Chapter 3

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for all of her beta work.

Chapter 3

Osiris settled himself within the bookshelf. He knew that Albus kept a hidden supply of lemon drops, just in case of an emergency. As he placed one in his beak, he heard a door open and close. He looked around a book he had been behind, and saw that Harry had entered the office.

“Harry, good afternoon. I hope I did not take you from anything important,” said Albus.

“Good afternoon, Albus. I was just relaxing a bit. You sounded like there was something urgent you needed to talk to me about,” stated Harry as he sat down.

Albus nodded, walked around his desk, and sat next to Harry.

“I am afraid there is something most urgent indeed,” the Headmaster said. “I spoke to Arthur just moments ago. It seems Bellatrix Lestrange has found a way to escape from Azkaban.”

“How is that possible?” he asked as his eyes grew wide. He stood and walked to the window.

“It was quite an elaborate plan. From what Arthur told me, someone posing as him acquired permission this morning at the Ministry to see her. That imposter then showed up in Azkaban with a woman he claimed to have been Bellatrix’s sister. They were taken to the cell, where Bellatrix changed places with the woman. We do not know the true identity of the other woman, but she is dead now,” Albus ran his hand through his beard. “It is also not known as yet who assisted in Bellatrix’s escape.”

“I know who helped her,” said Harry as he looked out the window. “It was Pettigrew. It had to have been him.” He turned and looked at Albus.

“That may very well be a possibility. Am I correct in my recollection of your telling me Tonks was on his trail at one point several years back?” asked Albus.

“Yes. She thought she was close to finding him in the Carpathian Mountains, but as usual he got away,” said Harry in frustration.

“Harry, she escaped for one reason, and one reason only,” stated Albus, now more worried than he had been since Voldemort had been alive.

“To kill Severus,” Harry nodded.

Osiris almost choked on the lemon drop he had in his beak. He quickly spit it out and Apparated back to his rooms. He knew Bellatrix quite well. They had met when he was a student at Hogwarts, and then again on several occasions in the years after. A more unpleasant woman he had never met. He would not wish her on his worst enemy. Well, perhaps on Filch, but certainly no one else. He looked around his rooms, and began to devise a plan. No doubt the woman knew that Severus was still teaching at Hogwarts; if she did not, that fact could be easily found out. As Osiris began to formulate a plan to protect the family and their rooms, he heard the wards being brought down.

Osiris knew that Raven was in Hogsmeade with Odette Malfoy. The other children were in their house common rooms; he had seen them studying only half an hour earlier. He also knew Hermione was in Hogsmeade and would be there most of the afternoon. He looked towards the door; only two more wards and the intruder would be coming in. Severus was gone until Sunday morning, and no one else in the castle knew how to get the wards down.

Osiris panicked. He could not get past the conversation he had heard but a few moments earlier. It was Bella; she was here, and she was coming for them all. He heard the last ward coming down; he flew over the door, and levitated a large gray vase over it. He hovered over the door, poised and ready to drop the vase over the intruder’s head. As the door opened, he let the vase fall. Down it went, hard and heavy, shattering right on the top of Severus’ head. The Potions Master fell in a heap on the cold stone floor.

“Huh? Oh, no!” yelped Osiris, as he swooped down to the ground and began hopping around Severus’ unconscious body. After being awakened by the loud crash, Crookshanks ran out of their room and stopped dead in his tracks in front of Severus, then looked at Osiris.

“Holy shit!” said Crookshanks.

“Oh no. Oh…Merlin’s hairy asshole! Crooks, he’s going to kill me.” Osiris began flapping his wings and running around Severus’ unconscious body.

“Holy shit!” said Crookshanks.

“Stop saying that! Severus, wake up,” said Osiris, as he tried slapping Severus’ face with his wing. In his panicked state, Osiris failed to remember to use an Enervate spell on him.

“What the hell did you do to him?” asked Crookshanks, as he approached Severus’ body.

“It was an accident, I didn’t mean to knock him out,” Osiris hung his head as he shook it. “I… I thought it was someone else. He’s going to be so angry when he wakes up.”

“Angry is an understatement. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t turn you into this year’s Christmas dinner centerpiece,” Crookshanks said as he examined Severus’ head. “At least you didn’t kill him; he’s still breathing. Although he’s got a wicked bump on his head.”

“Thank the gods,” sighed Osiris. “It’s a good thing we Snapes are known for being hard-headed.”

“Just who the bloody hell were you trying to decapitate, may I ask?”

“I snuck, uh, well, flew, actually, into Albus’ office a while ago, hoping to get some of those lemon drops. Damn that old man, he’s got me craving them now. Anyway, Harry came in, so I hid behind some books and heard them talking about that crazy Bellatrix Lestrange,” Osiris approached Severus to make sure his head wasn’t bleeding.

“How many times has Severus told you not go snooping about? Did you just wake up today and decide to go completely nutters?” Crookshanks sat and shook his head.

“I wasn’t intentionally snooping, all right? Crooks, I know this woman. Bellatrix is completely demented. She drove this couple insane with one of the Unforgivables years back. The day Voldemort was killed, she threatened to hunt Severus down and kill him for being a traitor.”

“I would give my left nut, if you could just get to the point some time soon,” Crookshanks snapped his tail rapidly from side to side.

“All right, don’t get your chichis bent out of shape. Look, this crazy bitch escaped from Azkaban earlier today,” Osiris explained.

Crookshanks’ eyes grew wide, and he stood.

“Aha,” Osiris nodded, “you see now why I was guarding the door?”

Crookshanks sighed and shook his head. “Did you forget that this castle is a fortress? Nothing and no one can get past its wards without Albus knowing about it. If that woman came within an inch of this place, don’t you think Severus would have been alerted? For all you know, he came in here to get Hermione and the kids away from the castle, and now you’ve gone and put the man in a coma!”

Osiris looked at Severus, then back up at Crookshanks. “Holy shit.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Poor Osiris, he really did mean well.