Title : Silent clocks tickling
Summary : They thought the Arch led to the Realm of the Dead. They were wrong. In which Sirius Black ended up in the last Labyrinth in existence and had tea with the Devil in a highschool uniform. End of OotP, Post-Rebellion AU. PMMM x HP crossover OS.
Rated: R
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Madoka Magica are not mine.
Note: English is not my first language, and I'm not beat'ed
24/06/2018: edited version, still no sequel! Sorry not sorry for the false hope
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Silent Clocks Tickling
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A laughing man fell from an Arch to...somewhere else. It could be the beginning of a funny joke, instead of Sirius Back's life.
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"Sirius, my boy," Dumbledore said, his Serious-Business face on. "I need you to tell me everything you remember."
"The thing is, Professor," replied Sirius, his eyes hollowed and glassy, "I've no idea what happened."
And Pride snorted with mean mirth from her position on his shoulder.
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It was a world of decaying spiderlilies, morbid guillotines and silents clocks. Sirius had no idea where he was.
"Intruder!" croaked the stuffed bird as Sirius hopelessly erred among the empty buildings.
And his magic didn't work. Why, why, by Merlin's holy pants, wouldn't work his magic?
"Infamy!" screamed the chewing teeth when the lost wizard ran through the graveyard in growing panic.
That...may be even worst than Azkaban. Maybe not, after reflexion. Here, he was only loosing his sanity, and Blacks never had spades of that in the first place. Who needed sanity when you could have blood purity instead? Exactly.
"Oh, a guest!" giggled one of the dolls. "I don't remember the last time we had a guest. Play with us, stranger!"
The cohort of weird blue-eyed Dolls wearing black dresses surrounded him, with varying expressions from friendly curiosity to open hostility. That moment, there, when Sirius' life depended on the will of sentient puppets, must have been the moment when he definitely hit the bottom.
"We should warn Mistress," stated a doll, her painted face contorted with anxiety.
"Don't be a chicken, Cowardice!" one of her grinning sisters laughed off her concerns. "Mistress Good-for-nothing already knows he is here, for sure."
If there was one thing Sirius was good at, aside from admittedly awesome pranking skills and devilish mind-blowing charms, it was his talent to go with the flow, no matter how tormented it seemed.
"Mistress Good-for-nothing?" repeated Sirius. "Who is that?"
"Oh, it speaks," noted a doll, visbly surprised.
"Of course it speaks, Stupid-Looking," snorted her sister. "It's human. Like Good-for-nothing used..."
"You speak too much, Slander", interjected coldly another one. "Do shut up for once would you? No one wants to hear you gossiping."
Funny on how bitch fights happened wherever women were put together, including non-human females inside a mad defying-gravity and common sense universe.
"What did you just said, Coldheartedness, you damned slut?" growled the doll named Slander, as she threatened the blasé-looking one with her tiny fist.
Before Coldheartedness got a chance to reply at the her sister's provocation, a non-nonsense condescending looking doll interrupted them "Will you stop bickering like children, would do? It's unbecoming. Mistress asks for his presence."
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"Mistress Good-for-nothing? Sentient dolls with name of human's faults ?" Dumbledore mused out loud, fascinated despite himself by the younger wizard's incredible tale. "Could it be...the Puppets of mourning? The Clara Dolls, servants of the Lady of Time and Death?"
"They called themselves Clara Dolls," precised Sirius, nonplussed by the academic interruption. "I don't know about the rest though."
"Do shut up, old man," growled Pride, as she tugged the Black scion's dark curls with her wooden fingers. "Crazy Dog's talking."
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Under Pride's authority, the bickering dolls led him among this world's sheer madness of light pink and midnight black.
"It's a Witch Labyrinth," chirped happily the one Sirius thought to be Stupid-Looking, obviously delighted to be listened and the center of attention for once. "The last one in existence! The labyrinth of Homulilly, the Nutcracker Queen, though we call her Mistress Good-for-nothing."
"Yeah?" the wizard avoided a rat's trap, who almost bit his ankle. "She's like, the ruler of this place then?"
Half the dolls cackled at his question. "Sort of. She is this place," explained Coldheartedness, without condescending to grant him a glance. "Not that a human like you would understand."
Using all his self-control, 'the puny human' let the matter drop as their little congregation of oddness passed through what had to be a prison according to this twisted world.
"The Sinners," whispered helpfully Stupid-looking, shivering under the blank stare of the tin soldiers clearly guarding the place. Sirius wished he would just stop being surprised by the events.
"What have they done?" asked the wizard at the friendly doll, while taking a considerate glance at the prisonners.
The younger one was but a child, asleep on a bed made of marshmallow, her long white hair spread on the soft pink organic matress. A cage made of red and white-stripped rock candy surrounded her small form. The other 'sinner', a teenaged blue-haired girl, floated unconscious inside a bubble of water.
At least Sirius hoped they were asleep, and not dead. This place looked morbid enough to be storing corpses of little girls.
"Charlotte, the Witch of Sweets," Stupid-looking replied while pointing out the white-haired child. "And Oktavia, the Mermaid Witch."
How...fitting.
"They took something important from Mistress Good-for-nothing," gleefully gossiped Slander.
Siruis casted a questioning glance at his most willing informator, and she happily provided. "Lady Hope. They took Mistess' Lady Hope and now we're struck seeking her."
"We're so alone without her..." whined miserably Stupid-Looking with the most kicked-puppy face Sirius had ever saw. And he had lived for years Remus, uncontested master of kicked-puppy face.
He tentatively patted the sad doll's shoulder, and though she didn't seemed to mind the comfort gesture, her sisters hissed angrily at him. He quickly drew back his offending appendice to himself.
"Good-for-nothing was so furious," Slander continued her tale as if nothing happened, "but she couldn't kill them because Lady Hope would be sad. Good-for-nothing never want our Hope to be sad. So they shall stay under lock for their crime."
"I see," lied the wizard, when he really didn't, as his escort hushed him towards a wooden door on the biggest clock, before leaving him to fend for himself.
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"Lady Luck? Does that mean, per chance, the Law of Cycles Entity of stories?" wondered Dumbledore, clearly fascinated by the whole ordeal. Lucky him.
Pride answered before Sirius could. "I said shut up, old man. Do you need me to remove your tongue?"
"Careful, Pride," grinned the black-haired man. "you just sounded like Coldheartedness."
To what the Clara Doll snorted disdainfully, but did nothing aside from narrowing her button eyes at the curious older wizard.
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The door led to, despite all common sense, a glass dome slowly drifting on a river. The ground was covered with bright green grass, and the blue sky with occasional glimpses of violet enlighted the room.
Yes, the inside of a clock looked like that in this Labyrinth world.
Sirius was greeted by a Clara Doll he had yet to met, except the newcomer looked as similar as her sisters than a delicate lily to wild flower. She was so carefully painted and lovingly crafted, so realistic she almost could pass for a actual child. Her name was Love, as she presented herself shyly, while she tucked nervously her pink twin-tails and smoothed her school uniform skirt.
Sirius thought he had yet to meet anything this cute, though he did remember a one-year old giggling Harry to be of similar level.
Love, blinking pretty pink button eyes, led him towards the center of the dome, where a table next to a dead tree was set for two and a girl clad into a similar uniform was sitting. The adorable doll ran on the girl's lap, and she absently patted the pink locks.
"Oh my, what do we have here?" the black-haired girl drawled out with a monocord voice as she fixed her dull violet yet oddly focused eyes on him. "A guest. Please have a seat."
This was probably the 'Mistress' the dolls spoke about. It would be the most reasonable course not to antogonize her for the time being. But Sirius was a Gryffindor to the core. He didn't do reasonable when he could make reckless bravado instead.
"I never seat with young girls I haven't been properly introduced to. My mother's orders, for the sake of my virtue, you understand."
The Love doll giggled briefly, as she tucked her head under her Mistress' chin. Sirius took comfort in the fact that at least one person of his audience could appreciate a good joke. Because if the violet-eyed girl was amused, she let not of it shown.
"Your virtue," she put such disdainful emphasis on the word he should probably feel offended on the behalf of his inexistent property, "is perfectly safe with me, Sirius Black. Now sit."
Sirius sat. Love, still on the girl's lap, pourred him a cup of tea before sliding it his way like a boss. The wizard sent her a discreet nod of recognition for her prowess that sent her blushing in happiness.
"Is that because I'm English? 'Cause it would be so cliché."
Good-for-nothing took a slip of her own cup. "Feel rassured knowing my choice of drinks have absolutely nothing to do with your homeland."
"Oh. Well, I still feel we're on uneven grounds, miss. You know my name, though I've no idea how, and I don't know yours."
She let out a mirthless laugh at his remark. "I could tell you all the names I've been given and we would still be on uneven grounds, Sirius Black. But I shall indulge you, as my quality of hostess require. You may call me Devil."
"That's one heavy name for such a pretty girl," noted Sirius with false desinvolture, while Love beamed at him, likely for the compliment he had given to her beloved Mistress.
She shruggled. "Evil knows no bound nor form, or so I've been told."
"Does that mean I'm in Hell?" asked the wizard, trying his best not have a panic attack. "Because there's a serious lack of flames and screams of suffering here."
Devil's eyes twinkled in faint amusement. He knew he would get to her eventually. He got to anyone that wasn't a greasy git, and everyone knew those were beyond help. "What my labyrinth lacks in flames compensates with sheer morbidity, and I assure you screams of suffering are present. You simply cannot hear them. Now, if this place is indeed Hell, then be relieved to know it's only mine."
At the bitter confession, Love patted Devil's knee with the clear intent to comfort her. The black-haired girl smiled sadly at her in response, and bowed to gently kiss the top of the doll's head.
"If I'm not in Hell, then where am I?" insisted the Black Head, tired of Devil's play of words and mysteries. "You spoke of a Labyrinth but I've no idea what it is."
"You wouldn't," nodded the Mistress of the Labyrinth. "It's the last of his sort. About the where, I suppose we're in a place outside time and between universes. The technical precisions are above your capacity of understanding, I'm afraid."
"O-kay. Can I got back to where I come from? I need to!" Sirius asked with hopeful impatience. Maybe there was a way to leave this nighmare. Clearly Devil didn't wanted his presence here anymore than he did.
"Absolutely," she slowly smiled like a cat would to a mice he was going to eat alive. "Depends on you of course."
"How so?" he frowned at her with suspicion.
"What do you think, genius?" the Mistress smirked at him, her hand slowly caressing Love's pink locks. "Ready to make a deal with the Devil?"
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"Oh Sirius," Dumbedore said, torn between sadness and horror. "My dear boy, what have you done?"
"He's awfully judgy, don't you think, Crazy Dog?", Pride loudly whispered into his ear, as she kicked her thin legs against his torso. "Sure you don't want me to remove his tongue?"
Sirius rolled his eyes at her. "Yes. I'm sure."
Pride sighed in exasperation.
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"I'm not going to trade my soul," Sirius said adamantly. He had enough understandings of the Black family's bloody business to know what a terrible idea it would be. Mother would have been so proud.
Devil snorted disdainfully at the ridiculous notion. "Now, who's being cliché? I've no interest whatsover in your soul, Sirius Black."
"Are you sure Devil is an appropriate denomination then? Not going to judge or anything, but as far as I've seen, you kinda suck as an Evil Lord, or Lady, whatever."
The teenaged girl rose an imperative eyebrow he could translate into 'are you complaining of my lack of Evilness you fool?'. As a fellow eyebrow-wielder, Sirius couldn't help but feel impressed by the smoothness of the move. "I've betrayed my Godess. It's the worst offense, the lowest sin. Reread your Bible, mortal."
"So I'm 'mortal', now? Did I touch a sensible spot?" he winked at Love, who was making huge horrified eyes at him. So cute. No wonder Devil kept her around above the others.
She smirked at the jab. "Stop deluding yourself. You're as close to find a sensible spot than to get out of here on your own. So unlikely it's not even worth mentioning."
Ouch. That did hurt.
"I see. What do you want from me then, dearest Devil?" he sobered up quickly. Not point delaying the inevitable anymore.
"So little. Just to take a Clara doll with you when you get back in your world."
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The venerable director eyed Pride warily.
She sticked her tongue at him, before cackling madly.
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Sirius narrowed his eyes at her serene blank face. "Why?"
Devil simply took another slip of her tea, emptying the cup in a last go. As soon as she had put the cup back on the table, Love hurried up to pour her another with a happy devoted smile. The sweet doll put the expression 'live to serve' to new levels that made Sirius really uncomfortable.
"How do you think you ended up here, Sirius Black?" Devil seemingly eluded the question.
"I don't know, lady, I've been a very bad boy?" he frowned, before adding hesitantly. "I fell through a Veil."
"A Veil, you say," she mused out loud. Did that mean she didn't actually knew everything? "Interesting. You see, nothing can enter my Labyrinth without behing invited. No one ever comes without my explicit permission."
"I'm flattered?" the wizard rose an inquisite eyebrow. "Really."
Love squirmed into Devil's embrace, and sent a meaningful glance at Sirius' untouched cup of tea, with a disappointed frown. The black-haired adressed a unapologic grin in response. Better not to drink or eat anything here, if myths had taught him anything useful.
"I reckon that what you call a Veil is actually a portal to Limbo," Devil ignored both his unhelpful intervention and her Doll's pouting crisis. "Your soul should have been torn apart, destroyed beyond recognition and its remanants scattered among Limbo."
"That...doesn't seem like a joyous prospect to me," Sirius admitted, a bit frightened. "Do I have to thank you for my...timely rescue?"
"Yes and no," the girl replied, putting her head on her palm. "My Labyrinth acted on his own. Because it recognized you."
If Sirius thought there were going into absurd territory before, he was so not ready for this shit. "Beg your pardon?" he said with the aristocratic kind of intonation that overcame his judgment under trying times. Like having to play polite to Snivellus or discovering a affinity for time-transcending potentially evil space dimension. So. Not. Ready.
"Not you per say," Devil explained in a very Lily-kind of voice that stirred nostalgia to his worned-out, fragile heart. "Someone whose destiny you're closely tied to."
"I'm not following," he said slwaly, because it sounded to much like Magical Theory/Arithmancy kind of shit to him, and the fact his soul heavely hung on the balance did not help his theorical reflexion capacities.
She sighed and tried another approach. "See, there is someone I have been seeking for a very long time, someone I have lost due to my many mistakes..."
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"Lady Hope ?" Dumbledore speculated with a slight frown.
Pride sent the older man a mean glare and 'Fuck you' evocative gesture.
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"Lady Hope?" Sirius guessed, remembering vividly Stupid-looking and Slander's tale.
Love whimpered sadly at the name, while caressing frenetically the red ribbon adorning her twin-tails.
"Yes," simply said Devil, while putting a comforting hand on Love's head. "I see the Clara Dolls have been gossiping again."
Sirius threw his most ravishing smile, making Love blush furiously. Good at least one of them could appreciate his charms. "I pestered them. I'm quite the persistant bloke," then added as an afterthought, "I thought it was the fault of those girls you keep on the basement."
Devil's expression turned arctic cold lightening fast. "Playing knights for the fair maiden now? I assure those two aren't anymore damsels in distress than I am, and had their punishment coming. Not that's any of your buisness. You should be more concerned about yourself."
"Oh, don't worry about it, sweetheart, my well-being is always my top priority," he said, not really truthfully. Or only if you took into consideration his loved ones' well-being as his own. "I still don't get how all this is related to me."
His hostess patted her fingers across her cheek, thoughful. "Simple. Your destiny is tied to Madoka's, so closely the Labyrinth almost mistook you for her and 'rescued' you from anihilation. You're welcome by the way"
"I don't know any Madoka," argued Sirius, not liking where those negociations were going.
"Of course not. Her soul had been forcefully reborn randomly, so that I would never be able to find her," she narrowed her cold violet eyes in distate, Love shivering into her arms. "She could be anyone right now, a child, a old lady, a man."
Anyone close enough to be tied to his destiny, she said. What kind of closure did that entailed? Something distant, like Dumbledore-close? Or very close, like Remus-close, or, even worse, Harry-close. Sirius couldn't afford that risk. Not even for his own salvation. No way in hell.
"Then I'm afraid I must refuse your proposal," firmly announced the Black Head, his jaw set into stone.
Love froze, stunned, as Devil glazed interrogatingly at him, her head held by a pretty red ribbon tilted on the right. "You're...refusing. You're aware I'm under no obligation to let you squat my Labyrinth, aren't you? And what is going to happen to you if I exile you into Limbo?"
"Yeah, but I'm also your only link to your Hope Madoka chick, so you ain't gonna threw me out," he boldly winked at her. 'When in doubt, seduce your way out of shit' could definitely be his motto. "Am I right, sweetheart? Beside, you must be so bored into your Realm of Doom. I've been told to be highly entertaining."
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"...Really, Sirius," Dumbledore blinked at him. "Your sense of abnegation is...astonishing."
For once, Pride kept quiet despite the interruption, with an unreadable expression on her painted face.
"She wasn't that ugly, Professor," he laughed it off. "A bit young, though she was likely hundred times older than me. But I do try. Abnegation is my middle name, I always said so. Funny how no one believed me."
The doll on his shoulder wrinked her pointed nose in distate and snorted.
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Devil simply rose an eyebrow at his desperate antics. "Are you seriously trying to whore your way out? How crass. Mundane, even."
He shruggled, indifferent to her accusations. "A bloke gotta try. Seriously though, you can threaten all you want to expulse me out of your glorified playground, but I'm not making a deal with you. Ever."
"How...definitive from you," she mused, apparently unconcerned. "Oh, I get it. You're protecting your friends from me. That's very noble. I take back what I said."
"Glad we're on the same page," he concluded with a devil-may-care smirk so appropriate for the circonstances.
Devil nodded, and then bursted out laughing. Not a pretty girly laugh, no, a Going-Crazy Bellatrix-style kind a laugh. It was the first time Sirius could see so clearly the underlying madness kept under a smooth exterior of coldness. Sirius knew a lot about underlying madness.
"My, you're so precious," she giggled, shedding tears from her eyes under Love's worried glance. "You really thought you had a choice, didn't you?"
The wizard froze at the nasty mockery. "But...you said..."
"Oh I know what I said, and I would have held my part of the deal," Devil interrupted his ramblings. "But I don't really need your cooperation. Of course, it would make the whole ordeal much more easier for me, and less painful for you, as, despite common belief, I hardly enjoy free cruauty. However, I could use you with or without your consent to trace back your universe. Cannot ensure that you would survive the journey that way though."
"And don't ever think of killing yourself," she added with a wicked grin while her victim held his head between his hands in despair, "it won't work. Trust me, I know from first hand experience."
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"Oh Sirius," simply said his former professor, glints of unshed tears into his eyes.
"Don't say it Albus."
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"Oh, stop making this face," Devil sighed with exasperation, her manic outburst under control once again. "So overly dramatic."
"You lied to me," her prisoner whispered with growing horror, under Love's sympathic glances.
"Not really," she dismissed with a vague gesture of the hand. "I said I was willing to make a deal, not that I needeed your cooperation. After all, you were right on one point, you're the closest link I have to Madoka's current form, and I'm not going to let that chance go to waste, whether you're willing or not."
"My world...What are you planning to do to it?"
She laughed bitterly. "Nothing. My only goal is Madoka, I care nothing for your world. Should she want it destroyed I will provided naturally, but knowing her, it's unlikely."
"What are you going to do when you find her?" Sirius asked with growing concern. "Kidnap her?"
Devil rolled her eyes at his dramatic flair. "I only wish for her happiness. And your questions are starting to annoy me."
"My mother always told that should I ever make a deal with the Devil, I should make sure to read all the lines in small characters."
"Oh, are we making a deal now? I thought you never ever make a deal with me. Your lack of will is concerning."
"You said it yourself, I don't have a choice," he frowned at her. "How do I know you're not bluffing by the way?"
Devil shruggled before taking a slip of tea. "You don't. But I'm not. Doubt me if you want, I don't care either way."
At her cutting remark, Sirius felt the need to bang frenetically his head against the damned table. He valiantly refrained the urge.
"Okay, then I want to add clauses to the deal," tried the wizard in last resort. "The promise you won't hurt people from my world for instance..."
"Not accceptable," interrupted the so-called parangon of Evil. "What if someone tried to hurt Madoka? You're pushing your boundaries too much, Sirius Black. Do I need to remind you I have the upper hand here? I will give you a safe return guarantee and nothing more."
This was the moment Sirius needeed to play his cards the Slytherin way, no matter how distateful it felt to him. Now was show time for all the Black-genes he made a point to put the less possible into contribution.
"Now wait a minute," the former Gryffindor straightened up on his seat with determination, "there is something I can offer that does require my cooperation."
"Oh really?" Devil kept her perfect mask of boredom, but Sirius didn't let her apparent indifference get to him. "And what would that be?"
"Well, you did say you wanted to please your Madoka chick, right," he asked without waiting for an answer. "And she's likely to want to stay into her world. Therefore, you will need to someone to smooth your way into this mad mad world. Beside, if we are really close, then killing me won't get you points with your lady."
"She needs not to know," she dismissed his last argument, but Sirius could feel he got her interested anyway.
"Still, you could use the help to woo your girl. No offence, but I think you're going to need it, and my seducing skills are unparalleled."
Devil actually smirked at his boldness. "In other words, you're offering your services as a glorified turist guid and a matchmaker. Though I suppose it's a step up from whore."
"We prefer the word 'courtisan', thank you very much," the wizard replied without real heat. "And I have a flying motorbike, I might be even inclined to give you a ride."
"A flying motorbike? How could I say no now," she deadpaned. "What have I been doing all my life without such a device?"
Sirius nodded along without commenting on the sarcasm. Those seven years living in the same room than Remus Lupin and his dry wit had finally came in handy after all. He'll have to tell his friend so, if he ever make it home without destroying the universe or something.
"My point exactly. Soooo, your opinion?"
Non-plussed by his own anxiety, the dark-haired girl that held his destiny beetween her hands crossed her legs, while asserting him with a considerating look. Sirius tried to see the good side, at least, she was seriously thinking about at it.
"And what would your conditions be then?" she inquired after a infuriating long moment of reflexion, her tone as blank as her expression. "You can forget about the non-hurting clause."
"I get it. Can you, I don't know, be reasonable about it? Mess the less posible with the order of my world?"
Devil chuckled incredulously. "Are those your terms? Be reasonable? Poor thing, a lawyer would eat you alive."
"You're not a lawyer," the wizard pointed out, rather irritated. "It's not like you let me a lot of room to negociate."
"That's because I'm worst than a lawyer. I'm the Devil." As if Sirius had forgotten. What a Drama Queen. "Nonetheless, I could agree to 'be reasonable', as long as Madoka is not in danger, in exchange for your services."
"Wait a minute here," he frowned at her blank face. "What do you mean by services?"
She smirked in amusement at his suspicion. What an evil bitch. "Well, your assistance to settle into your puny world without 'having to be unreasonable'. Everyones win, really. It's a deal then. You will take Love and Pride with you, and I shall meet you soon."
And then, wihout letting him the occasion to protest against the sloppiest contract in the history of sloppy contracts, Devil rose from her seat, as Love jumped her side and ran outside the dome, leant towards him and bit his neck.
And she had the nerve to accuse him of being a whore. At least, he brought people dinner before bitting their neck without warning whatsover. Most of the time.
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Dumbledore gave a pointed look at the covered base of Sirius's neck.
Without missing a beat, his former student presented him smooth skin, now covered with a purple tatoo of the form of a flower.
"Spider lily?" mumbled the Headmaster, puzzled
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And so less than a minute after his tragic fall in to the Veil of Doom, Sirius was thrown back into his world, a weird moving doll on his shoulder and another on his hip, to the astonishement of all present parties.
Let it not be said Sirius Back couldn't make a grand entrance.
"Sirius!" his godson shouted with delighted relief, tears soiling his cheeks.
"Sirius?" whispered incredously his oldest friend, as he released Harry from his hold, who wasted no time to propulse himself into Sirius's arms. Did he mentioned how much he loved that kid? Because he fucking did.
"Sirius!" shrieked his harpy of a relative, before Sirius hexed her so bad he could almost felt her eyeballs combusting. That was for forcing him to make deal with Devil. Damn bitch had it coming.
Pride, still using his shoulder as an organic perch let out an appreciative whistle. The Black Head was glad to know that at least someone was having fun.
Love, on the other side, had managed to slide herself to let room for an handful of fifteen years old without releasing Sirius' hip, and he couldn't help but feel impress by her capacities of adaption.
He was, however, far less impressed by the way she eyed his godson, silently vibrating with excitement. Nope, not one bit. He didn't have time to mourn about the growing probability of his godson being the Madoka his Mad Devil was looking for, as Harry suddently cried out with agony in his arms.
"Voldemort", his boy managed to mumble before letting another shout of pain, his old ennemy trying to take control of his mind.
Sirius gently lied his godson on the floor, cradling Harry's head between his hands helplessly while Remus casted protective spells around their vulnerable forms. Oh Merlin, he would let no one take Harry from him again not now, not ever, but what could he do when the enemy lurked inside his friends' child's head?
"Harry," he whispered frantically, trying every healing spell he knew, without success. "Harry!"
Around them, hexes flought with maddening ferocity. Love, whose presence Sirius had almost forgotten silently fell to Harry's side and put her wooden hand on his cheek. Then, with frightening ease, she met Harry's green eyes, and whispered coldly into his ear. "You disgusting trash. Get out of Lady Hope's body. Now."
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"Oh dear," Dumbledore whispered, without any surprise though. "You don't mean..."
"Well, I'm not sure for one hundred percent," interrupted Sirius, with a resentful glance at Pride, who responded with a smug smirk of her own. "But it does seem likely Harry is indeed Madoka, or his reincarnation or whatever. Love is even refusing to leave his side now. Pretty self explanatory, if you want to my opinion."
"I see," the Headmaster sighed, looking far older than usual. "Anything else to add?"
Sirius shruggled. "Nope. The rest, you've seen, Voldemort making his grand entrance, trying to control Harry's mind and failing, and everything. The part of responsabiliy Love hold about that however I'm not sure."
"Indeed. Indeed," the older wizard nodded absently, obviously lost into his thoughts.
Pride snickered at their growing apprehension.
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"What is it?" asked Love with an even tone without taking her eyes from Harry's unconscious body.
Sirius rose his head at the question. The usually soft-spoken doll was sitting quietly next to his godson's bed, apparently non-plussed by the chaotic place the infirmay had turned into since the Order of Phoenix had Apparated from the Ministry with six students of varying alarming degrees of injury.
Harry, quickly diagnosed by a stressed Pomphrey as simply unconscious and in no immediate danger, had been put on the bed by Sirius himself, while the others dedicated their attention to the much worrying health of Ron, Hermione and one blond-haired girl he had yet to met.
Perfectly aware than his skills on healing anything other than superficial injuries was close to zero, Sirius found himself waiting for Dumbledore's arrival while Remus gave him and his crew of sentient puppets incredulous googled eyes from above Ginny's head.
"What are you talking about?" the wizard said tiredly. Pride snorted at him from her current perch, the back of the chair Love was sitting on.
The pink-haired doll wrinked her nose in disgust. "The ugly thing inside his head. What is it?"
Sirius shruggled with fake nonchalance. "Lord Voldemort, I guess."
"Lord Voldemort?" frowned Pride with a thoughful expression that hardly put Sirius at ease. "Is he your ennemy then?"
Oh, if only she knew.
"Yes," Srius winced.
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His name was Harry. Harry Potter. He didn't looked like Madoka at all, what with his dark messy hair, angular body and general boyishness.
And Homura couldn't have cared less, not with long-lost feeling of sheer contentment. Because he was Madoka, she could feel it with all her being, vibrating with relief, and mirth. Her whole soul all but sang with alegress.
He was perfect. Perfect. Well, aside for the disgusting piece of of rotten soul clinging to Madoka's brillant own. Whoever had dared to soil pure lovely Madoka that way was going to pay, Homura would make sure of it.
"Mistress," whispered happily her sweet Love, faithfully guarding an unconscious Harry, who was tucked into what the self-named Devil supposed to be an infirmary bed. Due to her deep personal acquaintance with hospital-related locations, Homura had no problem recognizing it, alternate universe or not.
"I've found Lady Hope, I did," her doll chirped with a blinding smile, before visibly deflating. "But she got hurt! I'm so sorry, Mistress!"
"He," she distractly corrected while checking for Harry's injuries. None of them lethal nor crippling, thankfully, but still. Still. "I know you did your best, Love."
"Poor Lord Hope," the sensitive doll whined sadly while holding Harry's hand. Homura wished she could do the same too, for she deeply craved any physical contact from Madoka, whatever her current form was. She knew better, however. She probably wouldn't found within herself to let go.
"I've people I need to...talk too," she announced abruptly. "You've done good, Love."
Homura put her hand on the small pink-haired head. Love only smiled at her as she disappeared into Homulilly again.
.
.
"Well, Miss Pride, is there anything would be willing to share with us?" Dumbledore amiably asked the hostile doll.
Pride gave him a look equally disdainfull and incredelous. "Like what?"
But the Headmaster, having decades of experience dealing with sulky teenagers under his belt wouldn't let himself be deterred for so little. "Well, your Mistress' objectives, for instance."
She dismissed the sujection with a condescending smirk. "Mistress Good for nothing was pretty clear on the subject. Are you deaf as well as you are retarded, old man?"
"Hey now!" growled Sirius on his mentor's behalf. "Watch out, you little bitch!"
Before Pride could reliate in the insult departement, the Gargoyle interrupted the verbal altercation. "Headmaster, someone is asking for you. She says her name is Devil and the three of you have an appointement planned."
.
.
That night, Harry Potter dreamt of unbreakable promises, red ribbons and crying black-haired girls instead of endless corridors.
He woke up with the name 'Homura-chan' on his lips.
.
.
"Horcruxes, you say?" The Devil crossed her legs with an apparently amused smile. Sirius had spend enough time with her to know what that smile really meant. It meant someone was going to pay, with the interest."That's adorable."
Sirius almost felt bad for Voldemort. Almost.
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