Hello Hello! I am finally back with another chapter for Autumn Leaves! I know it's been way too long but life got in the way :( I have my finals going on and I got sick due to fatigue but I'm recovering!
Reviews:
Valkara - Thank you for reading! Hope you like the chapter!
7 November, 1981
Lisa didn't usually take the weekends off, preferring to still visit the Healing House to work on some accounts or write down a few reports for the next working week. However with Harry in the picture, Charlus had naturally told her to stay home, not that she needed much persuading.
The amount of magic and divining she had done for the past many months – nearing a year now – was slowly but obviously taking a toll on her. Her head throbbed more, sleep came faster, and pants of exhaustion came up quicker.
She had gratefully woken up late that day, head turning to Harry first thing. As nice as his room was, she couldn't bring herself to allow him to sleep alone just yet. Instead she still placed him in the center of her own bed, curling up on the other side, watching him fall asleep before her eyes fell shut too. She hadn't had any 'visions' since the last – the one which she had assumed was Sirius. She wasn't complaining though.
Putting Harry down in the living room with his toys, she drifted to the kitchen, setting Harry's milk to warm and the kettle to boil for her tea. She wondered if she had any strengthening solution left over in her pantry. She really didn't want to ask Charlus for more.
Her eyes drifted out the kitchen window, watching the rolling green lands. It took Harry's loud squealing and a light pattering of scattered toys for her to turn around, alarm quickly fading as she watched the child approach the fireplace. She hurried to snatch the boy back; floo fire wasn't usually hot but she didn't want him to think it was okay to stick his hand into fireplaces…just in case one had an actual fire in it.
The baby wailed at being kept away, squirming as Lisa bent near the hearth, peering into the green flames as the face formed in it.
"Hello Lisa,"
Lisa patted Harry on the back to calm him down. "Professor Dumbledore," she nodded at the wizard's bust in the fire.
His glittering eyes, green instead of blue due to the fire, flickered to the boy. "I hope I don't intrude."
"No, no," she huffed at the boy before putting him just close enough to the fireplace. "He's just a curious little kid."
Something softened in Dumbledore's face. "Yes, he must be; both his parents were…"
Harry, finally having seen enough, turned tracks, going back to his toys as she sighed. "Did something happen?"
Dumbledore's eyes travelled back to Lisa. "Ah yes; my requests to have Mr. Black tried have went over to Barty Crouch. While he…wasn't pleased per say, he did agree to it – quite begrudgingly, might I add."
For a brief second, a hint of elation bloomed in Lisa's chest, followed and trampled quickly however, by trepidation.
"I have a theory as to why Barty rushed to have so many people put in Azkaban whether there was smoke or wind of them being connected to Voldemort but they don't matter anymore. Putting aside Barty's personal reasons, he has sworn to uphold Wizarding Law under which Sirius has a right to a fair trial."
Lisa felt like something of an idiot, but she couldn't help but ask, "So, now what?"
Thankfully, Dumbledore seemed to know what she was getting at. "Fear not, there will be a full investigation with many procedures. The trial is just the first step. As a member of the Wizengamot, I personally looked into the matter. Things will be done properly." He said in all seriousness.
"What procedures?"
Dumbledore hummed. "The investigation has already been moved to the Aurors. They will check Sirius's wand for the last spells he cast, use Legilimency, Veritaserum, and interrogate witnesses…"
She considered the new information, sifting through them compared to anything that she might have seen happen already. She couldn't think of anything.
"What happens," she began, "if even one of these things seems suspicious?"
Dumbledore took his time, carefully choosing his words. "The truth," he said thoughtfully, "isn't something easily hidden. It may be repressed, may even be pushed down for years, but in time, facts always come through. They always look for light – even in the deepest, most vile parts of the mind."
That doesn't really answer my question, Lisa thought, but then…maybe there really was no answer to her question. She would have to wait this out. She knew one thing of course; Sirius Black didn't have time to wait for facts to get the spotlight anywhere. He would be taken to Azkaban and the dementors – she shuddered – would have their fill of him.
"Now then," the professor's voice was cheerful now. "I have kept up the end of my bargain, what say you?"
Lisa jolted out of her mind. "I am taking Harry on Monday, perhaps after ten, so that Petunia's husband will be long gone."
The flaming head of Albus Dumbledore nodded before gently asking. "Are you nervous? Perhaps, you should ask Remus to accompany you."
Lisa paused, turning to glance behind her at Harry, now mumbling to himself and squishing two stuffed toys against each other. "I think I'll go alone the first time – scope out the place. I don't want Petunia to think she's being outnumbered, especially by wizards."
Dumbledore didn't argue. "Perhaps that will be for the best. I will take my leave now, Lisa. A pleasant day to you," The older wizard bowed his head, before disappearing, the green flames dying away in the grate and leaving no traces of a fire at all.
Lisa stayed sitting in front of the fireplace for a few more moments, edges of her teeth digging into her lip. Finally, she got to her feet, walking slowly to hover over where Harry had migrated to his armchair, placing two toys on top and enacting a scene.
She crossed her arms, moving slowly to the kettle to remove it and pour the water into a mug, setting Harry's milk to cool.
Casting a glance at the clock, she began to count down the minutes till Remus would arrive.
After the first visit with the Blishens, Remus Lupin had become solidly ingrained in her and the Blishens' lives. Though apprehensive at first, Lisa was now glad that Dumbledore had suggested Remus come step in.
He offered familiarity to Harry, space and time for Lisa to start working again, and that was a boon, because now that there were two – three – she needed the income. She hadn't wanted to look it, but she wanted Remus to feel comfortable. She hadn't seen much of him when she had watched over Harry, only the crucial parts, but she wasn't blind. It was obvious Remus Lupin was in dire straits and only a completely heartless person would let a soul as kind as his to fester in poverty.
She tried to surreptitiously offer her home to him, in the times when he watched his best friend's son, leaving proper meals so they could eat. He had become a part of her something-something family and she didn't feel worried about it at all, which was new for her. She didn't press the matter of him being a werewolf. He would come forward about it when he wanted to.
She wondered if she should tell him about Sirius and his upcoming trials. Giving the bottle to Harry and taking her tea to the sofa, she glanced again at the clock…
…and decided against it. She'd call in at work to take her mind off things.
8 November, 1981
Lisa pulled on the heavy black cloak around her, wrapping in the ends snugly where they brushed the floor. It was second hand, thick and many sizes too big for her, possibly belonging to some giant of a wizard before finding its way into her arms. She had gotten it in one of the thrift stores in the Wizarding market of Falmouth, glad to have something unbearably hot to bask in. She never took it out in summers, but in the winters it was one of her few comforts.
She had had Remus over for two days now, the entire weekend, with him taking Harry's room as he still slept with Lisa. She had put in a whole Saturday of work at for the Blishens, knowing she would need to take Monday off to take Harry to see his aunt. Of course, with her record, they didn't mind her taking days off but she tried not to if she could help it. With a baby, that was bound to change. She was glad she had Remus to rely on. On this cool Sunday however, she was going to undertake the jaunting task of a day trip to Diagon Alley.
She was running low on her supplies, she needed to replenish a few things for Charlus and get some Wizarding clothes for Harry. She also needed to visit her vault at Gringotts. She would need to convert money, deposit some galleons and take stock to decide how she needed to manage her finances in the future.
Just the thought was giving her a headache.
She reached for the door, Remus looking up from where he was reading one of her books on magical maladies on the sofa. "I'll be back in a few hours. Lock the door and don't let Harry out of your sight." She parroted the same instructions she had every day of his coming over. At this point, Lupin only rolled his eyes. "I'm aware, Lisa. You be careful." He warned, returning to his book while she let herself out.
Drawing the edges of the cloak tighter to her, she cast a keen gaze around her house. Though the house itself wasn't grand, it was surrounded by a plot of land that had been deemed uncultivable by the local people. This provided Lisa with some comfort as she managed to seal away part of the land and potion bottles, dragon fertilizer and magically enhanced seeds later, she had herself a decent garden. She was quite proud of it, it being her one real splurge.
Tottering down the stairs she walked to the edge of the land, where a dusty road led two-ways. The left fork led into the Wizarding settlement of Falmouth, and the right one took to the muggle town. Making sure she was indeed alone, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and braced herself in case she needed to dive out of the way.
And then she threw out her wand arm.
It only took about two seconds and then there was a loud screeching of wheels and out of thin air, appeared a massive, triple-decker bus. Lisa took several steps to the side, with the bus coming to stand right where her feet were. Violently purple, the entire frame quivered with the force of the halt before a lanky man, some years older than Lisa appeared at the door.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus; emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stevie Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this morning." He recited promptly while Lisa rifled through her coin bag.
"Good morning, a ticket to the Leaky Cauldron, please,"
She climbed onto the bus, Shunpike moving back to plug in the location in his heavy looking ticket maker. She received the parchment slip, dropping eleven silver sickles into his other palm.
The conductor moved away, shouting out 'OYE, Prang! We got one for Leaky Cauldron, step on it!" to the aged bus driver, who had started in on a sandwich.
Lisa barely had time to flop into a seat; a bare wooden loveseat, and grasped her bag tightly. The bus jolted, and suddenly they weren't at a dusty road surrounded by rolling green meadows. They barraged down a busy street with lamp posts and idling cars jumping out of the way.
Casting a look at the other passengers, a few witches and wizards and some others that suspiciously looked like they were pretending to be human, she turned her head and looked out her window, the changing scenes outside lulling her in an almost hypnotic state.
"Charing Cross! The Leaky Cauldron!"
Lisa looked up with a start, eyes meeting Shunpike's as she looked out the window at the London Street. "Thanks," she muttered, gathering her bag as the conductor opened the door for her. Climbing down, she only felt a whoosh of wind as the bus took off behind her and she blended not so easily into the busy crossing.
Her cloak attracted a few side eyes but that was neither here nor there, as she quickly moved to the little dinghy pub that nestled between two fancier muggle stores.
A small bell tinkled at her push to the door, the man behind the counter looking up immediately.
Lisa offered a small smile to Tom, the innkeeper, getting a toothy one in return from the balding man. He was one of the few people in the Wizarding world that she actually had any form of contact with, and that too because he was an important part of the façade she maintained, existing between the muggle and magical lifestyles.
She didn't ever mingle, too paranoid of what could happen if she was ever found out and what that could mean for her safety and gift.
Just as she passed the front of the room, one of the fireplaces flared green, and a witch walked out, shaking out the floo ash. She sighed. She supposed she could've flooed or apparated too, it would've certainly saved her time. Even though the Knight bus was very fast, nothing beat the impatience of a magical being, especially one that could travel at a blink of an eye.
But alas; flooing left her with a headache and apparating took away too much of her strength.
She also found she liked the varied journey to get here.
Letting herself into Diagon Alley, she breathed a little easier. It was easier to blend in here. The bustle of shopping folks, now picking up after the news of You-Know-Who's demise reminded her that life was resuming, that the halt put in there by the deeds of a madman couldn't remain permanent.
Shifting her grip on her bag, she got to her own errands.
Lisa took her time, thoroughly perusing the street she'd visited enough times without ever having actually bothered to note the shops with interest. She decided now with Harry, she might need to know where what was.
She topped up her supply of quills and potion supplies, got some new baby robes and confectionary for home. She even went on a whim to Flourish and Blott's to fetch a copy of Beedle the Bard. While her own time of reading the famed magical children's tales had come much later at night, she hoped she could get Harry reading quickly. She'd need the distraction soon enough and she knew Remus would like something to do with the boy too. As much as a troublemaker as he was, she was sure Harry was still too young to be making too much mischief.
At the end of her chores, she took a deep breath and turned towards the snowy building, walking nervously into the Goblin bank.
The many goblins paid no mind to her clumsy disposition. They took down her name, the date and time, made sure she had her key and took her down to one of the smallest vaults, barely enough to turn around in but that was all she needed. She looked down at the single neat piles of galleons and sickles – she was completely out of Knuts, she wondered, if she could change her payment method for the Prophet – and piled some into her bag, bringing it up to where she had half of the coins changed into muggle money.
She'd need it for her visit to Petunia Dursley.
By the time she exited the bank, the sun was now overhead and Lisa could feel the tire of the day. She wanted to be home already, curled up with some tea and watching her new baby play. She made sure she had everything and then began to track her way back to the Leaky Cauldron when a stray tinkle made her look around at Ollivander's.
She paused, studying the centuries old façade with some interest before sighing and being on her way. Her fingers moved to the sleek handle of her own wand.
It had been a blessing to have had it made in a way no one could trace it back to the maker or her.
The little shanty was already falling apart when she visited it. Her hair was sticking to her forehead from the humidity, tell-tale signs of rain in the air barely any comfort. Her robes were thin, thankfully so whatever breeze passed helped soothe some of her bone-deep ache.
There was no bell or tinkle when she entered, but then she reasoned, she wasn't entering a shop.
The ceiling was low, a single candelabra left on a table to provide light once evening fell.
The man that sat behind the desk looked up from a piece of logwood, something he had been carving with a large monocle fit on his cheek. He peered at her while she walked closer, suspicious.
She couldn't blame him, she was young, too young to be in here by herself but in her short lifetime, she'd had to do a lot of things too young…it had done nothing for her frail body, but it had definitely helped her brain.
"You're Arturo Cephalopos?"
The man nodded slowly, unwillingly. "The wand maker," She continued.
"Don't know about that; been some time that I was making anything but wood toys for the children in the gullies. It's Ollivanders' you probably want."
She stood at his window, watching the sun streak downwards. "That's too famous and expensive for me. I need someone to make me a wand, skilled but quiet."
Arturo huffed. "Haven't you been listening, girl? Not a wand maker, no more. Haven't got the materials for it,"
"Your hands are all I need. Ollivanders' fine, but he's too…opinionated for me." she moved to his table, "I can pay you."
He glanced at her but didn't move.
"If you need help getting materials…"
"Don't bother. I have one – one, do you hear me? My last one, but won't sold because of old Ollivanders taking my name outs the running."
Arturo leaned down finally, bringing out a long wooden box, thick and covered in dust. "It's rare one too, not one ever like it will be ever built. Not by me, at least," He tilted his chin and she took it as he cue to put her oil bag of galleons on the table in front of him.
Arturo paused before opening the box, turning it to face his final client and reached for the coins, counting them as she picked up the wand.
The wood had been shaved and smoothed pale, deep black etchings along the hilt and shaft.
"Silver lime and Curupira hair; one and only, wand go well with seers and curupira hair makes for powerful wands. Some might say it's too unstable, but the wizards' got to be talented…and unpredictable to use it." Arturo glanced at the girl running her hand over the wand.
There was no tell-tale sign of approval. No warmth, no sparks, no joy but the wand maker didn't looked phased.
"It aint going to be loud about it; girl, if it's not setting you on fire, its' the one. Curupira hair won't light up like a veela."
"So, it's a match?"
She took the following grunt as yes, turning to walk back out when he spoke again.
"Be careful lass. Wands have destinies of their own; some carry over to their masters. When a wand and a master both have destinies, it usually ends badly for them."
"I don't have any destiny. I don't even have an identity." She said quietly, more to herself than to the old man before she disappeared from his threshold.
Lisa pushed her silver wand back into her bag, blinking in the afternoon sun. She might just floo home after all.
There it is! I put in some back story for Lisa!
The information for Silver Lime wands and Curupira hair can be found in HP Wiki!