What Life Could Have Been

A/N: I bring you one more!

News

Sirius safely completed his mission, as he had so boldly predicted, though not without a few scratches. He would have flown straight to France had the Order not required that he lie low in a safe house for a few weeks after such an extensive mission. When he was finally allowed his freedom in mid-September, he took off for the Chateau de Cygne with only his wand and travelling cloak.

After her initial discovery, Elise was able to calm down and enjoy her time in France. She had a link to Sirius that she knew would bring him back to her, no matter how dangerous the mission. Soline was very curious about her growing belly and when Manon told her that it was a baby growing inside, the little girl was absolutely delighted.

Elise was positively radiant throughout the summer. She spent her days in the gardens with Soline or wandering the grounds. Manon insisted that she move to a room on the ground floor so as not to slip on the stairs. The appartement that Lucienne moved her into was light and airy and made her feel more like an expectant mother than she already did. She would spend leisurely mornings in bed reading to her unborn child and watching out the wide windows for a shaggy black dog.

"Bon matin, ma belle cousine enceinte. Comment ça va aujourd'hui?" Elise's cousin Julien asked, coming into her room with a tray and a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Elise moaned and rolled over, not ready to get up yet. Julien set the tray down and knelt next to the bed.

"Tu sais que ton mari retournera. Tu n'es pas triste encore, oui?"

She opened her eyes and rolled over at the worry in his voice. "Non, Julien. Je suis juste fatiguée. Est-ce que Soline se réveille?" she asked.

He smiled. "Oui, elle se réveille. Mais, j'ai pensé que vous avez besoin d'un repos."

"Ah, merci." She lay back against the pillows, bringing her arms around her pregnant belly and smiling. "Il fait chaud pour Septembre, n'est-ce pas?" she asked idly.

Julien sat on the bed and they conversed in French for a while. Elise had picked it back up quickly and she loved the sound of the language; she read Les Misérables aloud to her baby in the evenings.

Both were startled when the doors to the appartement banged open.

"Ellie!" Sirius was halfway across the room before he took in the sight of her and panicked.

Julien took out his wand, which gave Sirius the completely wrong idea.

Elise sighed. Some things never changed.

"Julien, allez et dites à Manon que mon mari est arrivé. Ignorez-lui. Merci," Elise said calmly, not taking her eyes from Sirius.

Once Julien had left, Sirius bounded across the room and stood by the bed, looking down at Elise with a perplexed and hurt expression.

"Oh mon Dieu," she sighed. "Really? Really Sirius? I can tell exactly what you're thinking by looking at me like that. Why on Earth would you think that I was unfaithful to you? I've been miserable without you!"

A look of realization dawned on his face. "You mean…?"

"Of course it's yours! Julien is my cousin!"

He looked slightly ashamed. "Oh, right."

Elise smiled. "Now, get over here," she patted the bed next to her, "because I haven't seen you in almost five months."

He eagerly complied, vaulting right over her and landing in a heap of pillows.

"Nice place you got here," he observed as she snuggled up next to him.

"Lucienne didn't want to risk me slipping on the stairs. And before you go off about me not telling you, you told me not to have any contact. It's your own fault."

Sirius was relatively calm about the whole situation; he gently stroked her belly under the covers and leaned against her head. "What were you saying to your cousin?"

"I told him to ignore my stupid husband and tell his wife that you were here. You always make such a fuss," she mused, fidgeting with his sleeve.

"Well…yeah okay. I'm over it though." He grinned.

She sighed happily, glad to be safely reunited.

"Is it safe to go home now? I want to see my parents. And James and Lily and Remus."

"Well, of course we have to go home. James and Lily are getting married in a week!"

FRENCH TRANSLATIONS

"Bon matin, ma belle cousine enceinte. Comment ça va aujourd'hui?"/ Good morning, my beautiful pregnant cousin.

"Tu sais que ton mari retournera. Tu n'es pas triste encore, oui?"/ You know that your husband will return. You're not sad again, right?

"Non, Julien. Je suis juste fatiguée. Est-ce que Soline se réveille?"/ No Julien. I'm just tired. Is Soline awake?

"Oui, elle se réveille. Mais, j'ai pensé que vous avez besoin d'un repos."/ Yes, she's awake. But I thought you needed a rest.

"Ah, merci."/ Thanks.

"Il fait chaud pour Septembre, n'est-ce pas?"/ It's warm for September, isn't it?

"Julien, allez et dites à Manon que mon mari est arrivé. Ignorez-lui. Merci,"/ Julien, go and tell Manon that my husband has arrived. Ignore him. Thank you.

Oh mon Dieu/ Oh my God