Chapter thirty nine

Angela´s father

/

May apparently wanted to prove itself as a nice month in its full force. Everything was green and simply joyful to look at; the meadows were full of colourful flowers and the sky clear and vast almost every day.

The decisive Quidditch match was supposed to take place already on the 10th of May. The final exams of the year were very close, and the professors definitely did not want the students to be distracted from their concentration by the still undecided winner of the Quidditch Cup.

Apparition tests also took place at the beginning of the month. However, only those who were already seventeen were allowed to take it, which did not apply to Harry or Angela. Nevertheless, Hermione and Ron successfully passed them.

Angela was finally able to relax a little. Of course, her confession to Harry was a big part of it, but it was also thanks to the fact all her prophetic dreams had stopped for the time being. She was extremely grateful for being able to sleep peacefully and the usual dark circles under her eyes completely disappeared.

As came for Harry, he stopped walking around with the expression of a bear disturbed from hibernation and was able to have a normal conversation with Ron and Hermione again. Not to mention he was also more than pleased with Snape's decision that he had nothing more to teach him and ended their painful Occlumency lessons.

Hermione was immensely relieved to see that she had done well with handing the letter from Angela Rosier over. However, she preferred not to try to find out from Harry what had happened between them.

Draco could not help but secretly observe Daria more and more often. Her laughing and her eyes, it always managed to lift even the worst of his moods. Still, he averted his gaze when the Gryffindor girl noticed his interest and tried to catch him out. She understood the cool Slytherin prince even less than before.

For a few days, most of Death Eaters, vampires and Dementors activity had strangely ceased, so that the Hogwarts students could fully enjoy the exciting match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Both teams started the game with enthusiasm right from the start and it was really something to watch. McTiczon almost failed to comment all the happenings. The match went fast and hard. There were a few goals, but that made the fight even more exciting. After an hour, it seemed that the players were surprisingly very balanced opponents, so everything started to depend mainly on the Seekers.

It was also worth mentioning, that already before the start of the match, an event occurred that piss Madame Hooch out. The captains of both teams flatly refused to shake hands. After five minutes of unsuccessfully trying to convince them with threats and pleas, Hooch gave up and began the match during excited whispers from all the stands. Now in the air, Malfoy and Potter were glaring at each other.

The score was seventy to seventy, when Draco spotted Golden Snitch nearby and shot toward it like an arrow. It was almost fatal for Harry to see it only a second later. However, Daria flew across Malfoy's path and Snitch disappeared from his sight.

Only after another half an hour, it was finally decided. Malfoy saw the Golden Snitch again earlier, but Harry made sure he caught up with him and even though the Slytherin Seeker tried to push him away, he managed to outrun him and the Snitch fluttered in his hand a moment later.

Gryffindor fans had good reason to celebrate. Once again, their team held on, won, and Slytherin was defeated. However, the green team did not seem particularly bothered by it. It was probably also because there were more important things going on for most of them that year, than some Quidditch matches...

/

The final exams were to be held in the first week of June.

Two days before their start, Angela came to the headmaster´s office after a long time. She had heard that the Dark Lord was planning something big, but she did not know any specifics. After all, she had not been accepted fully yet, so there was no way for her to know all the details. Rather, she advised Dumbledore to ask Professor Snape about it. She assumed he would know more.

She was quite surprised to find out that the Bat had not come to see Dumbledore yet. She thought he would have known about it a long time ago.

The whole time she sat across from the headmaster, she felt uneasy. He was looking at her in a very strange way that she did not like very much. When she had nothing more to say to him, she could not help but ask.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Professor?"

Dumbledore was a bit taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"You're just looking at me strangely. Is something wrong?"

"No," the headmaster replied all too quickly.

There was silence for a moment.

Angela furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously: "You´re lying to me," she sneered softly.

Dumbledore did not contradict her.

"Have you found out anything about my father yet?"

The headmaster sighed: "I don't want to upset you like this just before the exams, Angela…"

"What?" she blurted out. "You already know who he is?"

"You don't want me to give you false assurances. I'm not sure about that, I'd need proof and that…"

"Headmaster," Angela leaned over the table. "Stop tiptoeing around it like it was some hot mess and tell me who my father is."

Dumbledore watched her intently and Angela waited tensely.

"I need to make sure of something first," he finally said. "If you are the daughter of who I think you are, only you can give me that proof."

She could not be more confused: "How?"

Dumbledore got up, took some thin book from the table, muttered the appropriate charm and the book glowed blue for a moment. Angela watched him with interest.

"Come on then," the headmaster beckoned, handing her a book.

Angela swallowed nervously, but stood up from the comfortable chair and gripped the book, which happened to become an unregistered Portkey, tightly.

"Five seconds," Dumbledore informed her.

In a moment, Angela felt the familiar twitch in her stomach, and her world dissolved into colourful spots. Shortly, they landed smoothly on the plank floor in the hall of the dark house. She looked around curiously.

The house they found themselves in was very old, but still had much of its former grandeur. They stood roughly in the middle of a vast entrance hall with a burning fireplace providing the only light that reflected off the walls in glimmers.

"I hope he'll come when I call," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, but just then some disgruntled muttering came from the dark corner under the stairs.

Dumbledore smiled in satisfaction: "It seems I don't even have to call him," he commented quietly.

Angela was about to ask whom, but before she could, the ugliest house elf she had ever seen appeared in the light. He glared at Professor Dumbledore and kept muttering something angrily under his breath. But then, his gaze flew over to Angela and fell silent quite unexpectedly. She watched in astonishment as he took an uncertain step back, still staring at her.

"Angela, I want you to command him," Dumbledore urged.

She raised her eyebrows: "Excuse me?"

"Do it and see."

Angela was still eyeing him in disbelief when gaunt and very pale Remus Lupin appeared in the hall from the side door.

"Good evening, Remus."

"Good evening, Prof… I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin," Angela apologized absently.

"It´s all right… Is something going on, Headmaster?" Remus scanned them with a confused look.

"Kind of," Dumbledore agreed.

Angela suddenly wondered where the former Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had come from here. "Wait… What are you even doing here? Is this your house?"

"Well, from one half it is, at the moment," Lupin smiled a little.

Angela continued to look around, and then suddenly glanced at Dumbledore.

"What's the elf's name?" she asked quietly.

"Kreacher," Dumbledore replied slowly.

"Kreacher..." she repeated, remembering that Harry had mentioned to her once about a nasty elf who belonged to a certain important house that he had inherited…

"So, this is the ancient residence of the Blacks, and probably the current hideout of the Order of the Phoenix you spoke of, Professor," Angela half-turned to Dumbledore.

The headmaster just nodded slowly.

"Yes, it is," Lupin answered instead, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "But how do you know that?"

However, Angela did not listen to him anymore and turned to the elf who was crouching under the stairs and was completely silent. Angela took a breath.

"I want some fire whiskey. Right now," she said harshly.

The ugly elf twitched, disappeared with a crack, and just then another soft crack was heard somewhere below, probably in the kitchen. Lupin's eyes widened at the empty space under the stairs and Dumbledore summoned a chair for himself and sat down wearily. Angela did not even move until the moment when Kreacher respectfully handed her the desired shot on the tray.

"Please, lady," he croaked softly.

She gulped it down in one smooth gulp and returned it to the tray with an order: "One more."

The elf disappeared again.

Dumbledore absent-mindedly conjured another chair and Angela collapsed into it. She suddenly realized the consequences of the fact that this house elf was obeying her.

"What does that mean, Headmaster?" Remus asked in shock.

"That means that Angela Rosier here is Sirius's daughter," Dumbledore said firmly as Kreacher appeared with a new whisky.

Angela was clutching a small glass of liquid that was burning her insides and stared at the floor. Now that Dumbledore had said it aloud, there was no turning back. She was the daughter of Sirius Black. Harry´s godfather about whom he had told her once and who had been dead for almost a year. She was the last of the Black family…

She forcefully held back the tears that welled up in her eyes. She found her father and then lost him again at the same time.

Dumbledore watched her understandingly and did not prevent her from drinking the second glass at all. Lupine stared at him again, still unable to accept what he had just heard.

"How did you come up with this for Merlin´s sake, Dumbledore?"

"I think Kreacher´s sudden obedience is proof enough. The house-elf´s enslavement is complicated, yet very strongly bonding matter. House-elves must serve the whole family and Kreacher can feel who Angela here is. But I suppose that both of you want to hear how I figured that out," admitted Dumbledore.

Lupin began pacing up and down the hall: "This is utter nonsense. Sirius had never been married, let alone had children! I would know something about it!"

"That's where you are mistaken, Remus," Dumbledore replied. "I didn't believe it myself until a few things convinced me otherwise."

"Would you like anything else, lady?" Kreacher suddenly spoke up.

Angela glanced at him absently: "No, thanks," she hummed softly.

Then she realized that this house elf could be a dangerous source of information. Now when he had a new mistress, the previous orders and prohibitions were cancelled.

"Wait!" she stopped him as he was about to leave with a smug expression. "You will stay in the house until I call you!"

The elf bowed. "Yes, lady," he huffed and left.

Remus kept marching in disbelief: "If this young lady is really Sirius's daughter, why didn't he tell us about her?"

"It's a bit more complicated, Remus. Sit down, please, I'll explain everything," Dumbledore urged him, but he was still subtly watching pale Angela. "Just so you know from the start, I have reason to suspect that someone did know that Sirius was once secretly married and had a daughter."

The girl looked up and Lupin stopped marching. "Who?"

"James," Dumbledore replied calmly.

Remus shook his head in disbelief.

"James Potter?" Angela asked hoarsely to make sure.

"Yes, his closest friend."

"Tell me how you figured it out, Professor," she urged. "I want to know everything."

"Yes of course. You have priority now, Angela. Remus, please do not interrupt me. I will answer your questions later."

Lupin just nodded and Dumbledore turned to Angela who was watching him intently. Her look made him feel sorry. And she certainly didn't know that Sirius was no longer among the living.

"I have something to tell you first," Dumbledore began heavily. "Unfortunately, your father is already..."

"Dead, I know," Angela finished for him. Her voice trembled slightly.

Dumbledore was surprised. Not all the details of the battle at the Ministry of Magic a year ago had been made public yet; Sirius's death was nowhere in the papers. Mostly only the Order of the Phoenix knew about it. The unit of Aurors was still searching for him, naturally without success.

"How do you know?" he asked quietly.

Angela was stunned, not knowing what to say at first. She could not say she knew it from her former boyfriend. How could she explain that Harry Potter himself talked with her about such things? And then she remembered and started to feel even worse.

"From Bellatrix Lestrange," she replied slowly. "My mother and her have become quite friendly lately. She… she likes to boast about it," she felt sick saying it aloud.

Dumbledore's doubts disappeared, but Lupin shot her a sharp look.

"And who is your mother for benevolent Merlin that she knows the murderer of Sirius?" he barked unfriendly.

Angela turned even paler and clenched her nails into her palms.

"Remus, don't get involved. I already said I'd explain it to you later," Dumbledore protested.

Lupin leaned back in his chair frowning, but remained silent and Dumbledore finally began to explain what had led him to his findings.

"I will not bother you with the beginning of my quest. It took me a long time to find that secluded spot, where your parents were married, Angela. After many careful attempts, I succeeded in conjuring the right memories from the aged high priest, since the original ones had been replaced by strong spell. All I found out was a description of the pair and the exact date, yet it was enough. The description almost exactly fitted young Sirius. Moreover, on that day he married Mary, he had just disappeared somewhere and no one knew where he was. When he came back, I remember he used some excuse that I did not believe him, but it was not a sufficient proof. Therefore, I went to the Ministry of Inheritance and requested Sirius's last will again. There was a rather mysterious addition in it that I didn't pay much attention to when I announced to Remus and Harry that the house was theirs."

Angela fidgeted uneasily. She did not like the idea of taking something over from Harry.

"That appendix says that if a girl in search of her origins in House of Black should ever appear, she must be allowed to enter here. If proven her right of inheritance as a successor of the family, all the fortune would go to her and she would share the house equally with Harry Potter and Remus Lupin. I think that thanks to Kreacher it has been proven enough, so this house is now partly also yours, Angela, along with Sirius' holdings in the Gringott´s bank that were in Harry's possession until now."

She was pleased that her father was thinking also of her in his testament, but she literally hated robbing Harry of something from his godfather like this.

"I don't want to take from either of them what they had already received," she objected disapprovingly.

"But you have every right to that. They'll both definitely understand," Dumbledore responded with dignity. "Don´t you, Remus?"

The former professor returned the headmaster´s look before focusing on the rather unhappy student.

"It´s not my place to question the last will of my friend," he stated slowly.

Angela sighed: "I appreciate your attitude, Mr. Lupin," she nodded and then half-turned away from both of them, so that the adult wizards would not see her face. It was a little too much of everything on her.

Dumbledore did not disturb her and waited patiently.

Everything what she had ever found out about the identity of her father fitted with information she knew about Sirius Black. Even that arrest without justification… All of this was real.

She raised her head slowly: "I think I should keep this truth to myself. Definitely as far as my mother is concerned. It will be better if she keeps thinking that I don't know his identity. Otherwise, she could force me into your favour under the pretence of being Sirius Black's daughter or some such filth."

"I totally agree," Dumbledore nodded. "Only you, me, Remus and… We must tell Harry, if you don't mind. Sirius was his godfather."

Angela nodded: "I understand."

Remus spoke up again a moment later: "And how did you find out that James knew about it, Dumbledore?"

"He blew the gaff in front of me once. He claimed that Sirius was very worried about his family. I did not understand his comment because Sirius had always had problems with Blacks, but now I do. He also vaguely mentions it in an old letter to Sirius that I happened to find down here in the study a year ago."

Remus pondered it for a while. He also suddenly felt that a few pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The secretive behaviour of his late friends, as well as how the Potters ended up changing their minds about Fidelius Charm. James knew that Sirius had enough of his own worries…

"Professor," Angela said. "I suppose I should talk to Kreacher first, right?"

"Yes. Surely you understand that he witnessed many events here that must not get out."

"Sure. But then I'd like to go back to school."

"Of course."

Then Angela called Kreacher back. Dumbledore could tell from her speech to the house elf that she really was just as bright young witch as he believed her to be. Kreacher had no chance to somehow circumvent or go around her prohibitions.

Finally, she ordered him to listen to Remus Lupin in her absence and threatened him with not very pleasant punishments for disobeying. She was dead serious and Dumbledore had no reason to doubt her words.

After half an hour and saying goodbye to Remus, they got back to school using the Portkey again.

"I would like to speak to Harry as soon as possible, Angela. You should be there, too."

The girl nodded, standing with her back to the headmaster: "But leave it until after the exams, please. It's enough that I have so much to think about. We can tell him about it then. Good night," she muttered quietly and quickly left the office.

/

Angela shakily pulled out one cigarette from the pack and lit it. She sat on the windowsill by the open window and gazed up at the sky full of stars.

Now, she finally knew whose blood ran through her veins, yet she did not feel any better. She actually felt terrible. She hoped so much that when she would get to know about the identity of her father, she would also find support and protection she desperately needed. Instead, she could not even go to his grave, since his body vanished somewhere behind the mysterious veil, just as her chance for ever having a truly loving parent…

She drew the nicotine smoke into her lungs and tears welled up in her eyes again. Lost in thoughts, she did not notice the tall figure standing behind her until he spoke.

"Did something happen to you?"

Angela winced and glanced at Draco, who was eyeing her in the dim light from the window.

"Nothing important," she replied quietly, turning away from him.

"Really nothing?" he urged, walking over to her. "I don't often see you with a cigarette."

"I'm fine, Draco, I really am," she insisted stubbornly, blinking rapidly to fight off the urge to cry.

Well, I´m not buying it, Draco thought, but he did not pry any further.

"All right… I wanted to talk to you about something," he turned the page instead.

"About what?" Angela wondered.

"You told Daria the truth, didn't you?" he accused her.

Angela gave him a sideway look: "What are you talking about?"

"Just don't pretend! You revealed to her that our hot sex scene was just a show for Potter."

The girl fidgeted uneasily and Draco folded his arms.

"Well… Yes," Angela finally admitted. "But I don't understand why you are so upset? After all, I only told her the truth!'

He rolled his eyes: "That´s exactly what you did wrong!"

"I don´t think so… Hey… How did you even find out?"

Now, Draco was the one fidgeting anxiously.

"Did she tell you something?" Angela asked suspiciously.

"No!" he snapped. "I just recognized it. If she thought I was such a jerk, she would be looking at me differently."

Angela watched him thoughtfully: "Hmm, I guess so," she mused quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" Draco bristled.

"Nothing," she shrugged.

"Sure, nothing," Draco smirked, but he did not say anything more, to rather avoid more questions.