Chapter 4 : Reminiscence
Narcissa Malfoy neé Black was not the most patient woman. Yet for this meeting, she had been waiting for more than 30 minutes. Not that the one whom she was to meet was late- she was just early. Very early. She sat in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron, wearing a dark hooded cloak and the cheapest robes she had, sipping a butterbeer (which she had cast an illusion on to look like strong rum). Overall, her disposition was one of a foreboding drunk male. A deeply dangerous one. For this meeting, it was important that she was discreet. So many of the Dark Lord's followers were still at large- including her husband who was very much still controlling massive crime operations from Azkaban. And even though the Dark Lord was supposedly gone, Narcissa didn't want her dear Draco near any of it.
It had all been so simple all those years ago- to go over to the dark side. She was a Black engaged to a Malfoy. It was practically expected of her, though to be fair, neither side would have been overtly disappointed had she stayed neutral. Lucius, however, had jumped headfirst at the chance of being in Voldemort's ranks without a thought or care in the world. And she, blinded by a childish spring love which had inexplicably been brought about by an arranged marriage, had followed him.
Voldemort's first meetings had been exactly like a muggle teenage party (she would deny all involvement in one until the day she died). There had been bonfires, alcohol, dancing and rituals. She had barely been of age when she took The Mark. At the time it had been fun. Like sneaking firewhisky from Hogsmeade with Celeste Greengrass or skinny dipping in the Black Lake during the winter. At 17, no one would have considered all the consequences. But as a Slytherin, Narcissa felt that she had failed her house, her values, and most importantly, herself, when she had the epiphany that killing innocent people for the mere reason of accident of birth was utterly useless and stupid at best. Not to mention, Voldemort himself was a half-blood. She only knew because of the extensive digging she had done after a suspicious throwaway comment that Voldemort, or should she say Tom Marvolo Riddle, had made whilst joking about killing poor Myrtle in his 6th year.
Narcissa didn't know about the rest of the Death Eaters but she wanted out, even though Lucius refused. And though that saddened her, Draco was much more important to her than Lucius. Giving him a life worth living, unburdened by being 'loyal' to some faux Dark Lord became her number one priority. However much it displeased her, Potter and Sirius were her best way out. Hence was her current position. 2 years ago, Narcissa would have spat in the face that told her where she would be in the future - waiting for Potter.
A flash of red coughed the corner of her eye from underneath her hood as Potter entered the pub. Narcissa had to only look up a single second before the other had strode over, grabbed her forearm and disapperated.
Petunia sighed in thought, consumed with nostalgia. Lily told her that Sirius Black was in prison for murdering 12 muggles, even though he was innocent. There was going to be some...Wizenmot? meeting discussing his freedom later in the day, for which Lily had donned her best dress robes, braided her hair, and even worn makeup (a rare sight. Lily could not have been more of a tomboy as a child, and as she grew older, it made her skin itchy and she preferred to go without). Petunia had almost laughed when she had heard about Sirius' charges. She hated the wizarding world, and most wizards as well, yet even she knew that Sirius Black was no serial killer. Even though she had only met him a few times.
*Flashback*
Petunia stood at the edge of the carnival with Lily, tapping her foot impatiently. Her 'wonderful' sister had dragged her along to meet her freakish friends, when she would rather be doing her physics homework at home - a subject she rather enjoyed due to the fact that it had no room for nonsensical things such as magic. And the fact that it explained so many things about the world of course. She dreamt of being a physicist when she grew up, and was already putting the groundwork in to get into the best universities.
"They're here", Lily said smiling.
A group of 6 people rounded the corner, the black haired one slipping what must have been a size 47 boot into his miniscule jeans pocket.
"James!", Lily hissed. "Anyone could have seen that!"
"Hold on a second.", Petunia said, dumbfounded. "I thought magic wasn't allowed outside of your school for minors."
"It isn't.", Lily replied icily. "Those jeans were bought with the enchantment on them, and the portkey- the transportation mechanic I was telling you about earlier- was enchanted at his house by his parents. Or at least I hope it was."
Petunia pursed her lips. "I see.", she said, already missing the peace and quiet of her room.
"Anyway", Lily said, oblivious to Petunia's mood. "Guys, this is Petunia Evans, my twin sister. Petunia, this is James Potter, Sirius Black, Marlene McKinnon, Remus Lupin, Alice Bones and Peter Pettigrew."
"Nice to meet you.", James said, as Sirius moved forward to shake her hand.
Blushing a little, she took it. Sirius had a good firm shake, curly black shoulder length hair, and beautiful striking grey eyes that she could have stared at forever. But he was a wizard. Shaking off her annoying hormones, she turned away and pretended to tie her shoelace. Thankfully nobody noticed or mentioned the fact that she was wearing ballet flats.
"Shall we?", Lily asked.
"Of course.", James said, gallantly offering his arm to her sister. Lily blushed and took it as Petunia raised an eyebrow. When had that development occurred?
Feeling a bit like the third- no the eighth wheel, Petunia trudged in with the others. In retrospect, she shouldn't have agreed to this outing. The others were all from an entirely different world. A world she was not part of. A world she would likely never be a part of. Sulking behind the rest who were shouting jubilently (rather like a bunch of hooligans) about how quaint muggles and their creations were, Petunia wanted to vomit. The only half sane person, her dear sister, had run off somewhere with that awful James, probably to snog each other's faces off. Revolting. And now she was left with a group of random strangers. Sighing, she kicked a rock along the worn path next to the fried butter and throwing games. The rest of the carnival was jovial, exuberant, happy. She was not.
Sirius Black stared at Petunia in wonder. Her pale blue eyes coupled with her curly blonde hair made her look stunning. And those lips… he could dream of kissing those lips for centuries. And better yet- she was a muggle, a fact that only made her more attractive to him. What better way to piss off his mother?
And she was intelligent too, from the looks of it. Sirius could see the gears turning in her head as she thought, ideas whirling around her head. Carefully he sidled up to her side, not wanting to seem like a sly git who wanted nothing more than sex. Sure he had done that plenty, even earning the reputation of the school playboy. But he sensed that this time was different. This time, he wanted so much more.
"Hey.", Sirius said casually, immediately wanting to slap himself for sounding so nerdish. "I'm Sirius Black."
Petunia looked surprised that he was talking to her for a second, but quickly neutralised her expression.
"Hi.", she said back. "I assume you know who I am, so I won't bother introducing myself."
"That's right.", Sirius said, amused. "Petunia Evans. Lily tells us that you would have been in Ravenclaw."
"That's a house right?", Petunia asked curiously despite her loathing of magic. She had secretly always wanted to know more about Hogwarts, but that ship with Lily had both sailed and sunk long ago.
"Yes, it's the house of the Eagle. People who go there are usually smart and creative, and have a love for learning new things." Sirius shot her a charming smile. "I would never fit there, but I admire those who do."
Petunia pursed her lips, but a smile escaped anyway. "I do suppose I would fit there. You're in Gryffindor with my sister right?"
Sirius puffed out his chest proudly. "That's right! House of the brave, chivalrous and mighty! Never fear when a Gryffindor is near!"
Petunia laughed. "I'm pretty sure the word 'mighty' isn't one I'd use to describe any of you. Especially that boy Peter. Poor thing was shivering in fright!"
"Well I suppose I do have the tendency to embellish a bit.", Sirius smirked, grey eyes dancing in mirth. "Do you have houses in your school?"
Petunia chuckled. "We do, but they aren't heavily relied upon like yours. They're just there for sports. And they're named after flowers. Quite silly really. We weren't even chosen for them based on anything. It was all random."
"That's interesting!", Sirius exclaimed. "Tell me all about your school! I grew up in a purely magic household, so this is all so new."
Petunia started. It had been so long since someone had asked her that question. It made her feel interesting. It made her feel...nice.
"Well let's see.", she said contemplatively. "We have numerous classes to choose from. There are the heavy core ones, like science, math, languages and social studies. And then the extra curricular classes, like art, music, woodworking, home economics or sports. Because there are so many classes to take, one ends up in a different group of people in every class, so you end up knowing so many people. And I go to a day school. Which means I go home after the classes get over for the day."
Sirius smiled. Muggle school sounded wonderful, and he was sure that he'd have been equally, if not more happy, if he had been one.
"Which classes do you take?"
"I take physics, math, woodworking, latin, history and chemistry.", Petunia said, counting them off on her fingers.
"Woodworking?", Sirius asked, confused.
"We make things out of wood- like birdhouses or napkin holders.", Petunia explained. "Last semester I made a cookbook holder for my mum."
Sirius' eyes widened. "You can make those things without magic?"
Petunia laughed. "Of course we can! How else do you think literally everything in the muggle world is made? Without magic of course!"
"Well, I grew up in a strictly pureblood household you know.", Sirius said, scratching his head sheepishly. "I was taught to believe that muggles were filth and wouldn't be able to do anything without us wizards."
Petunia looked at him in horror, edging away from him. "Do you truly believe that? That muggles are filth? That we are worth nothing more than servants to bow before you high and mighty magicals?"
"No!", Sirius exclaimed. "Never! At least not me. There are some that do think that way, but I would never! I think muggles are magical! They have their own special way to do things, and have ended up much more innovative and creative than most of the people I know! Us wizards? We're lazy. We take everything for granted 'cause we have a spell for everything imaginable. Yet you muggles are always thinking up something new! If I were a squib or a muggle, I'd have been just as happy Petunia, mark my words."
Eyeing him, Petunia sighed. "I believe you. And I would be quite the hypocrite if I judged you on a prejudice I have myself."
"You mean you view Wizards inferior?", Sirius asked curiously. It was a viewpoint he had never come across before.
"Well… not exactly.", Petunia replied, burning a furious red. "I was- am really jealous at the prospect of doing magic. I mean, how could you not be? So I convinced myself that being magic was bad, so that I would feel good about not being able to do it. Then in middle school, I discovered physics- it explained so much about the world! Like why things happen, and there are endless theories about the universe and how the world works. Magic breaks those laws though. And now I hate it for an entirely different reason than how it began. I hate it for ruining physics for me. I hate it for blemishing the beautiful subject that is physics. And I'm not sure if I could ever overcome it."
Sirius bit his lip, not knowing how to respond. "How about I'll teach you why it's cool to be a wizard, and you teach me how it's cool to be a muggle?"
Petunia looked at him, considering. On one hand, she hated magic and craved the rational world that physics posed, but on the other, she rather liked Sirius and had no one else to talk to.
"All right.", she responded. "But can we talk about something else now? This topic is rather depressing. How about your school? What subjects and extracurriculars do you like?"
Sirius looked at her with a smirk. "Ok. My favorite subjects are Transfiguration and Astronomy. I enjoy Divination too, but that's mostly because our teacher eats up any story we give her so it's mostly just a comedy class. I play beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which takes up a lot of my time after classes. Me, James, Remus and Peter are best friends, and we take pleasure in pranking the rest of the school."
"No kidding!", Petunia said smiling. "What kind of pranks do you get upto?"
"Well once, we convinced the House Elves to rig the Slytherin table's drinks with a color changing potion at breakfast. They all ended up with sparkling red hair! Another time we cast a charm on Dumbledore so that he could only sing in rhyme. That was a fantastic day, especially because he subbed for us in DADA.", Sirius said laughing.
Petunia snickered. "Once I colored an egg black and put it in my Da's shoe. He was walking around with eggshells on his sock all day."
Sirius snorted. "Now that's comedy gold."
They walked in amiable silence for a while, before coming to a large wheel on an axis, for which Petunia couldn't help but calculate the estimated speed.
"Shall we?", Petunia asked slightly nervously, gesturing towards the ferris wheel.
"Absolutely kind lady.", Sirius said dramatically, extending his arm for her to take.
Petunia giggled and took it, letting herself forget about her prejudice for a couple of moments. It was almost as if everything and everyone else but her and Sirius had melted away, a distant chatter floating away in the wind.
Excitedly, they clambered into a cozy two seater. Soon the lights went on, the merry music started, and the wheel began to move.
Sirius looked at Petunia. Her eyes were sparkling, and cheeks flushed in exuberance, rosy lips parted in childlike wonder. She noticed him staring and blushed, the tips of her porcelain ears rivalling Lily's red mane. Many said Lily got the looks. But Sirius thought Petunia was prettier.
"I've always liked heights. Ever since I was a little girl. But Lily was afraid so we never went on rides like this.", Petunia said softly, her breath tickling his neck.
"Lily's crazy for not liking this.", Sirius said softly. "You muggles have it made."
Petunia smiled, looking into his eyes, a dancing grey, a jolly storm, and her heart fluttered.. "Yes. I guess we do."
Sirius grinned and leaned into the magical moment.
She closed her eyes, and leaned forward. And as if a magnet was pulling them together, their lips met. And they shared the most wonderful kiss.
*Flashback
CRASH! The loud sound startled her out of her reverie, and Petunia hurtled toward the source, stopping in her tracks when she saw her precious baby Dudley sitting in the middle of a crashed cookie jar (though completely unharmed amongst the glass) eating a chocolate chip cookie that had previously been more than 7 feet out of his reach. She looked around, searching for her nephew and niece, but it was in vain. They were sleeping soundly upstairs. Petunia had just seen to that. Again, she looked at Dudley, who had started teething on a biscuit while staring at her mischievously with his sparkling grey eyes.
Lily stood nervously outside the WIzengamot courtroom, fussing over her hair and robes and desperately wishing for Petunia's opinion. She had never been involved in any legal proceedings before, but Lily had to do this. Sirius Black's freedom meant loads to so many- from her children to Malfoy. At least she wouldn't have to do it alone. Next to her was Andromeda Tonks. Sirius' cousin had turned out to be nothing like anything she would have expected. Andromeda (call me Andy) was an odd mix of a Pureblood twat and a Muggle dreamer. Somewhere in between her sister, Malfoy, and Sirius. Not exactly the most caring witch, but had messy pink nailpolish on, apparently a trophy of war from her daughter. But nailpolish or not, she was scary. Very scary.
*Flashback
Lily and Alice knocked on the door to Tinker & Tonks' Law Firm after a long and rather tiring conversation with one Augusta Longbottom. With no Frank to back them up (he'd run away screaming and hid in the closet under the stairs) frankly, they were grilled on every little detail of the story before the woman had finally decided to support them. It had been an irksome process, which had given Lily the beginnings of a pounding migraine. Left to her, she would have procrastinated speaking to an unknown Black sister on a short temper, but Alice-the most annoying workaholic-Longbottom wouldn't hear a word of it.
So Lily was standing alongside Alice, wishing dearly for a headache potion, on the stoop of a shabby but cheerful sap green building of a Law firm that desperately needed a paint job.
Soon, a tall woman with striking grey eyes and long, straight, waist length black hair answered the door.
"Yes?", she asked, eyebrow arched. Lily stared jealously. She had never been able to make her eyebrows do that.
"We'd like to hire your services for a case Ma'am.", Alice said politely. "May we come in?"
"Of course.", The woman said, opening the door wider to let them in. "I'm Andromeda Tonks as you probably know. And you are Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom, yes?"
"Yes.", Lily said, smiling. "Pleased to meet you ."
"Sit down please.", Andromeda said. "What is the case you wish me to defend?"
"Well you see, an innocent man is being kept in Azkaban without trial. We would like to remedy that."
"I see." Andromeda murmured, already jotting down points in her notebook. Lily was surprised to see that she used a ballpoint pen as opposed to a quill. "And what is the name of the wrongly imprisoned?"
"Sirius Black", Alice said softly.
Andromeda's pen stopped moving abruptly, and she looked up sharply, grey eyes so much like Sirius' flickering with suppressed anger- an emotion Lily had never seen in her friend.
"Get out.", she told them flatly.
"But-", Lily protested.
"Get the hell off my property.", Andromeda snarled.
"Sirius is-", Alice started.
"Don't tell me how my own cousin acts! I've known him since the unfortunate date of his birth. He is a lying, cheating, scumbag of a betrayer with whom I want no association with whatsoever!"
"How do you know?", Alice asked softly.
"Pardon?", Andromeda asked dangerously.
"How do you know Sirius is a scumbag? We've lived in the same dorm as him for 7 years, and he's never acted like one. A jerk? Sure. But a murdering lunatic? Never. Infact, this Halloween was the first time there was any tell of him acting like a Black. And if he wasn't dark in school when he was 11, then how would he have been a serial killer before that? Actually pick your brain. If he was a murderous child, we will walk out of here immediately and I'll hire my sister. We just thought there might be some advantages with the family blood magic ", Alice stated calmly.
"I-", Andromeda stuttered. "I- Well- I guess I could hear you two out."
"Thank you.", Lily said, fuming internally. "Sirius Black and James Potter had been best friends since first year at Hogwarts, as you well know. So when James and I heard tell of Voldemort pursuing us, specifically the twins, we asked him to be the secret keeper to our house. Sirius disagreed, stating that he was the obvious choice, as his and James' relationship was well known. Voldemort would surely go after him. So we devised a plan for Peter to be the Secret Keeper, and hide out in a flat on the next street under the fidelius charm, for which James was the Secret Keeper. Due to this, Voldemort finding our location was purely because of the fact that Peter betrayed us willingly, due to the fact that he hadn't left the flat that night, and couldn't have possibly been kidnapped. Back to Sirius- he found out we were attacked, and found none of us at home and evidence of a fight at the scene. He naturally assumed that we were dead and headed off with the intention of finding and confronting Peter. They met in an alley in a muggle-wizard town, and when Peter screamed something obscene about how Sirius was a traitor, cut his finger off, blew up the street, transformed into a rat and escaped. Sirius was so overwhelmed that he began to laugh. Unfortunately, that's how the Aurors found him."
Andromeda had tears in her eyes, making the grey look even more silvery than usual.
"Could it be true?", she whispered, seemingly lost in her own world. But in a second, her pureblood mask was back, erasing her face of any emotion, and her eyes darkened greatly.
"You'd better not be lying.", she said quietly. And as Andromeda spoke, Lily shivered as she felt goosebumps rise on her arms from a wave of magic passing through her. It was cold, unsettling, and most of all, dangerous- like a stormy ocean, but the wave was calculated, and not the side effect of the moon or the wind. The wind was howling yes, but it was howling at them, and them specifically.
Lily and Alice looked at each other, eyes wide, an entire conversation passing between them in the span of a jiffy.
"We aren't." Lily started, her palms sweating.
"Nor would we ever.", Alice finished, cheeks flushed.
Dumbledore wasn't the most angry of men. He didn't rage, pick fights or argue. He didn't murder or torture in cold blood. He didn't have a secret dungeon where he kept his enemies to starve, go crazy or interrogate (Please! A dungeon? More like a brig. Much more civilized. That way his prisoners became better people because they didn't want to be seasick.).
In fact, Dumbledore liked to think of himself as a patient, charismatic, lovable man. He didn't understand why others refused to do so.
He should have never made Lily Potter Head Girl. Yes. He supposed that she had always been one to stand up for herself and her friends. In other words, headstrong. But making a mudblood the head girl during the peak of a blood war had given her much too much confidence. That girl was going to get herself killed.
Sirius Black was a dangerous wizard. Whether he had been on Tom's side or not, empowering Lily to speak up and voice her views was not in either of their best interests. It was ridiculous. Women should be at home, tending to the kids and the hearth- especially Lily, the mother of the Chosen One.
While he did suppose the prophecy didn't quite come true that Samhain night, he had no doubt that it would in the future. And he was confident Tom would go after one of the Potter twins. He knew that the man had always had a penchant for symmetry, and wouldn't want to disrupt the balance. Half Blood vs Half blood. It was Tom's greatest pattern yet.
Now with the WIzengamot meeting. Albus should have never refused Lily the way he did. He shouldn't have used a compulsion. Infact, he suspected she had thrown it off almost the second he had placed it. She probably thought he was a sneaky, manipulative bastard. Which he was, if he was being completely honest. But she didn't need to know that.
Sighing, he turned to his full length mirror. In contrast to his usual flamboyantly neon colored robes he was wearing simple purple ones, a Dumbledore crest on the left side, and a bumblebee piping. Straightening his glasses, he concentrated hard on his icy blue eyes. A glittery poof later, his twinkle was ready.