HEATHENS - Harry Potter ✔

CHAPTER SEVEN

After lunch, everyone else had changed into day clothes and left for St Mungo's Hospital, leaving Kiera and Sirius alone at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place as she had learned it to be called. She had learnt that the place was Sirius's parents' old home and that had been made into the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix (though she still wasn't quite sure what that was).

She cleared her throat, hands covered in dish soap (Kreacher the house-elf was still missing), trying to think of something to make conversation with. "You said that you were framed." Kiera face-palmed internally at how it came out, it wasn't even a question, what did she expect him to respond with?

But the statement seemed to suffice for Sirius. "Yeah, I was," he said. With a chuckle he told her how he and his two best mates had become animagi to assist their fourth friend (who just happened to be her third year Defence Against the Dark Arts professor) with his lycanthropy, how James and Lily Potter had used the Fidelius Charm to hide from Voldemort, and how their Secret Keeper had turned out to be a spy. Then, when Sirius had attempted to confront him, he had blown up the street and transformed, leaving Sirius to be imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years.

"I'm sorry," said Kiera. It sounded stupid but she didn't know what else to say. "Er – if you don't mind my asking, how did you ..."

"Escape?" Sirius asked and she nodded.

He gave another laugh and Kiera got the sense that he was forcing the reaction to relieve tension he felt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you – just ignore it, I'm sorry –"

"It's alright. The Dementors don't detect animals so when I was able to transform into my Animagus form, I could slip right past them. Almost drowned trying to swim to shore, but I made it intact enough ... not that it mattered in the end."

Kiera almost asked him what he meant but stopped herself with the question still on her tongue; he didn't sound like he wanted to dwell on it, and it wasn't her place – they had only met that morning, after all. So, she changed the subject. "What is the Order?"

"You sure have a lot of questions, don't you?"

Kiera blushed furiously. Had she made him angry? She should have just stayed quiet and washed the dishes.

"No, it's not a bad thing," Sirius interjected her worrying quickly. "A healthy amount of curiosity is always good. The Order of the Phoenix is like Dumbledore's secret resistance group against Voldemort –"

"Why do you say his name?" Kiera interrupted. She had been taught not to interrupt others, especially not adults, but for some reason the questions just kept bubbling out of her. It had probably been years since she had talked so much all at once (at least talked in friendly circumstances and not a fight) and her throat felt tired, but there was something about Sirius that made her feel comfortable enough to voice her thoughts now that everyone else was gone. "Potter does it too. In Defence Against the Dark Arts he always says it, and then Umbridge gives him detention..."

He shrugged. "You-Know-Who is a bit of a mouthful – not to even mention all that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named crap." It felt bizarre to her. Maybe it was just a part of the whole Gryffindor bravery thing. "What does it do? – The Order."

"Oh, loads of different stuff," Sirius said before he began listing some tasks of the Order members: recruiting, supporting Dumbledore and Harry and trying to convince others both in and out of the country, identifying Death Eaters, hindering Voldemort's plans wherever they could, and other things of the sort.

"I want to join."

"Yeah, so does everyone else – you'll have to ask again when you turn off age."