Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 21

Jenna leaned against the wall as her and Sirius were both sitting on the dusty floor of the Shrieking Shack and he was eating the food she had brought with hunger.

"Sirius, you need to be more careful," Jenna finally broke the silence and let out a sigh. "They've got the whole school looking for you. Not to mention the dementors are all over the place."

"Aww, do you worry about me, Jenny?" Sirius said cheekily with a grin and Jenna gave him a look.

"You know... my parents were Aurors and they had made visits to Azkaban before. They said the dementors had made all the prisoners go crazy," she said with a little frown. "How come you haven't... you know...?"

"Gone mad?" Sirius whispered in a dramatically dark voice before chuckling. But then he thought more about it before saying, "I guess the reason the dementors couldn't affect me like the others was that... I knew in my mind that I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am."

Jenna let out yet another sigh. "I don't know what I would do if they took you away from me again, Sirius." She looked down. "I've lost you once. I don't think I can do it again. It was... too much. Too painful."

"Hey," Sirius started, moving a little closer to hold her hand, "we'll make it through this time. I promise."

But Jenna jerked her hand away from him, looking away. "You'd made those promises before. More times than I can count."

"I did mean them at the time, Jenna," he said firmly. "I know after Lily and James's death I had promised to come back for you, but believe me when I say I was meaning to! I was supposed to find Perttigrew, kill him, and then get back to you. How was I supposed to know Peter was going to blast a street full off people and cut his own finger and run off? Would you have thought he was capable of such things back then? He was just a stupid and weak boy!"

Jenna pondered this question around her head before shaking her head earnestly. There was no way she could've pictured the little scared boy that she once knew as the reason for Lily and James's death and the reason Sirius was falsely accused and sent to Azkaban for twelve years.

"But that's kinda my point, Sirius," she said, "you need to be careful. Learn from your past mistakes. Don't act rashly. Don't underestimate the things around you."

"I am being more careful —"

"Well, your actions tonight certainly didn't make it seem like you are careful!" she retorted. "I still can't believe you'd have attack the Fat Lady..."

"It's not like you had any success with catching Pettigrew with your cats-chase-rats-plan!" he said with a grin and Jenna smacked him on the arm playfully.

"That's because Harry's friend keeps screwing with my plans each time I try to get near Pettigrew!" Jenna reasoned. "He hates me! And each time I want to sneak into their room he kicks me out! That's animal abuse!"

Sirius laughed at that. "Well, why don't you just turn into a student and get into their dorm?"

     "I've thought about that, but I would risk too much."

     "Well, just give it a good. It's worth the try," he suggested with a shrug. "So anyway, how's Harry? What's he like?"

"He's actually a really sweet kid," Jenna said with a smile. "And not to mention he's amazing at Quidditch! Which reminds me," she then started with a grin, "you owe me five Galleons."

"What!?" Sirius frowned. "Why, exactly?"

"We had a bet, remember? James said Harry would grow up to be a Chaser, you said he was going to be a Beater, but I knew from the beginning that he would become a Seeker, just like his aunt. So there. Pay up."

"Jenny, I'm a prisoner on the run. I'm sitting here in ripped up clothes and eating something you've nicked from the kitchen. Do I look like I've got five Galleons on me?"

Jenna grinned. "Whatever. But I was right and I'll get the money from you later."

"Well, I won't believe that he's a Seeker until I see it with my own two eyes," Sirius said knowingly. "For all I know, he's a Beater and you're making this up to fool me."

"Fine. Then you can come up to the Quidditch pitch with me on Harry's first match, in your dog form. How's that?"

"Deal." Sirius smirked. "So does Harry take after Lily or James when it comes to personality?"

"That's a funny story, actually." Jenna chuckled as she started explaining while Sirius took bites off the chicken breasts. "When I first met him, I tried to spend as much time with him by staying in the common room where he sat with his friends. And he seemed really sweet at first, like I said, but..."

"But what?" Sirius asked curiously.

"But then I started hearing stories about him," Jenna went on. "Turns out, Harry's pretty famous at school and so every now and then I hear people in the common room talk about him and the things he had done in the past years."

"Oh, Lord," Sirius grinned in amusement, "what did you hear them say about him?"

"Like I said, at first I thought Harry was this kind boy who took after Lily, but then I heard what he did last year," Jenna explained with a little smirk. "They were saying how Harry had missed the train last year, so he got to school with a flying car and crashed into the Whomping Willow."

Sirius let out a loud laughter that sounded like a bark. "James. Harry definitely takes after James."