Odette looked slowly round the room at four astonished faces.
"Waiting for him?" Harry jerked out at last.
"Yes." She walked over to Sirius, and stood in front of him.
He looked at her and saw a lined face surrounded by grey hair. But she still had freckles across the bridge of her nose, and she still had the same round brown eyes, and those and the determined set of the jaw made him realise that this was indeed the same Odette Irvine he had known.
"Just for the record, Black." Her voice was tight with some sort of emotion and her eyes were blazing, and he heard the twenty-one-year old still in her voice. "I never believed it. I never thought you'd done it, not for one moment."
Sirius could only gape at her. "Y… you didn't?"
"No." She sighed and her shoulders slumped, the spark going out of her. "I was in France when it happened. I wasn't always in touch with people regularly. I was working undercover. By the time I heard, and came back to England, it was all over. Lily and James were dead, Peter was gone, and you'd been taken off to Azkaban. I went to see Evie…"
"She thought I'd done it," Sirius said flatly.
"Yes, she did. You know how Evie was. And why. She'd become obsessed with catching Death Eaters. It was her one meaning in life. They said it was you, and she had to believe them, because if it wasn't, then the real culprit was still out there, and she couldn't cope with that thought. So I gave up on her and went to Remus Lupin."
"He thought I was guilty too." Sirius' voice cracked slightly.
Odette shook her head. "He didn't know what to believe, poor Remus. It was different for me; I'd been out of it, in France. But you'd all been here, in the middle of it all, people being killed off left, right and centre. You all knew there was a traitor, and nobody had known who it was. There was fear and mistrust and suspicion everywhere. And of course, they all knew, for a fact – at least, they thought they did – that you had been the Secret Keeper. Remus didn't want to believe it, but he didn't see how it could be anyone else."
"It was a bad time," Sirius admitted. "A horrible time. We didn't know who it was, but we knew it was somebody close to us. There was no likely suspect, so it had to be somebody unlikely. Nobody trusted anyone else. Except James, of course, who trusted everybody."
"Yes, he would." Odette's voice was amused, but tinged with sadness.
"I had a conversation with him, you know," said Sirius. "just a few months ago… I mean, a few months before… Well, anyway, we were talking about who it could be. I'd been round and round it in my head, weighing up all the arguments, and I ran through the list of people it could possibly be. Every single one of them, James said 'No, can't possibly be them.' It had to be one of them, but he wouldn't accept it, the stubborn git."
Odette chuckled sadly. "That sounds like James. But anyway, you can see why Remus was forced to believe it. He fought against it, but he couldn't see any other possibility. When I found him, he was drowning his sorrows in a bottle, and had been for a few days, by the look of him and his house. So I put him to bed, poured all the alcohol I could find down the sink, and went to see Dumbledore." She smiled slightly, remembering. "I was furious. I don't think I'd ever shouted at Dumbledore before, and I certainly never did again. I told him that if you'd betrayed James and Lily, I was a… what did I say again? A one-eyed, two-legged Hippogriff, I think. I told him he had to do something. And so he told me that he'd already done something."
"He told you?" Harry broke in, incredulously. "So, all this time, you knew?"
"'Fraid so," Odette said apologetically. "At least, I thought I knew. I was never entirely sure. Dumbledore had no way of knowing if the plan had worked, and where Black had ended up. He said 'around fifty years,' but that was as close as I knew, and for all I knew, it had all gone pear-shaped anyway. And when he appeared again twelve years later, he refused to tell me anything." She sounded indignant. "And I came all the way from France to see him, as well, while he was hiding out at Remus's. But I knew it had to have worked to some extent, or there wouldn't have been anything to refuse to tell me, if you get my drift. He certainly hadn't been in Azkaban for twelve years. Nobody could come out of there that sane. Although, obviously, 'sane' is a relative term when applied to Sirius Black."
Sirius simply grinned at this. "Well. Now, when I go back, I'll know I'm not allowed to tell you anything. That'll be fun. I love knowing things you don't."
"I'm sure you do. It's the novelty value of the experience, I suppose," she said, without missing a beat.
"So, you've just been sitting here waiting for me to turn up?" Sirius asked.
She raised one eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that, Black. My entire life hasn't revolved around the anticipation of seeing you again. But I have been wondering, for the last few years, whether you really would, or whether it was all some ridiculous mistake. The ridiculous mistake seemed rather likelier. But then, of course, when I heard about Lily's little incident last summer, I knew. I realised then who the girl Dumbledore told me about must have been, and suddenly, the whole thing was real again. And since then, yes, I have been rather expecting you." Her eyes drifted thoughtfully round the room, dwelling on Harry, but finally coming to rest on Lily. "This must be somewhat odd for you all."
Lily met the old woman's gaze with slight discomfort. There was an oddly knowing look in her eyes, and she wondered uneasily how much Odette Thibodeau had guessed.
"I think, to be honest," Sirius was saying, "the oddest part is seeing you. I mean, I don't even know what to call you. You aren't Irvine any more, and that's the only name I ever used for you. And no offence, I know you're a lot older than me now, and you've had years to grow up, so you're not really the same person, but I can't call you Madame… whatever it was. I refuse to address somebody I've seen as drunk as I've seen you as 'Madame.' Of course, I could always use James's old name for you. What did he call you again?" He grinned cheekily at her.
Odette glared at him. "Dear Merlin, I'd forgotten how annoying you are, Black. It seems that time softens your memory of people." She turned to Harry and Ginny. "I feel I ought to warn you. You've never met the twenty-one-year-old Black. You're in for a harrowing time; he causes havoc wherever he goes. I wouldn't be responsible for him for any amount of money." She turned back to Sirius. "Why don't you just call me Odette, Black? Probably time we moved on to first names, don't you think?"
He grinned. "All right. But in that case, no more 'Black.' And I'll forget, you know. You may have grey hair and wrinkles, but you'll always be Irvine to me."
Odette stayed for dinner, and Lily was relieved. Madame Thibodeau was a talkative woman, and apparently not at all thrown by sitting at a dinner table with an old classmate who was now considerably less than half her age. It took the pressure off Lily, who had always found the old lady pleasant and entertaining company, and in fact began to enjoy the meal. Sirius kept looking at Odette with a bemused and wondering expression at first, but as he got used to it, they seemed to slip back to the days when they had been the same age - school mates, rivals apparently, and fellow members of the Order of the Pheonix.
They reminisced about the old days (not so old for Sirius) and although a flicker of pain passed through his face every time James's name was mentioned, and they avoided even referring to Peter Pettigrew, it seemed to cheer him up more than anything else had. Lily thought that perhaps it was the fact that Odette had said she had not believed him guilty; they didn't refer to it again, but Lily was sure it had meant a lot to him.
She was also sure that, somehow, Odette Thibodeau knew about her and Sirius. Not that there was any 'her and Sirius' to know about, of course. But Odette's eyes slid quite frequently from one of them to the other, with a look that was slightly amused and slightly anxious.
After dinner, Lily's suspicions were confirmed.
Madame Thibodeau made an excuse to follow her when she took the dishes through to the kitchen, and Odette Thibodeau had never been one to beat about the bush.
"What's the business between you and Sirius Black?" she asked bluntly.
Lily forced her face into casual indifference. "Nothing. I mean, we're friends, I suppose. But we hardly know each other, really."
"Yes, that's what I'm afraid of," Odette said. "You see, I know Sirius Black rather well. This Sirius Black, not the man in his thirties that your parents knew. And I've seen the way he looks at you."
This time, Lily's attempt to look indifferent failed utterly. Colour flooded her face.
"Wh… what do you mean? He doesn't look at me."
"Oh, but he does. And last summer, you spent a couple of days together, didn't you? And the night in between of course."
Her voice was so casual, that Lily might have imagined her words to be entirely innocent, if it hadn't been for a certain look in her eyes. Lily could think of nothing to say. She had no idea how this old woman had guessed. That was one part she had never even hinted at to any of her family. In fact, she had let them believe that she and Sirius had taken only one day getting to Hogwarts, and that she had been in the past a full day less than she had actually been. So how did Odette Thibodeau know about that extra day?
Odette seemed to read her mind, and chuckled.
"You see, you told your parents and everybody else that you arrived in the very early hours of the 21st of November, 1980, and that you spent the remainder of that night at Black's flat in London, with him, Lily and James. But you see I know, because Dumbledore told me, and I have a good head for dates, that you went to see Dumbledore on the 22nd. So where did you spend the next night, Lily?"
"We stayed in a hotel," Lily admitted. "But…"
"But nothing. I know Sirius Black. And if he spent the night in a hotel with a girl as pretty as you without trying it on, then I'm a flea-ridden flobberworm."
Lily flushed again. It wasn't quite fair, what this woman was saying. Because it hadn't been Sirius 'trying it on' - it had been both of them. And if she hadn't wanted to, then he wouldn't have done anything.
"Well, I think I've got my answer," said Odette. "Although I had it already, really. I just wanted to say, be careful, Lily."
"Careful?" Lily jerked out, painfully embarrassed. This woman was old enough to be her grandmother, for goodness' sake.
"Yes. Far be it from me to tell you what to do. And Black's a good person, deep down. He's brave and loyal and kind-hearted, for all he can be an arrogant idiot. But there are a couple of things you should know. The first is that he has a libido the size of Africa. The second is that Sirius Black doesn't play for keeps."
For a moment, they looked at each other.
"I know," said Lily simply, at last. "I know that. I don't mind. We spent a night together, but it didn't mean anything. Because I don't play for keeps either, Madame Thibodeau."
Odette looked thoughtfully at her. "Oh, I see. It's like that, is it? I'm not sure, you know, that he's quite as convinced as you that it didn't mean anything. He's still attracted to you, you know."
"I daresay he is." Lily smiled slightly. "But as you said yourself, he doesn't want a relationship."
"I never said that. He can't do relationships. That doesn't mean he never wants them. He just can't usually keep them up for more than a few weeks before he gets bored. Of course, I've always thought he'd find an exception some day, but it hasn't happened so far."
Lily laughed. "You know, Madame Thibodeau…"
"Odette, please."
"Odette. You've just described me, as well as Sirius. Don't worry about me - I'm not the type to get their heart broken. I'm not going to pretend it isn't a bit complicated. I mean, I never expected to see him again. But neither of us ever thought what happened was anything serious. And we both know that starting something now would be a really bad idea. It was just this stupid thing that happened one night. It didn't mean anything."
She smiled reassuringly at Odette, and walked past out of the kitchen.
For a moment, Odette did not follow her, but looked thoughtfully after her, a strange expression on her face.
She was remembering an afternoon long ago.
"Sirius has broken up with Tina, did you know?" Lily had said absently.
Odette had laughed.
"Well, not like I didn't see that one coming. It's been falling apart for a while now."
"I wonder if Sirius'll ever find somebody he doesn't get bored with. I hope he does; I think it would be good for him."
Odette had laughed again.
"You know what I think? I think that when Black does fall, he'll fall hard. And I think it'll be for somebody like him. He doesn't want a girl who wants him to settle down and be a 'proper' boyfriend, change him somehow and make him into something he isn't. What he wants is a girl who doesn't take things like that too seriously; who's as casual about relationships as he is, and just wants to have a laugh. And the ironic thing'll be that he won't just want to have a laugh any more. And the one girl he actually wants'll be the one he can't have."
Interesting.
Lily woke early the next morning, and slipped downstairs. It was Saturday, and her parents would be making the most of the extra sleeping time. A wriggling, whining Cuthbert greeted her ecstatically, and she smiled to herself.
"Okay, boy. I'll take you out in a minute."
She grabbed a slice of bread, put some peanut butter on it, and lifted the lead off its hook.
"Come on then."
She clipped the lead on, and left the house, shivering slightly. You could tell it was only April at this time of the morning, before the sun was properly up. Should she go back for a coat? No, she'd warm up, walking. She ate the bread with one hand, and tried to control Cuthbert's excitement with the other.
"Pack it in, you crazy animal," she muttered. "It can't be that exciting."
The house was on the edge of town, and she didn't have far to walk before reaching fields. Then she bent down and unclipped the lead.
"All right. Off you go."
He was off like a bullet from a gun, racing across the field, ears flapping joyfully.
And at that moment, another dog appeared from behind her and loped across the field. Cuthbert spotted it and doubled back, making excitedly for the other dog at top speed, yapping in a high-pitched way.
For a single second, Lily tensed, worried that there might be a fight; the dog was much larger that Cuthbert, and although Cuthbert would never initiate a fight, who knew…? Then she realised what she had missed, and relaxed, embarrassed at her moment of idiocy.
She had never seen a dog with eyes that colour. But those precise eyes had smiled across the dinner table at her last night.
Laughing, she watched the two dogs meet. Cuthbert, still only a puppy really, was being subservient as well as playful, crouching to the ground in front of the larger dog, wagging his tail at a great speed and wriggling gleefully at this sudden appearance of a playmate. Although he hadn't greeting the other dog like a stranger, and Lily wondered if he recognised him. But then, Sirius had been here nearly a week; perhaps Cuthbert had already met his dog form.
And then they both took off across the field, tails waving, chasing each other backwards and forwards. Lily shook her head, grinning widely.
"Hey, Sirius!" she shouted, when they got close enough to her.
He veered off, and galloped up to her, tongue lolling out, and obviously grinning back. For a moment, they stood and stared at each other.
"I can't talk to you like that." Lily folded her arms over her chest and tried to glare at him. "Change back."
Cuthbert, missing his playmate, came suddenly shooting over like a large hairy cannonball, crashing straight into Sirius and sending them both rolling on the ground. Lily burst into giggles, and Sirius gave her a mischievous glance, and shot off again. Seeing no help for it, she followed them. By the time she caught up with them on the other side of the field, they had found a large stick, and were playing a violent game of tug-of-war with it, accompanied by much playful growling.
She shook her head in disbelief and stood by to watch. The stick broke in half, giving Cuthbert by far the bigger half. Triumphantly, the smaller dog dashed up to Lily, brandishing the stick in his mouth, shaking it in his mouth like a rat, and whacking her legs with it. She yelped and jumped sideways, and Sirius pounced on the smaller dog, tumbling him to the ground, and they were off again.
It was a more entertaining walk than it might otherwise have been, but she was a little exasperated by Sirius's insistence on staying in his dog form. Why had he followed her if he didn't even want to talk to her?
It wasn't until they were walking back that she heard the two dogs come racing up behind her, and then a footstep and a chuckle at her elbow. She looked round and looked at the young man now walking beside her. He was tousled and out of breath and grinning at her. She raised an eyebrow, swallowing laughter.
"Have fun, did you?"
He nodded and pushed his hair out of his eyes.
"Bloody hell, I'm out of shape though."
"Well, you've spent however many weeks sitting in a cell," she pointed out, and then bit her lip as he flinched.
"Five weeks, I reckon," he said quietly. "I worked it out. It was about five weeks. Felt like years."
She nodded, not sure what to say.
"What did Irv… Odette say to you in the kitchen last night?" he said abruptly.
Lily was unpleasantly surprised, and then realised that if Odette knew Sirius well, Sirius also knew her quite well too.
"Um… not much," she stalled, wishing she wasn't such a terrible liar.
"It was about me, wasn't it?"
"What makes you think that?" she countered.
He looked at her in an amused way.
"What else would it have been about?"
Lily arched her eyebrows. "Well, sometimes people do talk about other things."
"Lily…"
"Fine. If you really have to know, she warned me not to get emotionally tangled up with you."
There was silence for a moment.
"Was there… any risk of that?" he asked eventually, his voice a little tense.
She laughed. "No, Sirius. Don't worry. I told her that we'd sorted it all out and got it straight."
"Have we?"
She stared at him, startled.
"Well, yes. We sorted it out last summer. I mean, in November '81. The morning after it happened. Remember?"
"Yeah, 'course. But things have changed a bit since then, haven't they?"
"I suppose. But that hasn't changed."
"No," he agreed lightly. "I suppose not. So long as we're both straight about it. Did you reassure her, d'you think?"
"I think so." She smiled, deciding not to mention the fact that Odette had said that Sirius had been looking at her. "So, what have you been doing all week? Other than annoying Aunt Hermione by spreading rumours on the radio."
He grinned. "Fending off journalists, mostly. I can't believe how interested in this they are."
"Well, you were a war hero."
"Yes, so I've been told," Sirius said. "Just a shame I can't remember it. Though did you notice they seem to have given up this morning? There wasn't anyone outside at all. I'd changed into a dog before leaving the house, just in case, but I needn't have bothered. Maybe my radio interview satisfied them."
"Maybe," she agreed. "I hope so. I've been fending them off as well."
"Yes." His face grew serious. "Look, Lily, I'm sorry about all this."
"It's hardly your fault," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, it is," he corrected her. "If I hadn't come, it wouldn't be happening. I promised you I wouldn't interfere with your life, and now…"
"It is interfering," she finished for him with a wry smile. "But it's okay, Sirius. I can deal with it."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. I've dealt with plenty before. When I was a kid, I had to deal with being Harry Potter's daughter. And then I had to deal with being James and Al's little sister, when I was never going to be as much of a troublemaker as Jamie, or as clever as Al. I had to deal with a bunch of stupid rumours at school. I had to deal with the fact that a lot of people called me names because I wasn't serious about relationships. I had to deal with photos getting into the papers every time I got drunk at a party. I got through it all. I can get through this too. And you know, Sirius, I'm glad you came."
"You are?" He sounded really surprised this time.
"Of course I am. What, you think I'd rather you spent twelve years in Azkaban? What do you think I was trying to do, when I was in your time? What do you think I was doing, telling Dumbledore you were innocent? I never though that this would be what he thought of, but I wanted to stop it happening. And if this is the only way, I'm glad you're here. And, actually, it's quite nice to see you again. I missed you, strange though it may seem."
He laughed suddenly. "Well, thanks. I would say I missed you too. But I didn't remember anything about you, so it wouldn't be true."
There was a sudden buzzing sound in her pocket, and she fished out a small red disc.
"What's that?" Sirius sounded slightly alarmed. "You're not going to send us flying around in time again, are you?"
"No." She grinned. "This is a Communicator. They weren't around in your time. They're modelled on Muggle mobile phones, and those were only just being invented in the 70s and 80s, even if the Wizarding World had ever taken any notice of Muggle technology in those days. But they're basically a magical way of communicating with your friends. I think they were named by a Muggle-born with a sense of humour, because the name comes from some old science fiction TV series."
She glanced down at the thing, which was still buzzing in her hand.
"You realise I have no idea what you just said, don't you?" Sirius said with amusement. "A sy… what?"
"Science fiction TV series. Never mind," Lily said absently. She took her wand out, and pressed the end of it to the disc. It glowed pink for a moment, and then words appeared on it.
Sirius scoffed. "Not as good as our old two way mirror. You can't see the other person."
"No. But you can communicate with more than one person using the same device. And they don't have to be looking at it at the time."
"Who's the message from?" he demanded.
"My cousin Rose."
Lily read the message, a smile appearing on her face, although she rolled her eyes.
"Lil," it said. "Please tell me what's going on. The story Mum and Dad told me would have made me think they both needed a trip to St Mungo's, if I hadn't just read the whole thing in the paper. We're dying of curiosity here, and Jamie's being infuriating. When can we meet him? Mum just keeps saying he needs space, and Dad refuses to disagree with her as usual, so I've given up on them. But I've just spoken to Molly, and she said you'd gone home for the weekend. If he can cope with you (and about a hundred journalists and a radio interview) can't he cope with us? Do something about it, please Lily, and I'll love you forever. Love, Rose."
Lily giggled. If cool, sarcastic Rose was resorting to such desperate pleading, she must be in a bad way indeed. She was tempted to tease, but James had been doing that already by the sound of it, and there was only so far you could push Rosie before she got dangerous.
She looked up at Sirius, her eyes dancing.
"Rose wants to meet you. Apparently, Aunt Hermione's been telling them you're not ready for visitors yet."
Sirius grinned. "Of course she wants to meet me. She's probably heard of my infamous good looks."
The trouble was, Lily thought, even as she shook her head at him and told him that Rose had a boyfriend, that it was true. Everybody did know that Sirius Black had been very good-looking. And that probably was one of the reasons Rose wanted to meet him, although she'd never admit it.
"Hey!" An idea seemed to have struck Sirius. "You could invite her over tonight!"
Lily was unconvinced. It was an appealing idea; the thought of it just being the two of them all evening was slightly nerve-racking, although she wasn't sure why that should be. And Rose was a reassuring person to have in an awkward social situation. But…
"I'm not sure. She'd probably bring a bunch of the others with her. She said 'we', and I don't know who she meant. And I'm not sure Mum and Dad would be very happy about the whole crowd turning up for dinner."
"But your parents are going out tonight."
"Sirius…"
"Oh, come on, Lily," he pleaded shamelessly. "I've been stuck here for a whole week. Not that it's not great here, but there's not much going on. And before that, as you pointed out earlier, I was sitting in a cell for weeks. I need some fun sometime!"
"And you think a visit from my cousins would provide that," Lily said, amused.
He shrugged. "I don't know. If they're all like you, it would."
She blinked, feeling a slight warmth at the compliment. He thought she was fun? Coming from Sirius Black, that was quite a compliment. But all the same, was it really a reason to feel quite so happy suddenly?
"Well…" she said slowly. "I suppose we could. I don't suppose Mum and Dad'll really mind, if I tell Rosie not to bring too many people."
"Of course," Ginny said, smiling, when Lily asked if it was okay for her to invite Rose round that evening. "I was expecting to see one or two of them before now, to be honest. If Hermione's been holding them off, that explains it."
So Lily sent a message, omitting to tell Rose that her parents were going to be out, thinking that if she didn't know that, she might be less inclined to invite the whole family and most of their old schoolmates. Because if that happened, Lily wasn't sure how much of the house her parents would come back to.
Lily wasn't used to being the responsible one, but she was pretty sure that if anything happened, she would be the one getting the blame.