20. Serious Black
The next few days before the students came back to school, felt like she was already hiding out, to Evangeline. Lupin was confined with his potion, and the rest of the professors were so busy that no one had time to talk to her. She didn't lay eyes on Professor Dumbledore or Professor Snape at all. Most of her time was spent going around the castle collecting paintings to work on in her rooms. After all, she could put them back up at night, with Filch's help, if necessary. She hoped that keeping herself so busy would ease the feelings of worry and loneliness that were creeping evermore into her mind, but without much human company, she found she was beginning to brood. Life at Hogwarts had definitely lost some of its earlier appeal.
Time dragged itself along, though, and soon it was the evening of the welcoming feast. While the students were arriving and sitting down to renew old acquaintances, and new students were being sorted, and professors were overseeing it all, Evangeline found herself alone in her room eating a solitary meal and feeling a little depressed.
As she was trying to decide whether or not it was worth the trouble to eat, there was a knock at the door. Her heart leaped in her chest at the unexpected sound. Who could it be? Everyone was supposed to be downstairs at the feast. Curious, she crossed the room and opened the door cautiously, to find Sirius Black standing there with a rose in his hand and a charming smile on his face.
"Well, this is a surprise," she said mildly.
He laughed. "I don't know why it would be. Neither of us is welcome downstairs. I thought we might as well console each other. May I come in? I promise to be on my best behavior."
A bit reluctant, she regarded him soberly. "Okay, but I'm going to hold you to that promise, Mr. Black, one nasty crack about Slytherins or Severus Snape, and you'll be out on your butt in the hall so fast you'll wonder if you were ever really inside at all."
He bowed low and placed his right hand over his heart. "You have my word of honor as a Gryffindor that I'll behave, and will follow whatever rules, my lady sets down for acceptable behavior."
His manner made her laugh, and she found herself seeing his true charm come through for the first time. "Very well, enter Sir Gryffindor, and join me at my solitary meal." She waved him in with a flourish.
She closed the door behind him, and when she turned around he extended the rose to her. "For you, my dear Angel. In apology for my past transgressions."
Surprised, she took the fragrant flower and put it to her nose. Lovely and fresh! "What brought this on, Sirius?" The still slightly suspicious witch raised an eyebrow and regarded him seriously.
"Truthfully? I'm sorry that I haven't behaved better toward you. I was rude to you and your house without cause. I allowed my…disagreements…with Snape to spill over onto you. That wasn't fair of me. I'd like the chance to start again. Would you let me?" The handsome wizard gave her his most charming smile and a pleading look that was usually a winner with most women he encountered.
Evangeline laughed again at his pleadingly hopeful expression, the man did have charm and he knew just how to use it apparently. "You know, everyone told me that you had a reputation as a real charmer, but I've never really been able to see it until now. By all means, let's start over. Have a seat, join me for dinner." She gestured him to the other side of the room where her meal sat waiting patiently on the table. While he went to sit down, she summoned a house elf and requested another place setting, which was on the table almost before she finished asking. The house elves never ceased to amaze her.
Black smiled at her as he sat down and made himself comfortable. "Well, this is nice."
"Not as nice as it would be to be downstairs with everyone else," she said with a sigh of longing.
"I know," he agreed sympathetically. "My godson's down there. I haven't seen him in months, and yet I can't get near him. I've missed him a lot. It's tough to wait."
"So tell me why you have to," said Evangeline as she dished up food for the both of them.
He frowned as he accepted his plate full of food. "What do you mean?"
"Everyone says you're innocent, but no one told me why they say that. What's your story, Sirius? We've got plenty of time, and I'd really like to know. Tell me how you escaped from Azkaban, and why you were there in the first place, and who was really guilty of the crime you were accused of."
Black leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh and gave her a very serious look. "Are you sure you really want to know? It's not a very pleasant tale."
"If it's too unpleasant to talk about, I understand. I'm not always eager to talk about painful things from my past, either."
He looked down at his plate and sighed again. "No, I don't mind talking about it, really. There's still so much about it that seems like a nightmare, though. Spending twelve years in Azkaban reduced so much of my life to the stuff of nightmares, that sometimes it's hard to sort out the details and remember what really happened and what was just a bad dream. Unfortunately, the really appalling stuff was all too real." He brought his eyes up to focus on hers. "If you're really interested, though, I'll tell you, but I do warn you…it's pretty horrid."
On impulse she reached across the table and clasped his hand comfortingly. "If you can bring yourself to talk about it, I'll listen."
The animagus nodded and attempted a lopsided grin. "Okay…you asked for it. The whole mess began a long time ago now shortly before Halloween…"
Black spent the better part of the next hour recounting the events that encompassed his friends' deaths and his incarceration and escape from the previously inescapable Azkaban prison. He then went on to discuss the details of his attempts to safeguard Harry and his attempt to clear his name by capturing and killing the real perpetrator of the crime for which he was unjustly punished.
"And anyway, then Buckbeak and I soared away to freedom, or what passes for freedom for a couple of fugitives anyway, and as a result of that night, Voldemort came back to reclaim his power." With a sigh of frustration, he concluded his unbelievably sad tale.
Evangeline sat spellbound, listening to Black's tale, almost forgetting to eat. "That's a truly horrifying story, Sirius. It's a wonder you survived it all."
"Yeah, well, if it hadn't been for Snape, the slimy git, Peter wouldn't have escaped from us, and Voldemort would still be slithering around in the Black Forest somewhere, and I wouldn't have to spend all my time living as a dog," Black said with a bitter scowl.
Concerned at the way the conversation had suddenly veered back into the realm of Snape bashing, Evangeline stated firmly, "Well, if you hadn't trusted Peter in the first place, your friends might still be alive, and you wouldn't have spent all those years in Azkaban! Sounds to me like mistakes were made all around. I doubt very much if you would've listened to Severus, any more than he listened to you, if your places had been reversed."
She raised a cautioning eyebrow. "Remember our ground rules, Sir Gryffindor," she warned.
The frustrated wizard looked away from her and tried to calm himself down.
The companionable mood seemed to be gone and Evangeline sighed at its loss. "From the sounds in the corridor, I imagine the students are heading for their dormitories for the night. Are you going to see Harry, tonight?"
Black turned back to her with a sigh and a slightly strained smile. "Yes, arrangements have been made to meet in Dumbledore's office."
"Do you need someone to say the password and let you in?" she asked as they both got up from the table.
"No, Lupin is meeting me there,' said Sirius.
"Then I guess it's time to say, good night. I'm sorry that you've had such a horrible time of it, Sirius. Fate has certainly been unfair to you. Thank you for telling me the story. I know it wasn't easy to talk about. You can indeed be charming when you want to be, Sir Gryffindor. I wish I'd seen more of that side of you before. It's much nicer than the angry and bitter side. I'm really quite glad you came tonight." She smiled fondly at him.
He smiled back. "Me too, Angel. I'll see you again, soon, I hope." With that he took her hand and gave it a brief kiss, then before her eyes, he turned into a large black dog. Quickly she let him out into the now silent corridor and closed the door softly behind him.