July 27th, 1997"Sit and stay!" Ginny Weasley ordered, her wand trained on the wizard in front of
her, a devious grin on her face.
"I'm not a dog." Sirius glared at her. When she snorted, he conceded, "Right now.
I'm not a dog right now. And I've already said I'll be good and sit tight until everyone gets
here." He angrily turned toward the kitchen where Molly stood, staring out the window.
"Which they should have done by now!"
"There's a Portkey!" Molly yelled, ignoring him as she flew out the door.
Sirius moved to stand, but Ginny shook her head and levelled her wand. "No, Sirius,
you promised. If something's gone wrong, we need to figure out what happened and tend
to anyone who might have been hurt. Harry won't be able to focus if he sees you right off."
Her tone eerily reminded him of Lily, and Sirius was almost forced into submission
by the memory of her. "Fine," he allowed, grumbling under his breath. "Go and help your
mum."
Ginny eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then nodded and ran out the door.
The second she was gone, Sirius shifted into Padfoot, swiftly slipping out the open
door and into the shadows of the bushes that surrounded the Burrow.
The moment Padfoot's gaze fell on Harry arriving, his chest panged. He whimpered,
his paws begging him to move forward, but he knew better. It had been his recklessness
that had gotten him killed last time, and he knew that not only would he hurt Harry if he
did something like that again, but his impatience would demonstrate a lack of gratitude he
needed to show Hermione for everything she had done for him.
So he waited, watched, and listened.
"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry told Molly. "We were surrounded
the moment we took off. They knew it was tonight. I don't know what happened to anyone
else. Four of them chased us; it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught
up with us.. ."
Padfoot growled at the mention of Voldemort, his large body shaking as he stared
at his godson, the mirror image of James. Knowing that the wizard who had killed his best
friend had attacked Harry this very night had his blood boiling with rage.
In the distance, another blue light flashed.