On Saturday, Niamh, Harry, and Ginny plus one Altair Raven walked into Hogsmeade.  Hedwig had declined coming, claiming tiredness as her plea.  So it was the four of them, Harry carrying a bad slung over his shoulder that contained a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, some éclairs, and a flask of pumpkin juice.  He had snuck into the kitchens earlier that morning and gotten the food from Dobby.

After a few minutes of walking down the road that led outside Hogsmeade, Niamh let out a cry of, “There he is!” and took off like a bullet from a gun.  Harry and Ginny bounded after her, Jardin being shaken from his perch by the abrupt movement.  When they found the dark-haired girl crouched by a black dog so large and shaggy it resembled a small bear, the raven took a perch on a rock instead of his bonds shoulder, muttering disgruntledly in Harry’s head.

The teen blocked the birds comments and forced a smile at the dog.

“’Lo, Sirius.”

Sirius barked, eying the bag over Harry’s shoulder, then picked up a pile of newspapers rolled into a bundle and bounded off.  The three teens and bird followed him over the rocky ground and up a steep, winding path lined with boulders.  By the time they reached a narrow fissure in the rock wall, Niamh and Ginny were clinging to Harry for support.

The dark-haired teen pulled the two girls to their feet and pushed them gently towards the fissure Sirius has disappeared into.  He slung the bag in when they were through then slipped in himself.

Niamh and Ginny collapsed onto the floor, panting and leaning against each other and the dusty wall.  Harry looked once at them then over at the black dog, which had turned into his godfather.

Sirius was wearing the same ragged robes Harry has seen him in the year before and his hair was cut but as matted as ever.  One good thing was that some of the haunted look that had been in his eyes from Azkaban had faded.  But only slightly.

The man sat the newspapers in his mouth of the floor and reached for the bag, pulling out a chicken leg and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth.

“Thanks,” he said when his mouth was clear.  “I’ve been living mostly off rats.  Can’t make people suspicious.”

Ginny winced from her spot against the wall as Sirius beamed at Harry.  The teen did not return the grin.

“What are you doing here, Sirius?”

“Fulfilling my godfatherly duties, such as they are.  I want to be on the spot.  Thing’s keep getting fishier and fishier and I’ve got an odd feeling that something’s going to happen.”

“And what if you’re seen?” growled Harry.  “Besides, Da is here.”

Sirius scowled and spat, “He may be your father, Harry, but that doesn’t mean I trust him.  He was a - ”

“Death Eater.”  When Sirius looked at him in surprise, Harry continued, “I know.  He told me summer after second year.  But he wasn’t really.  His father forced him to take the Mark.”

Sirius looked disbelieving and opened his mouth to say something but Harry cut him off with a fierce glare.

“And I believe him, Sirius.  I don’t really care if you don’t, but I’ll hex you if you try to pick a fight with him.  I swear I will.”

Sirius stared at him for a moment then nodded.

“Alright.  No fights.”

“Good.  I hope you’ll hold to that.”

Sirius grumpily growled, “Just make sure he does.”

“Oh, he will,” said Harry.

“Can I at least hit him once?”

“No.”

“A little tap?”

Harry fixed his godfather with a dark scowl and the older man winced.

“Right, right.  Niamh, what are you looking at?”

Niamh peered over the newspaper she’d been reading and said, “They make it sound like he’s dying.”

“Who?” asked Harry.

“Crouch,” replied Ginny, peering over Niamh’s shoulder.  “It says he’s not been seen in public since November and his house is deserted.”

Harry arched an eyebrow at Sirius and said, “One of those fishy things you were talking about?”

Sirius nodded.  “One of them.”

Niamh chuckled and said, “A Galleon says Hermione’d say that’d he’s getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky.”

“Crouch sacked his house-elf?” said Sirius with surprise lacing his voice.

Ginny nodded.  “Dad said he did.”

“They thought Winky had summoned the Dark Mark that appeared at the Cup,” said Harry.  He quickly told Sirius what had happened at the World Cup then watched as the man picked up another chicken leg and rose, beginning to pace around the cave.

“So,” said the man after a moment, “you ended up sitting next to Crouch’s elf at the match and she said she was saving a seat for him but he never showed up.”

“Yeah,” said Harry.  “No sign of him until after the Dark Mark showed up.”

Sirius nodded numbly and mused, “And you say the elf had Niamh’s wand?”  He looked at the girl for confirmation and she nodded.

“Did you have it after you left the Top Box?” continued Sirius.

Niamh frowned and folded the newspaper, placing it in her lap.  She shook her head and said, “No.  I didn’t look for it until we were in the woods.  And it was poking out of my pocket when we were up in the stands.”  She looked sharply at the man and asked, “You don’t think anyone stole it when we were in the Top Box, do you?”

“Quite possibly,” replied Sirius.

“I doubt Winky took it,” said Harry.  “House-elves don’t have that type of cunning.  I mean, the only house-elf that could possibly come up with something like that would be Voldemort’s house-elf and we all know that he’s not going to be using a house-elf anytime soon.”

The other three people in the cave looked at him oddly and Jardin from his perch outside the cave said, < Never judge a book by its cover. >

Harry’s eyes flashed angrily and he growled out loud in the raven’s direction, “You think you have to tell me that?”

< Sorry. >

Sirius arched his eyebrows at Harry then said, “A good point, Harry.  Can any of you remember who else was sitting beside you?”

Niamh nodded and said, “The Malfoy’s.  But they were too far down to reach my wand.  And the only one near me who could have taken it would have been Harry.”

“Why would that be?” asked Sirius as Harry scowled at his friend.

“I’ll tell you later,” growled the teen.

“Harry…”

“Later, Sirius,” snapped Harry.  “Its too long of a story to tell right now and we’ve got enough going on right now without you getting angsty over my past!”

Sirius looked taken aback and Ginny looked a little afraid at Harry’s outburst.  But Niamh rose and walked over to her friend, touching his arm gently.  She smiled and softly said, “Hey, mate, its okay.  You don’t have to talk about it.  I’m sorry I said anything.”

And I get the feeling you don’t want Sirius to know, added the girl, able to talk to him through Jardin’s near presence.

I don’t want him going crazy.  I’ve had enough of my past this year, said Harry, sighing mentally.

Niamh smiled and squeezed his arm reassuringly.  Sirius looked between the two of them, completely unaware of the exchange.  Harry took a deep breath and turned to the man, saying, “Sirius, I swear I’ll tell you.  But not right now.”

“Right,” said Sirius.  “Right.”  He then picked up the loaf of bread and tore off a large hunk.  He pointed at the paper that Niamh had been looking at and said, “Going back to the conversation, that doesn’t sound anything like Crouch.  The man’s like a machine.  For him to reinstate the Tournament and have his elf save him a seat at the Cup then not appear at either occasion is not like him.  If he’s ever taken a day off work, I’ll eat that raven of yours, Harry.”

Jardin let out an indignant squawk and yelled, < You most certainly will not! >

“It’s a figure of speech,” said Sirius to the ruffled bird, taking a bite out of the hunk of bread.

There was a silence in the cave for a moment then Niamh asked, “You know Crouch?”

Sirius’ face darkened and he growled, “Yeah, I know Crouch.  He’s the one who sent me to Azkaban without a trial.”

“Bastard,” growled Niamh

Sirius nodded mildly and said, “He was thought to be the next Minister of Magic.  But the Dark Years changed him.  Sometime when people try to do the right thing they - ”

“Just end up screwing it up even more,” finished Harry.  When the other looked at him oddly, he shook his head and waved at Sirius to go on.

The Animagus coughed and continued, “Yes.  Well…Crouch abhors the Dark Arts.  When he was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Aurors had the power to kill rather than capture.”  He shrugged, adding, “Like I said, the Dark Years changed him and the world.”

“But after Voldemort disappeared, everyone thought Crouch’d get the top job.  Then his son got caught with a group of Death Eaters.”

“His son?” gasped Ginny.

“Good enough reason to hate the Dark Arts,” murmured Niamh.  Harry nodded in agreement.

“Was his son a Death Eater?” asked Ginny.

Sirius shrugged and grabbed an éclair and the flask of pumpkin juice.

“Haven’t a clue.  I was in Azkaban by then.  As far as anyone knows, he could just have been as unlucky as the house-elf.”

Harry eased himself onto a narrow ledge and mused, “I suppose Crouch’s son didn’t make it very long.”

Sirius shook his head.

“He lasted a year before he died.  Then Crouch’s wife died not too long after that.  Crouch lost his son, his wife, and his shot at Minister of Magic.  I get the feeling that this Tournament is him trying to get back to the top.”

“But,” continued Sirius.  “If he really wanted to get back to the top, he’d be trying to catch a Death Eater.”

“Snape?” queried Ginny.

“Maybe,” replied Sirius, glancing at Harry.  The dark-haired teen’s eyes darkened at that remark.

“Da’s not a Death Eater and he never has been.”  Harry clenched his fists and growled on, “If Crouch tries anything, he’ll face me.”

Niamh cast a worried glance at Sirius, who said, “I don’t doubt you could take him, Harry, but you can’t do that if Snape’s accused of something.”

“Why the hell not?” snapped the teen.

Niamh sat on the ledge beside her friend and said, “Mate, if you try and go against Crouch or anyone if they accuse Professor Snape, people will star to wonder.”

“And think of what will happen if the world were to find out you’re his son,” said Sirius.

Harry glared darkly at the two of them for a moment then his shoulders drooped and he nodded.

“Your both right.  I just – I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Snape’s not going to get caught,” said Sirius, trying to reassure his godson.  “I heard he was tried but never convicted.  Apparently Dumbledore spoke up for him and got him out.  Saved his sorry ass.”

Harry immediately glared at his godfather, who ducked his head and grabbed another chicken leg.

“Speaking of that trial, I’m surprised Moody didn’t speak up for him.  Snape was an Auror in Moody’s division.”

“Da told me about that,” said Harry.  “I don’t think he and Moody have been too friendly since that trial.  Seems to me they were good friends or something.”

“So you think Moody feels betrayed?” asked Ginny.

Harry shrugged in response then looked at his watch.  He looked at his two friends and said, “We’ve got to get on.  Time down here’s almost up.”

“Listen, Harry,” said Sirius and Ginny rose from her spot on the floor and Harry and Niamh slid down from the narrow ledge.  “Be careful.  I know the lot of you are Slytherins and have Snape looking out for you but I still want you – all of you (he eyed Niamh and Ginny as he said this) – to be careful.  The Third Task is next and if the first two tasks were anything to judge by, this next one’s going to be even harder.”

“I know,” said Harry as Jardin swooped in and landed on his shoulder.  “I’ll send Jardin if anything happens.”

“I’ll be waiting.  And be careful when you talk about me.”

Niamh grinned cheekily at the older wizard.

“Don’t worry,” she quipped, “they’ll think we’re talking about ‘Sirius the Dog’.”

Sirius looked at her oddly as she gave him a thumbs-up then disappeared out of the cave, Ginny trailing behind her.  The Animagus looked at his godson and said, “That is one odd girl.”

Harry laughed and said, “You have no idea.  I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t sneak out to do it.”

“As if I’d get caught!” cried the teen over his shoulder as he exited the cave.

Sirius walked to the cave entrance and watched as the three teens, Harry’s arms around the two girls shoulders, as they walked down the path and disappeared around the corner.  He shook his head in amusement and leaned against the rough cave stone, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Those kids are going to drive us all to drink.”