When I woke up, I was alone in the tiny cave. Sirius had used candlewax to spell out on his towel 'Stay.'
I sighed. What was I supposed to do now? No doubt wizards everywhere were on a worldwide manhunt for us. I had no money, or decent clothes, so I couldn't just leave this place. As soon as I finished that though, I watched through the dim light as the sand in front of me shifted, and a dog squeezed itself through a tiny opening. I watched as he transformed back into a human, dropping some cellophane packages of chips from his mouth. "Good morning!" He said, still sounding kind of tired.
"Morning," I yawned in return. He tossed me a bag of chips. "Thanks."
He grunted, and started digging into his chips.
"So what now?"
He frowned. "The best bet would be to wait until the beach gets less crowded tonight... Then we head out."
"Head out where? Where are we going?"
"Welll, I'm going to Hogwarts. I'm not sure where you're going. Wherever you want, I suppose." He flinched, like he thought I was going to get mad.
He was right. "What?! I think I'm going with you. I didn't just escape from prison with you so we just split up when we leave."
"Nathascha..." He looked at me cautiously. "It's just not a good idea. I'll go out later as a dog and steal you some clothes and money. I'll make sure you're taken care of, trust me."
"No! That's not fair. I'll help you find Pettigrew!" I slammed my fists into the sand.
Sirius closed his eyes. "It's just not a good idea."
"Quit saying that!"
"I'm gonna go find you some decent clothes." And with that, he turned back into a dog and tunneled out of our little room.
I fell onto the ground and screamed into my towel. Goddammit, why would he do that to me? Geez. I left Azkaban to stay with him, and now he's just going to leave me?! What the hell. I considered climbing out of our cave and just turning myself in. It would be easy.
I sat brooding for God-knows-how-long before Sirius came back, clothes slung over his back and a wallet in his mouth. He bacame human again and cleared his throat. "So... You really have no idea how many people don't watch their stuff."
"That's nice," I muttered, still mad.
"I'd appreciate it if you put some clothes on..." He tossed a pair of women's shorty-shorts and a man's baggy t-shirt at me. It landed on my head and I left it there.
"Why do you care?" I asked, muffled. "We've shared a cell together. You've seen me without pants on while I'm on the toilet countless times."
"No, I haven't. I always looked away."
"Lies!" I ripped the sun-warmed clothes off my face. "You're a man. I'm sure you looked."
Sirius gave me an odd look. "Nathascha, when you came into my cell, you were 16. I was 32. I could be your dad if I had you young. You were too young for me to look at you like that."
"What about now?" I asked it before I thought about it. Something I do entirely too much.
"Nathascha." I saw him start to look me up and down, but he turned away.
"What?"
"Just... Please get dressed." He started rifling through the wallet he grabbed. I got dressed in silence. I wasn't sure what to think. I mean, I was a young hormonal girl, and he was the only guy I ever really saw... So, yea, I looked at him. It was weird thinking he hadn't looked at me. Or was I that ugly? I hadn't looked in a mirror in 2 years, maybe I was. I settled back down into my little spot and continued thinking. "Okay, there's 57 dollars in this wallet. I'm sorry it's not more..."
I waved my hand. "It's fine. I'll make it work." I kept my gaze down.
"I think I'm ready to start my journey, to find Peter. What are you going to do?" Sirius just sounded so awkward right now.
I shrugged. "I'm probably gonna use this money to get to my parent's. No matter what, they'll help me out... I'm sure of it."
"What if they don't?"
"No idea. I'll wing it after that."
"I don't want to leave you without a plan, Nathascha." I hated how he said my name so often. It just grinded on my nerves.
I bit my lip and looked him in the eyes. "I think you should have thought of that before you decided that you were just going to leave me behind! 'Ooh, Nathascha, come with me so I can see you sometime in the next 40 years...' You failed to tell me you were just going to leave me out of your plans! Thanks."
He looked ashamed. "I'll keep in touch. I promise. I will owl you, I will Floo-network you, I don't care. I will always make sure that you are taken care, and that I talk to you whenever I can. I can't take you to Hogwarts with me. They'll find you in an instant. You're not an animagus, you can't hide out anywhere too inconspicuous. I dont' want to have to watch over you 24/7. Trust me, I will come find you after I do what I need to. I will. Okay?"
I couldn't deny that he had it all planned out just a little better than I had thought. But it wasn't fair! He should have discussed all this with me first... I opened my mouth, but I didn't want to fight with him. I didn't know how long it was going to be before I got to see his face again. "Okay," I finally said.
He stood up and extended his hand to me. I grasped it and he pulled me up and into a hug. "I'll miss you Nathascha. Don't do anything too dangerous or stupid.. Be safe." His voice sounded thick.
I took a deep breath. "I-I'll miss you too, Sirius." I hugged him tighter. He leaned his forehead against mine and stared into my eyes. His eyes were kind of moist looking. His eyes closed and he tilted his head and gently pressed his lips against mine.
"What was that?!" I jerked away.
"Just a little good-bye kiss." He looked a little insulted that I pulled away, but he covered it with a smile. "Don't go kissin' on other boys while I'm gone."
"We're not dating."
"Not yet." He winked and turned into a dog, digging a hole big enough for me to climb out. It was dusk, and there were only a couple of people out on the beach. I looked down at the dog. He looked back at me, barked, and ran off down the beach. I grabbed some mismatched flip-flops off the ground and headed towards the water. I looked at my relection. I was all cut up and my hair was pretty messy. I combed it with my fingers and thought about what Sirius said. First he told me he never looked at me because I was too young, THEN he kissed me and hinted at being with me?! Geez. That guy. I missed him already.
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