19
Renee let out a haggard sigh through her flaring nostrils, sitting in the armchair as unstirred as a statue and staring into the depths of the roaring fire in the hearth as though she could not see anything else.
The tongues of those bright red and orange flames danced in a myriad of different hues and a log would pop and crackle on occasion, causing the wood to sink further into the metal bracket. She was briefly tempted to test if the fireplace was at all magic.
If she could just…step into the flames and call out her flat's address so that the bloody fireplace of all places could whisk her back home to her kid brother and their cat and she could pretend as none of this had ever bloody happened.
She bit the wall of her cheek and was briefly entertaining the idea of sticking her foot in the metal grate when she came to terms with what she was about to do was utterly ridiculous, and the only thing she'd succeed in doing is giving herself third-degree burns.
Her forehead fell against her knees, despair, and hopelessness tugging at the strings of her heart as it pounded against its cage.
What the bloody hell was she going to do? How to get home? Was what that old wizard said really true? Was she now in the Morning Killer's crosshairs? But how could that be?
What did that creep want with the likes of her? She was a manager at the Broken Spoon Café, a bloody nobody, for God's sake!
And to make matters worse, now the bearded old man said she couldn't go home, much less contact any of her family members to make sure they were all right.
What kind of sick perverted joke was this?! Renee let out a moan.
"What the hell are they playing at, huh?" she whispered desperately to herself, clutching her middle tighter, her fingers winding around the material of her black t-shirt for support. "I—I have to bloody get home. Somehow…"
I wonder if Billy's all right. If he remembered to feed Sprinkles. What if he calls? It's not like I can answer the bloody phone and tell him where I am. Can I get home at all while there's a serial killer after me? What if I'm trapped here?
A floorboard creaked from somewhere behind her, startling the young blonde woman out of her disparaging thoughts, from what she knew to be the kitchen, and by this point, she knew it quite well, having bloody fallen through the goddamned ceiling and onto the kitchen table and almost broke her back.
Renee twisted her head and swiveled it to her immediate left so she could face whoever or whatever had entered the room and her lips parted open slightly in shock.
It was the man from earlier.
Sirius Black.
The chap was standing in the entryway to the living room parlor, looking thoroughly disgruntled and cross about God only knew what the hell at this point, not that Renee gave a crap, and holding onto what looked like a steaming cup of tea.
She bit the wall of her cheek and stiffened as the dark-haired wizard eyed her cautiously, as though expecting her to sprout horns out of the top of her head before waving his wand and conjuring a second chair.
Renee jumped, startled at the simple act of magic, though she cursed herself and ground her teeth.
If she was going to be in the company of witches and wizards for God only knew how long until this Morning Killer business was sorted out, then she supposed she was going to have to get used to witnessing literal acts of magic.
"Tea?" he barked gruffly, his voice sounding grating, rough, and coarse.
Renee only watched as the handsome stranger nodded to the metal tray in his hands, and when he did not answer, he slowly approached her as though she were a rabid animal that she had in her line of sight and he didn't want to get bit.
In his hands was a tea tray, laden with what looked like a plate of biscuits, a mug, small tins, and a small pot.
The man called Sirius continued to eye her, somewhat distrustfully, as he skirted towards the side and set down the tray on a small table which rested near the two armchairs in front of the roaring fireplace.
"I did not mean to interrupt, but that is, perhaps, I was, ah, told you might like tea," he grumbled, sounding thoroughly disgruntled, which set Renee off.
Renee merely watched as Sirius Black gave a jerk of his head towards the tray in his hands.
When she did not immediately answer, he let out a tiny growl, causing the fine hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.
He sounded like a dog whenever he did this, and if she was being honest with herself, it freaked her out. Big time.
The young blonde turned her gaze towards the tray that he had set down, rather awkwardly so, onto the table next to her armchair.
Was he…actually offering her refreshments? After holding her throat hostage with the tip of his wand?
She wasn't sure she could trust it at all. Renee let out a sigh and quirked a thin blonde eyebrow Black's way and let out a tiny snort.
Renee blinked owlishly at the tray all the while biting the wall of her cheek.
She could not help but to feel somewhat dazed and confused, after all, since ending up in this strange desolate house that she felt bloody sure was haunted, the only one to treat her with any semblance of normalcy had been Mrs. Lupin's husband, Remus.
And as for the rest of them, particularly this handsome bloke in front of her, well, he'd tried to bloody murder her and interrogate her, for God's sake!
He'd tried to kill her, capture her, trick her, and he had screamed at her, thinking that she was a…what did he call me?
"What did you call me earlier?" she questioned, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "A—a Death Eater? What is that?"
Renee sanguinely lifted her gaze and jutted her chin out slightly defiantly as she dared to meet the handsome man's gaze, her attention drawn to his collarbones and his chest as the buttons of his collared shirt were slightly undone, and she caught a glimpse of several strange-looking tattoo markings.
If it was at all possible, the man blushed, she swore she saw, his cheeks flushing high with color before Sirius Black pointedly looked away, grumbling something inaudible under his breath that sounded like a half-hearted apology.
"You aren't one," Sirius croaked hoarsely. "I—I was wrong to call you that. My apologies. They're a…"
He hesitated as his voice trailed off, and given he had turned to the side so that Renee could only make out his side profile, and what limited view she could see of the man's features given he was turned to the side like this was difficult, but she swore she saw a shadow of regret flit across his features as the warm red and orange glow from the fire in the hearth bathed half his face in the light, while the other half remained shrouded in shadow.
"A group of very bad people," he finished, finally finding his voice.
Renee nodded in understanding, deciding to let his comment go for now. The fact that he or anyone else in this godforsaken haunted house would think her to be a bad person was ridiculous and utterly unfounded.
"Thank you."
She blinked as she watched the man's head whiplash sharply upwards, and she flinched, shirking away from Sirius Black's slightly intimidating form as he regarded her expression of gratitude in silence, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
"You're…welcome," he murmured at last, though his voice sounded strained, as though forcing himself to be polite to her was causing him a great deal of pain, and for a moment, Renee felt that hot fire seed of anger churn within the pits of her stomach, though she heard herself exhale when he spoke again, and at least this time, his tone did not sound so accusatory and hostile. "I don't blame you for the way you reacted, Miss Barreau. It is a lot to take in all at once, and…"
Here, he hesitated and looked away, seeming to steel himself for his next words, as though he believed Renee would have another outburst.
"I don't know if you overheard any of what was said in the kitchen," Sirius sighed as he pinched at his front temples with his thumb and forefinger, an exasperated, exhausted look on his face, "but Professor Dumbledore, the older gentlemen with the long beard, has designated me your guard for the time being until our people can apprehend the Morning Killer and get Tonks, the woman who saved your life tonight, out of jail for being wrongfully arrested, so please see me if there is anything that you need. Don't hesitate to ask."
Renee slowly nodded her head at all of the information, well aware she was looking shocked, but less so than she had expected to be at this news.
"I hope your people catch him," she grumbled darkly, reaching for the teacup on the table that rested on top of the tray on the table next to her leather armchair.
Feeling the need to make up for her hostility towards Sirius Black earlier, considering he was at least attempting to go out of his way to sort of apologize, Renee racked her brain for some sort of response, suddenly, not wanting him to leave her alone in an unfamiliar place where she did not know anybody at all.
"Um," she breathed as she gazed to the left and right at her new surroundings, looking for something, anything, with which to start a decent conversation.
Then she remembered just how bloody ancient the home she was in was and wondered if it belonged to this man.
"Is this…" Here, she gestured to the room around her with a wide flourish of her arm. "Your home, Sirius?"
This time, Sirius did lift his head slightly and turned to look at her.
"Ah. My parents', but yes, it is," he mumbled, looking flustered and dazed.
"It's…beautiful," Renee said hurriedly through gritted teeth, well aware she was literally lying through her teeth in this regard, hoping to spare the man's feelings. "I—uh, I'm sorry I dropped in, literally, unannounced."
She let out a nervous chuckle and reached up a hand to tuck a stray wisp of her blonde pixie cut behind her ears.
"I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble. The—the table," she squeaked, her pale blue orbs going wide and round with shock as she clamped a hand over her mouth. "I—I didn't break it, did I, Mr. Black?"
Renee frowned and looked towards the entrance that the old wizard and Remus Lupin had just vacated, and when she turned back around to regard Sirius, he was staring at her with an incredulous look of disbelief in his gray eyes, as though Renee had just sprouted horns on top of her head or something.
"Just Sirius. And you seem just like my bloody cousin, miss, if you don't mind my saying so," Sirius sighed, an exasperated look on his face. "Trouble has a way of finding you both. What's done is done. It can't be helped. I…apologize for the way that I treated you when you ah, dropped in tonight."
Renee nodded numbly, not sure what to say to that, thinking it strange the man would apologize so soon, though she suspected it was to make amends, considering the old wizard with the stupidly long beard had appointed the man to act as her personal bodyguard of sorts until they caught this serial killer.
"Tea?" Sirius murmured, jerking his head towards the tray on the table near the armchairs. "Which tea do you like? I have Chamomile, Earl Grey, Green, and Jasmin, and I'm sad to say there's little more to eat than these biscuits, darling."
He gestured, scrunching his nose in disgust, at the plate on the tray towards the four rather sad, somewhat stale looking cookies left out on the tray.
Renee felt strangely touched at the gesture that the man with who she'd gotten off on the wrong bloody foot had gone to so much trouble for a stranger.
Let alone one who'd literally fallen through his ceiling and was pretty sure she had broken the man's kitchen table in the process of breaking her fall.
Renee allowed a brief little smile to tug at the corners of her lips. "Chamomile, please. It's my favorite."
She plucked one of the cookies off the tray and took a bite, finding them to be much more delicious than they looked.
She watched in silence as Sirius Black nodded and gave a short rap of his wand, watching in awe as the tea magically prepared itself before the teacup floated delicately in midair and hovered in front of her outstretched, waiting for her palm.
Renee hesitated for a fraction of a second before accepting the tea mug.
Sirius, once finished, practically collapsed into the spare armchair next to hers and leaned his head back against the headrest, all the while expelling a slightly shaking breath of relief.
This gesture alone signaled to the young blonde restaurant manager of the café just how stressed out Sirius Black was.
Renee was of half a mind to go and search for his companions again and give them all a piece of her mind, though she didn't even know what she would say to an entire group of witches and wizards, people who could probably turn her to stone or into a newt, or worse if she spoke against them.
"You don't look like you're having a very good night either, Sirius," Renee murmured, both of her hands clasped around her piping hot mug of tea as she stared down into her tea as she checked it. "Before or after I…dropped in?"
The poor bloke's gray eyes suddenly flung wide open in shock as he brought his head down to stare at the young Muggle with a look of abject, utter horror.
"Ah, no, that's…not it," he grumbled, waving his hands in a frenzied, frantic manner, and Renee was briefly thinking she was staring at a mirror image of herself and how she tended to talk with her hands whenever stressed or excited.
Renee waited patiently like the polite adult that she was for the man to get his bearings, though he too, looked to be on the brink of a mental breakdown.
"No, that is…not it, Miss Barreau." His voice was soft and subdued.
"Just Renee," she interjected, echoing Sirius Black's words before he could so much as get another word in edgewise, to which she received a lopsided grin.
"'Just Renee' then. The woman that saved you, Remus's wife, she's my cousin," he confessed, carding his fingers through his thick mane of hair.
Renee nodded at Sirius's words, though something within the dark recesses of her mind clicked as visions of her confrontation in Echo Alley flitted through the forefront of her mind, and a cold chill wafted through her entire body.
"His face…" she whispered, seeing the man's eyes as they had changed color.
At the time, she thought she was bloody crazy. Peoples' eyes don't randomly change colors without the help of colored contact lenses. And even before she had parked herself right in front of this fireplace, she thought she was going insane.
She had not noticed it before, or perhaps she hadn't been paying too close enough attention, or simply hadn't given herself the necessary peace and tranquility to contemplate on who this deranged serial killer might be.
Sirius noticed how Renee's already pale face had gone practically ashen and pallid as it drained of all colors.
"Barreau?" he barked hoarsely, leaning forward slightly in his chair, and narrowing his eyes to get a better look at her rapidly declining physical condition. "You all right? What the bloody hell is wrong?"
Oh, shit. This is not happening. Damn it. I—I KNOW WHO HE IS!
The spoon slipped from Renee's hand that she had been using to stir her tea and check the tea leaves and clattered to the living room parlor floor, yet Renee did not heed it any mind.
She twisted her neck slightly and stared numbly at her host, not wanting to believe the sudden turn of events that the night had taken.
"I—I'm not," she croaked hoarsely, murmuring to herself, not blinking.
"Are you sick?" Sirius demanded hoarsely. "You're pale as hell, girl."
She could hear her host speaking to her, but the words in her mind were not registering. It was as if they were traveling in one ear and out the other.
"I—I know who he is," Renee swore through gritted teeth, not bothering to mind her language. "Your guy, Sirius. The one that framed Tonks. He—he used to be a customer of mine at the Broken Spoon Café, Sirius! He—if he's who I think he is, he's a total disgusting creep, and Tonks is in danger!"
Her host was now staring at her incredulously and regarding Renee with an extreme state of unease, as though weighing the option in his mind of deciding to trust her word or not.
He must have decided that he could trust her, for he gripped onto the handle of his wand tightly in a vice grip and raised it slowly.
"Who?" he demanded, a familiar harsh bark to his voice now that almost sounded like a low, animalistic growl. "If you know who he is, you need to tell us. We've been hunting him down for months now, Miss Barreau. Tell me the guy's name, if you know it, and then I need to extract your memory. It won't hurt," Sirius spoke up softly, noticing how Renee instinctively flinched away and shrank back as far into her chair as she could possibly go. "If you really know who he is, you need to tell me, and I need to extract your memory from tonight, if you will allow me to do so. When we go to Azkaban Prison in a little while, Dumbledore needs to present the evidence to the prison warden. Your memory along with my cousin's memory of what happened to her last night is the only thing that stands a chance of securing her release from there."
Renee nodded slowly, swallowing down hard past the lump in her throat.
"Okay," she whispered, slowly closing her eyes as she watched Sirius Black bring his wand closer until the tip of it was touching the side of her left temple.
It was over pretty much before it had started, and when Renee slowly opened her eyes, Sirius Black was pocketing what looked like a silver strand of her hair into a tiny glass vial.
"Your memory," he explained quietly, still shooting her cautious yet nervous glances, as though he expected the young blonde woman to erupt into another mental breakdown at any moment.
Renee nodded slowly, letting the harsh reality finally sink in as she collapsed back against her hair and seized on tufts of her pixie, tugging on them so hard that the roots screamed in protest.
Her fingers entangled themselves in her hair as they came away sticky.
"Damn," she swore through gritted teeth. "I—I know who he bloody is, how could I have been so damned stupid?!"
Sirius furrowed his dark brows into a frown as he rose to stand, brushing his hands on the front of his crimson corduroy jacket.
"I think," he said slowly, outstretching his hand to help the young blonde up from her chair, "you need something a little stronger than tea, Renee Barreau," he barked rather hoarsely.
Renee hesitated, but only for a moment before slipping her hand into his, momentarily surprised at how warm the man's inner palm was, and the second he had helped her to her feet and righted her posture, he jerked his hand away as though the touch had burned her, and both Sirius and Renee quickly pulled back into themselves.
"I think you might be right," Renee mumbled under her breath, painfully twisting her hands together as she followed him to the kitchens.
It was a moment before she spoke again.
"You wouldn't happen to have any beer, would you, Sirius?"