised the knight in the portrait, that had taken the Fat Lady's place, as Sir Cadogan. He used to send students on strange quests, and ride around through other portraits, on his overweight pony.
Sirius read aloud the passwords for the week, off the piece of paper, and to Sara's suprise, the knight actually let them in.
"Who let that idiot guard the kids rooms? What if you had been a mass murder?" Asked Sara quietly, once they were inside the common room.
"I don't know. But just be glad that he is so useless, as any competant portrait would have refused us entry, even if we did that the password" replied Sirius.

Sara nodded, and smiled as she began to look around the common room. To her, being back there, felt like she had come home, for the first time in so many years.
"Remember, we have a job to do" hissed Sirius.
Sara sighed, and started searching the room, for any sign of Peter.
"I don't think he's here" she admitted, a few minutes later.
"I agree. You go and search the girls rooms, and I'll search the boys. Start with the 1st years, and make your way up to the 7th years. Meet me back here, once you've finished" insisted Sirius.
"Alright. Be careful"
"We don't have time for careful Sara. We only have a few hours, before they all wake up"
"I know that, but please, just don't get caught".

Once they had gone their seperate ways, Sara removed her wand, and began searching from room to room, for any sign of Peter.
When she reached the third year girls room, a small shape suddenly jumped towards her, startling her. But when the shape meowed at her, Sara relaxed.
Crookshanks meowed again, and began rubbing himself against Sara's legs.
"Shh" whispered Sara, as she scratched the cats head.
"I'm here on a mission. I'm not here to fuss over you" she reminded him.
The cat seemed to understand, as it walked back to his owners bed, and left Sara to search the room in peace.
With no sign of Peter, Sara stepped out of the room, and prepared to head up to the 4th year rooms.
But before she could reach them, a loud scream began echoing through the tower.

Sara sprinted back to the common room, and arrived at the same time as Sirius, who was holding a knife in one hand.
"Time to go" he said quickly, as he grabbed hold of Sara with his spare hand, and pulled her out of the portrait hole.
The pair as fast as they could down the grand staircase, and didn't stop running until they were safely back in the Shrieking Shack.
"Wha- What happened?" Panted Sara, as she desperately tried to remember how to breathe.
"One- One of the boys woke up as I was checking around his bed" revealed Sirius.
"And he woke up from his sleep, seeing you standing over with him with a knife, right?"
"Yeah"
"Then why the hell did you have your knife out?"
"It was Ronald Weasley's bed, so I was checking it extra carefully, as I know that was where Wormtail used to sleep".

"Used to, being in the past tense. Ronald thinks his rat is dead, so I doubt Peter is going to be sleeping in his bed anymore" reminded Sara.
"I know. But I had to be sure. Did you find anything?" Asked Sirius.
"No. I think we can rule out the Gryffindor tower, even though we didn't finish our search. When Peter finds out that we broke in there, he is definately never going to go back there again"
"I agree. Breaking into the Gryffindor tower again would be a stupid idea. I bet they're probably going to replace the portrait anyway, when they work out how we got in"
"So I guess we just roam the corridor's each night, from now on, until we find him"
"I don't see what else we can do... It's going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Hogwarts is so big, and we are trying to find one little rat, who has remainded hidden from the world, for 12 years".

"We can't give up though" reminded Sara.
"No. We must keep trying" agreed Sirius.
"Harry is relying on us to capture Peter, even if he doesn't know it yet"
"He is. And we can't let our godson down, can we?"
"Nope... But there's nothing we can do right now. Let's get some sleep, and then we can think of a new plan in the morning"
"Yeah... The Hogwarts security is going to be even stronger now though"
"I know. But there's nothing we can do about that"
"You're right. We just have to hope that we find Wormtail, before the term ends, and we lose him forever".