AN: So. Yeah. Him. Uhm. This kinda sprang itself on me while I was moving. No one protested my using characters of other fandoms minus some (most) details of their 'home-verse'. _
Update schedule change: Mondays and Fridays, as permissible. At least once a week, there will be a chapter out.
Feather Fifty Five
It was after Christmas that Walter Kovacs was released into his wife's custody. Just a few days before Ana's birthday, in fact.
Siobhan went with her friends, steadily ignoring the ache of her torso – they were more painful today, for some reason; perhaps the vague similarities to Sirius' own imprisonment/release were bringing up old memories, old pain.
Walter Kovacs was not as tall nor as 'evil' as the newspapers had tried to imply. He was perhaps five and a half feet tall – only an inch or two taller than Siobhan – but when he met her eyes, she could see why some people were scared of him.
Natalya didn't hold back, going straight to him and embracing him.
The courts had only been able to charge him with a single count of manslaughter, resulting in the twenty-three years in prison. His eyes shifted from Siobhan, who stood near the back of the trio, to Ana.
The waitress shifted uncertainly, then offered a hesitant, "Papa?"
The man's eyes widened fractionally, and Siobhan had to hide a grin at the barely disguised delight that appeared in those blue eyes.
So far, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Walter, Natalya, and Ana chatted amongst each other, Siobhan tucking herself away from them to just observe.
She was so happy that Ana's fears were unfounded. Walter struck Siobhan as a good man despite what society tried to claim.
Like Sirius. Like Remus. Like Professor Snape. Like Hagrid. The sudden comparisons blindsided Siobhan, leaving her breathless. A knot of pain wound itself tight around her heart, bringing her attention right back to what she had been, for now, trying to ignore: The war and what it had already cost.
