Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Gift of Black

Chapter Nine: Safe And Found

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Sirius yelled from under Harry's invisibility cloak as he crossed the Hogwarts grounds with Eamon on his back. "Ow! What was that for?" He asked Mad-Eye, who had just smacked the back of legs with his staff.

"Constant vigilance!" Mad-Eye snarled. "You want him to hear you?!"

"He's not going hear him from here, Mad-Eye." Tonks's voice scoffed from under Mad-Eye's cloak, which she was sharing with Remus.

"I agree with Tonks." A disillusioned Kingsley said.

"And you almost made me drop the kid!" Sirius told him.

"The lad's got more sense than you do, he'll jump. Now be quiet!" Mad-Eye snapped.

"Alastor, I think that it is quite alright for Sirius to vent his frustrations here." Dumbledore spoke calmly, leading the way across the grounds. "I highly doubt that he can be heard from this distance. Best to let it out before he can be heard. Although it appears that it's pointless now that we're here." He finished as they stopped in font of the Womping Willow.

"I still can't believe it." Sirius grumbled. "First he betrays James and Lily, now he tells them about the Shrieking Shack! This was our place!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well at least you get the home turf advantage. So stop whining!" Tonks said.

"She's right Sirius." Remus said. "Now, Eamon, remember what we said."

"Stay close to Sirius, until he distracts them. If things get bad it's okay to leave him. Mammy won't mind."

"And you Sirius?"

"I consent to my inevitable abandonment and possible death, as repayment for being a dumbarse." Sirius stated in a monotone, causing Eamon to laugh for the first time that day.

"Nobody said you were a dumbarse." Remus reprimanded.

"I did." Mad-Eye volunteered.

"Yeah, well you call everybody a dumbarse, so it doesn't count." Tonks snapped.

"Just get in the tunnel! Albus, Kingsley and I will meet you on the other side!" He snapped as they marched away so they could disapparate.

"Right," Sirius said, "Does your friend know what to do Eamon?"

"Yep. Hit the knot."

"And he's fine being thrown?"

"He encourages it."

"Good. You ready?"

"Yes." Eamon replied in a voice filled with determination.

"Okay. Remember what to do?" Remus asked.

"Yes."

" And you're sure your fairies can find the exit fast?" Tonks asked.

"Yes. Nixie already went back to find it and tell Isadora what's going on."

"Good. Let's start." Sirius said as he took off the cloak and Eamon slipped off his back and handed a grumpy Murk to Sirius.

"Sorry Murk, but he can throw further." Eamon apologized.

"Sorry." Sirius said before launching the Hobgoblin into the air towards the willow, and beginning his transformation.

A branch flew out to hit Murk, but he grabbed a hold of it while it flung itself about wildly. When the branch got close enough to the ground, he jumped off and ran to the knot. The tree froze and the invisible Remus and Tonks moved forward. Eamon climbed onto "Snuffles's" back and lay flat, holding the invisibility cloak over the two of them. As they passed into the dark tunnel, Eamon held his hand out from under the cloak and Murk jumped on.

As they traveled through the long, gloomy tunnel, the air began to fill with apprehension. The rocky ceiling was so low that even lying on the dog's back, Eamon's head was almost touching the ceiling. Ahead of them was a small light, coming from Remus's wand, just enough to see what was in front of them. After a few minutes they saw a small luminescent light speeding towards them.

"Nixie!" Eamon whispered. "What's going on?"

Nixie, a small pale fairy, with purple hair and a blue dress, began emitting frantic humming and squeaking noises and flying in a panicked manner.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Tonks asked.

"She says that two new Death Eaters joined them!" Eamon shouted in a panicked voice.

"We need to move faster!" Remus announced. "Same plan as before, but faster and more careful. Understand?" Sirius barked his agreement while Tonks and Eamon voiced theirs.

A few minutes later, Remus put out the light of his wand as they reached the entrance of the tunnel. It was difficult getting out of the tunnel while remaining secret. Remus had to slipp out first while still wearing the cloak. He held the cloak up in such a way that Tonks could climb up and back under, without being seen. Eamon climbed out with Harry's cloak, and Sirius climbed out after him and slipped under the cloak to stand next to him. Nixie and Murk led the way down the dusty hall and to the broken living room door, which was cracked open.

Murk ran forward ahead of them and slipped inside the room. As they got closer, Sirius slipped out from under the cloak and began inching towards the door with Eamon following closely behind him. Through the crack in the door, he could see the backs of two Death Eaters, one smaller than the other. The room was dusty like the rest of the house. There were scratches on the walls and the grayed wallpaper was peeling in some places while simply hanging in shreds in others. Sitting on the remnants of a broken couch was a terrified, but alert, Isadora.

"-ext time, do what you're told and don't improvise. You thought you were being cle-" The voice of Lucius Malfoy suddenly stopped as Sirius nudged the door open with his nose. "Did you hear that?" he asked the larger one. There was no reply. "Crabbe? … Is that you?" Malfoy asked

Sirius pushed the door open the rest of the way while Eamon ran past to the couch in the invisibility cloak. Sirius began growling at the Death Eaters, who had turned to face him with their skull-like masks. The moment he saw Isadora disappear under the cloak, was the same moment the Death Eaters pulled out their wands and he lunged at them. He latched his jaws around the large one's wand arm, and by some amount of luck he associated with Murk, "The Great" Lucius Malfoy tripped the moment he moved.

Eamon ran out of the room with his sister under the cloak. The moment they got around the first corner, Tonks slipped out of her shared cloak and into Harry's while Eamon and Isadora slipped out and followed two fairies towards the kitchen as fast as they could. Tonks and Remus ran into the living room where Malfoy had regained himself and had released his comrade from Sirius. Tonks used her wand to throw him across the room. The large man began throwing curses in her direction. Remus and Tonks were blocking the curses and firing their own back as Malfoy and Sirius stood up. It was when they heard a scream from the kitchen that they remembered that there were three Death Eaters in the house, but only two in this room. Sirius bolted out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. He followed the screams to pantry and down the open cement stairway that led to the cellar.

It was dark except for the dingy light coming though a dirty hatch window over an alcove, the only exit. The floor was covered in glass and bits of broken furniture. The only unbroken furniture was a desk which Crabbe was moving towards. He reached behind it and began dragging a screaming Isadora out by her hair. Eamon grabbed onto his sister with one arm and began trying to hit Crabbe with his free hand. Sirius ran across the cellar, ignoring the glass shards that entered his padded feet, and leapt at Crabbe who had pulled out his wand and was pointing it at Eamon, who was refusing to let go of his sister. Sirius stood on his hind legs and bit Crabbe's shoulder causing him to release Isadora. She collapsed to the floor, in tears, only to be immediately pulled up by her shaking brother who led her to the alcove and pushed her out the window their fairies had managed to open. Sirius released Crabbe's shoulder after being hit by a spell from the newly arrived Malfoy, and saw Eamon disappearing out the window.

Malfoy apparated out of the cellar and Sirius ran for the window. He jumped up and out the window. He ran past Malfoy (making sure to knock him over in the process) and stopped in front of the running children and crouched down.

"Get on his back!" Eamon yelled at his sister.

"You can't ride dogs!" She yelled back.

"You can ride this one! Now get on!" He yelled, pushing her to get on the huge dog, while watching the other two Death Eaters arrive. He got on behind his sister and held on tight as Sirius ran towards the woods.

Malfoy ran after them and the other Death Eaters followed suit, thinking they had fought off their invisible enemies. Malfoy fired a curse at the dog and children, but nobody was hit. An invisible force deflected the curse and three popping noises were heard behind him.

"I suggest you don't take another step, Lucius." Mad-Eye growled at him. "Believe it or not, you're surrounded."

Malfoy and his partners turned to see Mad-Eye and Dumbledore with their wands pointed at them. Without a second thought, the three turned on the spot and disapparated. Everybody stayed still for a moment listening for anymore pops. When none were heard they strode to the children and the giant dog who had collapsed and was panting for breath.

Isadora was sitting on the grass crying and clinging to her younger brother for dear life. There was a rustling sound and Tonks appeared from under the invisibility cloak and ran towards the children.

"Isadora." She called gently.

Isadora turned at the sound of her name. "Tonks!" She cried, and leapt into her arms, still crying. Tonks hugged her the same way she'd hugged Eamon earlier that day.

"Shhh, shh. It's okay..."

"Th-they k-k-k-killed D-d-dad!" Isadora whimpered.

"No they didn't." Tonks said wiping the tears out of Isadora's eyes as she looked up with hopeful eyes.

"They didn't?!"

"No. You see that dog?" Tonks said motioning towards the panting Sirius who was being attended to by Remus and Dumbledore, while Mad-Eye kept lookout and a now visible Kingsley spoke with Eamon.

"I saw him this morning!"

"Yes, you did. He's not really a dog though. He's a wizard, and he got your father help in time."

"He did?"

"Yes. He did. Your father is going to be fine." Tonks assured her with a smile.

Isadora's face lit up and she jumped out of Tonks's arms and ran to where Sirius lay. She launched herself at him, with her shiny black curls flowing everywhere, and hugged him tight, almost choking him.

"Thank you!Thank you! Thank you!" She yelled.

"Isadora, I think you're choking him." Remus warned her.

"Professor Lupin?" Isadora asked as she turned around and dropped Sirius's head. "What are you doing here?"

"How about we explain that after you see your new sisters." Tonks suggested.

"Mam had the babies?" Sorcha asked in excitement.

"She must have by now." Tonks smiled.

"I think it's a good time to leave now." Mad-Eye grunted.

"Good, good. Remus, Kingsley, can you help carry Sirius?" Dumbledore asked as he handed one of the invisibility cloaks to them, and the other to Tonks and the children.

After they were cloaked and Sirius had returned to human form, being supported by Remus and Kingsley, they turned on the spot, apparating to the street outside Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore waited until the children had finished gasping for air before speaking.

"Isadora Bridget Chang, welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, located at Twelve Grimmauld Place." He announced. Isadora looked around perplexed.

"There is no-"

"Think about it." Tonks interrupted.

Isadora stared for awhile thinking about what she'd been told. Suddenly, eleven and thirteen began being pushed apart by another house. They began walking forward with Isadora staring at the house with relief. Before they opened the door, Tonks stopped.

"Don't tell your mum about Eamon coming. We kind of snuck him out, and you know how she... well any mother is. Promise?"

"Promise." Isadora agreed. "What do I tell her?"

"Tell her the dog pulled you out and protected you while Remus and I fought the Death Eaters. Got it?"

"Yes." Isadora agreed.

"Good. Eamon, you keep the cloak on until you find George, then find out everything you did while you were gone. Okay?"

"Okay." Eamon agreed.

"Good, let's go." Tonks smiled as she opened the door.

The moment the door closed, all the cloaked members except Eamon uncloaked themselves. The kitchen door opened and a few footsteps later, Ted Tonks appeared at the end of the hall.

"Isadora!" He exclaimed.

"Uncle Ted!" She yelled running at him.

Ted picked the small teenager up and spun her around as Walburga's screams rang out. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came running down the stairs to make the screaming stop while Isadora became panicked and held onto Ted with a death grip while he tried to calm her down. Mad-Eye clunked past them and up the stairs to help with the portrait. After the noise died down, Isadora loosened her grip on Ted and looked around.

"What was that?" She asked, quite terrified.

"That would be my 'dear' mother." Sirius answered sarcastically as Remus and Kingsley carried him past them to the stairs. "But we recently found out -hey, I'm trying to talk can't you stop?" He asked them.

"No. You're heavy and we need to get that glass out of your hands and feet." Remus replied.

Sirius's response was not heard as he was carried too far away. Tonks turned to her dad and smiled before giving him a hug.

"So, was she right again?" She asked.

"Yep. Two girls. One with blue eyes and one with brown." He replied.

"Can we go see them?" Isadora begged the adults. "And Dad, is he here? Can I see him?"

"Your dad is asleep right now, but your mother and sisters will be more than happy to see you." Ted told her before leading the way up the stairs.

Ted knocked gently on the door and it was opened by Andromeda. The moment she saw Isadora, relief washed over her face and she stooped down to hug her.

"Oh, Isadora! You're safe! You're safe!"

"Isadora?!" Sorcha's weary voice called from the room. "Isadora?" Andromeda stood aside and let Isadora run to her mother who was in bed nursing a newborn baby wrapped in a purple blanket. Isadora hugged her worn out mother and began crying. Sorcha hugged her eldest daughter with her free arm and began to cry as well.

After a few minutes, the baby made a noise. Sorcha turned her attention to her youngest daughter and moved the baby away from her breast. Like the rest of Sorcha's children (with the exception of Nymphie), this one had been born with a thick head of hair. Her hair was a red/brown color and she stared up at Isadora with large brown eyes.

"What do you think of your new sister, Isadora?" Sorcha asked as Tonks came over to see the new baby as well.

"She's adorable!" Isadora whispered excitably. "What's her name?"

"Adora." Sorcha answered with a laugh.

"Again?!" Tonks exclaimed. "Why do you keep choosing Dora names?! What did I ever do to you?"

"See? There's that paranoia I was talking about." Sorcha said to Andromeda as she let Isadora hold Adora.

"There's nothing wrong with the names she's chosen. They're beautiful names that I'm sure her daughters will grow up appreciating them." Andromeda said stiffly. Tonks turned to look at her mother, who was holding a straight face.

"Oh you think this is funny. Don't you?" She asked. "You're in this together! I hate you guys! What did you name the other one? Eudora? Pandora? Fedora?" She asked. "You're going to run out of Dora names soon if you keep going at this rate."

"Actually I was going to name her Musidora, but Blake insisted on something else." Sorcha said as Andromeda gently took the baby wrapped in pink out of a bassinet and carried her over to Sorcha.

"Blake named her?" Tonks asked, looking at the black haired, blue eyed baby as she yawned in her mother's arms.

"Yeah... We decided on the names a few months ago." Sorcha responded softly.

"So what's her name then?"

"Blathnaid." Sorcha responded with her eyes misting over. Tonks looked at her with pity. "She's beautiful. Isn't she?" Sorcha asked as she began to cry.

"Yeah, she is." Tonks agreed in a soft reverent voice.

"And guess what her middle name is." Sorcha was sniffling as she asked.

"I don't know. What is it?" Tonks asked, maintaining the reverence.

"Musidora." Sorcha answered with a smile.

"YOU BITCH!" Tonks yelled causing the babies to cry while Sorcha, Andromeda and Isadora laughed and tried to calm them.

In the room next door, Sirius, Harry, Remus, Kingsley and Fred had been eavesdropping with extendable ears and were now having fits of laughter. Madame Pomfrey finished dabbing Sirius's hand with a healing potion and straightened up with a frown.

"Quiet!" She hissed. "I have a patient in here!"

"He's not waking up anytime soon!" Sirius said while doubling over in laughter. "Does she do that on purpose?" He asked.

"I think so." Lupin said while wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"She does." Kingsley confirmed, still chuckling. "I asked Blake about it before Callidora was born."

"Ah, that's genius..." Fred sighed. "True commitment. I may have to do that someday. Do you think Dad would like a grandson named Lucius?" He asked. The whole room burst out laughing again.

"Don't forget Viktor! I'm sure Ron will love that!" Harry roared in laughter.

"That's it!" Pomfrey snapped. "Out! Get out! Your feet are fine! You can walk. Go!"

Then men left the room trying to muffle their laughter as they went. Fred suddenly tugged on the extendable ear and got it back in his pocket just before the door opened and Tonks walked out. She looked at all the men, who were either smiling or coughing back laughter.

"It's not funny!" She snapped, causing more quiet laughter. "Whatever. If you want to see the babies you better hurry. She's tired."

Tonks walked down the hall and Kingsley, Remus and Sirius walked inside the room. Fred and Harry, having already seen the babies, left to find George and the others to tell them what happened. A tired Sorcha and Isadora looked up from the babies and for the first time, Sirius was really able to compare them. They were both pale with square faces, but Isadora's face was slightly more on the heart shaped side. While Sorcha's eyes were large blue crystals, Isadora's were a little heavy lidded and looked like the sea. Sirius stared at them noticing all the tiny similarities and differences between the mother and daughter. It was normal for a parent and child to have differences, and yet these differences disturbed Sirius, they disturbed him so much, he almost missed Isadora pointing to him and telling Sorcha that he was the one who saved her and Blake.

"So Dumbledore was right, he is good person!" Isadora said.

"Yes. He is a good person." Sorcha agreed. "Just a dumb one."

"Thank you Sorcha." Sirius answered sarcastically.

"But he wasn't dumb today." Sorcha finished. "Thank you."

"Oh... yeah... you're welcome. Although I kind of owed you and it's-"

"Accept the praise now." Sorcha said. "I'm sure I'll be angry at you about something later." Sirius gulped thinking about Eamon. "Does Eamon know that Isadora's back yet?" She yawned.

"I highly doubt it!" Sirius answered quickly wondering if she had learned to read minds.

"Somebody should tell him. He wasn't acting like himself when he came to see the girls."

"I'm sure Tonks is telling the children right now." Kingsley replied. "In the meantime, I am very anxious to meet our newest aurors."

"I think they're a bit young to be aurors." Sorcha laughed tiredly as she handed Blathnaid to him.

"Maybe now, but I feel like these two will be following in their father's footsteps. Besides, they're going to be Auror department's mascot until the next one is born." Kingsley laughed.

"How is that gonna happen?" Sorcha asked while yawning. "We have to stay here."

"It's not permanent Sorcha." Remus said as he picked Adora up from Isadora's arms.

"Isadora, why don't you go see Dad and then take a nap? Andromeda? Can you take her?"

"I suppose I can. But you better be asleep when I get back." Andromeda said sternly.

"Don't worry, I'm barely awake right now." She yawned, before hugging her daughter. Andromeda led Isadora out of the room and shut the door behind. Sorcha turned to Remus, who had switched babies with Kingsley.

"My family never came out of hiding."She said. "The ministry won't..." Sorcha yawned, "... acknowledge You... know the rest."

"I think you need to sleep." Remus said. "Sirius, want to meet Blathnaid?" He asked.

"Oh, sure." Sirius responded as Remus handed the baby to him.

"Support the head." Remus said before leaving.

"I'll be leaving too." Kingsley said as he put Adora in her bassinet. "You need to sleep."

"Thank you Kingsley." Sorcha yawned.

"You're welcome, and congratulations." He said before shutting the door.

"Sirius?" Sorcha said. Sirius was staring at Blathnaid's eyes and didn't hear Sorcha calling him. "Sirius!"

"Huh? What?" Sirius asked, tearing his eyes away from the baby's.

"Is something..." She yawned, "...wrong?"

"Oh, her eyes... They're... the same color as yours."

"So?... A lot... a lot of my..." she yawned again, "...kids have... my eyes."

"Isadora's are different." He stated as he put the tiny baby in her bassinet.

"Genetics are..." She mumbled something incoherent. "Thank you... for sav..." Sorcha's eyes drifted shut.

"Sorcha? Can I ask you a question?"

"Mmm..." Sirius took that as a yes.

"Am I Isadora's father?" Sirius stared at the tired woman not sure if he wanted hear the answer or what he wanted the answer to be. After what felt like an eternity, but was really only two seconds, she answered.

"Yes."