NIKITA'S WHOLE BODY SEEMED to shake as the guard in front of her cell spoke to the strange Ministry man. Her eye's darted fearfully between them and Sirius, who gave her a reassuring smile.

The guard opened the cell, "3045, now vacate." His voice was monotone, completely void of all emotion.

She stepped out, marveling at the strange sensation of the wooden floor. It was so much softer and warmer then the damp stone she was used to. She peered up at the strange man, who had a pin on his chest. If Nikita could read, she'd know his name was Douglas Adams, and represented the Mimistry of magic.

He crouched down in front of her, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "My name's Mr Adams, I'm gonna drop you off at the check point, okay?"

She blinked. Understanding just about five percent of that sentence. She leaned forward, "Why did your parents name you Mr?" She whispered, eye's innocently wide.

He grimaced, straightening up again. "Right, let's be off."

Nikita's eye's widend panic. She pushed past Douglas and clung to Sirius' cell bars. "I don't wanna go," She repeated, "Don't let them take me Sirius, please don't let them take me!"

His heart broke as the little girls big hazel eye's peered into his own, magnified by tears and delicately shaded in fear. The Ministry man, Douglas, looked at her as though she was positively insane. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder and pried her hands away from the bars.

"Sirius!" She repeated, all but screaming as he stared at her helplessly. "Don't let them take me, please don't let them take me!"

He leaned away from the bars, feeling tears of his own begin to appear.

"Goodbye, Little Moony."

***

Nikita had fallen silent the moment they stepped outside of the prison. The waves splashed her feet and she fell trying to escape them. Douglas regained his grip on her and apparated away, leaving with nothing but a polite nod at the guards.

They appeared outside a small, dingy pub in a busy London street. Douglas quickly pushed Nikita inside, not wanting the muggles to get a glimpse of her malnourished form.

He waved down the bar keep, Tom. "Look, I've gotta go, I trust you'll show her to a room until Dumbledore arrives?"

The old man with gaps in his teeth nodded, wiping his hands on his apron. "Aye. Don't worry about 'er, you just get off to ya job."

Douglas nodded, preparing to leave but quickly adding, "I should warn you, she wasn't very happy to leave the prison." With that, he swiftly left.

The few people that were in the pub at the time stared at Nikita, eyeing her Azkaban uniform in distrust. "Aye, mind ya business!" He snapped, before looking down at the child. She peered back him, matching his expression. "Come on, let's get ya cleaned up."

She trailed behind him, fearfully looking at all the strange things around her. Tom led her up the stairs and into a small crooked room she hadn't noticed at first.

He unlocked the room and let her inside. "This'll be your room until 'Umbldore come's up with something else for ya. You've got fresh clothes in the wardrobe, a private bathroom, and plenty of cleaning stuff. Alright?"

She glanced back at him, afraid to say anything.

In Azkaban she never had to speak louder then a whisper. In Azkaban everything was dark, and now she was surrounded by colours brighter then anything she'd ever seen. Her head drummed in pain as she tried to process what was happening.

Tom watched her carefully, before sighing. "Come on then, I'll show ya how to use the shower."

"What's a shower?" She whispered.

"Blimey, you really are from Azkaban. It cleans ya. You stand underneath it in ya birthday suit and have a good rinse off. Then ya step out and dry off."

Nikita blinked. "What's a birthday suit?"

Tom closed his eye's. "I- I'll get the maid to tell ya, alrigh'?"

She nodded. "Then what?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. Wash your hair? Pick an outfit? I've got some books in the corner, they'll help ya learn to read."

Nik nodded. "Thank you." She whispered quietly.

"Ah don't worry about it. Missy'll be up in a minute, she's the maid. She'll tell ya what to do, alright?"

She nodded again.

Tom stuck to his word, he showed her how to use then shower and then Missy came up and showed her the rest. She helped Nik shave, brush her teeth and taught her how to do the rest before leaving.

Nikita pulled out one of the books and set it on her lap. Originally she sat on the dark side of the bed, but the light was much too tempting for her to stay there. Nik crawled onto the window sill and sat there, book long forgotten as she stared in awe at the small garden beneath her garden.

No crashing waves. No screaming. No darkness.

It was beautiful.

She watched people come and go, using their wands to get through a small brick wall. She only got glimpses, but the other side of that wall seemed just as colourful, if not more, then this side.

Eventually, she fell asleep, much more comfortable in her new clothes with her hair washed.

Tom found her when he came to get her for some food. He chuckled, noticing the discarded book. He carefully carried her to bed and tucked her in, remembering when he used to do the same for his own daughter.

"Y'all fit right in around here, Ms Vane. You'll see."

He left the room, putting a 'do not disturb' sign on her door.

***

The sun rose once more, bathing the small room in a warm glow.

Nikita shot up, terrified. After a couple of moments she managed to calm herself down, automatically, she looked to her left, half expecting to see Sirius in his cell.

She was left with an empty feeling when she realised she was alone.

She peered down at the overly soft mattress Nik had slept on. It was covered in odd stains, and their was two blankets on top of it. Nikita wondered vaguely why on earth she would need such a thing when you could sleep just fine without.

Her stomach growled menacingly, but she ignored it. Now was not the time to think of such things.

She was in a whole new world.

***

A/N

Bada dun duuun.

Yeah, i dont know what sound that was supposed to be either.

Q: Do you know the muffin man?