A/N: Wow. Needless to say, it's been awhile. I seriously doubt I'll have any of my old readers, but maybe I can get some new ones, eh? On the bright side of things, I have more than one chapter to put up, so it won't be so long between updates anymore. :D

Chapter Seven

Sirius had been following the boys for some time now. It was such a shock to have found Harry alive, that Sirius wasn't sure that is had completely sunk in. His godson, Harry for Merlin's sakes, was alive and just a few yards away! And he looked so much like James that on some level it physically hurt. His eyes were all Lily, and that kind of hurt too.

It was like looking into the faces of his two best friends, and he had a sudden urge to transform right then and there and beg for their forgiveness. But then common sense would break through, and Sirius would realize that this was Harry.

And even though Harry did deserve his apologies and pleas, he was smart enough to realize that he had to approach this situation cautiously. He would not be revealing himself until he had a firm grasp of the situation.

It looked like, for all intents and purposes, that Harry had been brought up a muggle. Otherwise, Sirius had a hard time believing that Harry and his two pals would be so utterly lost. Fortunately for them, they were on the right path to the stream, which would then lead them to the main road. From there, Sirius would play it by ear, but he would not let his godson out of his sight now. Not when he had just found him.

Something nagged at the back of his mind now. Everything that he had been preoccupied with earlier had flown from his mind with the shock of finding his godson alive. However, there was something that wouldn't leave Sirius in peace to observe his godson.

He took a deep breath, exasperated with the nagging feeling, and froze.

The other scent.

There was someone else in this forest that Sirius had come upon one time or another in his animagus form, otherwise he would not be able to recognize the scent. For the life of him, he could not place it, but considering that the only people he had been smelling these past years were Azkaban criminals, Death Eaters, the Ministry, and the Order, well, it wasn't a good sign.

If someone else was in this forest, that could only mean that either they were here for him or for Harry. Sirius would be damned if he would let any harm come to his godson. So, with a regretful glance at the head of messy black hair, Sirius followed his nose to where he could smell that other familiar scent.

He was just glad he had a wand on him, if it came down to a fight.

"Argh! That little bastard! We've been sitting here for twenty minutes already! It shouldn't be taking him this long to find that damned ring!" exclaimed Cecilia.

Rich shrugged. "Maybe he had to take a crap."

Cecilia glared at him. "Knowing Harry, that's probably what he's doing. And just to piss me off too."

Deek shifted uncomfortably in the back seat, shooting a look at Cecilia, who was mumbling under her breathe. He gazed again towards the woods.

"Hey Deek, are you okay?" asked Rich. He had noticed Deek's odd behavior.

"I'm okay." Deek didn't even spare Rich a glance, his eyes firmly fixed on the woods.

Another car passed by theirs, the force of it's speed gently rocking their car. Cecilia sighed and leaned her seat back.

"Hey! I'm sitting here!" yelped Rich.

"So? This is my car! And If I'm going to be forced to wait, then I'm getting comfortable!"

"Yeah, well you don't have to get so comfortable on my lap," grumbled Rich.

Cecilia, hearing Rich's disgruntled mutters, turned around and smacked him upside the head.

"Hey! What was that for!" he asked, trying to rub the sting out of his ear.

"That was for you being a pervert," she said calmly.

Rich just rolled his eyes.

"I think I'll go look for him," Deek spoke up suddenly.

"Deek, be cool man. I'm sure he really is shitting in the woods. He'll probably be back here in ten minutes tops, and then we can make fun of him for being bearish."

"Bearish?" asked Cecilia, turning around in her seat to regard the other two.

Rich nodded with a grin. "Yeah, bearish. Apparently when Harry was doing his business in a bush earlier, he saw a bear, and it attacked him."

Cecilia laughed. "And you didn't see this bear?'

"Naw, I'm sure he got spooked by a deer or something. I'm pretty sure there aren't any bears in these woods."

"You know, when Harry was little, Mom used to call him 'Harry Bear'," smirked Cecilia.

Rich's eyes lit up. "Oh man! Did you hear that Deek! If Harry thought he was ever going to live it down, there's no way in hell he will now!"

Deek didn't say anything, his thoughts obviously somewhere else, and his gaze still glued to the forest. Rich and Cecilia shared a look.

"Hey, Deek, if Harry isn't back in another ten minutes, then we'll go look for him. Don't worry so much," said Cecilia.

Deek let out a whoosh of air, as if he had been holding his breathe. "Yeah, that's fine."

Rich and Cecilia shared another look. This wasn't at all like their friend.

"Okay! That's it! I've had enough of waiting!" exclaimed Deek.

The other two inhabitants of the car jumped in surprise and Deek's loud proclamation. Deek threw open the back door to Cecilia's car and bolted towards the woods.

"Wha -"

"Geez! Something's up with him. Come on Dick. We can't have both of them lost in the woods," said Cecilia, opening her own door.

"Wait for - Hey! Don't call me Dick!"

Harry was asleep. He was pretty sure of it, and the dream he was in was rather curious. It was a dream that he hadn't dreamt of since he was in elementary school, he was sure, but all the same he was aware, on some deep level, that he was dreaming this odd dream again.

"Are you lost too?"

The figure flinched, holding up its hands as if expecting a physical blow, and huddled as far as it could between a trash can and the side of the brick building. Harry couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but whoever it was seemed cold. The little body was racked with shivers.

"Here," said Harry. He gently wrapped the shivering figure in Dudley's old coat.

The figure was stock still, as if in shock, but it didn't say a word. Harry shrugged and continued walking down the long alleyway between two large brick buildings. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would probably be mad that he had given his coat away. They probably wouldn't let him have another one.

And so Harry continued looking for the hotel his relatives were staying at. Uncle Vernon would be very angry if he didn't make it back before nightfall. His uncle would usually leave him places like the grocery or the shoe store, and Harry always had to find his own way back home. It's just that here, he really didn't know this place as well as he did Little Whinging.

Harry blinked his eyes against the bright sun. He had been dreaming, but it was slowly slipping away. He tried to remember any details, and he was rewarded with an image of a very large coat and feeling cold. It had been very cold.

Harry groaned. If only it was cold now. The summer weather was not doing anything to help Harry's situation. He was hurt, sweaty, and utterly without a shirt on. This was something he realized when he felt a stick tearing at his bare flesh as he moved his back against the ground.

"Argh God! What the hell . . ."

He pulled out his cell phone. Although it had been acting funny earlier, it seemed fine now, and the time seemed to be right too.

"Ergh, nine. I'd still be asleep if I was home."

It was then that Harry suddenly realized how he had gotten in this situation. He slapped his hand across his mouth, wondering furiously how loud he had been. Surely not too loud? He strained his ears, but all he could hear was the sounds of the forest.

"Oh God," he whispered to himself. He was in some sort of teenage horror flick. There was a murderous psycho out there wanting to kill him. Harry felt like he was going to be ill. According to horror flick guidelines, his sister and friends were probably already dead too.

"Oh God."

A sudden noise made him almost cry out in surprise. He barely caught himself. Jesus, were those foot steps? Shit, shit, shit, shit! He was so dead! He was beyond dead! He wouldn't be able to fight, or run, or probably even scream! This sick fuck was going to kill him and he -

"Harry?"

His heart almost burst he was so scared, but as the voice registered in his mind, he couldn't help but welcome the waves of relief as they soothed his frazzled nerves.

"Oh my God! Deek? Is that you?"

The leaves and branches of his bush were pushed out of the way, and Harry had never been so happy to see the face of Deek Daniels.

"Harry! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Later! We have to get out of here now! Help me to the car!"

"Can you stand?" asked Deek, already dragging Harry out from the bush.

"Only one way to find out," he replied. Harry managed to make it to his feet, but every time he put so much as the littlest pressure on his injure foot, white hot pain would bloom behind his eyelids. He felt queasy.

Seeing his friend's pain, Deek threw Harry's arm around his shoulders, giving Harry the needed support, and they shuffled as fast as they possibly could back to the car.

Both Harry and Deek were panting for breath as they worked their way through the forest. Harry absently wondered why Deek wasn't demanding an explanation to Harry's admittedly odd behavior, but Harry had no intentions to explain himself now or to look the gift horse in the mouth.

He wasn't surprised that they ran into Rich and Cecilia, obviously looking for him too.

"Man Harry! What did you do to yourself?" asked Rich, taking in the two panting figures in front of him.

"N-no time! We ha-have to get to the car! Now!"

"Huh?" Rich scratched his head.

"Fine by me! I've been ready to leave for ages!" exclaimed Cecilia, throwing up her arms and turning back towards the car.

The scent had been jumping around, and it was driving Sirius crazy. Every time he'd think he was upon it, it would suddenly go cold.

And then, to Sirius's astonishment, the quarry in question literally ran right in front of him.

Sirius, still in his animagus form, blinked. Without further pause, he took off after the scent, which he now could see was a man in tattered dark wizarding robes. If he had to bet money, Sirius would bet it was Death Eater robes. That meant that Death Eaters were here, in America of all places, for some reason. And considering that Harry Potter was in the immediate area, it wasn't hard to figure out why.

Sirius growled. There was no way in hell that the mangy Death Eater would ever lay a finger on his godson!

With this thought in mind, Sirius tackled the man from behind, snarling and biting, his teeth ripping the flesh of whoever this Death Eater was. And just as suddenly, Sirius transformed into a man, laying a mighty punch to the Death Eater's head. The Death Eater was out cold.

Growling in a very animalistic way, Sirius dug into his coat and pulled out his wand - after all, it was silly to wear wizarding robes when he hid so much in the muggle world - and he stunned the man for good measure, along with a well placed Incarcerous.

This piece of Death Eater scum was going no where.

Sirius looked hard at the man's gaunt features, and with a shock of realization, knew who it was.

Barty Crouch Jr.

Sirius needed answers. He double checked the bonds on the Death Eater, making sure they were nice and tight. A quick search of the tattered robes revealed a wand, which Sirius pocketed. You could never have too many wands.

So, with a wave of Sirius' favored wand, Crouch eye's snapped open.

"Black," he snarled.

"Crouch," Sirius returned with just as much venom.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" Crouch glared.

"And why am I surprised to find you?" Sirius returned, his glare just as vicious.

Crouch smiled. It was a rather maniacal smile. It was obvious by his appearance that Azkaban had done a much worse number on the Death Eater than it ever had on Sirius.

"I thought you were dead. I remember the Aurors removing your rotting corpse," stated Sirius, his wand pointed at Crouch in case he decided to try something funny.

"Ah, yes, my dear mother. I'm afraid that was who you saw. The sweet dear traded places with me. She couldn't bear to see her poor son locked away."

Sirius made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. "And what are you doing here?"

Crouch laughed. "I'm here on vacation!"

Sirius snorted. "I highly doubt that. Why did you stinking master send you all the way to America? Surely he wasn't after little old me, hmm?"

Crouch gave a short, harsh laugh again. "Don't think so highly of yourself Black! I was sent on a much more important mission!"

Sirius raised his eyebrows, taking in the crazed man's features.

"Once again, I highly doubt that. I sincerely disbelieve that Voldemort would ever send you on any kind of important mission. Maybe you were telling the truth. You'd more likely be here on vacation than on a mission."

The effect was instantaneous.

"You are wrong! The Dark Lord has entrusted me with capturing the Potter boy! I will be the most esteemed of all his servants! I will be his right hand man! I will be honored -"

"Yeah, yeah. I think I've found a flaw in your plan. Harry Potter's been dead for years. You're chasing after a ghost, Crouch!"

"No! You are wrong Black! Potter is alive! And I will bring him to my mast -"

"No, I think you're full of shit."

Crouch was getting angrier by the minute. Sirius was silently pleased with himself. If you wanted to get someone to talk without the aid of a potion, a bribe, or a little torture, you either had to bait them or get

them drunk. It was especially going well because of Crouch's unbalanced mental state. More often than not, if the person was really smart, baiting them wouldn't work.

"So, my Death Eater friend, how in the world could you track down a dead person? I really think you're pulling my leg. I mean, if Voldemort was going to send someone to fetch a dead boy, I'd think that my cousin Bellatrix would be more of a safe bet."

"Do not dare doubt me! I am ten times the Death Eater that foul bitch Bellatrix is!"

Sirius snorted. "Once again, I highly doubt that."

"My Lord has a connection to the Potter brat! He knows that the boy is still alive! And he sent me here to track him down!"

This made Sirius stop short. A connection? To Harry? His brain was working furiously. Could something else have happened that Halloween night?

"What kind of connection?" asked Sirius.

A new emotion crossed Crouch's face - confusion. He didn't say anything, just glared at Sirius.

Sirius mentally shrugged. He really didn't have time to dwell on it right now, and he was pretty sure that Crouch wasn't privy to the information anyway, or he was more privy to it than the rest of the Death Eaters but that was as far as his knowledge went. Sirius couldn't see Voldemort wanting many people to know that there was some sort of connection between himself and Harry Potter.

Sirius snorted. If so, the Dark Bastard shouldn't have told Crouch.

The important thing was that Voldemort knew Harry was alive, and Sirius didn't fool himself to think that this was the last Death Eater Voldemort was going to send. More than likely, if Voldemort knew that Crouch would have been successful in finding Harry, then he would have sent a few more Death Eaters along.

So Sirius took in the glaring, bound form of Barty Crouch Jr. He wasn't as opposed to killing him as he though he might have been, but Sirius wasn't a killer. Well, scratch that, he just wanted one person's blood on his hands. So this left Sirius in a conundrum. What to do with Crouch?

If it was at all possible, it would be nice to somehow leave him for the Order. No doubt they would interrogate him for information. But the Order was a long ways away.

A sudden idea struck him. Human transfiguration. Merlin, he hadn't done it in years. With his luck he'd probably royally fuck it up and Crouch too. But then Sirius shrugged. After all, there was not better practice target than a Death Eater after all.

And so Sirius was the proud owner of a newly transfigured cockroach, who he encased into an unbreakable transfigured jar.

For some reason, he thought it was highly appropriate.

A/N: Well, ya'll know what to do! Just press that button and review!