Unraveled
Chapter Eight: Vanishing Snakes
Sirius had the address of the doctor's office that Nell Lawson worked at. He wondered if he should call ahead for an appointment or not. That was probably the only way he could get through the door. He eyed the Muggle telephone strangely. He had never used one before, but he had no choice.
The telephone was on the nightstand next to his bed. Sirius looked at the keypad. They were numbers, and he wondered if he should dial all the numbers or not. He wasn't sure. Hermione wrote it without any of the regular symbols like dashes. She wrote it straight across because she didn't want Sirius to be more confused than he already was. He picked it up and heard a strange noise in it. He figured that it was normal. He pressed the numbers and the phone rang.
"Hello, Dr. Lawson's Office, Shelly speaking. How may I assist you?" asked a friendly, perky voice.
"Hello?" asked Sirius with uncertainty. How he wished he had taken Muggle Studies in Hogwarts. He was sure that if he could hear her, then she could hear him just fine.
"Sir, how can I assist you?" asked the voice again.
"Um…I would like to make an appointment to see the doctor," said Sirius.
"Which doctor would like to see, sir?" asked the lady on the phone.
"Is Dr. Nell Lawson available?" asked Sirius.
"Yes, she's available later this week, but not tomorrow or the day after," said the lady with an apologetic voice.
"Does the doctor have any open appointments on Friday?" asked Sirius thoughtfully.
"She has an open appointment at one and the last one at two," replied the lady.
Sirius thought about it. Three o' clock was the end of school day. That would make two o'clock the perfect time for an appointment. "I would like the one at two," said Sirius.
"Alright, what's your name, sir?" asked the lady. "We need to start a file for you."
"Andrew Smith," said Sirius softly. His middle name was Andrew. He wasn't about to use Sirius Black as his name.
"Please bring your insurance information when you come to the office on Friday at two, Mr. Smith," the lady on the phone.
"Thank you," said Sirius. He hung up the phone. Finally, he was getting somewhere. He had to get to San Francisco. He decided to wait until Remus or Harry contacted him again. He needed some time to think of what he was going to do or say when he saw Fiona.
Sirius thought of how much of Fiona's life he had already missed. He missed her first step, word, day at school, and Fiona had to spend a lot of time wondering why she didn't have a father like all the other children. He also knew that Fiona got by with just what her mother could give her. He smiled ruefully. He knew that he would have spoiled her rotten and gotten in trouble with Thalia for it. Sirius just didn't like the thought of his daughter having to do without things.
The worst part of it, from what Sirius could tell from Thalia, Fiona settled for not having any friends. Sirius was always a social person. A people person. He didn't see much of that in Fiona. He didn't like the idea of his daughter not having any friends. Sirius had spent a lot of his time at Azkaban worrying about Harry. He had wanted to forget Thalia.
Now, he was forced to remember her. He remembered the way her hair was like waves of silk. Her eyes were like amber, a mixture of gold and amber, and always soulful. She always fitted into his arms perfectly. Her skin was like velvet. Her eye lashes were naturally thick and they curled. She never needed make up wizards' or otherwise. Just underneath her right eye was a mole. She had only one dimple on her left cheek that showed up when she laughed. Her laugh sounded like a nightingale.
Sirius had many regrets in his life. He was trying to make up for them. Thalia wrote that Fiona was willful and stubborn. She hid it under a cute exterior. Sirius wasn't sure how he was going to handle that.
The flames in his fireplace flickered and caused him to turn his attention towards there. "Sirius, we have a bit of a problem. We saw Draco Malfoy today at London," said Remus quietly without much introduction.
Sirius frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. "Malfoy's brat? That depends, Remus. What was he doing in London?" asked Sirius thoughtfully. He could hear Ron stifling a snicker in the background.
"He was able to out run both Harry and Ron," said Remus.
"But, what was he doing there?" asked Sirius again.
"He walked right passed Ron, Hermione, and me. We didn't recognize him because he was wearing Muggle clothes. He took off, but we lost him in a crowd of Muggles, Sirius," said Harry helpfully.
Sirius' mind went to work to process the information that he was presented. What could the son of one of the top Death Eaters be doing in Muggle London? He was wearing Muggle clothes. Lucius Malfoy would be more than angry at him. Sirius also doubted that Lucius' son would be off by himself in the Muggle world. Unless he had a very good reason to be…
"Wait, Voldemort decided to engage Fiona off to someone. I wouldn't put it past Lucius to engage his brat off to Fiona if it could advance him," said Sirius grimly.
"What?" chorused Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Remus held up his hand to keep them from interrupting.
"That does make sense. Draco is usually more talkative in my class. He likes to make little snide, sarcastic remarks about the way I teach. He's not brave enough to make them very loudly because he thinks I might attack him on the next full moon," said Remus.
Sirius didn't look too happy. He had hated Malfoy since Hogwarts, and he didn't think that his son would be any different from him. "But, that still doesn't explain what he was doing in London," said Sirius.
"We'll look into it. What about you?" asked Remus.
"It's been almost fifteen years since my last physical, Remus. So, I made an appointment to see a doctor," said Sirius.
"What? You can't be serious. You can't see a doctor. You shouldn't be out in public, Sirius!" exclaimed Harry in a panicked voice.
"I made an appointment to see Nell Lawson on Friday at two in the afternoon just before school lets out," said Sirius calmly.
"I get it. You made an appointment under a different name, so that she couldn't figure out before it's too late. But, how are you going to get there?" asked Hermione.
"I think that Father might know some people in America," said Ron thoughtfully. His father always had connections to other wizards all over the world. Mr. Weasley was a friendly man, so he had lots of friends.
"Professor Dumbledore has already made certain arrangements for me. This is business," said Sirius. It was business for the Order of the Phoenix, but he was sent for this mission.
"Be careful, Sirius," said Remus softly.
"I will be," said Sirius.
"Just be all right," said Harry.
"I will be as soon as I find my daughter and bring her to a safe place," said Sirius as he let the flames die out.
*
Fiona and Nell had dinner at home. "So, I will call this teacher and I will talk to him about training you. You won't get trained if there is one thing I don't like about him. Do you understand?" said Nell as she coated a piece of salad with some dressing.
"But, you have to promise me that you won't like something on him that's unreasonable. Like the way his hair is parted or something like that," said Fiona.
"When have I ever been unreasonable like that?" asked Nell.
"That time you dumped your boyfriend because he didn't comb his hair on the side you liked. It looked the same to Mom and me," said Fiona without laughing, but her dimples were showing.
"What? You mean Kevin? He was a jerk! Not only could he not part his hair the right way, he never opened a door for me or pulled out my chair. The one time that he did, I fell because he pulled it back as he waved at a passing girl," said Nell.
Fiona started giggling. Nell decided to change the subject. "How are things at school?" asked Nell.
"Fine. Oh, I need you to sign my permission slip," said Fiona.
"A permission slip for what?" asked Nell.
"The class is taking a trip to the zoo on Friday. It's for biology. We're studying different classes of phylum," answered Fiona.
"Okay, I'll sign it. Anything else?" asked Nell. They continued to talk about other things. Nell had had a busy day at the doctor's office since one of the other doctors at her father's offices decided to open his own practice. Her father felt bad for leaving Fiona alone at school for so long. Nell didn't say how worried she was when she was at work. After they had ice cream, Nell asked Fiona what she was going to do.
"Nothing. I'm going on-line for a little bit," answered Fiona.
"All right, but only after you do the dishes," said Nell.
"Aw…I don't like doing the dishes, can't we use the dishwasher?" argued Fiona.
"No, it's not that much. And that's what you get for implying that was I unreasonable," said Nell as she stood up from the table and placed the dishes into the sink. "And give me the permission slip to sign before you go off to play," she added.
Fiona stood up. So, she was the practically the Princess of Darkness, but she was still stuck doing the dishes. She smirked at the idea as she did the dishes. She would rather do a million dishes than be the Princess of Darkness.
She finished off the dishes and thought that using magic would be easier. If only she knew how. The phone suddenly rang. "I'll get it!" she called out as she answered.
"Hello?"
"Fiona, this is Ryu Ran."
"I didn't think you'd call so soon. I don't know if she'll like this."
"It's best to get it over with, Fiona. Just put her on, and I'll handle the rest."
"It's your funeral," said Fiona as she covered the phone. "Aunt Nell, my teacher's on the phone. My martial arts teacher!"
"I'm coming. Go and get the permission slip," said Nell as she showed up and tapped Fiona's shoulder to get the phone. Fiona went to her bag and picked up the folder that had the slip in it. She walked back, but paused just outside the kitchen. She was tempted to pick up the other phone at the living room, but she settled for listening to Nell's end of the conversation.
"Yes. That's right. I suppose so. Fiona has lots of experience, but it is a good idea to test her. I don't want her lessons getting in the way of other school work. Yes. Of course," said Nell. It was obvious that she was answering back and forth with the sensei.
Fiona bit her lip. She didn't like not knowing what was going on. "Thank you. Bye," said Nell, and Fiona heard the sound of Nell hanging up the phone. "Come in here, Fiona. I know that you're just outside the door."
Fiona walked in and tried to look as innocent as possible, hoping that Nell would buy it. Nell was rather perceptive. She was good at figuring out most of Fiona's doings before Thalia did. But, that was half the fun for Fiona. "Yes, Aunt Nell?" asked Fiona.
"I've spoken to the teacher. He seems very nice. A little young to be a master if you ask me. However, I have to ask you: does it make you happy to be training? If it does, then we may have to actually settle down here," said Nell. She hated having to uproot Fiona from place to place. It was not fair. Nell wanted to give her a normal up bring.
"Yes. It does make me happy," admitted Fiona truthfully.
"Then you can have lessons every other day. But, I'll drop you off and pick you up. I'm going to monitor the first couple of lessons just to be sure that it's safe. Your teacher agreed to it. Here's your permission slip," said Nell, handing it to her.
"Thanks Aunt Nell," said Fiona with a tiny smile.
Nell smiled back at her and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, kid," she whispered as she went off to put the wards up to protect them.
*
Friday arrived sooner than anyone had expected. The lessons began on Wednesday that week. Nell met Ryu without much incident. She stayed and watched the whole practice. If Fiona didn't know any better, she could have sworn that Ryu was a Muggle. He didn't say a single word that sounded like magic. Not that Fiona could tell anyway.
The school had its trip to the zoo. There were three buses organized for the trip. Everything went off perfectly. Until the last few hours of the trip.
Mr. Grant, the very stern biology teacher, had the entire class ready to go into the reptile house. Fiona didn't want to go into the reptile house. The San Francisco zoo had a large collection of snakes. Other than her grandfather's, that was the last place in the world she wanted to be.
"Mr. Grant, I don't like snakes. Can't I just borrow someone else's notes?" pleaded Fiona.
"No. That would be cheating, Miss Black. I expect better of you," said Mr. Grant sternly.
"But…there are snakes in there," said Fiona.
"They are behind glass, Miss Black. Now, move along," said Mr. Grant.
"But, I don't like snakes," pleaded Fiona futilely as Mr. Grant steered her into the reptile house. Fiona's eyes were clutched closed as they walked into the dimly lit area. Suddenly, there was a scream. Fiona slowly opened her eyes. The sound was coming from the outside.
*
Nell was sighing. She glanced at her watch and was relieved to see that it was almost time for the last appointment before she had to go pick up Fiona from school and take her to Ryu Ran. She still didn't completely trust him. He seemed nice enough, but there was something about him that Nell couldn't quite place.
Sirius walked into the office early because he wanted to make sure that was at the right place. Sirius had his hair tied back. He had been hoping to get it cut, but didn't have the time to. He was dressed in a wooly turtleneck sweater with black jeans and a leather coat over his shoulders. The receptionist looked up from her desk and nearly fell back.
"Sir, how may I help you?" asked the lady. Sirius recognized her voice from the phone.
"Shelley? I'm Andrew Smith and I have an appointment to see Dr. Nell Lawson," said Sirius.
"Um…yes," said the receptionist as she looked through some papers. She found some and handed them to him. "I need your insurance card and identification card," she added.
"No problem," said Sirius. Professor Dumbledore had supplied him with all the supplies he would need to pose as a normal Muggle. He went though his wallet and pulled out the cards. All he had to do was pick an identity and do a spell. The cards had all his assumed name. There was also another spell that would wipe whatever information they had down about him clean. "I'll return these to you when you get back with the other paperwork," she said.
Sirius walked off with the clipboard and pen. He read it and found that it was questions about medical history. He thought that Muggles sure did things in a strange way. He filled it in as best he could. He also noticed that there were other Muggles filling in the same form, and they were also having the same problems. He came to the conclusion that the whole thing was ridiculous. He also knew that he tolerated twelve years in Azkaban, and he wasn't about to let a little Muggle paperwork break him down.
He retuned the paperwork and got his cards back. He waited and was called to one of the examining rooms. The nurse checked him with strange Muggle devices and wrote things down on another clipboard. She left him and told him to wait for the doctor.
Five minutes later, Dr. Nell Lawson walked into the room. She was looking at the chart, so she wasn't looking at him just yet. Sirus studied this woman. She was about as tall as Lily Potter. Her hair was brown and clipped back in an elegant bun. Her eyebrows were distinctive because they gave her a look of inquisitive professionalism. "Well, Mr. Smith. You're here for a physical. It says here that you haven't had one in fifteen years. Why don't we get started?" she suggested as she finally looked up at him. He was sitting on the examining table and she nearly dropped her clipboard at the sight of him.
She flicked her right wrist and a wand appeared in her hand. She muttered a spell that put a shield in the room that prevented noise from escaping from within. "You!" she said.
Sirius smirked at her. "I suppose formal introductions aren't necessary?" he asked her calmly.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Nell without lowering her wand.
"I am here for my daughter," said Sirius. He held out Thalia's diary to Nell. She didn't lower her wand at all.
"Fine. You have Thalia's diary. What's your point? I was given custody of her daughter. You're just a breeding stock," said Nell defensively. "You just left her with a baby. I was there before she was born. I was there when she was growing up. You're not a father."
Sirius appeared emotionless. He had expected someone to tell him all this. He dared to look into Nell's eyes. "I would like to be a father. There is nothing I can do for Thalia. But, for Fiona I will do anything to keep her safe," he said softly.
Nell looked him over. "Let me give you some thing. I'll trust you to stay here." She walked to the door, wrenched it open, and walked out of the room. She went into her office and picked up a vial of clear liquid.
Sirius sat there. He had to trust her not to call the wizarding authorities. She came back and closed the door. She had brought back a syringe with her. Sirius watched with interest as she put a needle into the vial and siphoned some of the liquid into it.
"What is that?" asked Sirius out of curiosity.
"Veritaserum," said Nell. She walked up to him. "Roll up your sleeve."
Sirius rolled up his sleeve without hesitation. Nell smeared his arm in his inner elbow with a cotton ball with alcohol on it. She quickly injected him with the needle, causing him to wince from both pain and surprise. He would have said something, but he felt the effects quickly. It was much quicker than it would have been if he had ingested it.
"What are you doing in San Francisco?" asked Nell.
"I am here to find my daughter and you. I must bring her to Hogwarts," said Sirius.
"Who is helping you?" asked Nell.
"Albus Dumbledore and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. We are trying to prevent Voldemort from attacking her," answered Sirius.
"How did you find out about your daughter?" asked Nell.
"My friend, Remus Lupin, told me. He heard it from Severus Snape. He was Thalia's best friend. He was the one who got Thalia way from her father."
Nell decided that this was all she wanted to hear, but that didn't soften her anger towards him. Thalia was not there to stand up for herself, so Nell was going to be the one to do it for her. "Why did you abandon your wife and unborn child?" she asked harshly.
"I found out from Death Eaters that the daughter of Voldemort was married to an Auror. I came home and asked her if she was the daughter of Voldemort. She said she was. I did not give her a chance to explain. I just left her. I did not know about Fiona," said Sirius. Even through the Veritaserum, he was having trouble talking about Thalia.
"Why didn't you give her a chance to explain?"
"I was stubborn and angry with her for lying for so long. I took her into my home. I thought that she made me look like a fool. I thought that she was working for her father. I was going to turn her to the Ministry," answered Sirius. He thought of what would have happened if he had. It wouldn't have taken long before they found out about the baby. Fiona could have been born in Azkaban. That sent a shiver down his spine. It was better that he was sent instead.
"Did you kill James and Lily Potter?" asked Nell thoughtfully.
"No, I did not," replied Sirius.
Nell froze in place. Thalia had said that it had to be Peter Pettigrew. She didn't know exactly what happened, but she knew that Sirius didn't do it. Nell wanted to kick herself for not believing Thalia. "Who did?" asked Nell.
"Voldemort. I was supposed to be my best friend's secret keeper, but I decided to trick Voldemort by making Peter the secret keeper. He turned over James, Lily, and Harry Potter to Voldemort. They were living at Godric's Hollow. By the time I got there it was too late," said Sirius. He would have said more, but Nell stopped him before he could.
She couldn't ask him anymore questions. She knew the rest of the story, but she didn't know about Peter. She just didn't want to hear anymore. It took a couple of minutes for the Veritaserum to wear off. She was careful to keep her wand trained on him as he went back to normal.
"Why did you have to prick me with a needle to do that? I would have drank it willingly," said Sirius as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers.
"I wanted it to work quickly. And I just wanted to do it that way," said Nell. She was being more sadistic than she normally was, but she didn't care. However, she softened up when she gave him a good long look. There was no denying the haunted look in his eyes. She could see some of Fiona's features. It was fairly obvious that Fiona got her hair from him. He was a tall man, but he managed to make himself look small.
"I can't have you near Fiona. She's not safe," said Nell.
"I have to bring her to Hogwarts before he finds her," said Sirius firmly. He was trying to hold his patience with this irritating woman. He knew that she was trying to protect Fiona. She also had a way of remaining calm without trying. Sirius thought that she reminded him of Remus. In short, she wasn't stupid and not easily fooled.
She opened her mouth to speak, but there came a knock at the door. She flicked her wrist and put her wand away. "Who is it?" asked Nell.
"Um…there's a call for you from the school," said the nurse timidly from behind the door. Nell didn't need to ask which school. She sighed and picked up the phone that was in the examining room.
"Hello, Nell Lawson speaking," she said. The expression on her face was funny. Sirius had a feeling it was not a good call. He smirked slightly at it. What did Fiona do?
"I'll be there," said Nell.
"What happened?" asked Sirius.
"Something happened at the zoo. The trip was cut short, so I have to go and pick up Fiona," said Nell.
"I'm coming with you," insisted Sirius. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"No, you're not," said Nell.
"Of course I am," said Sirius.
"No, you're not," repeated Nell. "She's not ready to meet with you yet. She's just barely adjusting to the idea of being a witch and having magic."
"She won't have to see me at all. I'm not ready to meet with her either, but I'm going to at least see her," said Sirius.
"How? You haven't got a cloak of invisibility otherwise you would have been around here a while ago," snapped Nell smartly at him.
He was starting to wonder how Thalia tolerated her at all. As much as he appreciated Nell's protectiveness of Fiona, he was starting to get really annoyed with her. Sirius kept his cool because he knew that his temper wouldn't get him anywhere in this case. Nell was the main obstacle that kept him from at least seeing Fiona.
"I have my ways. Where is the school?" asked Sirius.
Nell sighed, but she gave him the directions to go to the school. They pretended that the appointment was over. The nurse half expected Nell to be mad at her for interrupting her while she was with a patient, but to her relief she wasn't instead she and Mr. Smith walked out of the examining room.
"All right, Mr. Smith. That's all," said Nell in a neutral voice.
"Thank you, Dr. Lawson," said Sirius with a nod as he left the office. Nell took off her lab coat. "I have to go and pick up my goddaughter from school."
*
Fiona stayed still waiting for Nell to pick her up. The incident at the zoo was going to make the evening news for sure. She wasn't so sure herself about what happened at the zoo. The only thing she knew was that chaos had broken out at the zoo. While she was thinking about it, Nell pulled up.
"Fiona, what happened?" asked Nell worriedly.
"Can we talk about it at home? I already told my sensei that I can't go to the lessons today. He said it was fine" asked Fiona. Nell nodded. If it had anything to do with magic, it was best not to discuss it out in the open. Fiona looked around a bit before she got into the car. She saw a big, black dog sitting across the street. She could have sworn that it was watching her. She got into the car.
When they got home, Fiona presented Nell with two pieces of paper for her to sign. Nell skimmed over them and found out that they were legal waivers, one from the zoo and one from the school. They had to be signed so that the school and zoo had protection from being liable for damages. She looked at Fiona suspiciously, "What are these for?"
"Um…just so you don't find out when you watch the news or read the paper, I'll tell you right now. You see I went to the zoo today. Everything was going fine until we had to into the reptile house…" trailed off Fiona thoughtfully.
Nell rubbed her temple. "Oh, no. I don't like where this is going," she muttered.
"Well, you see, Mr. Grant made me go into the reptile house. Suddenly, there was all this screaming. All the reptiles, including the snakes were gone from the cages." Fiona paused.
"Go on," said Nell with a sigh, knowing what had happened next.
"In retrospect, it would have been safer to stay inside the reptile house because all the snakes and other reptiles were outside," said Fiona in a hurried rush. She looked at Nell as if she was getting ready to be yelled at.
"Do you know how that happened?" asked Nell.
"No. I honestly don't know what happened. None of the zookeepers do. They checked the cameras, and all the reptiles just vanished into thin air and reappeared outside. People were screaming and panicking. The komodo dragon ate a woman's sandal, Aunt Nell," said Fiona.
Nell groaned. It was magic. "Fiona, go to your room," said Nell after a moment passed.
"Are you mad at me? Did I really do something wrong?" asked Fiona as she retreated towards her room.
"No, I just have to think about what to do," said Nell as she signed the forms. Fiona went upstairs after casting Nell another worried look.
Nell was afraid of something like this happening. Each incident was getting progressively larger. Fiona's magic had to be harnessed and trained soon. She had a decision to make. She looked out the window and saw the big, shaggy black dog that Fiona had seen earlier. He was watching the house from across the street. Nell was going to have to discuss it with him.
She went to the door and opened it. "Come on," she ordered. The dog crossed the street and came to the door. He wagged his tail as Nell let him in.
She closed the door and turned back to see that Sirius was now standing in the place where the dog had been. "Thalia never told me that you were an Animagi," said Nell quietly. She suddenly realized that the stuffed black dog that Fiona had looked sort of like Sirius' Animagus form. That was why she thought he was a suspicious dog. No wonder Thalia got it for Fiona just before she was born.
"I'm not registered," admitted Sirius as he looked upstairs. "Is her room up there?"
"Yes, but she's going to stay there until dinner. I have to decide what to do about what happened today. No doubt that the Agency of Magic is already investigating this," said Nell.
"What happened?" asked Sirius.
Nell explained what happened at the zoo to him. He had a mixed look of amusement, pride, and disapproval when she was done. "If there's one thing Thalia did wrong, it's not training Fiona to learn how to use her magic. She's too unpredictable if she can't control her magic," said Sirius worriedly.
"Thalia was one of the most stubborn women alive, Mr. Black. Nothing I said made a dent, so I decided to help her rather than argue with her. 'If you can't beat them, join them,'" said Nell.
"I will have to talk to her soon, but that doesn't mean I can't spend any time with her, before then" said Sirius.
"You can't stay here. I don't care if the great Albus Dumbledore sent you or not," said Nell as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Aunt Nell, who are you talking to?" asked Fiona as she came back down. "I forgot my book bag." She stopped when she saw the same black dog from the school. He was standing there with his tail wagging. It looked like he had a smile on his face. Fiona's eyes lit up. "Oh, a dog!" she exclaimed happily as she went to pet it.
"Fiona, don't get too attached," said Nell helplessly. It was too late. Fiona was already getting to know the dog. The dog snuffed at her before giving her a lick on her cheek. Fiona laughed. She scratched the dog behind his ears.
"Can't we keep him? He doesn't have any tags or anything," said Fiona in a hopeful voice. The dog let out a whine as Fiona pouted at Nell. "I've always wanted a dog. Can't we keep this one? He looks like he's been trained already. I know that I've asked for the martial arts lessons and the keyboard, but I want to keep the dog. You don't have to give me the keyboard for my birthday, and that's months away, if you just let me keep the dog. See? He's friendly. He won't hurt me."
Nell felt like she was going to melt under Fiona's pleas. She took one look at Sirius and glared at him for good measure. He knew that Fiona liked dogs from Thalia's diary, and he had used it against Nell. "Please, Aunt Nell," pleaded Fiona. "He's homeless. It's cold outside. He's also probably hungry. Please, Aunt Nell."
"Oh, right. Just for a little while until his owner finds him," said Nell reluctantly.
"Woohoo! Come on, boy, let's go to my room," said Fiona happily as she took the dog with her.
Nell needed to sit down. What she wouldn't give for a vacation. Or a day trip to a spa.
Sirius couldn't believe his luck. He was actually with his daughter. He looked at her. She was as beautiful as her mother. She had dimples on her cheeks and her mother's thick eye lashes. She also had her nose, high, broad cheeks, lips, and ears. Sirius walked into the room to find that it was very plain. He saw a desk, a dresser, and a bed. It was a small room, but she was a small girl.
Fiona sat on the floor and leaned her back against the bed. Sirius walked over and sat down next to her. He just wanted to look at her. She looked delicate like her mother. Her eyes weren't like her mother's or his. They were like bright rubies. Her skin was as pale as Thalia's.
"You're a good dog, aren't you?" she asked him. She scatched behind his ears again. He obligingly wagged his tail. He was just glad to be with her. "You're also a big dog. I bet you'd be taller than me on your hind legs. You can keep the snakes away," she told him.
Sirius barked to give her an answer. She smiled and laughed. She hadn't laughed since her mother died. Her laugh was like a nightingale, like her mother's. It made Sirius sad, so he whined. "It's okay, boy. Aunt Nell will let you stay, and even if she doesn't I'll keep you anyway," assured Fiona. "Let's see, what can I name you?"
Sirius took a real look around the room for the first time. He saw the stuff dog on the top of the dresser and barked at it. "Oh, that's just Scruffy. He's only stuffed. My mom got him for me before I was born. Wait…you look like Scruffy," said Fiona as she stood up and picked up the toy.
She went back to Sirius and held the stuffed dog next to his head. She studied both of them together. "You do look like Scruffy, but that would be too confusing. What should I name you?" asked Fiona.
Sirius already had a name as a dog, but whatever Fiona wanted to call him was just fine. "I'll call you, Scruffy after Scruffy," said Fiona after ten minutes of silence. She really had to think of a name for the dog.
Sirius looked at her and barked. "Yes, that will work. Oh, look it's Sirius." She said suddenly, catching Sirius by surprise. "That's the star outside. It's my father's name. Actually, I've never met him and I didn't know that was his name until Aunt Nell told me. It's the name of the Dog Star, Canis Major. The brightest star in the heavens," said Fiona. The sun had set and the stars were coming out into the clear sky.
Fiona went back to scratching his ears for a while. After that she did her homework as he watched her. He couldn't believe how well adjusted she was. She finished her school homework and pulled out another notebook. Sirius watched with some interest as she opened it, but then Nell called, "It's time for dinner!"
"I'm coming!" called back Fiona. "Let's go," They both went down for dinner.
AN: This was a longer chapter than expected. Fiona's day at the zoo was supposed to be like Harry's in the first book. Don't worry, we'll be back to Harry, Draco, and the others in the next part. For now, Sirius gets with to be Fiona, even though she just thinks he's a dog. Ryu will start the real magic training soon. Voldemort should make an appearance really soon, too. There's lots of stuff going on.
Yes, I know that dogs are color blind. But, Sirius really isn't a real dog, so it's okay that he can see colors. Good enough?
Disclaimer: This story belongs to me, but most of the characters don't. You should know which ones belongs to J.K. Rowling. ^_^