Temptation

Sirius was in serious need of shoes, no pun intended. Hiking over the hills and vales between Hoade ade and Hogwarts was difficult even for a young man in his prime, much less one who\'d grown thin and spindly in prison and was sorely lacking in foot protection. Of course, it was all because he decided to go about in his human form rather than transfigure back into \"Archie.\"

Being in human form meant that it was far easier to carry Lachlan\'s wand inconspicuously. Well, as inconspicuous as one could get when they were wearing only a pair of bright blue pajamas and nothing else. No, not suspicious at all. Sirius climbed over another thorny bramble and finally, at the top of a small rise, he could see the castle of Hogwarts silhouetted against the inky black sky.

As it was after curfew, there were no students milling about the grounds. Smoke rose from Hagrid\'s cabin, as always, and he could hear the lone call of a wolf somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. This brought a smile to his face, remembering the many full moons that he, James, and Remus had taken their midnight strolls to Hogsmeade and all through the Forbidden Forest.

Tonight, however, everything was eerily still. Using a side door into Gryffindor tower Lupin had once discovered, Sirius slipped in virtually unnoticed. He still felt exposed, however, and longed for James\' old invisibility cloak. Perhaps he could find Harry\'s room and pinch it from him for tonight. His first objective, however, was to commit the murder that he\'d been sentenced for twelve years prior. Pettigrew would not have the chance to harm his godson, even if it meant going back to Azkaban.

Making his way to the third floor, he noticed a ginger-colored cat tearing down the corridor after a rat that had clearly seen better days. It took a moment for the implications of this to set in, but soon Sirius was following the cat as quickly as he could without sliding on the stone floors. He came around the corner just in time to see the rat squeeze beneath a heavy door and the cat still pawing at it furiously.

He absently reached a hand down to scratch the cat behind the ears, making sure to exert full confidence in his right to be there. If there was one thing he\'d learned while posing as a dog, it was that animals can tell when something\'s not right, even when they can\'t exactly put their paw on it. Seemingly satisfied, the cat padded past him and down the stairs, heading towards another section of the castle.

Sirius pointed Lachlan\'s wand at the door and whispered \"alhomora\", the door-opening charm. Thank God for his penchant to recite old incantations to keep his mind sharp in Azkaban.

The door opened easily, revealing a large room with five, four-poster beds scattered about. Sirius was gazing at a clearly Muggle poster of a football team when he saw the battered tail of the rat twitching beneath one of the canopied beds. He quickly made his way over and slashed at the canopy. He was shocked when he saw the bright blue eyes of some red-haired Weasley descendant. He had better go, and quickly.

Making his way out of thom, om, he listened at the door for a moment before transfiguring Lachlan\'s wand into a chew toy and himself into Archie. Lucky for him, the kid thought it was just a dream. However, he would have to reveal himself to Lachlan tonight. There was no way she could go to Hogwarts tomorrow and not realize that he was \"dogging\" her steps. Perhaps he could find a way to gently break to her that her faithful pet was really an escaped convict. Yeah. That would be about as subtle as an escaped Hippogriff.

A/N--Extremely short chapter. Sorry. When you see the next one, you\'ll understand the need to truncate the previous two. Whee! Chapter Ten is gonna rock your socks off!