Harry and Hermione dashed across to him.

 "Ron -- are you okay?"

 "Where's the dog?"

 "Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap --"

 "What --" 

"He's the dog... he's an Animagus." 

Amelia cursed.

Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them. 

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. A bruise on his left cheek. It was Sirius Black. 

"Expelliarmus!"he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them.

 Harry's, Hermione's, and Amelia's wands shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry. 

Amelia grasped her stick slightly in her hands, pointing it at Sriuius as though it were a spear. "Don't fucking make me use this."

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely. 

His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you) not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier...."

 The taunt about his father rang in Harry's ears as though Black had bellowed it. A boiling hate erupted in Harry's chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack... to kill. Without knowing