31

Remus and Tonks watched from their respective places on Mr. and Mrs. Brennan's sofa in the living room of one of Dora's best friends from her Hogwarts days alongside Charlie Weasley, as Norah, Ollie Brennan's wife, a petite little slip of a blonde thing, led Sirius across the living room, her wand raised, pointed at his chest, though she held an expression on her face that suggested she sincerely hoped she'd not have to raise her wand against a family member of Tonks.

Norah, Remus leaned over the last hour while they had been waiting for Sirius to regain consciousness, worked alongside Tonks at the Ministry of Magic, as did Norah's husband, albeit in different departments to avoid conflict of interest.

Norah was an employee in the Wand Permit Office, whereas Ollie was a highly-skilled, highly respected Auror, according to Moody, who had also joined Remus and Tonks in this impromptu house visit of theirs, ready to assist in case Sirius's temper got out of hand a second time but hoped it didn't.

She had always dreamed of opening up her own magical menagerie in Diagon Alley one day, but her life hadn't panned out that way, but Ollie resolved to do what he could for his wife to ensure her dream reached a reality, one day, but he knew that when it came to light that Norah was Everett's last familial relation, her life would only be made that much more difficult here in London.

There was every strong possibility she would be hounded, shamed, shunned from polite society, pushed to the brink where they might have to leave and move to another location entirely, but they would deal with that when they crossed that bridge, Ollie silently resolved.

Lupin sat upright in his chair as Sirius hobbled and limped his way towards the waiting armchair that Remus pushed closer to the fire so that his best friend would be warm upon sitting.

The young blonde witch followed behind Sirius almost every step of the way, before moving to stand beside her husband, Ollie, allowing Lupin to get a good look at Dora's best friend.

Ollie Brennan, a former student of Slytherin House, and a natural-born Legilimens, was a tall, towering man close to Remus's height, easily a good head or two taller than Sirius himself, with pale, strong, chiseled features, a thick head of short black hair and a rough, closely-cropped beard, and a pair of glacier-blue eyes those at the Ministry who worked alongside the Legilimens said they were devoid of warmth for most, except for two people, and any hint of emotion was reserved for that of his wife, Norah, and his best friend at the Ministry of Magic, Dora Tonks-Lupin, who nervously took the seat next to Remus after waving a shy hello to Norah.

Norah, Remus noticed, had pursed her lips into a thin line as Ollie Brennan gingerly shrugged out of his wife's grasp and strode towards the armchair that Sirius now rested in.

Lupin stiffened, biting down on his lip at the look of dawning anger and recognition in Sirius's eyes the moment Ollie leaned down, placing both of his hands on either side of the chair's armrests so that the tip of his slender nose was practically touching Black's.

His thin lips curled upwards into a truly twisted smirk, the dancing light from the fire seemed to cast a horrible black shadow to flit across the handsome Auror's face, though at the moment, it gave Brennan a truly frightening appearance.

Remus flinched, and he felt Tonks stiffen beside him at the smoldering, burning rage in the man's crystalline, bewitching blue eyes. This was again a situation Remus was not privy to, all he knew for certain from Mrs. Brennan earlier was that once, Ollie and Sirius had argued over something in the Three Broomsticks, and it had resulted in a duel where Ollie had emerged the victor, but it had come at a cost of being banished from the pub for life.

"Look at that, Norah," Ollie announced in a pleasant enough voice, as though it wasn't every day he and his wife received unexpected visitors from old enemies. "You outdid yourself this time, sweetheart. You brought me home a bastard."

Tonks silently seethed, grinding her molars together at the clipped curtness of her best mate's voice, not giving a damn what grudge Ollie harbored against Sirius, or what they had argued about back in the day, not that it mattered anymore. Right now, the only thing that mattered was Ollie's help in finding Renee.

Sirius flinched at the use of the term, though his muscles hardened, and he remained silent.

At least, at first. Sirius's gaze flitted towards Norah Brennan, at the young blonde witch who reminded him so much of Renee, that it was almost painful for him to look upon her, and it was even worse that she was by relations, the blood sister to that vicious, sadistic monster.

Ollie waved his hand dismissively when Norah furrowed her delicately shape brows into a light little frown and made to set a gentle hand on his shoulder, meant to coax him, to entice him to take the seat just across from Sirius in front of the fireplace, to hear Black's plea now.

Sirius swallowed down thickly, squelching his involuntarily dismay at the unfortunate likeness Brennan's wife bore to Renee Barreau and mustered the strength enough to curve his lips into a sneer.

"You should have left me to die, witch, and why would I take anything from the likes of you, you're that bastard's sister, you witch! For all I know, you're just as crazy as him!" he rasped in a hoarse voice, noticing out of the corner of his eyes Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of tea, promptly lowered his teacup, looking suddenly drained and exhausted.

Tonks's eyes were squeezed shut, as though she were sending up a silent prayer to the heavens for Merlin, that bastard of a warlock, to hear her plea, that Sirius would mind his tongue. If her cousin ticked off Ollie with his harebrained temper by making an insult against the man's wife, her dear friend more to the point, besides, then they could essentially kiss any possibility of Ollie helping them locate Renee goodbye, and then Barreau was as good as dead.

"Sirius," Tonks snapped sharply, halfway rising from her spot on the sofa, though she stopped when Lupin's hand came to rest on top of her thigh, squeezing it.

"That's a shame, Black," Ollie snarled through gritted teeth, his bright blue eyes darkening, turning almost cerulean in color, and his fingernails began to rake down the fabric of either side of Sirius's armchair. "You just stepped on a nonnegotiable big landmine, Sirius. No one insults my wife to my face. No. One."

"Oh, Merlin," moaned Tonks, and this time, she did rise from her spot on the sofa, despite Lupin's quiet protests that she remained silent. Desperate to make amends before her cousin made his situation worse for himself, she turned towards Norah Brennan, a woman a few years older than her, but still a wonderful friend, nonetheless, having gotten acquainted with her when she'd started at the Ministry a while ago.

Tonks swallowed nervously down past the lump in her throat as it constricted as her gaze flitted from Ollie, whose face was rapidly paling in his waves of anger, his aura almost exuding black fumes that seemed to emanate from his shoulders as the man fought to control his own magic that threatened to implode if Ollie couldn't manage to rein in the worst of his temper.

"Ollie, that's enough!" Tonks snapped, though her voice, she knew, lacked the conviction to sell the argument she really wanted to make. She turned her head sharply toward Sirius before looking towards Norah again. "My cousin spoke out of anger and didn't mean the things he said to you, Norah, or to you, Ollie," she sighed, turning her gaze to regard the blonde.

"Tonks is right, boy, for God's sake," barked Moody in a rough, grating voice, who was resting on top of a stool in the furthermost corner of the Brennan's living room. "Control yourself or you'll find yourself removed, Black."

Sirius swallowed thickly, opening his mouth as his narrowed gaze flitted from Ollie Brennan and then back to Everett's one and only sibling, looking very much like he'd like to protest as his face rapidly drained of colors, but upon being on the receiving end of a particularly stony glower from both Remus and Alastor, decided against it, and clamped his mouth shut, though he looked, in Tonks' mind, thoroughly upset.

"Sirius, please be quiet," Remus snapped, the edges of his voice hardened in response to Sirius's aggression towards their unexpected but still willing hosts. He exchanged a quick glance with Tonks, who shot him a grateful look with her pale grey orbs, silently trying to thank Lupin for his intervention with her eyes.

He returned the gesture that told his wife she didn't need to. Lupin closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, fighting to rein in control of his own temper, inherited from his father, Lyall, throughout the years. He let out a haggard sigh. When he opened his eyes, Remus hardened his expression in response to his friend's anger.

"You aren't the only one in this room, Sirius, who cares for Renee. Now do as Alastor advised and be quiet. Please allow Mr. and Mrs. Brennan to help us, and if you value Renee's life like I suspect you to, then you'll kindly calm down and let Ollie and his wife help us and tell us what they know. The longer we fight amongst ourselves like this, the less time Miss Barreau has, if she's even still alive, though considering how badly Everett seemed to want her alive, I'd say she still is, did that thought ever once cross your mind, Sirius?"

Here, his gaze flitted somewhat apprehensively towards Norah, where the young blonde witch was regarding Sirius rather timidly. Though considering the hostile nature in which his best friend had treated the young woman just now, he could not blame Tonks's friend for the current way she was reacting.

Lupin looked back towards Sirius and was moderately pleased to see, at a minimum, that his words had hit their mark and had the desired effect, for Sirius shot Norah a furtive, guilty look, and seemed to be trying to apologize.

Norah Brennan slowly nodded her head as her mind fought to process everyone's claims, though she found her gaze fixated on Black. Sirius quickly looked away from her, and Norah felt a pang of remorse well in her chest.

She heaved a heavy sigh and strode back over to the small night table.

"I'll bet you're starved, Black," she murmured, her quiet, shy voice almost so faint, that even Remus's wolfish hearing almost missed it, though there was no mistaking the warbling crack in her kind voice.

Norah waved her wand and conjured a spoon from midair and set it down in what looked to be a steaming bowl of a soup or porridge she'd made.

"I didn't know what your condition would be like when you woke up, what your stomach could tolerate, so I made some porridge," Norah muttered, carrying the tray with both hands as she approached Sirius cautiously. "It's pretty bland, but it'll go down easier this way, trust me," she muttered, ignoring her husband's flustered look at her act of kindness.

Norah thought she saw Sirius Black cringe slightly at her approach, but she couldn't be sure. She paused.

"Ollie, I need you to move for me, sweetheart, you're kind of standing in my way, love," she murmured darkly under her breath, before shifting her tone to something more polite as she addressed Sirius. "Can you sit forward?" she asked mildly, hoping she wasn't asking too much in the man's drastically drained, weakened state.

After a moment of a thick, uncomfortable silence that only intensified as Ollie stepped back, albeit reluctantly, away from Sirius's armchair, making an odd sniffing noise of disapproval through his nose as he perched himself on the spare armchair's armrest, keeping his broad arms folded across his chest, Sirius offered a silent, angered nod, and reluctantly heaved himself forward, unable to stifle the pained groan that escaped his lips.

It took him some effort, and Norah did not speak to Sirius or the others again until the man had finished eating what very little he could, sliding off the chair her husband was sitting on the armrest of only to take the tray away from him, waving her wand so that it vanished from his hands, before settling back into her chair, letting her head collapse wearily against the headrest, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh.

"I did not mean my words," came Sirius's soft voice, causing the young blonde woman's blue eyes to fling wide open in shock and surprise. "Mrs. Brennan, if I have offended you in any way regarding your ties to your brother, I apologize," he managed to croak out hoarsely.

Norah let out a sigh as she nodded numbly, pausing only once to look up as Ollie stroked the back of his finger over her cheekbone in a tender manner, his hardened look of anger softening, the worst of his annoyance towards Sirius Black's presence in his home dissipating the moment his blue eyes met that of his wife.

"It's all right," Norah responded softly, though her gaze never left her husband's eyes, and Tonks wondered whether she was speaking to Sirius or her husband in this tense moment.

Probably the latter if Tonks had to hazard a guess. Though it did not escape her attention how Norah Brennan's lower lip quivered, her blue eyes glistening brightly with un-shed tears.

It did not take long for the familiar pang of worry and unease to worm its way into the pit of Tonks's churning, swooping stomach as she looked upon her dear friend, thinking she had made a grave mistake by bringing Sirius here.

That neither of them should have come and dredge up whatever painful memories that Norah had seemingly worked so hard throughout her life to repress up to this point.

But she knew as she met the young blonde's gaze that was entirely too late to take it all back.

"He's…your older brother?" Tonks asked in a soft voice, hating that she had to dredge up these memories for her friend, but at the same time, desperately needing the truth, instinctively feeling her hand to reach and settle over top of Remus's, giving her husband's hand a light, reassuring squeeze, needing to take the subtle comfort from him as much to give it.

Norah, throughout her time as Tonks's friend in the Ministry, had never once mentioned anything to Tonks or Kingsley or Moody about having any other family aside from Ollie once the two of them married in a private ceremony, with only witnesses taken from the local wizarding tavern, but now, she could see why.

Norah colored slightly upon hearing her friend's harsh words of the plain truth, that not even the gentle touch of her husband's hand that came to rest on her shoulder could comfort her as she swallowed down past a growing lump.

"I…" she stammered, her voice trailing off as she nervously glanced down at her shaking hands, which she'd begun to painfully twist together. She felt her chest constrict and tighten as the vision of her brother's face flitted through the front of her mind, as if she were looking at a series of memoirs through a Pensieve in her mind.

Norah was quick to decide she hated it. Norah squeezed her eyes tightly shut as her face grimaced, tearing her eyes away from the haunting image. Ollie's grip on her shoulder tightened, and she felt his hand move to rest over top of her thigh, his fingernails almost raking down the material of her simple dress.

Tonks blinked back tears of her own as she watched Norah Brennan silently wage war with herself as the young blonde witch struggled to reign in the worst of her grief upon knowing what Everett had become over the years past.

"The reason I never told you, Dora," Norah began in a cracked and warbling voice that was so hushed, so faint, that Tonks and Lupin both had to lean forward in her chair in order to hear her words better, "was…I…I wanted to…to spare you all…this, that my…my brother is a monster. I know what he is, all right?" she whispered, no longer able to keep the tears at bay, and just like that, the dam burst, and Norah lost control, bursting into tears as she wept wholeheartedly, burying her face in her hands.

She tried to choke back the memory of her brother, bidding herself not to think of the man who was hurting her so badly, killing those people, even going as far as to murder children.

Norah let out a deep, shuddering sob that wracked her petite frame, no longer caring if Black, Lupin, and Tonks, or Ollie saw, and she felt herself sniffle once or twice as she felt her husband's strong arms wrap around her middle as he gently nudged her to the side so he could slide off the armrest and join her in the chair, tucking her hair underneath his chin, not willing to relinquish his grip on his wife's sobbing form.

"Shh, Nor, it's…it's all right, I'm here, I got you," he soothed, squeezing his eyes shut, fighting back his own tears, loathe to see the love of his life shed wretched, horrible tears, whispering it tenderly into the shell of her delicate ear, before his head whiplashed sharply up to regard Lupin and Tonks, but more specifically, his best friend.

Ollie felt his jaw harden as his face paled in anger.

"What were you thinking?" he growled, unable to keep the note of bitterness from seeping its way unbidden to the surface of his voice. "Tonks, you know you're my best mate, and I love you, I do, and I always will, no matter what, but this is unacceptable. Can't you see what this is doing to my wife, Dora? All of you, are you really that insensitive?" he snarled. "Get out, and don't bother to come back if you're going to bring up this topic…" Ollie snapped, hardening his voice.

"No." Norah's voice sounded faint, muffled, having buried her face in the thick material of her husband's black woolen sweater, but when she lifted her chin and raised her tear-filled eyes to sweep across their living room, her gaze settled and lingered upon Sirius Black, whose face remained impassive, though Tonks and Lupin collectively swore to themselves that they thought they saw a flicker of sympathy dart through Tonks's cousin's pale grey orbs then.

Norah choked out a weak laugh that in actuality sounded more like a watered-down sob, sounding like she was choking to death. Ollie tenderly carded his fingers through his wife's hair, shooting her a concerned look with furrowed, raised brows.

"Norah," he started to say hesitantly, but Norah shot him a pointed look and he fell silent.

Lupin and Tonks helping Norah escort Sirius Black while the man was unconscious back to their home left Norah with a feeling of amazing conflict.

A brand new injury, so to speak of, yes. A brand new humiliation, other than being the sister to a mass murderer, though thank Merlin the Ministry had not yet learned the truth.

By some miracle of the old warlock, Merlin himself, Norah had managed to conceal the truth when the Ministry of Magic had hired her on in the Wand Permit Office, effectively not disclosing it on her application and performing a temporary Memory Charm on herself when they had done a background check on her prior to hiring her that Ollie had reversed the effects of the moment she had gotten hired.

There was no doubt in her mind, that Norah would be brought in for questioning once the Minister of Magic learned the truth.

A part of her had shattered the day she had discovered Everett's secret. Her sense of safety. The security their parents had always provided the two of them with, growing up in the countryside of Wales.

But at the same time, at having Black in her home, knowing the man now held a personal vendetta against her brother for kidnapping the woman he loved, there was a horrible feeling of satisfaction welling within the pit of Norah Brennan's heart.

It was not something the young blonde witch could easily articulate to anyone in this room, though Norah knew she had to at least try, she recognized, as she let out a deep, shaking breath.

"It's okay, Ollie, really it is," she whispered tenderly, reaching for his hand, and intertwining her fingers with his.

She raised her chin out and jutted it out slightly defiantly, though she could not stop her bottom lip from quivering at all.

"I know you've come here to kill my brother. It's…it's the only way this whole thing can end."

Ollie shot his wife a pained look of such heartbreak and anguish that Tonks sincerely hoped it never appeared on her best mate's face again, and Tonks could tell as she glanced sideways at Remus out of the corner of her eye, that she knew he hoped for that for him as well.

"Norah…" he started to say, wanting to offer his wife some words of comfort, but for perhaps the first time in his life since meeting the young witch who'd stolen his heart that night in Hogsmeade at Honeydukes, he was at a loss.

Ollie felt his hands trembling with rage. He himself wanted to kill Norah's brother for inflicting so much pain on the woman he loved, though he could tell by the dawning look of anger on Black's face, he'd have to get in line.

But Merlin, he wanted to kill Everett. Again, and again. He wanted to bash his skull to the floor, to hear the man's bones of his head crack. To watch the clean hardwood floor turn crimson with that of Everett's own life force. He wanted him dead, so Norah could be free.

"I…we…we heard the killing sprees had started to reach London," Norah explained, sniffing a couple times to fight back a stray sob or two, flicking away the last of her tears, now spent, with a well-practiced flick of her finger. "And I knew I had to come back, to find him."

She turned towards Sirius and fixed the former prisoner of Azkaban with a pointed stare before turning her attention back to her husband.

"I don't want my brother to hurt anyone else," she whispered in a faint voice that sounded incredibly small. "I want to come with you. I'd like to…to see him one last time, before…before it's too late and I don't get that chance again. Please," she begged, sensing Ollie open his mouth to violently protest this idea of his wife's. Her hands gripped onto fistfuls of Ollie's black sweater as she shook her husband slightly. "Please, Ollie," she begged in a broken voice.

Even as Norah spoke the words, she shuddered slightly as she dared to meet Ollie's piercing eyes of blue, at the rage within them as he no doubt thought of her putting herself in harm's way, just to see her brother one last time.

With deep, slow breaths, Norah attempted to slow her pounding heart and tried again, desperate to make him see. "I…I wouldn't ask if this wasn't important. Please. I beg of you. He's my brother." Here, she looked towards Lupin and Tonks.

Remus felt his heartstrings give a painful lurch. The words were out of Lupin's mouth before he could even think about stopping himself from saying it. "Yes," he answered, speaking before Norah Brennan's husband had a chance to interject.

Sensing Ollie open his mouth to interject, alongside Sirius and Tonks, he pressed onward, continuing speaking, not giving either of them a chance to voice their opinions.

"We will do everything within our power to ensure your safety. Sirius, Ollie, Moody, and I will protect you, Mrs. Brennan, to the best of our ability. You will be safe. He will not hurt you," he added, glancing over in the corner towards Moody for confirmation, whose magical eye was remaining strangely fixated on Norah Brennan.

The grizzled old Auror was eyeballing Everett's younger sister with a look that Remus could only describe as gruff admiration, or as close as he could come to it. Lupin nodded curtly by way of response, swiveling his head back around to collectively meet the others' piercing gaze, though his hardened stare remained fixated between Norah and Sirius.

"We'll allow you to come, Mrs. Brennan," barked Moody in his gruff, coarse voice as he hobbled his way out from skulking in the shadows of the furthermost corner of the room. "On one condition," he added for emphasis.

Norah quickly nodded her head. Anything she would do to help the others find her brother, she would. "Of course. Anything," she promised in a nervous-sounding voice, reaching up a shaking hand to tuck a stray wisp of her white-blonde shaggy short hair back behind her ear.

Moody pressed his scarred lips, what was left of them, that is, into a thin line as his magical blue eye swiveled this way and that before he growled in frustration and the aging older wizard forced the device to be fixated solely on Mrs. Brennan's figure.

"You tell us everything you know about your brother, Mrs. Brennan, and I mean down to the last detail, and you start talking now," he growled in a low, menacing sort of a whisper. "If you've had any correspondence at all with him, I need it in my possession yesterday. Owl post, Muggle mail, anything you have, it's now mine, Mrs. Brennan. If he sneezes, I want to be there when the bastard wipes his nose, first thing," he snapped. "And there may be a chance you'll be called upon to identify the man and testify against him in court."

"Charming, Alastor, really," snapped Sirius moodily, though Norah pointed ignored him, as she sat up straighter, though it did not take much convincing from her husband to sit on his lap.

Norah rested her chin on top of Ollie's thick tuft of black hair and never once averted her blue eyes from Moody. It seemed to take Norah ages to find her voice, but as she did, there was something strong, determined, unfazed about it.

Tonks knew at that moment, after all, she and Remus had made the right call in summoning her Patronus with her wand the moment Sirius had accidentally blown up the street in downtown London the very moment he had lost control of his magic, requesting Norah Brennan's immediate presence by her friend's side to help her cousin find a safe space to heal.

Not once did Norah look away from Mad-Eye Moody and his magically swiveling eye as she spoke in a calm and collected, quiet tone.

"What do you want to know, Alastor?"

Ouch. A really rough thing being enforced upon his poor sister and her family, but hopefully, things in their own way, will work out. The next chapter was a fun one for me, as Ollie shares in the memory via Pensieve of why he hates Sirius so much, and why their relationship is a rocky one. Another flashback POV, so it should be a real treat, I hope, and a bit of a break from Everett's creepiness!