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Chapter 8—A Vision of Love
Prayed through the nights
Felt so alone
Suffered from alienation
Carried the weight on my ownPrayed through the nights
Felt so alone
Suffered from alienation
Carried the weigh
Had to be strong
So I believed
And now I know I've succeeded
In finding the place I conceived
--Mariah Carey "Vision of Love"
"How can you be so sure that we're meant to be?" Daniéle asked, trying to get him to see reason.
"I saw you," Sirius said calmly, his eyes staring at her softly.
"What?"
"I saw you from the Veil, or as I was leaving the Veil, I'm not exactly sure, but…I felt the tug and then I saw you. You were sitting in a house; I'm guessing it was yours. And…and your sister or at least I think she was your sister, was combing your hair into pigtails. You looked so cute," he said, smiling with reminiscence.
"You looked to be no more than eleven which you probably were because your sister kept telling you how wonderful Hogwarts was and how you were going to love it there. But you were hardly listening to her because you were singing this pretty Muggle song, something about king of love and crowning," Daniéle who had been mesmerized into silence thus far snapped back into reality and cut Sirius off.
"Your Love is King— it's by Sade. It's one of my favorite songs and she's one of my favorite singers," and then Daniéle did something that not only surprised Sirius, but it surprised herself as well.
"Your love is king, crown you with my heart. Your love is king. You're the ruler of my heart. Your kisses ring, round and round and round my head. Touching the very part of me, it's making my soul sing. I'm crying out for more. Your love is king," Daniéle finished the song with a small blush gracing her cheeks.
"I'm not that great of a singer, but I try," she said, biting her lip nervously.
"You're not half bad," he said with a charming smile that made Daniéle blush further and dip her head from his view. But Sirius was able to see the shy smile that graced her lips before her face disappeared by a curtain of hair.
The two stood in a silence that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. Both occupants of the room were deep within their minds thinking.
"What else?" Daniéle suddenly, catching Sirius off guard.
"What else what?" he asked, confused.
"What else, assuming I believe you, did you see?"
"Well you were singing adorably off key. But your sister took you by surprise and smacked you in the back of the head with the brush she was combing your hair with. And you…"
"Told on her, I was such a big tattle tale back then," she said, laughing, which caused Sirius to smile.
"And then you went to your room, turned on the radio, and started to sing and dance. You were so sweet running around the room and singing songs that were too old for you," Sirius said, chuckling.
Daniéle watched Sirius talk about her with such happiness that she felt a part of herself trying to make a section for him in her heart, but she stopped herself from allowing it to happen.
'Don't forget he's a bastard that has completely ruined your life,' she told herself harshly.
"How'd you see this?"
"Well, I…I was thinking happy thoughts. I was thinking about family, getting married, having children, and being free. And then I saw you, and then I was back at Hogwarts in the Hospital Wing. I couldn't remember how I got there. I only remembered falling. But then I saw Dumbledore sitting there with his eyes twinkling like mad. It was like he knew something I didn't— which he normally does, so I didn't put much stock into it; I just assumed that he was happy to have me back. But now I wonder if he knew. I wonder if he knew about the vision I had of you."
"So Dumbledore knew this would happen?" Daniéle asked, not understanding.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past him. And to tell you the truth, if he did know, I'm happy he didn't interfere," Sirius said, reaching his hand and caressing her cheek softly.
Daniéle didn't say anything because she knew she could not agree with him.
"Why me?" she asked with glossy eyes. "Why choose me as your mate? Why not someone else? Someone who wouldn't mind all of this?" She asked gesturing wildly with her hands.
"Because I saw you," Sirius said with a distant look in his eyes. "I was drawn to you the first moment I set eyes on you in the Great Hall, but I couldn't understand why. So I decided to ignore it. Obviously, I wasn't given the chance to do that," he said with a small chuckle.
"It wasn't until after the griffin's attack that I started to understand. I would get bits and pieces of my vision, but I finally understood everything when you gave me the Promise Kiss. I was drawn back to my time in the Veil and I saw it fully. And then I felt your kiss, and I knew you were the one. You were the girl with the pigtails who had made me as happy as I was leaving the Veil. I finally have it figured out. I was let out of the Veil to find you because you're the source of my happy place. You'll marry me, and you'll give me the kids I've always wanted. We'll all be so happy together, you, me, and the kids. And of course Moony—Remus—will be the children's godfather, while Harry will be the honorary uncle," Sirius said, smiling brightly, the faraway look still present in his eyes.
"I should go," Daniéle said, feeling awkward around the man who had claimed her as his own. "Professor Lupin said he needed to talk to me," she said quickly before trying dashing out of the room, but the door was locked powerfully.
"I have to see Professor Lupin," Daniéle said quietly.
"Right, I forgot you had that meeting," Daniéle looked at him strangely, wondering how he knew about the meeting because she had not mentioned it to him, and she had just found out about the meeting.
"Remus informed me about the meeting while I was watching over you in the infirmary." He said while releasing the spell that was keeping the door locked tight.
Daniéle nodded before racing from the room as fast as she could. She couldn't help but think how fast her life had changed.
'One moment I'm worried about NEWTs, the next I'm getting married and popping out babies. Damn, I really need to be studying for NEWTs.'
Daniéle walked slowly to Remus' office. She noticed that the door was open, so she knocked softly on the door in order to get his attention.
"Professor Lupin?" Daniéle asked timidly. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, come in, Ms. Martin," Remus said kindly.
Daniéle walked into the office slowly, and sat in the chair Lupin offered her.
"So Daniéle, I'm sure you are wondering why I have asked you meet me," Remus said with a smile.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore has asked me to teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"But I'm already have a Defense professor."
"I know, but considering the circumstances surrounding you and Professor Black, Professor Dumbledore thought that it would be best if someone else taught you the subject. We don't want the students to think that you are getting special treatment from Professor Black," Remus said with kind eyes.
Daniéle nodded silently, while biting her lip. She hadn't thought of what the other students would say about Sirius teaching her.
"So," Remus continued, pulling Daniéle from her thoughts. "I will teach you during your regular Defense Against the Dark Arts class period because I have a free period."
"Okay," Daniéle said rising from her seat.
"Daniéle," Remus said signaling for her to take the seat again. "Is everything alright? You seem to be a bit sad," Remus asked with concern.
"It's nothing professor," she said continuing to stand.
"It is something Daniéle, now go ahead and have a seat, and we can talk about it if you'd like."
Daniéle sighed, "It's just that I don't like this."
"You don't like what?" Remus asked not fully understanding.
"This. Having to change my classes around and my life around because he couldn't get a grip."
"Daniéle," Remus began cautiously.
"No, it's not fair. It's not fair at all. I had my life in order. I had my boyfriend and my friends. And I felt confident that this year was going to be great, but that's all changed. Now I don't know what I'm doing, or where I'm going. I have no control over anything anymore. And I don't like it. I really do…I despise him." Daniéle said harshly.
"And he's talking about getting married and having kids because that's what he wants. But what about what I want? I don't want to get married, nor do I want to have kids right now. I wanted to be a Healer, but I'm not even sure of I want that anymore. He's completely ruined my life. I've wanted to be Healer for as long as I can remember, but now I'm not sure anymore. I'm not sure of anything anymore." Daniéle finished ranting, and looked at her professor with wide eyes.
"I…uh…I'll just go now." She said standing and walking quickly towards the door.
"Daniéle come back, and have a seat." Remus called kindly after her. He was slightly stunned by her outburst, but not entirely surprised. He knew that she was probably going to be having problems with her relationship with Sirius.
Daniéle walked back begrudgingly, and resumed her previous position.
"I know you are having problems with adjusting to all of this. Your life did change in practically one day. I understand that, but it's no reason to despise Sirius. He is a good man. He just hasn't gotten full control of his inner demon."
Daniéle looked at Remus weirdly, making him sigh.
"Look, you know that I am a werewolf, I believe that one of my colleagues let the secret out your second year." He said smiling grimly.
Daniéle nodded her head slowly.
"Well do you think I would ever attack someone while out of my wolf state?"
"No."
"Sirius wouldn't either. But the difference between Sirius and I is that I've had years to come to terms with my lycanthropy. I understand it, and I can somewhat control it. But Sirius has not. It's is still very new to him, and he is trying to cope with it. You have to give him time to adjust; just like he needs to give you time to adjust.
"What you need to understand is that Sirius and the Griffon are two different things and entities. Sirius is not the Griffon and the Griffon is not Sirius. But they are stuck together, and they have to learn how to coexist with one another.
"You can't judge him for what he does while the Griffon has control of him because that is not Sirius. Daniéle, you need to learn who Sirius is, you need to get to know him. I can assure you he is a good man. He's someone who didn't listen to society when they told him that being friends with a werewolf was bad. He didn't judge me, or desert me, when he found out that I was a werewolf. He stuck by me, and I will forever be grateful to him for that."
Remus paused and looked at Daniéle, who was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as he spoke.
"Daniéle, just get to know him, make an effort to know who Sirius really is. Because I know that he wants desperately to know you."
Daniéle nodded numbly.
"Now you should get going because I'm sure Sirius is getting anxious from all of this separation." Remus said with a laughing smile.
"Uh, thanks professor. I'll see you next class period." Daniéle said rising from her chair and heading for the door.
"Bye Daniéle, and take my advice. Just get to know Sirius for who he truly is."
Daniéle shook her head, and walked out of Lupin's office, her head now filled with a whole new set of thoughts.
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