dynasty — rina sawayama
"the pain in my vein is hereditary."
The twenty-eighth came way too quickly. Sofia woke up unbelievably sore from Quidditch practice, but she dragged herself out of bed at 8 o'clock because it was Vanya's birthday, and if her plan for sneaking out of the castle was to work, she had to get an early start.
She quickly dressed in Muggle clothes, quietly as not to wake her sleeping dormmates and headed to the boys' dormitory.
She braced herself before stepping into the Seventh Year boys dormitory, praying it wouldn't be too disgusting. It was.
She headed to Sirius's bed and opened his curtains before poking him. "Time to wake up."
She gave him a shake and Sirius groaned in response. Sofia sighed and shook him harder. "It's go-time, come on!"
Sirius groaned dramatically, clearly awake now, but didn't open his eyes. "In a minute, woman."
Sofia took her friend's arm and pulled him so he'd sit upright. The covers rolled off his body, he was shirtless. Sofia looked away. "If you're not in the common room in five minutes I'll hex you."
Then she left without another word.
Sirius took ten minutes, which was the time Sofia had hope he'd make when she said five minutes.
It was before 8:00 AM on a Saturday, so reasonably, there were very few people already down for breakfast in the Great Hall. Only three teachers, one of them being Coach.
It was essential to be seen by at least a few teachers before leaving, otherwise, suspicions might arise before dinner.
They ate in silence, Sirius clearly wishing he were still asleep.
Once they finished and stepped out of the Great Hall, Sirius pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said with a tap of his wand.
Sofia's eyes raked over the map as the ink appeared on the parchment. She examined the route to the secret passage, it seemed like the coast was clear.
"Keep it out just in case," Sofia said.
They set off towards the fourth floor.
The familiar large, gold-brimmed mirror came into view and Sofia could almost breathe a sigh of relief. She looked at her reflection for a moment, she had not done a good job at covering the circles under her eyes. "I look dead."
Sirius took a long look at her. "You look perfect."
Sofia tensed, her hands still pulling at her skin. It's not like he had never complimented her appearance before, they were friends, and once he'd gotten over the never-saying-anything-nice-to-a-girl stage of puberty, he would throw compliments her way occasionally. But that was a new one. It made her feel... weird. Not just what he said, but the way he said it. It made her feel awkward. "Um... thanks?"
Sirius rolled his eyes playfully. "It's not like Vanya cares what you look like anyway, he's your brother he'll always think you're ugly, let's go."
Sofia relaxed. Awkwardness dissolved. There was her friend.
Sofia halted outside the apartment building. "Why is he here already? I specifically told him we didn't need any help setting up, and he should come at three."
Sirius followed Sofia's gaze to find the bright red car that belonged to Mr. Bessonov parked right in front of the building. "Come on, Sof, he probably just wants to be with Ivan today. I think you should give him a pass this time."
Sofia sighed. "I just... I don't want Vanya to get his heart broken."
Sirius put his hands on Sofia's shoulders and looked at her softly. "Sonya. There is a very high probability that your dad will... pass during the next few years, so Vanya's going to get his heart broken either way. But I think, in the long run, he'll be grateful he got to spend this time with his dad."
Sofia took a breath. She knew Sirius was probably right. She just didn't really know how to deal with the situation. "Okay, yeah... okay. Let's go."
They got to the fourth floor and the door flew open, revealing a giddy Vanya, who immediately threw himself onto Sofia like a bullet. She barely had the time to catch him.
"Sonechka! You're here! See Romy? I told you she'd be here!" Vanya yelled.
Sofia looked over Vanya's head towards her other brother.
Romy shrugged. "What? You didn't come last year."
Sofia exhaled sharply but held her tongue. She kissed the top of Vanya's head. "Of course, I'm here, buddy."
She put him down, and he went straight into Sirius's arms. "Happy birthday, champ."
Sofia greeted the rest of her family, leaving her father for last.
"Valery Stanislavovich," Sofia said as she reached the man.
"Sofía," she heard her mother warn.
Mr. Bessonov paid his daughter's formal greeting no mind and wrapped his arms around Sofia briefly. "Privyet, Sonechka."
"Anthony couldn't come?" Sofia asked, humouring him with the Russian.
She had noticed her father's partner absent from the small apartment.
"He'll be here later," Mr. Bessonov replied.
Sofia turned to Sirius and switched to English. "This is my friend, Sirius."
Sirius put on his trusty charming smile. "How do you do, sir?"
The men shook hands. "A pleasure to meet you, Sirius. Sofia speaks very highly of you."
Sirius glanced at Sofia with a raised brow. She ignored him.
Mr. Bessonov got that look on his face as he looked at his daughter as if she were a delicate thing that would break if he said the wrong thing. "I... I got the telly set up so we can watch the Dodgers game later... I mean, if you want."
Sofia's eyes widened. She tried to her surprise and following excitement. "Oh... yeah, okay."
She went off to help her mum set things up for the small party later.
Sofia chatted with her mother and sister while Sirius did some simple spells to entertain Vanya in the living room. Roman went to change from the pyjamas he had still been wearing and Sofia had no idea why it took him almost an hour to re-emerge.
She glanced at Roman's white and blue Dodgers jersey. "Well, one of us is gonna have to change."
She had finally taken her jumper off and revealed her Dodgers T-shirt underneath.
Roman gave her a rare smile as he plopped down on the sofa next to her. "Are you staying for the game?"
Baseball was one of the few things Sofia and Roman bonded over. As the two elder ones, they had been the most influenced by their maternal grandfather's love of baseball before he had died a few years back.
"Well... at what time is it?" Sofia asked.
"Ten... but Papa said we could stay up and watch at least the first few innings."
Fuck. Sofia hadn't realised it'd be so late. Getting back to the castle after midnight would definitely be risky. "Uhhh... I don't know, bud. I have to get back to school."
Roman's face fell and Sofia felt like shit.
"I thought they were letting you stay here for the weekend," Mr. Bessonov put in from his spot on the armchair.
"Well, they're only letting me be here one day," Sofia was quick to reply.
"I'll write to your Headmaster, ask him to let you stay the night."
Their conversation caught Sirius's attention, even though he could only understand what Sofia was saying since Mr. Bessonov spoke entirely in Russian. He stopped shooting gigantic bubbles from his wand to listen more closely.
"That won't work," Sofia said.
"Well, there's no harm in trying."
She huffed slightly. "You can't write to my school."
"Why not?"
The conversation finally made sense to Sirius, he looked at Sofia worriedly.
Sofia glanced at her mum nervously.
Mr. Bessonov didn't miss a beat. "Ana, why not?" He asked Sofia's mother directly.
Sofia sighed. "We didn't exactly... get permission to be here."
"What? And you just let her sneak out of school?"
Sofia really didn't like how his anger was directed at her mother.
Mum spoke in Russian too. She probably didn't want their argument to be so obvious when they had a guest at home. "She would sneak out whether she had my approval or not. They only let her out of that place every couple of months or so. Can you blame me for wanting to see my daughter more than once every few months?"
Sofia could tell her mum had hit a sore spot there with her father. She glanced at Vanya, who had definitely noticed something happening by now and was starting to frown.
Mr. Bessonov was clearly upset but did a good job at remaining calm. Honestly, Sofia didn't think he had a reason to be upset. He turned to his children. "Why don't you kids go out and play ball for a while? Your mum and I need to have a chat. We're not going to fight, I promise. Just talk."
Sofia's jaw set but she complied. She ushered her siblings outside.
It took a little while, but eventually, the worried looks on her siblings' faces vanished as they got into the game. Some of Ivan's friends who lived nearby joined them in the little park.
"So..." Sirius said as he and Sofia strayed a little too far from the bases they were supposed to be watching. "Are we going to have to sneak into the castle in the middle of the night?"
Sofia sighed. "I think that depends on my parents' little conversation... but personally, I think I'm going to lobby for watching the first... let's say three innings and then we go. I'd consider staying overnight, but that could easily go awry, especially since we didn't plan for it."
They went back once the time of the party neared. Sofia's parents didn't seem upset when they got back to the flat, but neither mentioned anything to her about the talk they'd had, so Sofia assumed the previous plan stood.
Ivan's party consisted of a few kids from his school and neighbours he was friendly with. Sofia loved spending time with her little brother, but she couldn't say the same for most other kids. She found them unbearable. So, she stayed back while Vanya played with his friends.
Then it was time for cake and presents and Sofia absolutely adored the look on Vanya's face when he opened the Lego set she'd gotten him. She couldn't resist a laugh when she saw Sirius's present. He'd apparently found it in a Muggle shop and thought it was amazing. It was a Troll doll. Ivan adored it.
By the time the game started, everyone had already gone home. Vanya and Natasha had been ushered off to bed by their mother and it was just Sofia, Roman, Sirius, Mr. Bessonov and Anthony. For having been raised by a man obsessed with baseball, Sofia's mum didn't enjoy the sport very much, so she'd gone off to bed as well.
They ended up watching the entire game. Sofia couldn't help it, the Dodgers were winning and if they won that game they would advance to the World Series, so obviously, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the telly that easily.
So, it was pretty late when they made their way back to the castle. Both Sofia and Sirius were pretty beat so they didn't speak as they walked through the passage. Sofia leaned against Sirius to get some warmth and he wrapped an arm around her.
They arrived at the mirror passage and Sofia unstuck herself from Sirius's side. "I meant to tell you... thanks."
Sirius frowned. "For what?"
"Just for... always going through so much trouble so I can see my family. I don't say it enough but... you have no idea how much I appreciate it."
He smiled. "It's my pleasure, Bessie. That's what friends are for."
Sofia was making him uncomfortable. She could tell by his not using her first name. She didn't know if it was her sleepyness making her all honest and emotional but she knew she had to say this right now or she probable never would. "You're my best friend, you know? And I know I'm not yours and that's okay, I get it, I've never been great at friends, but you're mine."
"People can have more than one best friend," Sirius argued.
Sofia threw her head back in mock frustration. "Whatever you say."
The next weekend was the first Hogsmeade weekend and Sofia had many things to do, she especially needed to catch up on her Muggle schoolwork, but somehow she had let Sirius rope her into going.
"So, how's the unified team going?" James asked.
Sofia grimaced as she walked along with Sirius and his friends towards the village. She scoffed. "We've only had four practices but Travers is finally starting to understand that he's not supposed to try to kill me with the Bludger, so, that's something."
James laughed. "Baby steps, I guess."
"You're not wrong about the baby part."
Sirius scowled. "I'll fucking kill him, I swear to Merlin."
Sofia rolled her eyes. Was he good? What was he being so dramatic for? "I've played Quidditch for a while, Sirius. I can take a hit."
She felt like Sirius was about to argue further and she didn't want to deal with that right now, so she quickly changed the subject. "So, what shops were you guys planning on hitting up?"
Sofia didn't usually go to the village with Sirius and co. She usually preferred going by herself when she did go.
In the past, she'd used Hogsmeade visits to sneak out to visit her family (usually accompanied by Sirius), but after getting caught more than once, they had to figure out better ways to sneak out of the castle. Not to mention, the teachers who watched over them at the village now knew to keep a close eye on Sofia. So, definitely not worth the risk.
"We gotta hit up Zonko's, I need to get some stuff so that I can teach Travers a lesson," Sirius said.
Sofia rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm going to get some Potions supplies, I'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks later."
Before Sirius could argue, Sofia took off.
She walked into the apothecary, which was almost deserted, as usual, and headed for the counter to pick up the special order she'd put in.
"... it's called a... mibostrop or something of the sort, how do you not know what it is? I thought you were a potion supply store."
Sofia's jaw dropped as she took in the scene before her. None other than Regulus Black was at the counter, apparently trying to get a wizard to sell him a microscope. She fought hard to contain a giggle.
"Hey Gethin," she said as she reached the counter.
Regulus glanced at her but didn't say anything.
The middle-aged wizard who owned the shop smiled. "Ah, Bess, good to see you. I have your order."
He rushed off to the back and Sofia had a feeling if he weren't so embarrassed right now, Regulus probably wouldn't have let Gethin leave him hanging so easily.
She took a deep breath. God, she couldn't believe she was actually going to help him. "You won't find it in any potion supply shop you know."
Regulus crossed his arms over his chest, a frown on his face. He didn't reply.
"It's a Muggle apparatus," she said and she'd be lying if she said the main reason why she was telling him this was to witness the look on his face when she informed him he was attempting to purchase a Muggle invention.
Regulus finally turned to look at her properly. "You're lying."
Sofia smiled slyly. This was too good. Better than any dumb prank Sirius could've played. "I think it's pretty obvious I'm not."
Gethin came back with a small brown paper bag and handed it to Sofia.
She handed over a few Galleons. "Thank you, Gethin. You're the best."
He smiled kindly. "You be careful with that now, Bess."
She nodded and took one last glance at Regulus, who continued to quietly fume.
She felt his presence follow her out of the shop but ignored it until he pulled her into the alley beside the shop.
She scowled and pulled her arm from his grasp. "Whoa, chill. You can just say you want to speak with me, you know. Like a normal person."
He ignored her. "Where did you get that... thing?"
"The microscope? At a lab supply shop in London. Took me months to save the money for it."
He considered her statement for a long second. "Could you get me one?" It looked as if it was causing him actual physical pain to say those words.
Sofia tried not to let her surprise show. "Uh... yeah, I guess. Next time I go home."
"Right. And when are you planning another... excursion?"
Sofia reeled back. "What do you mean by that?"
Regulus rolled his eyes. "Do you seriously think no one's noticed you and my brother sneaking off every other weekend?"
Sofia tried to shake off her genuine shock. She had not been expecting him to say that, and she would not act flustered around him. "Well... I don't— I don't know when, I'll just get it when I get it, okay?" She started walking away before the conversation could go even further south. "It costs a hundred pounds."
"How much is that? I don't know Muggle money." He called after her retreating back.
"Figure it out!" She yelled back before walking off.