Thank you for the reviews so far. :) I promise that the next chapter will be in Tonks's POV for those that have been impatiently waiting. TeaLoverx, thank you so much for your review. It's good to know that you're still following the story haha. :) Enjoy the chapter everyone and let me know what you think.
The first noise I heard was a baby's wail. It was coming from a cot in the corner. The room I was in looked like the hospital ward at Hogwarts. I walked forwards and peered into the cot, to see a small, new-born baby, crying loudly, his face all scrunched up.
I reached out to pick him up and his cries quickly soothed out into small sobs, before he gave a large yawn.
I smiled, my fingers curling against the slight, dark curls atop of his head. He looked so alike Sirius, but he definitely had my eyes. And then they closed and he was soon snoring peacefully in my arms.
"Get away from him."
I turned slowly so as to not disturb the baby. Sirius was there, watching me closely. But his expression…there was obvious disgust and I instantly held the baby tighter to me.
"It's…it's our baby. He's okay. He survived."
"No he didn't." Sirius replied coldly, stepping forwards with that same look on his face. "Because you didn't want him, remember?"
Then he reached out his arms and attempted to tear the baby from me.
I gasped, panic flooding me as I begged him to stop. He refused to listen, his features hardening and I cried out, as he managed to get a grasp of the baby and pull him away.
Then he turned back to sneer at me. "None of this is real. He died because you didn't love him."
"Don't say that. I did, I really did. Please," I sobbed, desperately reaching for the baby again, even when he was already walked away, leaving me a pathetic mess on the floor. "Please Sirius, I'm begging you. Don't do this!"
But it was too late. They were both gone.
And I woke with a gasp, flying forwards in my bed, drenched in my own cold sweat.
Ollie was already at the meeting point by the time I got there.
It was freezing. It was the middle of December and I had about three layers on, as well as a thick scarf. There was the option of casting a warming spell, but it was tricky and only ever lasted for so long. It was miserable actually. The rain was pelting down determinedly, and it didn't look like it was about to stop anytime soon. I supposed it was appropriate, with the way I was feeling.
I forced a small smile and met him by the side of a small meadow. "Hey."
He glanced round and smiled instantly. He was sat on a small stool by the side of a meadow, presumably having put an extension charm on his bag. He waved an invisibility cloak at me. "Oh hi. Dumbledore asked me to bring this, thought it would be a little more discreet."
"Cool, okay."
I stood awkwardly. I'd not thought to put an extension charm on my own bag when I left, so that I was able to bring my own stool. Truth was, I'd been distracted as usual.
"There's more than enough room on here, you know."
And with that, he flicked his wand and placed an extension charm on the stool, enough so that I would fit.
I smiled a little, sitting down beside him and placing my bag to the floor. "Thanks."
The house was huge, an actual mansion. But it also looked creepy. On one side of the house there was a spiral tower, shaped like Rapunzel's. The whole house was a dismal grey shade and there was a huge, black fence going around the outside of the house. The front door was directly in front of us, at least a few hundred feet away, which was convenient placing.
"Who knew Death Eaters had such grandeur houses. Even if it is a bit…"
"Creepy?" He offered with a laugh.
I nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah, I say. Is this definitely the right vantage point? Not that I'm doubting your scouting skills or anything. But a house this big…must surely have two entrances."
"Nah, Dumbledore said this is the door they always use. Apparently Death Eaters aren't known for their subtlety."
"Well who'd have believed it?"
He grinned in response as he began to slowly unravel the invisibility cloak. He gestured it with his head as he begun to pull this round himself. "Should we—"
"Of course," I forced myself to agree, knowing there was never going to be a more comfortable way of doing this. We would just have to huddle.
"I'm sorry there isn't a more comfortable way of doing this."
"I was just thinking the same thing." I admitted as I wrapped the cloak around me and sat a bit closer so that just our feet could be seen. It was dark anyway. "Never mind. We'll just have to make the best of it."
"That we will."
"Sorry if I was late. Had you been here long?"
He shook his head. "Only about fifteen minutes. I was a little early. Guess you could say I was hoping the sooner I got here, the more chance I'd be prepared."
"Fair enough." I shrugged. "There's nothing to worry about really. There's not usually that much that goes on, on surveillance missions, even with how boisterous the death eaters have been lately. I can't imagine that the Lestrange's are the type to invite people over for an evening of fine dining, especially with friends like theirs."
He snorted at that. "Is that so? You say that like you're familiar with them?"
"Well…" But then I stopped.
I'd already heard of Bellatrix before joining the order. Everyone from the Ministry knew of how her and her husband had tortured Neville Longbottom's parents into insanity. And she was technically Tonks's aunt.
"I'm sure you've heard of them too. They're a little infamous. One of them even broke out from Azkaban earlier this year."
"The Ministry aren't very good at keeping people in prison, are they?" He said with a snort. "Then again, the Ministry don't seem very motivated right now. But yes, I've heard of them. Aren't they some of you-know-who's most loyal followers?"
"That's an understatement." I said. Bellatrix could barely stand the thought of someone like me talking about Voldemort when I'd met her. "They're not all that fond of people like you and me. Then again, I suspect most of followers have that attitude."
He nodded, his tone cold as he asked; "Have you had the pleasure of meeting any of them?"
"You could say that. I wouldn't particularly call it a pleasure though." I said with a shrug. It felt surprisingly easy to talk about, now that it had been a few months. Of course I'd been terrified, had been convinced that my number was up, but I wasn't going to let Bellatrix Lestrange scare me into hiding away. "Bellatrix Lestrange happens to be the one who killed me a few months ago."
It wasn't like he wasn't going to find out anyway. The whole of the order knew.
He blinked, his expression showing his shock. "What? But you're…you're alive now. How's that possible?"
"My friend's Mum found a resurrection potion, which as you probably know is incredibly rare."
"Yeah. I mean, barely anyone believes that that sort of potion exists." He said in agreement, blinking in surprise for a moment. "So…why did she come after you?"
"Long story," I sighed. "Then again, you're likely to find out eventually anyway. I was seeing her cousin. You can probably guess why she didn't like the sound of that."
"Because of who you are."
"Exactly. My Dad was muggle-born, Mum was pure-blood.""
"That's the opposite for me." He said with a smile. "It's cool though. Mum's actually working abroad at the minute, working in schools and volunteering with less fortunate wizarding communities."
"Nice."
"Yeah, it has its moments. So have you done many missions for the order?"
"A fair few. I didn't really know what to expect when I first joined, but I actually enjoy them now. Sometimes we'd bring exploding snap and things to play, although in fairness some probably weren't the best idea at the time. I remember once, I was on this scouting mission with Sirius—"
And just like that, I was no longer in the mood to reminisce.
He turned his head when I stopped talking, eyeing me curiously. "Yeah?"
"It doesn't matter. It wasn't even that funny."
"It sounded pretty—"
"Look, maybe we should just concentrate on the mission."
He nodded, his surprise at my tone obvious, but turned back to watch the house.
Through the night, people begun to arrive. Yaxley, a Ministry employee from the department of Magical Law Enforcement and a few others that I recognized from photos in the Daily Prophet and the wanted posters scattered throughout Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
I felt bad for snapping at Ollie, but it seemed too late to make my apologies. I wasn't the best person to be around anyway. Perhaps he'd understand if I told him why I had snapped, but it wasn't something I wanted to talk about.
"Wait…did you say Bellatrix Lestrange's name?"
"Yeah, why?"
"She used to be a Black, right? And you said you were seeing her cousin, so…Sirius Black? The one the Daily Prophet kept accusing."
"The one they wrongly kept accusing." I said automatically. And then I sighed heavily. "But yes that's the one."
"Oh," he said, curiosity in his eyes.
"What?"
"I just couldn't imagine…you and him, I mean."
"Oh really and why is that exactly?" I sniped, instantly sitting up.
"It's no offence meant, it's just—"
"What, because he's a little older than me? People underestimate him, you know. He's…well, he's kind, honest and more compassionate than any man I've been with, and he's funny too. For someone who has been through as much as he has, lost as much, he's a brilliant friend. He's been there for me through a lot." I found myself saying, even when this horrible ache filled me at the thought of him. "You should never judge a book by its cover. Being with the order has taught me that. And I can tell you that Sirius Black is a far better man than the Daily Prophet has been making out."
"No you're right, I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I shouldn't have judged. To be honest, I've barely even spoken to him myself yet."
I nodded in response. Perhaps I shouldn't have reacted so harshly, but it was true. People underestimated him.
"I'm ashamed to admit that I did the same thing when I joined."
"Well even still, he clearly means a lot to you." He noted with a small nod. "You make him sound amazing."
"That's because he is."
"Well then," he said with a shrug. "Why are the two of you not together anymore? That is, if you don't mind me asking."
Clearly, my reluctance showed on my face. "Urm…it's a long story. Like most things in life, I guess." I added with a forced smile, my attempt at trying to make the conversation a little lighter. "But hey, these things happen, I guess."
But he didn't seem fooled.
"You know, you don't have to pretend with me. I can see that you're still upset by whatever's happened." His voice was soft as he finally looked back at me. "Perhaps you and him, you'll be able to give things another go one day."
I sighed softly at his words. Because that was what I wanted, more than anything. "One day."
[-]
