Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I hope to upload chapters more regularly from now on. Fingers crossed! Some of the characters may appear Out Of Character but that is because they are my interpretation of Jo's beautiful characters and my idea of how they would react to 'A Riddled Universe' setting. Thanks to all my loyal readers and all those who took the time to review. I hope you all will enjoy this chapter!

Sirius Black : From the Riddled Universe, Serena's husband

Sirius Black : From Harry's world, Harry's godfather

Chapter 25

Serena Riddle Black sighed and placed her quill back in the inkpot. She was not feeling inspired and was suffering from a severe case of writer's block. She was one of the leading researchers in the field of Transfiguration and she had a weekly column at the Transfiguration Today. Since she was pregnant, she decided to work from home, (actually it was her father and husband who insisted on it). They were entirely too protective of her and though Serena could understand that their protectiveness stemmed from love, she couldn't help but feel that they sometimes underestimated her.

Serena wasn't a Slytherin like her father and brother. She was sorted into Ravenclaw much too her father's dismay and her brother's surprise (Severus had always teased her when they were small that she would end up in the house of the badgers). But Ravenclaw suited her needs and personality perfectly. She wasn't overly brave and courageous as Lily was, or as hardworking as the Puffs were. Though Serena knew she had a little Slytherin cunning, her thirst for knowledge far outweighed her desire to prove herself. Being Healer Tom Riddle's daughter wasn't easy either.

Inspite of her not being his daughter by blood, everyone expected her to show the same amount of talent her father portrayed at Hogwarts. While her brother was arguably one of the best in Potions and DADA (though Lily would contend that), she hadn't shown much promise in those fields of magic, much to Prof. Slughorn and Prof. Black's disappointment. The arena in which she excelled in was Transfiguration.

She had even piqued James Potter when she won the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer award. Serena closed her eyes and relaxed. She remembered Potter's indignant face when she had won the award he had expected to win. Poor Sirius was caught in the middle that day. Sirius had to be happy that his girlfriend won and sad that his best friend lost. So, Sirius had settled for a serious face with a goofy grin, much to James' dismay.

Being the wife of a Marauder (that's what Sirius' gang at Hogwarts used to call themselves, personally Serena thought it was a stupid name), meant that she was no stranger to her husband's jocular personality. While Sirius was a bit rash at times, his good heart and loyal personality more than compensated for it. Sirius had gone out and wasn't expected home until much later. He had informed her of his tentative attempt at reconciliation with his brother which made her feel like it was a step in the right direction. Perhaps now, Sirius would get over the hurt his family's rejection had caused him.

Serena got up and walked to her daughter's bedroom. Marianne had fallen asleep reading a Muggle book, so Serena tucked her in and kissed her forehead. She couldn't wait for the moment when Marianne's little sibling decided to join the world. She placed her hand on her stomach and was strangely comforted by the little one's presence.

When she arrived in the study where she worked, she had an uneasy sense that someone was watching her. She dismissed it as she knew that paranoia was a trait the Riddles shared. But even as she eased herself into her chair, she couldn't dismiss the fact that something wasn't right. The air in the study had a strange quality to it as if it was magically charged.

Serena took a deep breath. She ran a spell on the wards to make sure that none of them had been tripped. The wards surrounding her house were strong and absolute. The Floo Connection installed in her house was also closed. The only people who could access the house via the wards were her husband, father and her brother's family. If anyone else tried to access the wards, they would be shut off and she would be alerted.

She tried to go back to her work, but she couldn't ignore the sound of ominous footsteps in the hallway. When she went to investigate, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She even tried the Hominum revelio spell, but that only showed that there was no human in the hallway. Chiding herself for having an overactive imagination, she returned to her desk only to find a letter waiting for her.

After running a spell to detect any curses and hexes on the letter (but finding nothing), she opened the letter and stifled a scream. The letter was reeking of blood, which oozed all over her hands. Throwing the letter promptly to the ground, Serena evaluated her options. She wasn't a coward. The spell had not detected any curse, so she cleared all the blood on the letter. The letter was in fact a photograph taken the night her mother had been killed, the night which was always a source of her nightmares, the night when she was bitten.

Without realizing it, she clung to her left forearm which still bore the werewolf's mark. The letter began to shake in her hand and she tried to remain calm so as to prevent panic from taking over. She turned the photograph over to read the inscription - 'Someone's been living on borrowed time.'

It was a while before she realized that the shaking was not caused by her but by the very house itself as if it was trying to emulate an earthquake. Without sparring a thought for herself, Serena rushed upstairs where her baby Marianne was sleeping. Holding her close to her chest, she tried to prevent any object from falling upon them. The house appeared to have gained a life of its own as the floor and windows rattled and the objects seemed to fly around randomly. She barely escaped her daughter's bedroom before the very ceiling came crashing down.

Cursing herself for having kept her wand in the study, she moved towards the kitchen which contained the Floo Place, but the stupid Floo wasn't opening. After trying to operate the lever with one hand (the other was grasping Marianne), she cursed her luck. Someone had locked the connection ensuring that she wouldn't escape. She tried to open the door, leading to the garden but the door remained firmly shut (the only thing in the house which didn't move) and she braced herself for the onslaught of the flying object.

Protecting Marianne who was crying, from the flying debris, she could ascertain a presence in the room, though nothing was visible.

"Whoever you are, please, if you want to harm and kill me, then do it. But please leave my daughter out of this," Serena said pleading.

"Please," she begged, "Take me. Leave her alone. I am what you want."

Serena never knew that the scene was reminiscent of Halloween night seventeen years ago in an alternate dimension. All she knew was that she had to protect her daughter. Whether it was her pleading or the tears which ran through both mother and daughter's eyes, something impacted the intruder. The shaking which enveloped the house came to a sudden halt. She felt the intruder come closer.

"Not Marianne. Please not Marianne," whimpered Serena, her arms shielding her daughter.

There was cool breeze which came into the room as the door abruptly opened and Serena felt the intruder leave. She didn't move for a while, scared that any sudden moves on her part would cause the intruder to attack her and her child.

After five minutes of waiting, Serena hurried to the study with Marianne in tow. Waving her wand, she cast patronuses telling her family to come to her aid. Serena then collapsed on a chair nearby, resisting the temptation to give into exhaustion.

If there was anyone who knew what pain was, it was Sirius Black. He was despised by his parents and was even made to languish in Azkaban, despite being innocent. Sirius knew that the world wasn't fair. Whether it was Azkaban which hardened him up or whether it was realizing he was betrayed by a close friend while he held James' corpse in his arms, Sirius never let emotions faze him, especially the emotions of a Death Eater (the scum of the earth). Then why did he feel so awful about attacking Voldemort's daughter?

Dorcas had congratulated him for what he had done, but was disappointed that he didn't continue torturing her. To avoid suspicion he told Dorcas that he didn't want to play all his tricks too soon, instead he wanted to make the process a long and painful one. That answer satisfied Dorcas, but it left Sirius feeling a little queasy. He never remembered Dorcas being so vengeful.

'Voldemort's daughter deserved it,' Sirius kept telling himself as he paced up and down his room. Thankfully, Dorcas had left him in peace after questioning him first. But the look on Voldemort's daughter's face as she tried to protect her daughter from him shook him to the core. He was not a monster. When he bullied Snivellus in his younger days, he had felt no remorse. After all, people like Snape didn't deserve to exist. Then why was he feeling so guilty?

While Sirius was at the daughter's house, his instincts told him that it was his territory. Sirius' sense of smell was always sharp (thanks to Padfoot) and he could tell that he had been in that house countless number of times before. But that couldn't be possible! He had never visited that house before.

'If Voldemort could have children in this world, surely there must be other changes,' Sirius thought. 'The very thought of Voldemort having children was ludicrous. Which woman would want to bear Voldemort's child? Ohh, of course, Cousin Bella! But the daughter was definitely not Bellatrix's because Bella must have been a child herself when Voldy's child was born.'

Sirius didn't even know what Voldemort's daughter's name was. He wished he had found out. Regardless of her parentage, she was a very beautiful woman and her daughter Marianne was so cherubic, that the Padfoot within him wanted to protect them rather than harm them. Dorcas had warned him not to get distracted and emotionally involved but he couldn't help himself. Something wasn't right and he wasn't going to rest until he found out what it was.

Sirius picked up the glass of water which sat innocently on the table and lifted it up to his lips. But the image of Voldemort's daughter's tear ridden face floated into his mind. Sirius sighed and placed the glass of water back on the table without taking a sip. He was no longer thirsty.

Looking at the house before him, Harry recalled the night Moody had been killed. This was the house Hagrid had brought him to. The house was exactly the same as the one in his universe and Harry couldn't help but feel a bit reassured that while there were a lot of changes in the Riddled Universe, there were some things which remained the same. However, that comforting feeling was squashed the moment he laid eyes on Andromeda Tonks.

Harry had prepared himself to meet Andromeda, a person who he was well acquainted with in his world. He admired Andromeda for her courage and fortitude. After losing almost everyone she held dear, she still put on a cheerful face and took up the challenge of raising her grandchild Teddy, while trying to put together the shattered pieces of her life.

However, looking at the Andromeda Tonks in this world, he knew for sure that she was different from her counterpart. There were large scars which were spread across her face marring it so badly Harry knew that he would not have recognized her if Riddle hadn't introduced her. Harry recognized the scars however. They were exactly like Bill Weasley's, though Bill had a lot less scars then Andromeda.

"Please make yourselves comfortable," said Andromeda with a smile which contorted her face, "You are in luck, Uncle Riddle. Dad is in the next room."

"I shall meet him first," said Riddle getting up from his chair, "I have a lot to discuss with him."

"Please have some sandwiches, Harry," said Andromeda, "They will take time discussing their 'state secrets.' I have always felt that men gossip more than women and yet, they accuse us of being gossipmongers. What do you think?"

"I cannot agree with you," said Harry.

"You would side with your own gender," Andromeda said with a smile.

"I can say for sure that men do like to share information, though I wouldn't term it as gossiping," said Harry.

"Of course not," said Andromeda lightly. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you," said Harry.

Andromeda summoned the tea tray and began to pour some tea into the cups. The Andromeda in his world wasn't attacked by werewolves which was rather strange because werewolves still existed in his world. In this world, lycantrophy was eradicated and yet she was attacked. The scars looked very old and Harry knew that such scars would never fade.

"You are wondering about my face, aren't you?" asked Andromeda softly and she raised her hand to stop Harry from denying it. "It is alright. Everyone who meets me cannot help but wonder how I received these, though the story is well known. But you are from a different dimension, I am sure that you do not know of the Incident."

"I do not want to intrude. It must be very painful for you to even think about it," said Harry.

"I received these scars when I was a little girl. So I have had plenty of time to recover from the attack. One must reconcile oneself to one's past or else one can never move on. You can say that I am now part of history. I was one of the last few victims of Greyback and his pack before they were exterminated," said Andromeda. "I am now proud to say that I survived."

"I thought Melanie, Riddle's fiancée, was their last victim," said Harry. He remembered Lily telling him that Serena had also been there.

"We were together on that day, the three of us," said Andromeda, "Melanie had made me flower girl for her wedding and we were shopping for dresses. How quickly that happy day turned downhill! Melanie tried to protect us from the worst of the attack but even with a wand, she was outnumbered by the pack of werewolves. Serena was very small then, she must have been three years old. Melanie called for help before dying, which probably saved my life. Melanie was a good person."

"Riddle must have been livid," said Harry. He knew this was a very sensitive issue but he wanted to know how the werewolves were killed, especially since the Dark Mark was involved.

"He was devastated. But Serena and I needed medical attention as both our conditions were critical for months after the attack. We needed constant supervision and I am glad that Uncle Riddle was there. If we were in the care of anyone else, we would have surely died. I don't think Uncle Riddle even left the hospital those couple of months," said Andromeda.

That certainly ruled out Riddle as a suspect. But Harry was sure that Riddle knew who killed the werewolves as Riddle had seemed evasive about the topic. Riddle had said that the Dark Mark was a popular drawing among the Slytherins. There was only one Slytherin whom Riddle would want to protect and that person, Harry now realized, had motive for killing the werewolves.

"Your parents must have been devastated," said Harry.

"Obviously," said Andromeda as if it was the most natural thing, "You would have thought that my mother would have been more furious, instead it was my level headed father. It is during a crisis when we realize how much our parents truly love us."

Who would have thought that Professor Cygnus Arcturus Black, the grandfatherly and beloved DADA professor was capable of killing those werewolves? But everything seemed to point to him. After all, breaking into Azkaban and murdering high security prisoners was no mean feat and not everyone would have been able to carry it out. Riddle had once described Artie as rash and reckless and now Harry knew to what he was referring to. When Harry had spoken of the murders, Riddle had tried to scuttle the issue as if he was protecting someone. Would Harry have tried to protect Ron if Ron had behaved like Artie had?

"Never underestimate a parent whose child is in danger," said Harry thinking of Mrs. Weasley protecting Ginny in the Final Battle.

"When you have a child of your own, then you will understand," said Andromeda.

Harry nodded. One thing was certain; he had grossly underestimated Artie Black. Maybe that was why Riddle was his friend. Riddle wouldn't have befriended a person who was weak and stupid. Artie Black was neither of those things. But he would have to keep his eye on Artie. The man was definitely not a saint.

Riddle had entered the room and Harry could tell that Riddle had read his thoughts. Riddle's frown confirmed his suspicions.

"I need to talk to you about a certain friend of yours," said Riddle facing Andromeda. "Dorcas Meadows."

"She is no longer a friend of mine. We have drifted apart and I do not regret it," said Andromeda curtly, as if the very mention of Dorcas upset her.

"You both were inseparable at Hogwarts," said Riddle.

"People change and Dorcas changed too but not for the better. She was always ambitious. But as she grew older, her methods grew questionable. I am not surprised that she is currently holding a high position at the Ministry, but I am worried at the cost and price she has paid to attain it. She wants to leave a name for herself and she will not stop until she has achieved that," said Andromeda.

"Do you think that she is capable of horrendous deeds?" asked Riddle.

"Why do you think I severed all ties from her?" retorted Andromeda.

Just then a silvery tigress flew into the room. Harry was starting to dread these patronuses as they were beginning to resemble the harbingers of doom.

"That is Serena's patronus. She must be in trouble," said Riddle as he hurried to the floo. Worry was written all over his face.

Harry used the Floo after Riddle had left. He hoped Serena was not in any grave danger. He didn't want to see Riddle in all his fury, because he knew that Riddle adored his daughter. If Riddle even had an ounce of Voldemort's temper… As the Floo flared to life around him, Harry knew that he wasn't that lucky. He had stepped out of the Floo and into what looked like a war zone.

Harry sighed, 'I seem to have a penchant for trouble.'

To Be Continued…

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