The wisp
Challenge info: For the babadock muggle appreciation club.
Prompts used:
(Plot Device)A mother is left single after her spouse dies
(Dialogue) "If you touch my son again- I'll fucking kill you!"
(Activity) Reading a book to the child
(Dialogue) "Don't let it in"
(Plot Device) A child is extremely naughty, potentially suffers from ADD/ADHD.
Sirius couldn't always tell if what he saw was real or just a delusion. He often dreamed of people and things that when lucid he knew wasn't true. He didn't know a girl named Alison and he didn't try to date a muggle. Then everything changed as instead of the images of a girl he saw his mother casting an Oblivate on him before her face flashed before him. He trembled and doubt grow that it wasn't a fell into a fitful sleep after exhaustion took him.
He dreamed of her skin and lips when he closed his eyes and it hurt. Finally morning came and he sat up to solve the latest puzzle. She was his neighbour when he was younger. He had been walking out of the house when they crashed into each other. She had been crying. He was in his second year of Hogwarts. She poured her heart out to him as she told him about the thing that drove her father to suicide. She said that she was probably crazy but she saw it haunt him and all of her siblings knew about it. Then she asked who he was.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do this- My name is Allie- Only my parents call me Alison. What's your?"
"Black. Sirius Black." He tried to grin but stumbled over his words and probably was grinning stupidly at her.
"Very smooth Bond. How is it that you are still single?" Allie laughed.
"People throw themselves at me all the time but I've never wanted any of them until I saw you." Sirius smirked because it was true as the future Black heir he was a sought after husband.
"You're being serious?" Allie asked.
"Dead serious. They all want a piece of me but they can't have any. You on the other hand- you can all of my man meat." Sirius laughed as she blushed.
It was the start of a wonderful relationship but the first sour note was when he realized the truth. The day that the thing came into his house is the day that he messed with the house wards. Something escaped from his house and moved into her house. She confided that she thought she was going crazy when she saw that shadow follow him around. It sucked the energy out of everyone even her younger siblings. Ariel was quiet around it as she stared at her father with a conflicted look.
Ariel was never quiet or peaceful. She was a handful, running around constantly but smart. She could sit still but it was hard for her and she had to be encouraged to focus. Otherwise she would fidget. The only time she could focus was when she wanted to and then it was like nothing else in the world existed. Her eyes lit up and she could rattle off many random facts about her interests. She didn't seem to understand why her was problem and had a hard time socializing with peers her age. Allie was years older but she was sometimes lost by what her sister said and was more a miniature adult than a ten year old.
Andrew was seven and withdrawn. The shadow seemed to be attracted to males because once it got their father it latched onto him. It took a long time for their mom to accept what was happening. Then with her husbands' death she realized the cost of staying in denial and ignorance. He was visiting when the shadow touched Andrew and the young boy screamed loudly in panic. Allie was in the washroom and when Andrew screamed everyone rushed into the room. Sirius was luckily across the room and he watched as everyone tried to console the young boy.
"If you touch my son again- I'll fucking kill you!" Allie's mother muttered angrily under her breath as she passed him.
Sirius looked at her in admiration and admonition because whatever Andrew had wasn't physical. Andrew scampered away from his older siblings and mom and hid behind Sirius. The older boy looked in amusement but the two had bonded. Allie's mom decided to trust Allie's friend and let them. He offered to take him to bed as he yawned sleepy.
"You're going to be a good father if the way you treat Andy the same way you treat… children." Allie smiled.
"He's a good influence on me. If you want I can take him to bed and you guys can discuss what you should do." Sirius said.
"Can you read him a story?" Allie asked.
Sirius nodded and carrying the light seven year old he tucked the small boy in the bed like he used to do with Regulus. The boy picked out a book and he began to read it out loud. He changed voices and eventually lulled the small boy to sleep. He was about to leave when he heard Andrew speak hollowly.
"Don't let it in, Sirius" Andrew spoke as he was about to open the door.
Sirius took out his wand and cast a protection charm on the room that would stop things from entering temporarily. He felt guilt gnaw at him but resolved to do something about it when he could. He left the room as Andrew finally calmed down and breath deeply. Feeling a flash of regret he left as Allie closed the door behind her. This was the ending of their friendship and the beginning of the mutual crush. She was sixteen when they began to try to date. It failed because Regulus saw them and told his parents. They made him forget and he never saw her again.
When he got out and went back to his old house he looked next door. She was staring at him in shock before dropping the paper with his face plastered all over it and went into her house. He knocked on the door and she opened it and had regained some color in her bones. Then he was pushed to the side as a young boy hugged her.
"Auntie! Dad told me to go ahead and tell you that we're all coming in!" The boy shouted excitedly.
Alison was equally animated when she spoke back before herding her nephew inside then invited Sirius in. Sirius looked shocked but came in and watched as a stream of young children and then older versions of the children he dreamed about come in. Andrew had grown up well, fit with a tan and he hugged Sirius and Ariel slapped him for breaking her sisters heart and then telling him that he better explain why he left without a word.
"How did you escape from Azkaban?" Ariel asked.
"How…" Sirius looked at her in shock.
"I got a letter by a day school around here when I was eleven. I saw the news when he was defeated and it's all over the wireless that the armed and dangerous Sirius Black is free. You came just in time" Ariel flatly spoke in a monotone.
"Why is it a good time now?" Sirius asked.
"I'm dying, Sirius. It's a malignant tumor in the brain. The tumor has grown too large to be treated without drastic measures and it can't be guaranteed that I'd be cured so I went home." Alison said.
"We're visiting for support. The doctors say that she won't have over a year to live." Ariel said.
"I… I'm sorry. My family made me forget and then I got imprisoned. Do you want me to go?" Sirius asked.
"Stay. You helped me when I was young and we always repay our debts. You're safe here." Andrew said.
"For a while, yes. Is there anything I can do?" Sirius asked.
"I've told them all about you. You can introduce yourself to the kids while I prepare the food." Alison said.
"No. I'll help you cook- I don't know how to cook but I can help in the kitchen. You're not alone in this." Sirius said.
The next few months he stayed by her side as the others left. She was pregnant with his child when he left and that was the last day he saw her. They died on the same day as she lived a few years longer than expected. Her daughter never knew her father personally but was raised by Andrew who told her of the boy who saved her uncle, loved his mother, and how she never gave up because of him and then her. Alison was a wisp in Sirius' Blacks imprisonment, not even a ghost, and they barely spent time together in life. They touched each others life irrevocably and like a will o wisp in a fog, they hover and disappear but left a trace.