He's free…
Chapter 1: Sibling Rivalry
10 year old Martha Black was sitting in her grandmother's lounge room, watching the news on an old television. Her grandmother (maternal, not paternal) was a muggle (non-magical person), while her maternal grandfather was a wizard. She knew that she was a witch, as were both her parents, Sirius and Natalie Black. Suddenly, her grandmother, Penny Talleo, looked up at the clock on the wall and changed the channel.
"Nan!" Martha complained. "I was watching that!"
"Don't watch rubbish like that, Martha!" Penny scolded, looking at the screen, in which the BBC news had just started. "And anyway, it's time for the news."
Martha groaned and sat back in her chair, wishing Natalie would hurry up at her job interview and pick her up from this living hell-hole. As much as she hated the news, she watched the screen, not listening to what the newsreader was saying, but watching the screen anyway, in case she saw anything that looked familiar. She was hoping there would be something on Sirius, as he had been sent to Azkaban Prison (the wizarding prison) for a crime he hadn't committed.
She'd been waiting for something for over ten minutes and was about to give up hope, when Penny suddenly groaned and reached for the remote, but stopped in her tracks. Martha sat forward suddenly, and tuned in to what the newsreader was saying.
"…Sirius Black, convicted mad mass murderer, has escaped from prison and is now on the loose." The newsreader said solemnly. "We have been told that Black is very dangerous and we urge you to report any sightings of this man immediately via this hotline on the screen now."
Penny groaned something that sounded like "I told her he was no good! I told her!" and Martha sighed. It was common knowledge that her grandmother hated Sirius and she obviously believed the newsreader. She had repeatedly told Martha the stories of when Natalie had brought Sirius home to ask her if she could marry him, at only seventeen.
Penny had been shocked and told her she couldn't and apparently, she had run off in tears to Sirius' place. When she had returned, however, Penny had explained that Sirius was not a good person, and she would regret it if she married him, because he looked like the kind of man to get into trouble with the law. Natalie told her that Sirius was a good person and she'd known him since she was eleven and he would never do anything that was against the law.
"He's three years older than you! How do you know what he's going to turn out like!?" Penny had said loudly.
"He made the Unbreakable Vow! That's how I know!" Natalie had replied, but as soon as it had left her mouth, she had known it was the wrong thing to say.
"And what is this 'Unbreakable Vow' thing? Is this something your kind has made up?"
"If the vow is broken, the person dies. It's done using magic to seal the soul for the rest of the person's life and if it is broken, they die. And Sirius is not the person to want to die." She'd said, tears in her eyes as she had left the house again, not returning home until over two years later, when she did, holding two babies in her arms and Penny had been glad to see Sirius wasn't with her.
"I married Sirius, Mum, and this is our daughter, Martha. The other one is a result of a rape. She's my child, Georgia. And you're not going to tell her she's not Sirius' daughter. I want you to swear on that." Natalie had explained and Penny had looked down at the little girls.
"Alright, I won't tell Georgia that she's not Sirius' daughter. But where is Sirius, if you've married him. Or did he decide he was going to break that so-called 'Unbreakable Vow'?"
"He's been sent to the wizarding prison, but he never broke the vow. He was wrongly convicted of a murder, but he would never have done anything to hurt me in any way. I already know that."
"Martha? Are you ready to come home?" her mother's voice tore Martha away from her deep thoughts and she looked up, smiled and hugged Natalie.
"Mum. Dad's coming home." She whispered and Natalie pulled away from the hug, looking into Martha's eyes.
"He is?" she asked her softly. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. It was all over the news that he's escaped and I know that means he's coming home." She replied and Natalie sighed, smiling as she led Martha and Georgia out of the house.
When the three got home, they saw a large, jet-black dog sitting on the front step, waiting for something.
"Sirius." She whispered, hugging the dog, before unlocking the door and letting the others into the house. Once inside the house, the jet-black dog transformed back to a man and Martha and Georgia hugged him.
"Welcome back Dad!" Martha said, happy for the first time in weeks, since her baby brother, Anthony's death seven weeks ago. Anthony was only two months old, and he died from a wizarding disease called Hyperthermosis, which attacks your throat, heart and brain, eventually paralysing them and causing death to the casualty. Hyperthermosis has no cure, so Natalie, as Anthony's mother and a nurse, couldn't save him, no matter how hard she tried. Even just thinking about it now still brought tears to her eyes, and Sirius seemed to notice the tears, as he hugged her tighter, letting go of Georgia first.
"What's wrong Martha?" he whispered into her ear.
"Nothing." Martha replied, though she was now finding it hard to keep the tears from overflowing.
"Martha, it doesn't look like nothing. I can tell something's wrong. You can tell me, I'm your father, and you know it, so why won't you talk?" he said, looking into her tear-filled eyes.
"How can you tell, Dad?" she asked.
"I just can. It comes naturally with parenting; you're able to tell when your child's upset." He replied softly. "Tell me what's wrong."
"I was just … just …" she said, now unable to hold them back any longer, and they spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "I was thinking … of – Anthony." She choked and there was sadness evident in Sirius' eyes.
"I know you're still obviously going through grief, and so are your father and I, Martha." Natalie said, hugging Martha and Sirius at the same time.
"Your mother's right Martha. Grief is quite natural, so there's nothing to be ashamed of if you're going through a state of grief." Sirius agreed, hugging his wife in return, Martha between them.
"And the best thing you can do if you're going through grief is to talk to someone about it. There's no easier way to get through it. I know it can be hard and painful to talk to someone about your grief, but it's even harder to go through grief not knowing there's someone you can talk to and trust to keep your secrets." Natalie whispered and Martha could hear Georgia laughing in the background.
"Haha, Martha's crying!" she laughed and Natalie let go of Sirius and Martha and rounded on her second-eldest daughter.
"Georgia, your sister is going through grief, so there's no reason to laugh at her about it." She said firmly.
"But it's fun to watch her crying." Georgia said happily.
"What about if I make you cry Georgia!?" Martha asked her half-sister angrily. "How would you like it!? Would you think its fun then?"
Georgia looked taken aback and lunged at Martha, catching her around the throat with her hand. She tightened her grip and Martha choked, losing her balance and falling backwards.
"Georgia!" Natalie cried, running over and trying to separate the sisters. Georgia looked at her mother and tightened her grip further on her sister's neck. "Sirius! Get over here and help!" she shouted at her husband and he ran over and grabbed hold of Georgia and attempted to pull her away, but she elbowed him in the centre of the chest and he fell back, gasping for breath. Natalie took one look at him, decided he was only winded and continued trying to separate her daughters. However, she didn't succeed in time to prevent Martha from losing consciousness.
Martha woke to find her mother bending over her and looking concerned. Her father was disciplining Georgia and Georgia was cowering at the sight of him so angry.
"Are you alright Martha?" Natalie asked her daughter softly.
"I-I think so." Martha replied, trying to sit up, but Natalie held her shoulders, preventing her from sitting up. Martha lay back down obediently, and a sudden pain erupted in her throat. Her hand flew to her throat and she coughed. Natalie looked at her and gasped, as Martha's coughs weren't normal dry or phlegmy coughs, and it was what was coming out of Martha's mouth that worried her. It was blood. Natalie gently picked Martha up into her arms and carried her quickly upstairs into her bedroom. The last thing Martha saw before she blacked out again was Natalie using her wand to try and find out why Martha was coughing up blood.
When Martha woke again, it was dark and the only lighting in the room was a small candle, which was fast running low. Natalie was sitting next to her bed, asleep, her head resting on Sirius' shoulder, the latter still sitting awake, his hand holding Martha's gently.
"Dad?" she asked timidly in a whisper, so as not to wake her mother.
"Are you alright Martha?" he whispered, squeezing her hand gently.
"What time is it?" she asked and Sirius looked at his watch.
"Quarter to one in the morning. You've been unconscious for six hours and forty-five minutes."
"Where's Georgia? Was she punished for strangling me?"
"Georgia's in bed asleep at the moment. And yes she did get punished. She was grounded for six months and she's not allowed out of your mother's, grandmother's or my sight during that time, alright? Your mother's going to be dropping her off at your maternal grandmother's place so she can stay there for the Hogwarts year."
"Alright." Martha said and Natalie opened one sleepy eye.
"Who are you talking to Sirius?" she asked softly.
"Our daughter." He replied and she lifted her head slightly and looked at Martha, before sitting up straight again.
"Are you alright Martha?" she asked, checking Martha's temperature by placing her wrist on her forehead.
"I'm okay, Mum." She replied and Sirius turned to his wife.
"Do you know what the cause of her coughing up blood was?" he asked her and she looked thoughtful for a second or two.
"It was the result of being badly strangled. Georgia's hands had applied the most pressure on the trachea and the carotid artery, causing the blood to build up in the brain and the chest, eventually bursting a small vein leading to her lungs, causing a pool of blood to build up in the heart and come up into the trachea, causing pain. The coughing was a result of the blood irritating the inside of her lungs." Natalie replied, addressing both Sirius and Martha. "So all I had to do was to get rid of the blood pooling in her lungs and heal the vein. If I hadn't, we would've lost another child." She added, tears beginning to appear in her eyes. Sirius sighed sadly and placed his arm around his wife's shoulders.
"I know it's hard to think that we could've lost our eldest daughter, but it's okay, she's still alive." He said softly and Natalie nodded, trying to blink back the tears.
"I know, but there was still the risk of losing her. There was that risk ever since Georgia had started strangling her."