Disclaimer: This world and characters, with the exception of Teagan, obviously do not belong to me. No infringement or offense is intended. This holds for the whole of this work.
November 1981
In an office in a tower in a castle that was also a school, a person was pacing. Her long oak colored curls fell down from a loose twist at the back of her head and swung belligerently against her back, like they were mocking her. It felt as if everything was mocking her. A knee length soft black leather jacket fell loosely around her thin frame. Her long fingers kneaded the sides of her forehead as she walked.
The door opened and the woman turned suddenly. A man entered. He looked tired, and old. His blue eyes, usually twinkling and bright, seemed dull. He looked up as he passed through the doorway and faltered, but only for a moment, before giving the young woman in his office a nod.
"Teagan," he acknowledged, before moving to sink into a plush chair behind the wide wooden desk. He sighed and grimaced slightly as the chair settled under his tall build. Teagan had approached the desk, her brows drawn together, her eyes crinkling with concern, but not for the man in front of her. She did not want to be there. He knew she did not want to be there. But she had had to come.
"Did you talk to him?" her question was laden with intensity, her voice sounding as if it were raking over rocks. Dumbledore opened one eye to look at her with slight bewilderment.
"To whom?" he asked.
Teagan's brow furrowed further.
"To who-? To Sirius!" she spluttered.
Dumbledore's body jerked, but, after a moment, he leaned back again in his chair.
"Sirius?" he said slowly, "No. I did not speak to Sirius."
"Well, where is he?" Teagan's arms were wrapped around her body, as if she were physically trying to hold herself together, "I've just left Remus. He's hysterical, sir! He-"
"Sirius has been taken to Azkaban," The headmaster said tiredly.
That stopped Teagan in her tracks. There was something in the air that had her skin prickling and set her teeth on edge. She knew this tone, this dead calm from the headmaster. She took a step toward him.
"When is the trial?" she asked carefully.
"There will be no trial, Teagan."
A cold panic gripped her guts. Her arms dropped to her sides, her hands clenching into fists.
"What do you mean 'there will be no trial?' " Dumbledore's words took a slightly mocking tone as she quoted them back to him. "Headmaster, you can't honestly believe that-"
"What I believe or do not believe is irrelevant," Dumbledore waved a dismissive hand, "There were witnesses, Teagan. The evidence is damning."
"But a trial could-"
"He's gone, Teagan," Dumbledore's eyes were suddenly very cold, "There is nothing you can do."
That panic in Teagan's stomach was growing, thick and black and boiling. Her eyes narrowed at Dumbledore.
"Where's Harry?"
"Harry is safe," the headmaster said languidly.
Bolts were twisting into place inside Teagan's mind, tightening down on something that she had long suspected until it was solidifying into understanding.
"I want to see Sirius," her chin lifted defiantly.
"You may not."
She had expected that. She crossed to Dumbledore's desk, her hands slamming flat onto the surface as she leaned toward him.
"Then I want to see Harry," she said, "And Remus should-"
"You cannot see Harry either. Harry is with his family."
"His family?" Teagan spat, "His family is dead. Or being held inexplicably in Azkaban as I understand it."
"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice was like a whip crack, and, despite herself, Teagan flinched.
"It's over, Teagan," he said.
"You can't do this," her voice sounded strange, like she was choking.
"It is not your decision, Teagan," Dumbledore said simply. But Teagan's lips curled back, showing her teeth.
"Conveniently," she snarled.
Teagan pressed her jaws together and straightened, but her black eyes flashed dangerously.
"Lily and James would not have-" but Dumbledore cut her off again, his tone like a scalpel.
"James and Lily are dead, as you so aptly pointed out," he snapped impatiently, rising behind his desk, "And Sirius will be convicted of murder, and worse. There is only one place left for Harry to go."
Teagan whole body was shaking with rage.
"I won't let you do this," she said. Dumbledore cocked his head to one side in a boyishly innocent expression that was nightmarishly contradictory to the cruel glint in his eyes.
"But how, my dear," his voice was cold and taunting, "are you going to stop me? By all means, you are welcome to try."
Teagan slowly shook her head from side to side, backing away from Dumbledore's desk, her gaze wide and horrified.
"You're insane," she breathed through numb lips.
"Perhaps," the old man sighed and slowly lowered himself back into his chair, "Now, if our conversation here is quite finished, kindly, get out of my office."
With a casual flick of Dumbledore's fingers, Teagan felt her feet leave the floor. She crashed unceremoniously through the door and down the spiraling staircase that led to Dumbledore's office, to land in a dull heap on the floor. She pushed herself up on her hands, her ears ringing and the inside of her head spinning. Her breath was coming in hard fast gasps and her heart was pounding.
The panic writhing in her innards finally crawled up her esophagus and burst out through her eyes and mouth. She scrambled to her feet. She turned and ran out of the castle. She kept running. And she didn't look back.
