That Emo Fangirl

   “I should think so.” Jack used his napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth. “If I were to venture a guess, it would be the Minister of Magic.”

   “What’s his problem?”

   “It’s not exactly a secret that Cornelius has always been somewhat envious of Dumbledore, especially when you consider that many believe Dumbledore should have been the Minister.” Reaching for his firewhiskey, Jack took a small sip, picking up his spoon again. “At any rate, his most interesting answer, for me, came from asking him whether he believed Black truly wanted to kill Harry Potter. Again, he was very careful with how he phrased it, but he spoke of how protective Black had become after learning that his best mate’s wife had fallen pregnant. Evidently, he routinely would refuse to leave her side any time there was a battle with Death Eaters.”

   “Death Eaters?” 

   “That’s what You-Know-Who’s followers called themselves,” Jack answered. “I remember reading about a battle nearly every day between them and those who fought against them.”

   Penny scooped up some of her own food. “What else did he say?” 

   “That Hogwarts is the safest place for the Potter boy to be, and that Black — mischievous as he was while at Hogwarts — had never shown a sympathetic ear to notions of blood purity.” Jack let out a soft breath. “Still, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t change his mind later in life.”

   “That’s a pretty big about-face, Uncle Jack,” Penny said, looking up at him. “Actions like the ones he’s accused of taking don’t just creep up out of nowhere. If Sirius Black really did betray Lily and James Potter, there would’ve been some indication of his plan to do so before they were attacked.”

   Jack shook his head. “According to Dumbledore, he was shocked to have learned of it. In fact, I would venture to guess that had the attack of Peter Pettigrew not occurred, he might have not believed that Black had done such a thing.” 

   “Interesting,” Penny whispered to herself. Maybe Dumbledore would be willing to help if he knew more, though how she would get that information to him without speaking to him herself, she had no idea. 

   “What about your interview with Remus Lupin?”

   Her eyes quickly met his. “I think I blew it a little bit. I mean, he seemed open to talk to me, but I could tell he was holding back a lot. I’m hoping I can talk to him again soon.”

   “Well, that’s not entirely surprising. You’re a stranger from another country, asking about a time that most, I expect, would prefer to leave in the past.”

   “Trust me, I get it.” And I bet no one wishes that more than Sirius.

   Jack finished the last of his curry, wiping his lips before he dropped his napkin onto the plate, which vanished a moment later. “Sometimes the best way to get someone to trust you is to trust them first.”

   Penny nodded softly, eating more of her own plate before she pushed it away, watching as it disappeared before her. 

   Jack downed the rest of his firewhiskey. “On that note, I believe I will be going up to my room. A bath and a good cup of tea sounds most excellent.”

   “You go ahead, I think I’m gonna stay up a bit longer,” she said, reaching for her butterbeer.

   “Not too late,” Jack said, smiling warmly at her as he stood and kissed the top of her head.

   “I won’t,” she promised, watching him go up the stairs toward his room. 

   She had been relieved that his meeting with Dumbledore had gone smoothly, but still wished she could be the one to speak with him. Not that she had much confidence in her ability to keep her cards close to the vest. She was all but certain that Remus knew exactly who her source was, despite her best efforts to keep Sirius’ involvement private. Still, the fact that the Ministry hadn’t paid her a visit made her think that Remus also doubted Sirius’ guilt. Or at the very that he was willing to give Penny the benefit of the doubt, at least for the time being.

   Standing from her seat, she pulled on her jacket and walked out of Hogshead, deciding to walk off her supper in the village. The cobblestone streets were nearly empty, dimly lit by the streetlamps that lined the road that wove through the village. The more she thought about her meeting with Remus, the more she felt as though he was her only hope to help Sirius in a meaningful way. If only she could be certain that he wouldn’t immediately run off and tell someone, and if she could be sure he even wanted to help Sirius.

   If only those damn Dementors weren’t lurking around all over the place, she thought, slipping her hands into her jacket pockets. She still had yet to see one of them, though she had in fact experienced the feeling they projected any time they were near. She had already made it to the Three Broomsticks and had ordered drinks for her and Remus when she suddenly had the dreadful feeling that her plans would fail. It was a heavy feeling that had fallen so suddenly and strongly that it could only have come from an outside influence.

   As she smiled at a couple walking in the opposite direction, a shadow at the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning in that direction, she leaned to one side, quickening her steps slightly. Walking past Zonko’s was a big, black dog, his head down as he moved in the direction of Honeydukes. 

The Dementors were truly beginning to get on his last nerve. Padfoot’s plan had been simple; retrieve a phial from Hagrid’s hut, take it back to the cave, where he would be able to infuse Wormtail’s fur into the chocolate. Of course, he’d needed to come up with another strategy the moment he’d left the hut only to find that nearly all of the Dementors were surrounding the forest. They’d never been able to sense Sirius in his dog form, but that didn’t prevent him from feeling their effects. And if his plan for getting the rat to come to him was to work, he would need to be able to concentrate while readying the chocolate. Such was the reason that he’d gone to Hogsmeade, hoping to use the fireplace in the basement of Honeydukes while the Dementors busied themselves chasing shadows in the forrest.  

   He had just passed Zonko’s, relieved that the cobblestone streets were relatively empty now that night had descended upon the village, when someone whisper-yelled, “Padfoot!”

   He stopped mid-step and turned toward his name, his tail instinctively wagging when he saw her. He blinked. Was she really standing there, in the middle of Hogsmeade? Or had he finally gone mad? Turning to face her, he whined under his breath, his head tilting on instinct.

   “Padfoot, come!” She motioned him to her with both hands clapping against the tops of her thighs.

    He obeyed without very much thought at all, bounding to her with the enthusiasm of a lost pet finding their human. 

   Penny knelt as he approached, her arms wrapping around him protectively. “I was hoping I’d see you eventually.”

  Padfoot whined again, his eyes fixed on her as she stood up and motioned for him to follow her. Again, he obeyed, hopping on his hind legs every once in a while as the excitement and concern over seeing her overwhelmed him in turn. She walked confidently into the Hoghead Inn, moving straight to the staircase that led up to the various rooms. Did she have a room?! How had she even been able to find the village?! 

   She led down the hall, to the very last room, where she pulled out a key and let herself in, holding the door open for him to follow. As she closed the door behind him, he transformed only for her to whip her head around. She brought a finger to her lips, her eyes wide as she gestured to a door on the wall beside the one they’d just come through.

 Sirius looked at the spare door, a silent breath leaving his lips as he slowly shook his head. As he looked around the room, the wand sitting on the bed caught his eye, and he picked it up, quickly waving it while muttering something under his breath. He looked back at Penny, the corner of his lips slightly raised as he asked, “Are you mad?”

   “You have to be quiet, Uncle Jack can probably hear us,” Penny whispered, gesturing again to the door.

   “He won’t, I cast muffilato. What are you doing here? I told you not to come.”

   “Yeah, I didn’t listen,” she answered.

   “Clearly not,” Sirius said. “And you say your uncle is with you?”

   “Yeah, he came along because he didn’t think it would be a good idea that I go talk to Dumbledore.”

   “You are mad,” Sirius replied, a subtle smile forming on his lips.

   “Well, takes one to know one.” Penny looked him over, a slight frown emerging after a moment. “You’re filthy.”

   Sirius snorted, lowering his eyes down to his torn prison uniform. “I don’t exactly have a shower I can use, do I?”

   “I’ve got one here,” she mumbled, pointing behind him. “If you want to use it.”

   “What are you doing here, Penny?”

   “I’m helping,” she replied with a shrug.

   Sirius groaned, tilting his head back in frustration. 

   “I think I may know a way to smoke Peter out. I was talking to your friend, Remus earlier, and —”

   “You spoke to Remus?” 

   “Yeah, earlier today.”

   “Remus knows you’re here.”

   “Yeah… anyway, I think —”

   “Which part of the Ministry would alter your memories if they knew you know about magic did you not understand?”

   “I get that, but —”

   “Then why would you —”

   “Oh my God! Shut the hell up,” Penny said, pinning Sirius with a glare. “He has no idea that I’m a merkle.”

   “Muggle.”

   “He thinks I’m a witch from the US gathering information for a book I’m writing,” she continued. 

   “Merlin’s beard,” Sirius mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face.

   “Although, he might have caught on that you’re my source for what I already know.” She winced slightly at the words.

   “What is it that you think you’ll be able to do by talking to Remus that I haven’t already tried?” Sirius asked, though he wasn’t exactly expecting an answer. “It’s not as though Peter would freely expose himself if Moony was the one to find him, would he?”

   Penny frowned, gently shaking her head. “I just thought that if you had someone else on your side, maybe Dumbledore would be willing to listen. You said yourself, he commands respect in your world. When he talks, people listen. If there’s anyone you want to know the truth, it’s him. It would just be a matter of getting him to believe it himself.”

   “I doubt he would.”

   “I’m not so sure,” Penny replied. “Uncle Jack went to talk to him while I was with Remus. He said that Dumbledore seemed shocked to hear that you were being accused of killing the Potters, and if it hadn’t been for Peter’s alleged death, he wouldn’t have believed it. That means all we would need to do is prove to him that Peter is alive.”

   “Right, well… I’m still working on that,” Sirius answered with a sigh, gesturing to the fireplace with his chin. “On that note, would it be alright if I used your fireplace?”

   “Yeah, sure, go ahead,” she said, stepping to one side before she added, “There’s something else Uncle Jack told me that I thought was interesting.”

   Sirius pulled out the ball of fur and chocolate from his pocket. “What?”

   “He said that Dumbledore seemed really pissed about the Dementors being here. That he would’ve sent them back to Azkaban a long time ago if it were up to him. It got me thinking about the fact that you never got a trial. Do you think the Minister could be working with Voldemort?”

   “I’ve no idea,” he answered, lighting the fire. “But I’m sure my escape hasn’t been good for his political career, I can tell you that for free.”

   “Well, no, but if he had a vested interest in having you arrested in the first place —”

   “I doubt that. Fudge was a Junior Minister back then. And anyway, it was Barty Crouch that was responsible for putting me in prison without a trial, not the Minister,” Sirius replied.

   “What’s his deal?”

   “He was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the time, though I think I may have heard something about him no longer being in that position ever since his son was found out to be a Death Eater.”

   Penny’s brows were furrowed, her eyes unfocused. “Would he have pull with the Minister?”

   “Perhaps, but I can’t imagine his reasoning for refusing me a trial went beyond him wanting to punish anyone who aligned themselves with Voldemort,” Sirius replied, pressing the fur into the top of the chocolate bar before he conjured a cauldron and placed the chocolate inside. “He’s a bastard, but he did take his job quite seriously from what I remember.”

   She shook her head absently. “I don’t know. Something feels off about the whole thing.”

   “Well, it isn’t terribly important unless I can prove my innocence. The only way to do that is to prove that Peter is still alive, and I’m this bloody close to doing just that.”

"If I can get Remus to believe me about Peter being alive, will you please let him help you?" she asked.

Looking up at her, Sirius could see the desperation in her eyes. Though he doubted that Remus would believe such a tall tale, he supposed that having his best mate on side would make his mission that much easier.

"Sure," he said. "If you can get him to believe it."

   Penny nodded. “Okay, well… why don’t you go have a bath? I can keep an eye on this for you.” She gestured to the cauldron on the fire. “You can sleep here too. It’s cold out, you’ll be a lot warmer here.”

   Sirius considered the offer, his instincts telling him that it was likely a bad idea while the Dementors were not very far away. All it would take was one whiff of him for them to swarm the inn. Although a bath did sound nice.

   “I’ll be happy for a bath, but I can’t stay. The Dementors are in the forest for now, but they could be here any time.” He thought about it a bit more. “Although, I suppose if I slept in my dog form, it would be safe.”

   She grinned. “So you’ll stay?”

   Sirius sighed as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Yes, but I’ll need to leave at first light.”

   “Oh, for sure. I don’t know how I would explain to Uncle Jack why I suddenly have a dog in my room.”

   He snorted softly. “Right.” Gesturing to the cauldron, he added, “When you see yellow smoke, take it off the fire.”

   “Yellow smoke. Got it.”