(PoA) CHAPTER FIVE: The King and Queen of Living in Sin
It didn't take Ellie and Harry long to get settled into their new routine at the Leaky Cauldron. Unfortunately, there only seemed to be one thing Harry was interested in talking about.
"It's like they all expect him to try and kill me," he said a few days after their relocation as they strode hand-in-hand through Diagon Alley, licking their cones of ice cream from Florean Fortescue's. "Sirius, I mean. Don't you think it's strange that none of them seem to know he's your father?"
"It's a relief," she said shortly, glancing cautiously around for any sign of the dog. He wasn't there, of course. She hadn't even been able to find him in the shadowy outskirts of the Alley the past few nights; there was no way he was going to show his face in broad daylight. "Last thing I want is Fudge obsessing over me the way he was obsessing over you."
"But why d'you reckon they're so worried?" Harry pushed. "About me specifically, I mean. Couldn't he have all sorts of… plans?"
Ellie tried not to cringe at his choice of word; he seemed to notice. "Hey—I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you, Ellie. I can stop talking about it, if…"
"It's okay," she said, forcing a smile. She really hated lying to him. Why had Sirius insisted on it? "You know how it is, though—I just don't know."
He nodded, turning his attention to something new: the window of The Broom Shop.
Inside it was the most beautiful broom either of them had ever seen—hand-crafted with the finest detail and woodworking on the market. The Firebolt, the sign next to it read. Pricing available upon request.
"No one in their right minds should ever entrust small fortunes to the likes of kids like us," Harry grumbled as he walked away from the display. "It's taking everything in me not to 'request,' and I bet you're feeling about the same."
Ellie chuckled at that as she followed him down the road.
They had already gotten their schoolbooks and supplies, including Unfogging the Future for their new Divination class and a copy of the Monster Book of Monsters for Ellie; Harry had already been sent his directly by Hagrid earlier that summer.
"Ellie," Harry said as they walked. He finished his ice cream cone and came to a stop, turning to face her. He grinned when he saw her face, and reached out to wipe away the melted ice cream that had smeared it.
"Embarrassing," she said with a small grin of her own as she finished her cone. "Thanks. What's up?"
"I…" He seemed oddly nervous—more nervous than he'd even been at the beginning of their relationship. "Well, it's sort of stupid, really, as we're still so young and all, and it might just scare you to hear it, but…"
"Harry," she said, crossing her arms. She had no idea where he was going with this, but she severely detested the words we're still so young. "Out with it."
He sighed, then forced himself to look her in the eyes. As usual, the sight of emerald green calmed her and gave her the happiness she was otherwise missing.
"I love you," he said softly.
She blinked, genuinely surprised. For all of her "experience" with boys in her first two years at Hogwarts, this one had never come up; she'd almost forgotten it existed. Love…
What was love to her, exactly? Was it the way Sirius looked when he spoke about her mother—disappointed; saddened; yet undeniably still enraptured by the mere memory of her? Was it the way her mother looked when she spoke about her father—so utterly heartbroken, there was no doubt in Ellie's mind that the love she felt had once been volcanic?
Or was it the way Ellie felt about Fred—that way she could never quite explain—the way she did her damnedest to bury as deep as she could?
It wasn't any of those things, she decided as she looked into Harry's calming, green eyes. It was whatever she wanted it to be, and she wanted it to be what she felt for Harry.
So she said, "I love you, too."
That night, Ellie called upon Woodstock to help her find her father.
"I don't know if you can understand me," she said softly to her bird as she crept out of the Leaky Cauldron, "but I need you to find Sirius, then come back and guide me to him in my dog form. Okay?"
The bird blinked back at her, then, to her relief, readied his wings.
"Thank you," she whispered as he flew into the air.
It took almost fifteen minutes, but finally Woodstock swooped back down to her. Ellie shifted into her dog form, and for an instant, Woodstock looked afraid. Then, seeming to comprehend that she was only his trusty owner, he took back off into the sky.
Woodstock was much faster by air than she was on foot, but she managed to keep up. He led her out of Diagon Alley entirely and through a series of different woods before finally dropping back down to the ground.
She gasped with relief when she saw him, changing immediately back into her human form.
"Very smart, sending your owl to find me," Sirius complimented her when he, too, changed into his human form. "Though I must admit, it makes me a bit nervous that others might get the same idea."
"Woodstock's an exceptional bird," Ellie said dismissively. "Look, Sirius—about Harry."
He glanced thoughtfully up at her, then asked, "Could you do me a favour and not call me that?"
"Not call you what? Sirius?"
"I understand if you're not comfortable with calling me 'Dad,' Ellie. But to hear my own daughter call me by the name my parents gave me… I'd just prefer you not."
Her face flushed with a strange, new sort of pleasure at that. She liked hearing the words my own daughter come out of his lips. And she liked hearing him stop her from calling him by her first name.
"It wouldn't be… strange?" she asked him carefully. "If I called you Dad?"
His grey eyes twinkled with hope at that, and he shook his head. "I daresay it'd be one of the only things that makes any sense at all."
She let herself smile at that for a moment, then straightened, forcing herself to focus. "I have to know. Why did you tell me not to tell Harry?"
He watched her carefully for a moment, then said, "I wasn't exactly expecting him to kiss you, you know."
She blushed. "I know. I sort of… left out the part about him being my boyfriend."
"Is that what he is? Your boyfriend?"
She nodded.
He scowled slightly at that. "You're much too young for a boyfriend, Ellie."
She considered pointing out to him that Harry wasn't even her first boyfriend, but decided against it. "If I had to have one, though," she said instead, "wouldn't you want it to be him? He's your godson, right? Your best friend's son?"
He shrugged. "I s'pose. Never imagined it would happen, though. I used to tease James that you were out of his league because you were so much older than Harry—even if it was really only by seven months."
She let herself grin, then pushed that away, too. "Come on. Tell me why you want me to hide it from him. Please."
He sighed. "It's not him specifically, Ellie. It's… everyone. Do you understand how many people are out there looking for me at this very moment?"
"I guess. But—"
"You were forgiving of me because you're my daughter. Harry won't be. Even if you tried explaining to him all I've explained to you, he still wouldn't be able to get past the part where I betrayed his parents. And if he reports me before I accomplish what I must…"
She was starting to understand. There was one thing she felt the need to tell him, though. "I did tell one person. But we can trust him."
He frowned. "Who?"
"Fred. I mentioned him to you before, I think. He's… my best friend."
Sirius watched her thoughtfully. It was strange to him, she could tell, that she had told Fred and not Harry.
"You can trust him," she promised him. "We both can."
The next few weeks were as close to paradise as two thirteen-year-olds with no parents and a confusing barrage of life complications could get. Every few nights, Ellie found herself sneaking into Harry's room, nervously telling him that she was having trouble following asleep. He always responded with the same, gentle smile, taking her into his arms and falling asleep with her.
She was happy—really happy.
But she couldn't help comparing it to the few times in her life she'd fallen asleep in Fred's arms, and she didn't like to think about who won the competition.
She had told Fred, of course, about the address change. He had seemed relieved to hear it, if a bit disconcerted that she was now essentially living with her boyfriend.
She went to see Sirius every few nights, when she wasn't with Harry. She continued slipping him food, grooming supplies, and clothes, and before long, he was really starting to look like a normal—albeit handsome—wizard. He still seemed determined to avoid sharing too much of his plans with her "for her own safety," but loved to hear about her life and her experiences.
A few days later, she and Harry found themselves on the bench outside Florean Fortescue's, enjoying an exceptionally good snog, when they were interrupted by a rather familiar voice sniping, "Well, if it isn't the king and queen of living in sin."
Ellie whirled away from Harry, leaping to her feet—more excited than she meant to be at the sound of her best friend's voice. She leapt into his arms, crushing him with a tight hug, then crushing George with an ever-so-slightly less tight one.
"Glad to see you two haven't gotten sick of each other," teased Ron from behind the twins. Ellie reached over to hug him and Hermione as Harry rose to do the same.
"Impossible," Harry said cheerfully. "Haven't you met her?"
"Gross," grumbled Ron, rolling his eyes. "We need to get you back to your aunt and uncle's ASAP."
Everyone laughed at that.
"How was Egypt?" Ellie asked the Weasleys eagerly.
"It was great," said Fred shortly, then cleared his throat. "Harry, would you mind if we stole Queen Sin for a few? It's been far too long."
Ellie glanced carefully at Harry, who, for the briefest instant, hesitated. She realized in that moment that she had hugged Fred too hard—that she had been too excited to see him—that, despite how much she and Harry loved each other, the Fred roadblock was going rear its ugly head that year.
But the hesitation only lasted a second or two, and then Harry smiled. "Sure. I'll go and catch up with Ron and Hermione."
As soon as the "golden trio" were out of earshot, Fred glanced pointedly at George.
"Right," said George grumpily. "I've got an appointment to get my wand cleaned." He said it so mechanically that it was quite clear it was a lie they had agreed upon in advance; Ellie just watched in perplexed confusion as he trudged away.
"I haven't told him," Fred explained when it was just the two of them. "About Sirius having come to you in person, I mean." He glanced in the direction Harry and the others had gone and asked, "Have you told Harry?"
She shook her head. "Dad didn't want me to."
For a split second, Fred looked relieved. He liked that she hadn't told Harry; he liked being her sole confidante. But then her words seemed to sink in. It was the first time she'd ever called him "Dad," and the effect on Fred was evident; he looked like he wanted to murder someone.
"How many times have you seen him?" he demanded.
"A… few," she said carefully. "Fred, it's okay. He's not—"
"Have you talked to him?"
"Well… yeah. But again, he's not—"
"Ellie!" he nearly shouted. "What the bloody hell is the matter with you? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
She bit her lip, trying to keep herself calm. She knew he was just worried about her, but his intensity was nearly enough to make her cry.
His expression softened when he realized the effect of his tone on her, and he quickly backtracked. "I'm sorry, El. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just…"
"I know. But, Fred, you have to trust me, here, okay? I know what I'm doing."
He sighed, taking her in his arms again and squeezing her tightly against his chest. For what felt like the millionth time, she did everything in her power not to let his touch have too much of an effect on her.
"I do trust you, El," he said softly into her ear. "I just can't bear the thought of anyone hurting you."
Is it as hard for you all as it is for me to see these two not being together? I know, poor, sweet Harry, but still. The next chapter is aptly titled "Drama," which we'll be seeing quite a bit of in this third installment of the series. Please remember to review if you're enjoying the story!
