(Ah, sorry for the double posting - I was trying to make a few corrections on the chapter but ended up replacing it with another from Finding Our Way, then, my net crashed and, before someone saw the wrong chapter, I just deleted it. But it's up again. Sorry.)

August 28th 1994

Elizabeth Harper stepped foot in Britain for the first time in five years for the Quidditch World Cup. In fact, the World cup was just the beginning of it, considering all her possessions were being moved back there from Australia, where she had lived for the years. The decision to come back had been quite easy – it wasn't every day that a thirty-four year-old healer was offered the position of head of a department – in her case, the Obstetrical department – in St. Mungo's. Therefore, she had promptly accepted the opportunity: the hours were flexible, which would allow her to spend more time with her children and the pay was significantly large.

When she made her way to the campsite near the Quidditch stadium with the children, Elizabeth could swear she had never seen that many people in the same place. People of all colours, ages and nations walked through the thin makeshift roads in between the tents wearing all sorts of muggle outfits, most of which were undeniably hideous. Faced with the mob, she promptly picked up her three-year-old son from the floor and grabbed her eight-year-old daughter's hand.

"Evie, don't let go of my hand, alright?" she warned the little blonde girl. "Not until we reach the tent."

"'Kay, Mommy," Evie replied with an innocent smile.

"Daddy there?" her little son, Harper, asked.

"Yes, honey, he is," she replied as they made their way to the ministry's tent. It didn't seem any bigger or fancier than the others and if it wasn't for the fact that it had a large sign saying 'MM' stamped on the front, Elizabeth wouldn't have been able to recognize it.

The wizard standing outside it stood straight guarding the entrance and wore a black muggle tux, sort of reminding Elizabeth of a butler. "Name," he asked in a nasal voice, unrolling a long list of names.

"Elizabeth Harper," she told him. "We're with Ludo Bagman."

"Oh, of course," the man said, stepping away from the door. "Mr. Bagman's wife, isn't it?"

"Not anymore," she said dismissively.

The wizard was taken aback by her tone but quickly recovered. "Please, go in, Ms. Harper."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and made her way into tent. It was ridiculously large in the inside, sort of like a miniature of the Ministry's headquarters. There were aurors all over the place, wizards and witches from almost every department of the ministry and a bunch of foreign guests.

"…and keep those Veela entertained or else they'll start looking around for someone to entertain them, if you know what I mean," Elizabeth heard a familiar voice say. She looked around for the source of the voice only to find her ex-husband standing a few feet away talking to a scrawny dark-haired boy that seemed to be straight out of Hogwarts.

Seeing her father, Evie let go of her mother's hand and ran to him. "Daddy!" she squealed happily as Elizabeth placed little Harper on the floor, who didn't take a long time to follow his sister.

Ludo kneeled to the floor and, in a swift move, lifted the two children to his arms, causing Elizabeth to raise an eyebrow.

"Evie, honey, I think you've grown a foot since I last saw you," Ludo told hid daughter.

"No, I didn't, Daddy," she replied with a giggle. "But I lost a tooth! See?"

"Oh, did you?" he asked with a smile before turning to his son. "What about you, little man?"

"Gwanpa took me to the zoo!" he told his father.

Elizabeth observed the interaction with a small smile. Ludo might be an arse who couldn't control himself whenever faced with a wager but she certainly couldn't accuse him of being a bad father. After a little conversation during which the kids filled him in ever event in their lived since they had last seen him, Ludo placed the two on the floor and approached Elizabeth.

"Glad you made it to the game, Lizzie," he told her with a grin.

"It's not every day I get free tickets to the Quidditch World Cup," she replied in an even tone.

He shrugged. "I had a few spare in the department. Thought you might like watching a game like the old times."

She pursed her lips. "Like the old times, hum? Then how many bets, so far?"

"Elizabeth…"

She shook her head. "Never mind, I don't want to know," Elizabeth murmured, looking at the children.

Ludo coughed, trying to change the subject. "So, I got your seats at the top box but you can't go up for another two hours – they only let us in a few minutes before the game."

"Top box, hum?" she mumbled. "Fancy."

"Yes. I hope you don't mind sharing it," he said. "A bunch of foreign ministers will be here, the minister, Crouch, the Weasleys, Black…"

Elizabeth froze immediately. Black?! No, no way! "Wait, Black?! As in Sirius Black?! Wasn't the bloody bastard rotting in Azkaban?"

Ludo raised an eyebrow. "You're a little behind the news, aren't you, Lizzie?"

"What do you mean behind the news?" she inquired in an edgy tone.

"Well, he escaped last year," Ludo started. "And, turns out, it was bloke who was always with him, Lupin and Potter, was the one who did the massacre and sold the Potters to You-Know-Who. What was his name? Something Peterson?"

"Peter Pettigrew?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, yeah, that's him," he confirmed. "The guy was an Animagus – a rat – and faked his own death. Black, the poor bloke, was in jail for more than a decade and he was innocent, after all. It was all over the papers when he got his pardon in June. Fudge had us sending a dozen tickets to him to 'make it up to him'. A crappy bargain if you asked me…"

She had stopped listening after he had said Sirius was innocent. For a moment, Elizabeth felt stupid for not reading more than the front page and the sports section in her father's newspapers. Apparently, Sirius's case hadn't reached the headlines back in Australia. She could barely believe that Peter, the boy she had tutored thousands of times in Hogwarts, was the traitor. To tell the truth, she had been surprised when she had heard Sirius was the responsible too. He and James were like brothers. She gulped. "And he… Sirius. He's coming to the game?"

Ludo nodded. "Yeah. With the Weasleys and a friend, Harry Potter and his daughter," he told her. "I was going to get Arthur Weasley a few tickets but as he had already gotten things planned with Black…"

"Wait," Elizabeth told him. "Rewind a bit. His daughter?"

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you," he said, scratching his scalp. "A week after he got his pardon, he got married. And his wife, that friend of yours, Mia, well, turns out, she was pregnant when he got arrested. They have a kid in Hogwarts and Harry Potter is their ward because they are his godparents. She's raised him ever since the Potters were killed."

"Oh, Merlin's left testicle," she mumbled to herself. Unbelievable. Bloody unbelievable. The things she had missed… Harry, a daughter… Oh, that was just too much to process at the same time. And Mia? She hadn't had news from her in years. "Is Mia coming too?"

"Dunno. Weasley didn't mention her coming. She wasn't much of a Quidditch fan, was she?"

Elizabeth shook her head. It was really too much information at the same time. But I was the wrong one this time, Elizabeth reminded herself. For the past thirteen years, in her mind Sirius Black's face had been wrongly associated with the loss of one of her best friends. She had hated his guts, wished him dead, cursed him all the way to hell in Lily and James's funeral. And in the end it had been Peter. She couldn't believe that that little bloke, who, she had to admit, was not nearly as smart as a rock, had been betraying them the whole time. She… she had consoled his mother. Praised him in his 'funeral'. She felt… dirty.

"I… hum… watch the kids for a while, would you? I think I need some air," she said before turning around and leaving the tent.

---

"That one didn't take Muggle Studies at school, for sure," Sirius mumbled as he and Izzy looked a bit puzzled at a wizard who seemed to be wearing a female muggle dress. With Harry gone with Ron and Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys stuck talking to some boring acquaintance of theirs, Sirius had decided it might be a nice idea to take Izzy for a walk and have some quality father/daughter time in the short quart of hour before they were supposed to report to the top box.

"Fourth guy in a dress since we left the tent," Izzy pointed out with a chuckle.

"I counted five," Sirius said. "There was the large bloke wearing a frilly yellow skirt and an electric blue shirt."

"Wasn't that a woman?" Izzy inquired with an eyebrow rose.

"An awfully manly woman, then," her father replied grimly. "Merlin, those muggles who own the campsite must think this is a nutter's convention."

Izzy looked around and winced – people waving their wands and discussing about Quidditch, little kids flying on toy brooms… "I don't think they'll have to worry about it with the memory charms they're about to get."

"You've got a point there," he said before giving her a grin. "Smart kid you are. Took after your Mum."

"She always says I take after you," she pointed out. "Speaking of which, you're not still worrying about her staying at home while we're here, are you? She asked me to make sure you didn't let it ruin the game for you…"

Sirius groaned. "I'm fine," he said. He had to admit he had been a bit uneasy about leaving Mia at home even if Lulu had promised to stay there for the night.

Even a few hours earlier when he had left home with Harry, Izzy and Hermione – who had been left at Grimmauld Place by her parents in the previous day – his wife had threatened him with bodily harm in case he used his two-way mirror, which had eventually been snatched by Izzy, to check on her every hour. Merlin, he was entitled to worry a bit – that pregnancy thing was a first for him… But, well, he had turned out not to be as nervous as he had imagined – the whole sports event setting was a nice distraction. "You can let your mother know that I plan to enjoy this World Cup as much as possible."

"I'll make sure I do," his daughter promised with a smile. "This is kind of nice, being at the World Cup – nothing like the games at Hogwarts. There's just so many people. I've just heard two blokes discussing the odds of the game in French – makes it sound so… sophisticated."

Sirius stopped walking and looked down at her with an eyebrow rose. "You know French?"

"I lived in Montreal for nine years," Izzy pointed out in an obvious tone. "People mostly speak French there. Harry and I grew up watching muggle cartoons in French. I'm not very good talking but I understand it pretty well."

"So your mother knows it too?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "But she can actually speak it."

"Hum, interesting," he mumbled as he resumed walking – he wondered just how arousing it would be hearing his wife saying words in French. Randy git, he imagined her calling him when he voiced his thought to her.

"Are those reporters?" Izzy asked him all of a sudden.

She cautiously pointed at a couple of blokes, one holding a camera and snapping photos of a guy Sirius recognized as a former member of Puddlemore United and another taking notes as he asked him questions. "Let's not find out," Sirius murmured, putting his arm around her and changer their course.

Luckily, his presence at the World Cup hadn't caused much more than a few stares and whispers and, as long as it remained that way, it was fine. He didn't want to take chances with reporters, though – it would be bad enough when they got wind that Mia was pregnant.

"I don't think they saw you," Izzy told him, looking behind.

"Hope not," he mumbled. "Let's talk about something other than the reporters. Merlin knows I really don't want to think of them. Tell me about your friends. I don't think we've talked much about them."

Izzy shrugged. "It's not like you have a herd of them," she said. "There's Ginny but you already know her – she's my best friend. Then Ron and Hermione, I guess, but they usually hang out with Harry. Fred and George but they're older and don't spend that much time around us younger kids. Oh, and there's Luna Lovegood. People find her a little… odd – her father is the editor of the Quibbler. But she's nice – you wouldn't believe the things she can come up with. For example, in the beginning of last year she thought you were innocent and that the whole thing with the explosion was a setup by potion smugglers. It was nice to hear even if it was a bit… weird."

Sirius looked down at her with an eyebrow raised. "Seriously? I think I like her already. But tell me something – is it me or little Ginny Weasley has a little crush on our own Harry Potter?"

She looked up at her father in surprise – how on Earth had he figured it out already? It had taken her over a year to come up with the reason for Ginny Weasley's nervousness around her brother. "What… what makes you think that?"

He grinned. "The way she looks all doe-eyed at him. And sometimes she blushes when he talks to her."

Izzy nodded, silently at first. "It used to be worse. The blushing, I mean."

"Ah, so I'm right," Sirius said in victory. "Well, you can let her know she may have a good chance with him."

"What do you mean?"

"For starters, I like her. Then, there seems to be a trend among Potter men to fall for redheads," he stated calmly. "Don't ask me why because I have no idea. I have once seen a portrait of James's grandmother and she was a redhead, Judy Potter was one as well and I don't need to tell you about Lily. All redheads – make Potters fall flat on their arses."

"Hum, is there any trend among Blacks?" Izzy inquired curiously.

He shrugged. "Not that I know of. But I do like brown eyed brunettes a lot."

She chuckled – he meant her mother. "I knew you'd say that."

Sirius grinned, stretching his arm over her shoulders. "Well, we should start thinking of going to the stadium – they'll let us go in a few minutes. I can't forget I made a promise to have fun to that brown-eyed brunette we have back at home."

---

The top box was as that much bigger than the others as Sirius had expected but, considering it was exactly halfway between the golden goal posts, it was bond to have the best view in the whole stadium.

In the moment he stepped into the box, Sirius was intercepted by Ludo Bagman. Luckily enough for them, the Weasleys and the kids were able to escape to their seats before the hovering started.

"Black, long time no see," the former beater greeted Sirius. "Different from the pitch at Hogwarts where we used to play, isn't this?"

"I can't disagree," Sirius mumbled. He was surprised Ludo Bagman still remembered he used to play on the team. "Good to see you, Bagman. Not playing anymore, I heard."

"Nah, bludger smashed my shoulder and it was never the same. Stuck with desk work these days," the other man said. "But the pay in the ministry is still good."

"Don't say…" Sirius said under his breath. "Speaking of the ministry, Fudge's not here yet, is he?"

Ludo shook his head. "Not yet. He's talking to the Bulgarian Minister. Or trying to… I took the liberty of getting your seats as from him as possible. Arthur mentioned you're not Cornelius's biggest fan. Honestly, I can't really blame you."

In that moment, Ludo Bagman was officially Sirius Black's favourite person in the ministry. The last thing he had been looking forward to that day was the potential need to share a single word with Fudge during the game – now his odds of escaping were higher. "Appreciate that, Ludo."

"Don't mention it, it was no trouble at all. It was actually nice, considering I managed to snatch that Bulgarian beauty who is the other minister's niece to the seat next to mine." Then, his eyes lit up as he looked at someone behind him. "Ah, Lizzie, dear, I was starting to think you had gotten lost."

"No need to send the cavalry after me," a slightly familiar voice replied in a bored tone.

Sirius turned around to see who it was and, to his surprise, he saw none other than Elizabeth Harper approaching them. She still looked nearly the same as he had seen her all those years ago: blonde hair, blue eyes and spotless pale skin – she had been, without a doubt, one of the prettiest girls in their year. Still, neither she nor Sirius had ever shown any interest other than friendship for each other.

Elizabeth approached him and Ludo silently, her face tense. "Ludo, would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?"

"Hum… ah, sure," he said, turning around to leave.

She had been wondering around the campsite for the past two hours trying to find out what to say. What was one supposed to say to somebody after having blamed that person for years for the loss of two of her best friends? The answer had come quickly though it sounded awfully empty in her mind – apologizing. That was all she could do now. "Sirius," she started. "I think I owe you an apology."

He raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

She nearly laughed when he said that – what wasn't there to apologize? Maybe she should enlighten him. "For starters, I apologize having you near the top of my hate-list for over a decade," she told him. "I had no idea about Peter, Sirius. No idea until Ludo told me just a couple of hours ago. Merlin, I still can't believe… This is Peter Pettigrew we're talking about. Who would have imagined…?"

"That was pretty much my reaction at the time," Sirius let her know.

"Second, I'm sorry for having called you a 'traitorous heartless bastard who should be rotting in hell for all I cared'," she continued.

"You never called me that," he told her.

"Not in front of you," she mumbled, looking down. "Sorry."

He snorted. "And you really think I'll hold it against you? If I had decided to hate everyone who thought I was guilty, I doubt there would be more than half a dozen individuals left in the world for me to like."

Elizabeth sighed – it was going easier than she had imagined. "I'm still sorry. James was as good as your brother. I should have known you'd never betray him. It was your loss too."

"Yeah, I'm glad you see that now," he told her with a sigh. "You know, Mia misses you – you were as good as her sister too. She wanted you in our wedding but she had no idea where to send the invitation."

"I had no idea either… none at all that you had gotten married," she told him. "Merlin, when Ludo told me I thought I had been struck by a lightening. But tell me, how's she?"

"She's alright," Sirius told her with a grin. "She's great, actually. You know she's not that big of a fan of Quidditch – last thing she wanted to do was getting herself in the middle of the World Cup. You should come over to see her – she'll be thrilled."

"I will," she promised. "Is there a problem if I do it tomorrow? I'm sort of looking forward to it."

He shook his head. "Like I said, she'll be thrilled."

Elizabeth smiled. "Now, I heard something about you two having a daughter and Harry…"

"Yeah. Her name's Izzy, by the way, What can I say? I have my own instant family. It's pretty great," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I have two of my own," she said, nodding at the blonde little boy being held by Ludo over the box's fence so he could see the stadium and his sister, who stood by their side. "Evie's eight, Harper's three. And, yes, they're little Bagmans."

"Merlin," Sirius breathed as he looked at them. Had it been part of his imagination or Ludo Bagman had told him about his plans to conquest the Bulgarian minister's nice just a few moments ago? Merlin, was the man blunt to the point of hitting on a chick in front of his wife?! "Honestly, Harper, I… I never believed you and Ludo would make it."

"We didn't," Elizabeth told him with a sigh. "But we remained friendly enough."

"Ah, right," he mumbled a little uncomfortably. "Well, I don't I introduce you to my kids?"

She smiled. "I'm looking forward to it." She followed him as he made his way near Harry and Izzy, who were listening to Ron as he rumbled something about Krum.

Sirius coughed in order to get their attention. "Izzy, Harry, here's someone I wanted you to meet. This is Elizabeth. She's…"

"Mum's friend," Izzy finished for him, getting up in surprise. "You're Elizabeth Harper. Mum's told us all about you."

"Oh, did she?" Elizabeth said with a smile. "Let me guess: brown hair, grey eyes, slightly marauder-like smile… you must be Izzy."

"That's right," she confirmed with a grin.

Then, the blonde turned to Harry. "And you used to be a lot shorter last time I saw you. But you're still your father's spitting image."

"Yeah, that never changes," Sirius pointed out with a grin.

"You were my Mum's friend too, weren't you?" Harry asked Elizabeth.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah, Mia, Lily and I were quite the group," she smiled nostalgically. "Good times."

"And you were Gryffindor's seeker," Harry said.

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, she missed the snitch in her first game. Shame on you, Harper."

She shot him an offended glare. "We won the game anyway. Besides, you cracked your skull in that game, which happened to be your first too."

"Ouch," Izzy mumbled, touching her own head. "That must have hurt."

He shivered. "Yeah, it was one hell of a headache. But your mother spent the whole time waiting by my sickbed," he said with a silly smile. "I'd say it made up for the cracked skull."

"Er… Fudge just came in," Ginny warned them suddenly from her seat behind Izzy.

Sirius looked at the box's entrance to see the minister trying to communicate – rather unsuccessfully – with the Bulgarian minister and his indeed statuesque niece. In a quick move, Sirius reached for his seat at the front and sat there before Fudge managed to get a glimpsed of him and came around.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Afraid of the minister, Sirius?"

"Bloke's a bloody stalker," he mumbled. "I plan to stay as far from him as I can."

"Alright then," she said, tuning to Izzy and Harry. "It was really nice to meet you two. We'll talk after the game." Then, she turned to Sirius, snickering. "Good luck avoiding big bad Fudge."

"Oh, shut up, Harper."

A/N: For those of you who had asked where Elizabeth had gone, here she is... Sorry about the delay on the reviews reply - I had a few problems with my mobile internet acess but, hopefully they'll be able to solve it tomorrow when I go to the city (yeah, i'm in the middle of nowhere now). Anyway, here you have another chapter directly from an internet café. Be my muse. Review!