Harry Potter 1. Password Lacking

**Hi! I'm starting my first two-shot, and if you read the summary, then you know what this is about!**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything, etc. You should know the drill. I think.**

**Enjoy!**

**(Author's Notes are bolded and labelled with a 'A/N'. They are important! You must read them to understand the story. Or to help you understand the story.)**

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><p><strong>(AN: An animagus' thoughts while in animagus form are simplified, according to J.K. Rowling. In this story, Sirius, while in animagus form, does not have his thoughts simplified, for the benefit of readers of this story. I tried reading the story when it had simplified thoughts and I got a headache from trying to make sense of Sirius' thoughts. You're welcome.)**

Sirius Black was on a mission.

Steadily but sneakily approaching the Hogwarts Castle, Sirius mentally thanked Merlin for becoming a black dog as an animagus, instead of a creature with a much lighter coat. In fact, half of the things he'd done in this form required a dark-coated animal. He'd just taken it for granted until now.

Sirius looked up at the castle. _Perhaps it would be sneakier to go through Honeydukes_, he mused, before bounding towards Hogsmeade.

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><p>Standing in-between Honeydukes and one of its neighboring stores, Sirius wondered why he'd never thought of the security defenses around Honeydukes. <em>Was he losing touch? No, no, he was <em>Sirius Black. _Sirius Black does not lose touch, on anything.__  
><em>

Staring up at a window on the side of Honeydukes, Sirius silently assessed it. _Were there no defenses on the window?_ Looking around, Sirius made sure he was alone before transforming back to his human form.

His body tingled; whatever stretching his body was doing in its transformation was not felt over the tingling sensation. The feeling lasted only a moment, and within that moment Sirius was transformed.

Sirius felt his restricted thoughts clear. In animagus form, his thoughts were unable to stay complex. _That was probably why I couldn't think of everything_, Sirius thought,_ my animagus form was restricting me. _**(A/N: Remember, his thoughts were 'complexified' so you could understand it. He only thought this because it's an explanation for not thinking of everything.)**

Sirius pulled his wand out from his pocket and aimed it at the window. Waving his wand, he checked the defenses. _Nothing?_, Sirius gazed at the window, confused. _None at all?_

Just as Sirius was about to climb up the wall to get a better look, he stopped. On instinct, he checked the defenses on the wall.

Numerous spells were cast on the walls, ranging from a slipping charm to set alarms to activate the window's defenses, which could not be detected without being turned on. Sirius was sure there was a spell to call Aurors straight from the Ministry of Magic.

Occasionally looking around to make sure no one was there, Sirius spent the next half an hour taking down the defenses, spell by spell. Thankfully, when you were in danger of being hunted down by _the _evil, dark wizard back in the day, you learned spells and charms you wouldn't have attempted otherwise. And when you become the Ministry of Magic's most wanted, you _kinda _start to want to know and use as much as you can to avoid being caught. If he hadn't learned the stuff he had, Sirius would have probably spent an hour on the security around Honeydukes.

Luckily, due to no apparent dark wizards running around during that time, the Honeydukes security wasn't _that _bad. But still, these guys must have really cared about their chocolate.

When Sirius finished, he again checked the defenses on the window. None had been activated. Sirius climbed up the wall and opened the window.

Suddenly, Sirius froze. Slowly, he check the defenses around the window. There was a single alarm that was set to go off if the window was opened completely. Apparently the Honeydukes workers thought that everyone who wanted to get through the window was too fat to get in without making the window open completely.

_Then again_, Sirius thought,_ The only people that would want to get in would be candy lovers_.

Luckily, years in Azkaban made him exceptionally thin, and Sirius did not have to open the window all the way to get inside. Dropping down to the floor, he quietly creeped down to the cellar.

Once at the cellar door, Sirius heard footsteps. He mentally cursed. _Of course there'd be people working at the shop; how did he forget to check for them?__  
><em>

"Homenum Revelio," Sirius whispered, to see how many people he might have to face. Two spots of light glowed on the ceiling above him. Quickly, he opened the trapdoor and slipped inside, closing it gently.

Above him, Sirius heard two voices, but he ignored them as he put a temporary locking spell on the trapdoor, transformed into his dog form, and raced through the tunnel and into Hogwarts.

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><p>Opening the witch's hump, Sirius jumped out and landed on the floor. If he had timed it right, the students were in the Great Hall, eating, and he could just get the rat without anyone noticing.<p>

Many different smells entered his nose; one smell being very nearby. _The cat_, Sirius realized, running towards the smell.

Just as he'd expected, the cat was sitting in the middle of the corridor, as if waiting for him. The cat's pelt looked almost black in the dark, in contrast to his normally ginger coat.

The cat twitched his bottlebrush tail. Sirius' dog-mind instantly translated it. _You're l__ate_, the cat was saying. _Very late_. He sounded impatient.

Sirius had spent his time alone, biding his time and trying to figure out a way to reach Gryffindor Tower and destroy that little rat who called himself a Marauder. Sometimes, at night, he stalked along Hogwarts' grounds, checking all the secret passageways, testing the boundaries of Hogwarts to see the easiest way in.

It was there that he met the cat.

At first the cat hadn't trusted him, and so he hissed and scratched and did everything else a cat would do to a dog, but soon they found a common goal: Destroy the rat that lay safely in the hands of the Weasleys. From then on, they had planned and schemed together, though on a more animal-like level. Meaning, a simplified version of planning and scheming.

Nevertheless, Sirius valued the cat's help greatly.

Sirius let out a tiny, laugh-like bark. The cat wasn't a boring friend, and Sirius liked that about him. It would be terrible if he had to work with a boring animal as his familiar._  
><em>

The cat narrowed his eyes. _Quiet! Or do you want to be caught? _Sirius shut up instantly.

The cat settled down on the ground, wrapping his tail around himself. Through a series of gestures and sounds, he told Sirius: _They're in the eating place. The she-cat's at the eating place also, because the one she's always with had taken her there.__  
><em>

Sirius had met many cats while in his animagus form, but none were as smart as the cat. Eventually, he'd figured that the cat wasn't completely a cat. Sirius reckoned the cat was part-some other creature, like a kneazle or some such. That would explain why the cat was so smart._  
><em>

The cat twitched his tail again, this time in annoyance. _Are we going to sit here, or are we going to get rid of that rat?_

Sirius jumped up. _You're right, of course. We've got to go._

The cat stood up and shook himself out.

It was time for business.

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><p>Crookshanks began acting as if Sirius needed a tour guide, which was starting to get on Sirius' nerves. Back when they had met for the first few times, Sirius had told Crookshanks that he had been in the castle before, though he had a hard time explaining. So either Crookshanks had forgotten, or he chose to ignore that information and preferred to feel like the one in charge. Sirius thought it was the latter.<p>

Sirius stopped and waited for the cat to turn around. When he did, Sirius lifted and dropped a paw, then strode in front of the cat. _I'll take it from here, thanks. _The cat growled, but allowed Sirius to take the lead.

At least he understood the urgency.

Sirius' heart jolted with a sense of familiarity. The Fat Lady was just around the corner!

_Hiss!_ The cat leaped on top of Sirius, pinning him down. Sirius growled and shook him off. The cat rounded on him and let out a low-pitched, slow hiss while gesturing his head towards the direction of the Fat Lady. The message was clear. _Your 'secret' will be revealed if you just go barging through the halls._

Long ago, Sirius had told the cat that his animagus form was a secret. Of course, it hadn't gone well, seeing as the rat's animagus form was also a secret. (Sirius refused to call him Wormtail; the traitor wasn't a true Marauder anymore.) But apparently, the cat had remembered that fact.

Sirius dipped his head, signifying that he understood. After quickly looking around, Sirius transformed back to his human self.

From his pocket he retrieved his wand, and another item; the special knife that could open any lock.

It seemed fitting that the rat were to be killed with something of a Marauder value; it was like avenging all of the Marauders.

Sirius peeked around the corner; no one was there. As silently as he could, Sirius slid his way down the hall, until he had stopped beside the Fat Lady, hidden in shadows.

Suddenly, he realized; how as he going to get past the Fat Lady? _Well, I've gotten this far, I'm not about to give up _now_._

He stepped in front of the Fat Lady.

The Fat Lady gave a small shriek of fright, before hoarsely asking, "What do you want?"

"I want - "

"He's not here!" The Fat Lady said shrilly, looking terrified of him, and particularly his knife, "He's not here!" Frantically, she seemed to try to..._gesture_ to something?

Beside the Fat Lady's portrait, Sirius saw another portrait of a wide-eyed witch. _So that's who she's trying to communicate with._ She seemed too shocked to move.

"Stop lying - "

"I said, he's not here!" The Fat Lady was now shrieking. "Now _LEAVE_!"

Sirius growled. He could feel his temper rising.

"Then _tell me where that rat is_," he hissed, holding his knife to the portrait.

"He's not here!" The Fat Lady repeated, seeming unable to say anything else, "_HE'S NOT HERE!_"

Sirius was _furious_. Without thinking, his knife hand slashed downwards, nearly chopping off the Fat Lady's head. The Fat Lady let out an ear piercing scream that reverberated through the hall, surely reaching a member of the staff's ears. Sure enough, footsteps were approaching, getting louder and louder. The Fat Lady took the chance of escape and ran to the wide-eyed witch's portrait, whom Sirius now recognized as Violet, the Fat Lady's drinking partner (back when Sirius was still a student in Hogwarts, at least; he didn't know _what_ they did now). The Fat Lady sobbed into Violet's shoulder.

Rashly, Sirius slashed the portrait more, venting his anger and frustration. He vaguely heard the cat hiss loudly; suddenly, he heard many footsteps, presumably the ones of Gryffindor students.

"I will find him," Sirius hissed to the Fat Lady and Victoria, though he wasn't sure he was heard over the Fat Lady's sobs. He ran to the other end of the hallway, farther away from the approaching footsteps. Once there, Sirius turned the corner and transformed. Once he had, he turned to see that the cat had caught up with him.

No explanation was needed. The cat gave a jerky nod, and turned back to the hallway they had just come from, while Sirius Black bounded back out of Hogwarts and towards his hide-away.

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><p><strong>If you couldn't guess, 'the cat' is Crookshanks! But Sirius didn't know Crookshanks' name until Hermione told him near the end of the Prisoner of Azkaban, so I couldn't just write Crookshanks.<strong>

**THIS IS A TWO-SHOT, SO THERE WILL BE A SECOND CHAPTER! DO FOLLOW IF YOU WANT TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER. It is not coming out soon. I have a ton of important things to do this month, so updates are going to be scarce, especially with the new Harry Potter challenge I am taking on currently.**

**I hope you really did enjoy, and if you did, please leave a review! I like to know what my readers think.**

**IMPORTANT: I tried to stay with canon as much as possible, but since I don't have Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I don't know what happened after Sirius left the scene and the people arrived. But what I do know, is that Peeves was somewhere there, watching invisibly; only problem was, I didn't know how to fit a hint about that into the story. If I did, it would mean Sirius noticed him, and that would mean Peeves' cover would have been blown and that isn't canon, so just know I tried my best!**

_Inspiration: I was trying to figure out which is the earliest battle in the Harry Potter books that Harry wasn't part of (for my 'In the Thick of the Fight' idea on my profile), and I was wondering if Sirius' two break-ins counted. Evidently, I didn't think it did, but I was so attached to the idea that it became a two-shot idea that I (quite obviously) went through with! So here we are!_

**Next Chapter: Sirius' second break-in! Neville's lost list of Gryffindor tower passwords and a healthy dose of Ron Weasley and Harry Potter is coming right up! I may even toss in some Hermione. :) Of course, it'd still stay canon...because Hermione's relationship with Crookshanks isn't really mentioned except when it came to Crookshanks vs. Scabbers (GO CROOKSHANKS! XD).**


	2. Weasley Waking

It was the third time the cat had come to meet Sirius on his own.

Sirius had been hiding in the midst of a rocky slope on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, where he could see the homely lights of Hogsmeade shining in the small village to his far right, and he could see Hogwarts hulking outline on his far left. He was eating some candy he'd stolen from Honeydukes (he figured he'd earned it, buying so much of Honeydukes' merchandise as a student...and even sometimes after he had graduated), and with a wave of nostalgia from the taste of the candy, had started contemplating what could have been.

Watching Harry grow up, helping James teach Harry to fly, being yelled at by Lily for teaching Harry to fly a real broom at the age of three, spending time with the Marauders (which always has and always will include only three true Marauders...obviously), teasing Lily, having fun (without any rats), playing Quidditch (without any rats), being actually _happy _(_especially_ without any rats)...

Sirius had just started thinking about ways for the rat to die in the could-have-been future (stabbing the rat in the back with the Marauder knife and then feeding him to the crows after mashing him into gravy...all accidentally, of course) when a familiar growl sounded and an orange tabby jumped up onto a rock, holding a scrap of parchment in his jaws. His mashed-up face looked shadowy in the evening light.

"What _now_?" Sirius groaned, sitting up. The last two times the cat had bothered to climb up the slope and speak to Sirius, he'd only been there to ask what was taking so long with the next plan and to hurry it up. Sirius had tried to explain the tactic of waiting for Hogwarts to let their guard down, but the cat just didn't really care.

The tabby had asked if he could help Sirius make the plan, but Sirius had wanted to do this alone. He was sure he would get the rat if he had the right plan. The trouble was waiting for an idea that could function on their limited resources.

The cat leaped down and, with a growl, dropped the parchment in front of Sirius.

"_This_ is what you came here for?" Sirius murmured, staring at the parchment. "And I thought you last two visits were pointless!"

The cat impatiently shoved the parchment in Sirius's direction.

"Fine," Sirius rolled his eyes, picking up the parchment. He cleared his throat. Tonelessly, he announced, "This Week's Passwords for the Gryffindor Common Room. Monday - Wait, what!?"

Sirius reread the words. "This is amazing!" clutching the paper, he turned to the cat. "How did you get this?"

The cat flicked an ear, which, from previous occurrences, Sirius knew to be a noncommittal shrug.

"Be that way," Sirius said, too happy to really care. "For now, let's get to work. Actually," he added, "You can help. A little. The rest is all my job, got it?" When the cat didn't reply, Sirius sighed, and got up to transform into his animagus form.

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><p>They had the perfect plan. There was no way it could go wrong, not if everything went according to plan.<p>

And Sirius was sure that everything would run smoothly.

They went through the Shrieking Shack this time; you could never be too careful, and Honeydukes had probably increased security since the last attempt (which was also the day he'd stolen that candy, on the way back - he'd had a feeling that it would be the last time he could do so that easily), and the security at Hogwarts was most likely looking for a full-grown man, not a Grim look-alike.

Dumbledore clearly had not expected Sirius to be an animagus. Not a single alarm went off as he quickly poked his hand out and pressed the special knob on the Whomping Willow to freeze it in place (it wasn't really moving anyways, but it would have been if they had just stepped out of the hole, and that would have given them away), then quietly slipped out with the cat on his tail.

Not a single person came looking for him. He slipped in easily through an open window. Dumbledore must have also thought that Sirius would not get past the front gates, which was really quite insulting (despite that fact that he hadn't even went through the front gates) since supposedly he was a crazed Death Eater who had probably stolen a wand from a someone and had an arsenal of spells at his disposal.

Leaping down into the room, Sirius thought it looked like just another classroom, but Sirius didn't want to risk staying there.

Staying in his animagus form, Sirius slipped down the hallways, sticking to the shadows and keeping him and the cat hidden from sight.

_Step One complete_, Sirius thought as he stopped right before rounding the corner and revealing himself to the Fat Lady.

_Is the Fat Lady still there?_ Sirius wondered. He felt a little guilty about slashing her portrait, but it was for a good cause...kind of. _Well, either way, the portrait would have to let me in since I have the password._

Sirius transformed, and slowly turned the corner, towards where the Fat Lady's portrait was supposed to be. As he inched forward, he got a glimpse of the portrait in the Fat Lady's place.

"_Sir Cadogan?_" Sirius whispered. _Sir Cadogan_ was the new Gryffindor portrait?

Sirius was suddenly glad he wasn't still in school. Sir Cadogan was the absolute MOST annoying portrait in all of Hogwarts.

At that moment, Sir Cadogan froze in place and called out, "Who's there? Have you come to duel?"

Sirius sighed and stepped forward, into the portrait's line of sight.

"You, sir," Cadogan swiveled on his pony, thrusting his sword at Sirius. "I remember you! Badfoot, wasn't it?"

Sirius's mind flashed back to that fateful event, when he had accidentally tripped a group of girls (Lily Evans included), causing them to fall into a very angry pile, and then tripping himself and falling on top of the pile. The rest of the Marauders wouldn't let it go, especially after they found out that it wasn't just an accident and someone had actually managed to jinx him. They had called him cheesy names like Badfoot for at least a week after the incident.

"Yes, that's me," Sirius grumbled. "Now - "

"Ohoho! Not so fast! You're Sirius Black! Well, you can't come in here without the password, so I assume you're here to duel! What is your weapon of choice?"

"Actually - " Sirius started.

"No weapon? Shame, you'll be dead in seconds!"

"I have the password," Sirius growled. He yanked the piece of parchment from his robe pocket and began rattling off passwords.

Cadogan froze. "When you come out we will duel!" he proclaimed, before swinging the portrait door open.

Sirius sighed in relief, and he motioned for the cat to come inside with him.

Slipping silently upstairs, Sirius immediately went for the door marked 'Third Year Dormitories' and pushed it open as quietly as he could.

He carefully crept past each of the four-poster beds, until he reached the one labeled 'R. Weasley'. Throwing a wistful glance at the trunk labeled 'H. Potter', Sirius pulled out the Marauder knife and swiftly pulled the curtains to the Weasley's bed open.

Of all the things to fail in his plan, the kid actually _waking up_ had been the last one on his list.

Sirius stared at the Weasley kid for a second. Then, just as Sirius was about to look for the rat, the kid's eyes opened.

For a moment, they stared at each other, and then the kid let out a scream that had probably awoken the entire Gryffindor House.

Sirius cursed and instinctively ran, banging the door open and transforming as he bounded down the stairs.

The cat's gaze seemed to follow him as he ran through the common room. He seemed to say, 'I told you, you should have asked for my help.'

Sirius had no time to retort.

He burst through the portrait hole, to the shouts of Sir Cadogan.

"Who is it?! Have you come to duel, Badfoot!?" he shouted, but by the time he had closed the portrait hole to see who it was, Sirius had already disappeared.

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><p>Hermione jolted awake to a very faint scream. After a moment, however, she passed it off to her imagination. She sometimes woke up for no reason, so it wasn't that big of a stretch.<p>

After a few moments of lying in the dark, she felt a small creature hop onto her bed and curl up beside her.

"Crookshanks," she muttered, her throat dry from lack of use during the time she'd slept. "You been up for a bit?" Her cat purred.

As she stroked his fur, her hands caught ahold of...dead leaves?

"Outside again!" she tried to sound stern, but she was too sleepy. "You really should be more careful."

Crookshanks snorted, as if he knew something she didn't and found it ironic.

"I'm glad you're safe, at least," Hermione said with a yawn. "We'll clean you up in the morning." And she leaned her head back on her pillow and let sleep claim her once again.

The next morning, Hermione didn't remember a thing, and Crookshanks's fur was completely leaf-and-dirt-free.

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><p><strong>It feels so anticlimactic after the previous chapter, to me. But it's not for me to decide if it was good or not, so let me know what you think!<strong>

**(This, for whatever reason, was hard to write, which is why I'm posting it so much later (basically I suck). Hope you enjoyed anyways!)**


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Harry Potter, Adventure, Suspense