'Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warning: None for this chapter
Chapter 29 – Unexpected Developments
Ofelia stayed behind after Sirius had left, citing the need for time alone to think. She wasn't fooled by his agreement to delay notifying her father of his continued libidinous activities. Sirius' anger was barely contained; Ofelia had put a very large dent in her credibility with him and, she was certain, with the rest of the Gryffindor crowd. I have no choice, she thought to herself, for what had to have been the hundredth time since receiving Michael's enthusiastic response that he would meet her as she had requested.
She made her way over to the large window overlooking the lake and dropped down onto the dusty window seat. She waved her wand at the grimy glass, muttering a quiet, "Scourgify"; immediately, the view cleared, revealing the snow-covered grounds beneath a lead-gray sky. Ofelia watched the students tramping about without really registering the activity. Her mind raced with all that had happened and all that was to come – both as a result of her last-minute modification and her need to prepare for Hogsmeade.
"It's cold in here."
Ofelia started at the sound of another person in the room, her hand tightening on her wand reflexively. She heard a murmured incantation and soon felt the delicious aftermath of a warming charm.
"Thank you," Ofelia said quietly as Lily Evans stepped out of the shadows near the doorway. "How did you know I'd still be here?"
Lily walked over and sat at the opposite side of the window seat. "Well, Sirius came back to the Common Room with a face like a thunder cloud. You weren't with him and when I asked about you, he managed to suggest that I check here before storming up to the dormitory." At Ofelia's slightly chagrined expression, Lily added, "He'll be fine; Remus, James and Peter are with him." Fiddling with a tear in the ratty seat cushion, Lily allowed silence to settle in the room.
"It obviously didn't go well," Lily finally spoke again.
Ofelia shook her head slightly. "It was never going to 'go well', Lily. That's the nature of confrontations – of exposure."
"Not exactly an answer to my question, however true that statement may be. What happened?"
"Arturo was beyond condescending to Sirius. Delilah was suitably outraged, particularly when I revealed the fact that Sirius and I were engaged. She, predictably, spiraled downward from there," Delilah reported.
"I wasn't under the impression that revealing the engagement was part of the scenario. Wasn't it just supposed to be a simple discovery of Delilah and Sirius in a compromising situation? Wasn't that supposed to be enough to carry Arturo to the Owlry?"
"It was," the other girl acknowledged. "I wanted more time, however."
Lily's eyebrows rose. "You 'wanted more time' for what, exactly? Ofelia, I thought both you and Sirius were of like minds in this; I thought neither of you wanted this marriage." She paused as a thought occurred to her and when next she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Ofelia, you can't … your feelings for Sirius can't have changed – have they?"
"No, no; of course not," Ofelia said. "I … oh, Lily, if only I could …" her voice trailed off and she returned her gaze to the window once more.
"If only you could – what?" Lily's voice was soft. When no response was immediately forthcoming, she added, "Ofelia, I would like you to listen to me very carefully. When Sirius first approached us about helping you with this situation, there was a great deal of reluctance – and understandably so. Gryffindor and Slytherin have never seen eye to eye in my experience with them and, for our group, we have the added complication of one Sirius Black. Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, to be precise, every member of which has been sorted into Slytherin…until Sirius came along. He, as you probably know, despises everything his family embraces. That several of his cousins – not to mention his younger brother – currently reside in Slytherin only fuels the distrust and hatred. Slytherin. Gryffindor. Names of Houses, that's all they are. A person isn't deceitful, sly or Dark simply by virtue of being sorted into Slytherin – no more than being sorted into Gryffindor automatically makes one brave or loyal. We are who and what we are because of what we hold in our hearts; because of what we believe in. I agreed to help you because I know what it's like to be judged because of a label, because of a name. In my case, it's "Muggle-born", in yours, "Slytherin". I didn't go into this assuming that you would fit the Slytherin stereotype, Ofelia. But you came very close to true Slytherin behavior in changing the plan today without telling anyone. That's the problem, you realize: you did it without telling any of us – not even Sirius. He hates surprises; hates them with a passion. Had you gone to him beforehand and talked it through, I feel certain that Sirius would have understood and agreed to a one-week delay. It isn't a very long delay, after all. But now, you have a very angry wizard on your hands - one whose trust has been compromised. If I were in your shoes, I'd try to work this out – sooner rather than later."
Ofelia listened intently to all that Lily said. "I can only apologize for what I've done."
"You can't even confide in him?" Lily's tone was slightly exasperated.
Ofelia rose. "Especially not him. I must go. I also need to speak with my brother – who handled this entire situation only slightly worse than did Sirius." With that, she walked quietly from the room, leaving Lily Evans staring thoughtfully after her.
XXXXXXXX
"A week isn't that long, Padfoot," Remus tried to reason with the frustrated wizard who was pacing their dormitory floor at a rate destined to wear the varnish off the floorboards.
"It's not the week, Remus," Sirius growled. "It's that she changed everything on her own without telling me."
Remus sighed. "Why don't you talk to her? Try to find out what happened, if it's so important to you. Otherwise, I'm afraid that you're just going to have to swallow your anger and wait the additional week."
"He's right, Pads," James chimed in.
"She won't bloody tell me anything!" Sirius fumed. "Never does."
"Maybe she likes you," Peter suggested around the chocolate frog he'd jammed into his mouth. At the silence that greeted his comment, he chewed up the remainder of his chocolate. "Well, that might be why she won't explain things to you; she's embarrassed."
A soft knock on the door spared Peter what was certain to be the full force of Sirius' temper, as the latter crossed the room and yanked the door open. "What the blood … Kate!" Sirius' voice changed when he saw Kate standing in the hallway. "What are you doing up here?"
"I heard what happened," she began, glancing beyond Sirius to where the other three Marauders were now standing.
"I believe that's our cue, men," James said. "Excuse us, Kate."
"Come in," Sirius said when the sound of the boys' pounding footsteps died away. He held the door open for Kate to pass, ducking his head into the hallway and looking right and left to make sure his friends really had taken their leave. Satisfied that they would not be interrupted, Sirius closed the door and turned to find Kate standing directly in front of him.
"So, Ofelia stopped Arturo from notifying the family about your … indiscretions," she said.
"For a week, anyway," Sirius confirmed. "She said that she'll owl her father herself after Hogsmeade."
"After she talks to Michael."
He nodded, reaching for her hand.
"A week isn't so very long, Sirius. We've survived so far," Kate smiled, squeezing his hand. "Do you know why Ofelia wants to postpone?"
Sirius' face tightened. "No clue. She just appeared from under the Invisibility Cloak and changed the entire bloody thing!"
Kate brought her hand up to cup his cheek. "Ofelia didn't change 'the entire bloody thing', you know. She showed up, as she was supposed to do; she was appropriately upset seeing you and Delilah together and it appears that she made sure Arturo didn't do you any physical harm. Sirius, you hate it when anyone changes a plan without telling you. You hate not being in control. That's your biggest problem with this. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be angered by it, but I think you should keep it in perspective. Talk to her, yes; try to come to some understanding about why it happened and make sure she knows that it can't happen again - certainly. But the result of today's change isn't insurmountable. So, we have to wait another week. We're getting good at finding places to hide, aren't we?" She smiled softly at him and Sirius responded by bringing his hand up to cover hers, then turning his face to kiss her palm. He nuzzled her hand for a few moments.
Kate shivered at the feelings his kiss and caress produced and was both relieved and disappointed when he brought her hand down to clasp it in both of his. Sirius' eyes communicated his regret. "I don't think this is necessarily an ideal place to hide," he said.
Kate nodded. "No, I suppose it really isn't," she said. "Listen, I should be going. I just wanted to see you for a moment…"
"…Reassure yourself I hadn't hit anyone with the Killing Curse, eh?"
"Something like that, perhaps. I'll see you at dinner, yes?"
Sirius leaned in and kissed her lips gently. "Yes. Of course, you'll be at the opposite end of the table – yet again."
"Hardly the opposite end; just far enough away to keep up appearances, after all." Kate gently disentangled their hands and moved toward the door.
"One more week, Katie."
"One more week."
As the door closed behind her, Sirius carded his fingers through his hair, exhaling sharply. As long as whatever motivated Ofelia doesn't have more far-reaching implications, he thought to himself.
XXXXXXXX
Dinner was a rather quiet affair – a condition that seemed to extend itself to the Slytherin table as well as its Gryffindor counterpart. Sirius noted that a rather abbreviated conversation had taken place between the Bullstrodes and, although Arturo did not appear entirely appeased, his demeanor was less hostile than earlier in the day. For her part, Ofelia looked to be quite subdued and ate little of her dinner. After pushing food around her plate for a while, she left, Snape's eyes following her every step of the way from the table to the doorway of the Great Hall. As his own appetite had also disappeared, Sirius soon rose, telling his friends he would see them in the Tower later. Sprinting up to the dormitory, the boy grabbed his heavy woolen cloak, Gryffindor scarf and the expensive, fur lined, leather gloves Andromeda had sent him for Christmas and set off across the grounds.
Sufficiently garbed to protect himself from the cold night air, Sirius tramped through the snow – away from the school and toward the large rock formations at the edge of the Black Lake. His heavy boots crashed through the thick, frozen crust that covered several inches of powdery snow. By the time he was approaching the large, flat rock that was his favorite place to "ponder things", Sirius was looking forward to casting a warming charm on its surface and climbing up to rest for awhile.
He was surprised to discover that he was not alone. Ofelia was sitting on one side of the generous stone surface, her gaze fixed out toward the Lake.
"Sirius," she greeted him without turning around.
"Ofelia," he responded in kind. "You've discovered my favorite 'hiding place'", he confessed. "May I join you?"
Silently, the girl gestured to the empty space beside her and Sirius quickly made himself comfortable.
"From what are you hiding?" Ofelia asked, finally turning to look at him.
Sirius shook his head. "Interesting that you didn't ask 'from whom'", he commented. "Actually, I think I'm more interested in a quiet place to think than actually hiding from anyone; tonight, anyway. What about you?"
She quietly renewed her own warming charm before answering. "Much the same as you are – solitude. I had planned to come looking for you before curfew, however. I wanted to talk about what happened earlier."
"Remus and James suggested I do the same thing. It would appear that it's fate we're both here at the same time."
A shriek from the direction of the Lake startled Ofelia and she jumped sharply, "What…?"
"Giant Squid," Sirius replied. "I'll wager it caught a nice, fat bird that didn't particularly wish to be caught."
"No creature really wants to be caught, does it?"
Sirius sat quietly, sensing that Ofelia had more to say. He wasn't disappointed.
"I'm sorry I didn't stay with the plan we agreed upon," she said quietly.
"A very wise witch told me that it was less the one-week delay that bothered me than the fact you'd changed things up," he replied.
"Lily."
"Kate. She's right. I hate surprises," he confessed, half turning to see her face in the dim light from his wand. "Why?"
"Why did I do it?"
"Well, that would be the question of the moment, wouldn't it?"
Ofelia was silent for several moments. "I am nervous about seeing Michael next weekend. It has been close to 2 months now since we've spoken. I think I half-expected him to turn me down because I'd left without communicating anything of my departure. For all I knew, he thought I had been leading him on, so to speak, and had tired of him. When the owl returned with his acceptance, I suddenly realized that I am in a somewhat similar situation with him that you found yourself in with Kate. I have a fiancé, after all. I was quite unattached when I was at Beauxbatons – when we were seeing each other."
Sirius nodded. "There's more to what happened this afternoon than a bad case of nerves over seeing a former boyfriend."
Ofelia exhaled sharply. "Fine. I did not want my father to decide to remove me from Hogwarts before the weekend - before the Hogsmeade visit. If Arturo had sent the type of message I feared he would, this is not beyond the scope of logic. I cannot go home without speaking with Michael," Ofelia was adamant.
"Why didn't you say something to me this morning? In the Common Room before lunch?" Sirius wanted to know. "You had plenty of opportunity; did you think I wouldn't understand?"
"I know how much you want this to be over – as do I. With so little time between Michael's reply and our confrontation with Delilah and Arturo, I didn't want to chance a quarrel that could have carried over into that meeting. I was wrong; I know that now. But I was afraid. If something had slipped inside that room, Arturo's message could have contained information about Michael as well as what we wanted him to report about you. I couldn't risk that. Michael is not a Pureblood; the results would have been disastrous for us," Ofelia's voice reverberated on the still night air. "I couldn't risk it," she said again.
Sirius nodded silently, thinking about all that Ofelia had just told him. It seemed to make sense – overall – but the young wizard couldn't shake the feeling that there was something left unsaid, something more to her story than she was divulging. He turned it over in his mind several times but could not identify the cause of his unease. Finally, Sirius shrugged and put it down to a natural reaction to having Ofelia change their plan with no advance warning. I'm probably going to be second-guessing her from now on, he thought, wearily.
"Right," his firm tone caught Ofelia's attention immediately. "For the record, Ofelia, I'm not sure that I quite believe everything you've said tonight. Well, it's not that I don't believe the things you've said, exactly; it's more that I'm convinced there's quite a bit that you've left unsaid. Don't," Sirius shook his head, having heard Ofelia take a deep breath and knowing that she was about to interrupt. "I'm not interested in another round of 'I can't say more; you're going to have to trust me, Sirius.'" He looked over at her sharply. "The fact is that I don't trust you; not anymore. But, overall, what you have said tonight – the part about fearing that your father would pull you out of here before you got to Hogsmeade, anyway – makes enough sense that I'm not going to push you. But, Ofelia, you cannot do this again. If we agree to handle a situation a certain way, then that's how it's going to be handled. You cannot decide to change things up on your own. No independent decisions here. From now on, we do things as we agreed or we discuss alternatives and agree on something new. No more bloody surprises. Agreed?"
Ofelia nodded, relieved that their encounter had been no worse than this; relieved that he believed her enough to move forward – without additional probing. "Agreed," she said quietly.
"Right, then," Sirius jumped down from the rock and held out his hand. "Come on. Even with the warming charm, I'm freezing my bits off out here. I'd like to think I might be able to use them again in the future. To that end, I'm heading back to the castle."
Ofelia surprised him with a very small smile as she took his hand and slid down from the rock. She stumbled a bit as she stepped onto the grass then swayed, reaching out and clutching Sirius arm for additional support.
"Hey, steady on," Sirius said, bending so that he could see her face more clearly. "Are you all right?"
Ofelia nodded, but her face was pale. "I'm fine. Dinner with Arturo wasn't very pleasant and I'm afraid that my appetite deserted me." As she finished, her stomach growled audibly.
"Apparently, it's returned full force," Sirius tried not to laugh at her. "Listen, I didn't eat anything, either. Let's go see if we can convince the house elves to rustle us up something."
"But dinner is over by now," she protested as they began to walk toward the brightly lit castle.
"How do you feel about eating in the kitchens?"
Chuckling at her surprised expression, Sirius placed his hand beneath her elbow and they hurried toward the school.
Reaching the entryway some moments later, the pair was immediately greeted by the warmth emanating from the huge fireplace across from the doors. Sirius paused to close the door behind them while Ofelia continued toward the brightly crackling fire to completely thaw. The sound of a rich baritone voice came from the opposite side of the hall. Sirius turned to see Severus Snape come into view, striding purposefully toward the blonde witch.
"Ofelia," he greeted her.
"Severus, how are you?" Ofelia extended her hands toward the flames, flexing her fingers as they warmed.
"I am well, thank you," Sirius could have sworn the great bat gave her a slight bow from the waist. "I've been looking for you since dinner, however; you left the Hall so suddenly that I was concerned."
Ofelia smiled. "I am fine, Severus, truly I am."
"How touching," Sirius offered, walking slowly toward where the other two students were standing. "Although I must say that monitoring my fiancée's movements is a bit … well, disturbing. Have you appointed yourself her guardian?"
Snape's mouth tightened and his eyes narrowed. Ofelia looked over at Sirius and shook her head. "Sirius, there is no need to be unpleasant. Severus is only looking out for my welfare, after all."
"What are you doing wandering around down here?" Snape demanded. "I would have thought that you and your rag-tag little band of troublemakers would be on the prowl elsewhere."
"Sorry to disappoint, Snivelly," Sirius was now standing next to Ofelia. "We were taking a stroll on the grounds and wound up by the Lake. Very romantic spot, isn't it?"
"I wouldn't know," Snape intoned condescendingly, immediately regretting his words when he saw the smile form on Sirius' lips.
"No, I don't suppose you would, would you? So sorry; forgot myself for a moment. Ofelia," he turned to the now quite annoyed young woman next to him, "shall we finish our discussion somewhere warmer – and more private?"
"Severus, thank you for your concern," Ofelia said, as Sirius took her arm and began steering her away. "I truly do appreciate it. Enjoy your evening."
When the couple was walking down the corridor toward the kitchens, Ofelia jerked her elbow from Sirius' grasp. "I don't understand why you must antagonize Severus every single time you see him. His conversation was directed solely toward me, but you had to get involved, didn't you?"
Sirius sighed. "Listen, Ofelia, I'm sorry if I upset you, but Snape and I go way back and it's not a pleasant history. You should have seen enough by now to know that. We hate each other and, believe me, he gives as good as he gets."
The blonde just stood there, arms crossed over her chest, her expression reflecting her irritation with him.
"Come on, you need something to eat. Let's just put this aside and get some dinner, ok? And if Severus Snape should wander into the kitchens while we're there, I promise that I'll completely ignore him, yeah?" Sirius smiled and held out his hand.
Ofelia paused for a moment longer and, while she did not take his hand, she did accompany him down the hall. "I suppose that's progress," she muttered.
XXXXXXXX
As was usually the case when a Hogsmeade weekend was in the offing, the week dragged for those students who planned to make the trek to the village. For Sirius and Ofelia, however, time truly crawled at a snail's pace. For Sirius, the compromise of his trust in the incident with Delilah and Arturo made him increasingly jumpy that something similar might happen in Hogsmeade. Despite Kate's best efforts to calm him, by the time Friday evening arrived, Sirius was convinced that everything was about to go pear-shaped.
Well after curfew, the Marauders, Kate, Lily and Ofelia were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room reviewing the plan for the following day. Sirius was to meet Ofelia by the statue of the One-Eyed Witch at 10 o'clock the following morning. Deciding to risk discovery by Honeyduke's shopkeepers, they would travel along the passageway, through the shop's basement and into the store itself through the trap door in the floor. The boys reckoned that at 10:30, the shopkeepers were not likely to be stirring quite yet and, if they were, the Invisibility Cloak would improve their odds considerably. After making their way to The Three Broomsticks, Ofelia would Floo to the Leaky Cauldron in London – and Michael – while Sirius remained in Hogsmeade, under cover of the Cloak, until his friends arrived. It had already been decided that Kate and Lily would pair off and Remus, James and Peter would pass the time with Sirius. The group would arrange to be at The Three Broomsticks at 4 pm to retrieve Ofelia, cover her with the Cloak and return to the castle – hopefully without Ofelia's discovery.
"You're nervous," Lily whispered to Ofelia when the blonde had failed to respond to a question Kate had asked her.
Ofelia nodded. "I'm nervous that something will go wrong, that we'll be caught or that … that my time with Michael will not go well."
Lily shook her head. "As much as I hate to admit it, Sirius is far too gifted in this department for you to get caught; I think you can put that worry right out of your mind. As far as Michael is concerned, I can't imagine that his enthusiasm has dimmed since he sent his message to you."
Ofelia smiled. "I really cannot imagine that either, Lily. My worry is that his feelings have changed. Wanting to meet me to discover why I left town is one thing; wanting to resume what we had is quite another, after all."
Lily patted Ofelia's arm comfortingly. "How could he not want to resume your relationship? After all, if he wanted nothing more than closure, your owl could have given him that."
Ofelia's face brightened upon digesting Lily's words. "I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Perhaps you are right, after all."
Kate stood from where she had been seated next to Sirius and bent to gather her books from the table. As she did so, Sirius leaned forward and caught her eye. "One more day," he whispered. Kate smiled and kissed his forehead. "One more day," she echoed, adding an almost inaudible, "I love you" against his skin.
"I love you," Sirius whispered back. "Soon I'll be able to scream that at the top of my lungs from the Astronomy Tower."
Kate giggled. "I'd settle for holding hands at The Three Broomsticks in broad daylight with every student in Hogwarts wandering through the village."
Sirius caught her gaze and held it. "Truth? I'd settle for sitting next to you, in this room and holding your hand without worry that someone would see."
"Truth? So would I." Kate kissed him again and straightened. "I think I'm going to bed," she said to the general group. "Lily, I'll see you at breakfast in the morning?"
Lily nodded. "But not before 10. I'm planning on sleeping in tomorrow – starting right now!" And she, too, rose.
After that, it didn't take long for everyone to decide that the activities planned for the following day called for a decent night's sleep. Privately, Sirius thought that he would probably lie awake going over every detail of the plan – and imagining actually being able to do the things he had half-joked about with Kate.
Ofelia gathered her things but as she turned, she laid her hand on Lily's arm to detain her.
Inclining her head toward Sirius and Kate, who were standing together at the foot of the girls' dormitory staircase, she said, "That's what I want – with Michael, of course," she whispered.
Lily looked over at the couple across the room and shook her head. "I never would have believed that I'd see Sirius Black completely content to be with just one witch, but just look at him."
"It took the right witch," Ofelia replied. "Kate is definitely the right witch for Sirius."
"As you are the right witch for Michael," Lily smiled.
"Thank you; I can only hope that you're right."
"Go get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow. Good luck!"
With a nod, Ofelia hurried through the portrait hole and back to her own dormitory.
As Sirius walked back toward his own staircase, he found Remus, James and Peter waiting for him.
"Come on, mate," James slung his arm around his friend's shoulders. "I'm not daft enough to think that you'll get any sleep, but you might as well lie down to worry obsessively about tomorrow."
With a playful punch to his friend's arm, Sirius allowed himself to be led up the stairs.
XXXXXXXX
The following morning dawned cold and clear with weak winter sunlight climbing over the mountains behind the Black Lake.
True to his own prediction, Sirius had finally fallen asleep when the first, faint pink tendrils of sunrise were making an appearance in the sky. Barely an hour later, he was awake, showered, dressed and sitting in a virtually empty Great Hall, hands wrapped around a mug of steaming coffee.
"Well, you certainly look like something the Kneazle dragged in this morning," Remus commented, sitting across from his friend and pouring himself an equally large mug.
Sirius raised his mug in salute. "Cheers, Moony. You know, it's terribly poor form to flaunt your Magical Creatures knowledge so early in the morning – particularly when coupled with insulting commentary about your best mate!"
Remus snorted into his coffee. "Just truthful observation, Pads. I heard you moving around well into the wee small hours, as they say. You do look a bit rough for it this morning."
Sirius sighed. "I laid awake most of the night trying to figure out all the ways this thing could go wrong. There's considerable opportunity in the parts we can't control."
"This Michael character, of course."
"Yes – him, obviously. I also wonder if Ofelia won't decide she's got a better plan when we're half-way through."
"Logical thing to consider; she did it the last time," Remus said, quietly.
"If you're trying to make me feel better, you're failing miserably," Sirius commented with a smile.
"Well, think about this then: Ofelia is remorseful for her actions, according to what you told us about your chat by the Lake. It's doubtful that much has happened since then to provoke a similar action today. She'll meet with Michael, discuss whatever it is that she needs to discuss, determine whether or not they have a future and then come back here and owl her father, as promised," Remus reached for the coffee pot and refilled both of their now empty mugs.
"I can't help but think that it's just too simple," Sirius shook his head. "That night, down by the Lake, I had the same feeling, but in the bigger picture, everything she said made sense – if taken by itself."
"But…"
"But, I get the feeling that it's what she's not saying that's at play here."
"And you don't think it's just because of what she did with Delilah and Arturo? You don't trust her because of it, so you're bound to examine everything she says and does for clues that she'll do it again," the werewolf reasoned.
"So, I'm over-thinking it."
"Probably. Possibly. I just think that you need to focus on the mechanics of what has to happen today – and see what she discloses after we're all back here later on. What time are we meeting in the Room of Requirement?"
"After dinner. We'll have until curfew to dissect the day and, if needed, figure out what's next," Sirius said, rising. "I'm going to go back to the Tower. Maybe I can catch a couple of hours' sleep before I have to meet Ofelia."
"You've got plenty of time. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours if I don't see you," Remus offered.
"Thanks, mate."
Remus watched his friend through the door, then turned his attention back to his coffee – and his thoughts to the questions his conversation with Sirius had raised.
XXXXXXXX
"Sirius?" Ofelia's whisper could barely be heard, but Sirius had seen her through the gauzy film of the Cloak. Odd how everyone seemed to think that because you could not be seen while wearing the garment, you were also unable to see those who approached, Sirius thought wryly.
"Here," he whispered in an effort not to startle the girl as he lifted the hem of the cloak just far enough for her to see the toe of his trainer.
As she walked up to him, Sirius lifted the cloak further, gesturing for Ofelia to stand in front of him. Once she had done so, the young wizard swirled the magical fabric up and over them, allowing it to settle to conceal their bodies completely.
Sirius reached around her and tapped his wand against the statue before them. Slowly, silently, it began to slide, revealing a large, square opening in the floor and a barely visible staircase leading downward into the inky darkness.
"Step carefully," Sirius whispered. "Feel your way down the first six steps. I'll slide the statue back into place and we can cast Lumos so we can see. Yes?"
Ofelia nodded her assent and began to carefully descend the agreed-upon distance. Once she stopped, she heard the pedestal of the statue slide against the stone floor, stopping when it concealed the opening once more.
"Lumos maximus," Sirius said quietly and the staircase was immediately filled with light. "Let's go," he continued.
The two traveled the remaining stairs – no more than two dozen - and were soon standing on the dirt surface of a generously sized tunnel.
"I think we can remove this for now," Sirius said in a normal voice. Once the Cloak had been folded and stuffed into the pocket of his robes, the two began a single-file walk toward Honeyduke's cellar.
"How long does it take to get there?" Ofelia asked, quietly.
"Oh, about twenty minutes," came the reply from the wizard walking in front of her. "A bit shorter than it does to walk there the … well, the more traditional … way."
Ofelia smiled. "It's a more direct route, after all."
Sirius looked back at her and smiled. "It is unless you've got Remus or Peter with you. Merlin, it takes those two forever to walk past all that chocolate!"
He was rewarded with the light tinkle of Ofelia's laughter before they both fell silent once more and focused on progressing to their destination.
True to Sirius' prediction, some fifteen minutes later, the floor of the tunnel began to rise upward and soon they were faced with a set of stone steps leading up to yet another trap door. Both students climbed to the middle of the steps then paused, listening for any sound above them that might indicate the presence of the shopkeepers. The silence was absolute. Sirius pulled the Cloak from his pockets, settling it over them once again. "Finite," he whispered, extinguishing his wand and Ofelia did the same.
Quietly, the two negotiated the remaining steps and Sirius lifted his hands to the trapdoor and gave a firm push; it gave. Opening it only wide enough to allow them to crawl up and onto the floor, Sirius went first then helped Ofelia into the shop. After closing the trap door, Sirius again swept the Invisibility Cloak in place. They crept quietly toward the entrance and at the last moment, Sirius cast "Silencio" toward the brass bell before opening the door and shepherding Ofelia into the street.
"We actually did it," Ofelia murmured from her position in front of Sirius.
His grin could clearly be heard as he voiced his reply. "As we told you before, you're dealing with The Marauders. Of course 'we did it'! Now, let's head over to The Three Broomsticks so you can get to London on time."
As they made their way to Madam Rosmerta's pub, they encountered very few shoppers – and no one from the castle, which made both students very happy indeed. Once inside the pub, they were further gratified to find no one but the proprietress on the immediate premises.
Shedding the Cloak, Sirius and Ofelia approached the smiling face of Madam Rosmerta.
"Sirius Black! And right on time! Hello, dearie; both of you come right this way. I've got the Floo powder restocked and the hearth freshly cleaned. I'm all ready for you."
The cheerful pub owner ushered the two young people into the back room that served as her office. As promised, the hearth was devoid of excess ash and soot and the large Floo pot was filled to the brim with powder.
"Have you traveled by Floo before, dear?" Madam Rosmerta inquired solicitously.
"Yes, ma'am," Ofelia replied.
"Just call me Rosie, no need to stand on formality here! Now dip in and take a nice fist full of Floo powder – there you are. Now, off you go!"
Sirius put his hand on Ofelia's arm just as she prepared to step into the hearth. She turned to look at him, a curious look on her face. "Good luck, Ofelia," he said sincerely. "I hope everything works out exactly as you want it to."
Impulsively, Ofelia hugged a very surprised Sirius and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Sirius; for everything. I'll Floo back here at 3 pm so we can get back to the school by 4. I promise."
Sirius nodded. "I'll be here." He glanced at his watch. 10:45. "You'd better go before you're late."
Ofelia stepped into the hearth and turned around to face the room. "The Leaky Cauldron – London!" she called clearly and, seconds later, the faces of Sirius and Madam Rosmerta slid from view as the Floo system pulled her along to her final destination. As was her practice when traveling in this manner, Ofelia closed her eyes tightly to quell the sense of nausea that often accompanied Floo travel.
Minutes later, the sensation of the world spinning around her stopped abruptly and she struggled to remain upright. She was grateful at the sensation of strong hands on her shoulders, steadying her from pitching forward.
"Ofelia," a deep voice intoned softly.
Her eyes flew open and she found herself looking into the caramel colored eyes of Michael Delacour.
