Unraveled
Chapter Nine: The Case of the Missing Dragon
The next morning, Sirius woke up out in the living room. Fiona had wanted him to sleep in her room, but Nell drew the line there. He woke to find Nell in the kitchen cooking bacon and eggs the Muggle way at the stove. Fiona came downstairs and greeted Nell a good morning as she went to Sirius.
Nell was a little unnerved that Fiona had given him a name because that made him more permanent. She had eyed him cautiously and waited for Fiona to go to sleep before talking to him the night before. Nell and Sirius had agreed that it was best for him to stay for the time being. Fiona had already lost so much in such a short time that it would be horrible to force her to get rid of Sirius.
"Let's go have breakfast, boy. I'll sneak you some bacon," said Fiona. She knew that it wasn't really good to feed dogs bacon, but she wanted him with her. Sirius complied and followed her to the kitchen.
"I have the letters signed for you to take back," said Nell as she took a sip of coffee. She put it down and eyed Sirius. She wasn't so sure about leaving him in the house by himself. He had given her his word that he would behave. "After your martial arts, I'll pick you up and we have to start working on your magic," she said unceremoniously.
"What?" asked Fiona as she blinked.
"I've decided that this latest incident at the zoo is a sign I can't ignore. Your magic is going to go out of control, if I don't do something. Because you can't go to a normal magical school, I will have to train you myself," Nell informed her.
Fiona's mind started to whirl. She bit her lip. She wanted to tell Nell about her sensei's offer to teach her. She didn't know quite how to tell her, so she kept her mouth shut. Fiona was careful not to tell anyone, including the dog.
He seemed like a very smart dog that could understand every word she said. When she was working on her homework and needed her pencil case, he brought it to her. "I have to take the dog for a walk," said Fiona hurriedly.
If Sirius were in his human form, he would have raised an eyebrow at her. He knew what that look on Fiona's face meant. He had had the look on his own face numerous times when he was her age. She was up to something. He knew it because he had invented that look.
"That's all right. I'll take him. You have to go to school," said Nell. They hurried and put the plates in the sink for Nell to do when she returned. Sirius changed back to his human form as soon as they were out the door. He stretched out his body.
He looked around him and decided to help himself to some food. Nell had volunteered to feed and walk him, so that Fiona wouldn't have to do those things. Nell didn't do them either, but said that she did. He picked out some fruits and ate that. He wasn't sure if he should move around the kitchen too much, but he decided to make himself useful and do the dishes.
Afterwards, Sirius looked around the house more closely. The thing that interested him was in Fiona's room. There was a bullet board with pictures pinned on it. He wanted to look at them more closely. As far as he could tell, they were pictures of Fiona at various ages with her mother.
He noticed that Fiona was rather impish when she was young. Her ruby eyes always held some mischief in them. He smiled because he knew that she got that from him. The more he was around her, the more he realized that she had a lot of him in her. She looked like her mother, but she had a lot of his personality. Fiona didn't display all the awards she had received in school, martial arts, or archery.
Sirius decided it was high time that he contacted Remus. He and the students would be back at Hogwarts. When he came back downstairs, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked, so he changed into his dog form.
Nell walked towards him with her hands on her hips. "I refuse to look ridiculous by talking to a dog like it were a person," said Nell.
Sirius turned back to his human form. "Very well," he said. She was annoying. She was annoying in a Remus sort of way. She had a way of making Sirius feel stupid.
"What were you doing while I was gone?" asked Nell.
"I was upstairs looking at Fiona's pictures," answered Sirius.
"Oh," said Nell simply. "I'm going to make some coffee and we'll discuss what to start Fiona on tonight."
"Yes, but I would like to contact my friend, Remus Lupin. He's a professor at Hogwarts," said Sirius.
"A professor? What subject?" asked Nell with interest.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," answered Sirius.
Sirius went to call Remus, while Nell made some coffee with beans from Hawaii. She came back with the cups, sugar, and cream. Sirius took his black with some sugar in it. The fireplace was going. Nell saw the head of a handsome man who wore a tired expression on his face.
"You must be Nell Lawson," said Remus mildly.
"That's Doctor Lawson, Professor Lupin. I didn't go through eight years at Muggle universities not to be called by the title that I have earned," said Nell stiffly.
"My apologies, Dr. Lawson," said Remus sincerely.
"I was just telling him about Fiona,' said Sirius.
"He was talking about the magic lessons. Perhaps I should send over a copy of the curriculum at Hogwarts to there. I can get my hands on all the lesson plans from the other teachers," offered Remus.
"What about Snape?" asked Sirius as he took a sip of the coffee. It tasted good.
"Snape would be more than willing to give his plans to me for Fiona's education. And if he doesn't, Professor Dumbledore will make him," said Remus.
A realization came over Nell at that moment, "Wait…you are one of Fiona's godfathers. That man you just mentioned, is he Severus Snape?" asked Nell.
"Yes," said Remus.
"He's Fiona's other godfather. Thalia chose you because she was sure that you'd be his pick," said Nell as she jerked her thumb towards Sirius, "But, she picked Serevus Snape because he was the one who got her out of her father's stronghold in the Moors. Thalia said that she was her first friend and the person her father engaged her to marry. Of course, she ended up with him." Nell once again jerked her thumb towards Sirius.
Sirius looked unaffected by Nell's insult because he had also remembered something, "What about Draco Malfoy?" he asked.
Remus' brow furrowed. That rarely happened, so Sirius was immediately concerned. "He's disappeared. Professor Dumbledore knows what happened, but so far no one has reported it yet. It seems that Snape knows something about it, but he's not talking. Then again, he usually avoids telling things anyway."
"Who are we talking about?" asked Nell, even though only the men were talking about it. She refused to be excluded, if this involved Fiona in anyway.
"The son of Lucius Malfoy. He's a Death Eater, so was Snape. Snape is working for Dumbledore, so we're forced to work with him as well," said Sirius, unable to hide his dislike for Snape.
Nell nodded. "And this son of a Death Eater has turned up missing? What happened exactly?" she asked.
Remus went on to explain what had happened in London. Nell shook her head when he was done. She paid more attention to how simple it was to trace her. "I should have known better than to go home," she muttered.
"It's better that we found you. Don't worry about it. I doubt that the Death Eaters would think of using the Muggle way to find a person," reassured Remus.
"I doubt that. You forget that Voldemort is half-Muggle," argued Nell.
Both men could not deny that she was correct. Even though, Voldemort thought that the Muggles were inferior creatures that didn't mean he wouldn't find a way to use them Sirius was now more than concerned. "What about this teacher she's talking martial arts from?" asked Sirius.
"He's a Muggle. Harmless," said Nell.
"It might be better if I just show myself, so that the lessons will go faster. I don't want her attending Hogwarts without knowing something. But, right now, I'm sort of concerned about Draco Malfoy. The fact that he was seen in Muggle London wearing Muggle clothes coming out of a place where lots of Muggles go to, none of it sounds like the actions of a future Death Eater," said Sirius.
Nell had a thoughtful look on her face. She knew that kind of behavior. She had seen it before. "It's rebellion," she whispered softly.
"What do you mean?" asked Remus.
"A moment of clarity. I think that Draco Malfoy made a run for it. At certain point in everyone's life, we are forced to make a decision that will lead us down a path. We decide which side we want to be on. Draco made a choice. He chose not to join with the dark side. Either because he decided that they were wrong, or certain circumstances forced him to do so. Or both," said Nell solemnly.
Sirius thought that Nell seemed veryfamiliar with that decision. Then, he realized it was Thalia who must have said that all to Nell. "Even if it means death," whispered Sirius.
"But, what I don't understand is why Draco Malfoy is so important? Although, if that's the only student missing I'd see what the problem was," said Nell thoughtfully.
"He's the one that Voldemort decided should be Fiona's husband," said Remus.
Nell's jaw dropped, but she closed it. "Well, I should have expected something like that. Thalia told me that's how the Death Eaters were sure to maintain loyalty. There aren't that many female Death Eaters, the few, are attached through their husbands. No single, female Death Eaters. The Death Eaters purposely arrange marriages into pure blood families and try to get the most out of it. They also like to pick women who are weak in personality and easily controlled," said Nell matter-of-factly.
"Looks like that's not what Voldemort got in his daughter or granddaughter. My wife never mentioned her mother, so I never learned about her," said Sirius sadly.
Nell arched her eyebrows at him when he called Thalia his wife. She tried to relax because it was true. "Thalia knew nothing about her. Apparently, her father was not happy with having a daughter, so her mother was sent away. Or killed. Thalia wasn't sure," said Nell.
"Either way, we have to find Draco Malfoy before the Death Eaters find out what he's up to," said Remus.
"I suppose so because he hasn't done anything yet," said Sirius with a sigh. He really didn't care what had happened to Draco Malfoy as long he didn't marry or even look at Fiona.
They went on to talk for about another hour before Remus announced that he had to go and teach a class. They talked about Harry Potter. Nell was rather impressed about The Boy Who Lived. Little did they know that Fiona had plans of her own.
*
Fiona wasn't about to let the opportunity to learn a different magic from her godmother and almost everyone else slip past her. She had to tell Nell in a way that wouldn't look like she was trying to trick her. She bit her lip as she thought of it. She bit her lip as she thought of it. What she didn't know was that someone just under six feet tall with platinum blonde hair and gray eyes was watching her.
Draco couldn't believe he was actually working for Professor Dumbledore. Also, in case he got caught, he could say that he had located the Dark Lord's granddaughter. He watched her carefully. She was a lot prettier than he had expected. He was half expecting a dragon with two heads. The thing that disturbed him the most were her eyes. They were identical to the Dark Lord's. Other than that, she was pretty.
He watched as a group of girls ran into her without care. They didn't even apologize. He thought that she would have gotten angry, but when she didn't, he was even more surprised. It looked like she was thinking about something. He noticed the other students didn't talk to her that much. He quickly concluded that she preferred to be alone.
As far as Draco could tell, it didn't look like she had any magical abilities. Either that or she was really good at hiding them. Even without training, Draco had expected something from her. She was the granddaughter of the Dark Lord. He didn't even hear he talk. She was rather quiet.
He observed the other Muggle students going into the school. If anything, they should be moving aside or serving her. He had certain expectations of her, but she didn't act at all like she was supposed to. She was pure blood. The Muggles were friendly enough around her. He wondered what Muggles did at school. What did they study, if they didn't study magic?
He watched as a lady dropped Fiona off at school and left. He knew that the lady was Fiona's guardian. So, Draco was sure that she was also a witch. How could anyone who looked like an angel be a threat to the rest of the world by just existing?
Fiona had her cell phone and decided to call Sensei Ran as soon as lunch started. She walked off to be by herself and didn't think to look around to see if she was being watched. Most of the kids left her alone. "Hello? Sensei?" she said.
Draco watched her with wonderment. He wondered why she was talking to herself, but he noticed that she had something up to her ear. Why was she talking to that?
"You know about what happened in the zoo on Friday? Well, we have a bit of a dilemma. Nell decided that it's time to teach me magic," said she in a hushed voice. Draco's eyes widened.
"So, you want to tell her? It's a good thing we didn't really start yet. I did get a chance to read the notes that I was supposed to, but I need a wand," said Fiona further.
He noted that she had a soft voice that was almost musical. Her voice also sounded a little sultry. She pulled her hair behind her ear. She was more than pretty. Draco felt his cheeks get warm. Maybe, it wouldn't be so bad just to get to know her. Draco knew that she was talking about magic, but she was doing it quietly.
That thought shook him. Professor Snape said that she hadn't been trained in magic, but it sounded like she was getting some training. Draco hadn't expected that. "I don't think I want to be there when you tell her. In a word, she's going to be pissed," said Fiona quietly.
Draco wondered what they were talking about exactly, and he wished he could hear what the other person was saying. It was hard trying to piece together what they were talking about. Finally, Fiona stopped talking and put the Muggle device away. She walked back towards the school.
Something else caught Draco's ears, "It was weird yesterday at the zoo, wasn't it?" laughed one of the girls.
"Yeah, how did all the snakes get lose like that?" said another boy.
Draco smirked slightly. It wasn't that hard to figure out who did what. He noticed that the school had rather old buildings in it that reminded him strongly of Hogwarts. He wondered what he was missing there. That thought jolted him, as he'd never thought he'd actually miss school.
*
"Malfoy never came back," said Hermione quietly as she walked with Harry and Ron. It was very suspicious indeed. There were so many strange things going on, and Malfoy was the latest thing.
"Do you think he finally lost it?" asked Ron.
"It's hard to tell," said Harry as they continued walking.
"To tell what?" asked a voice from behind them. Fred and George Weasley were standing behind them with Ginny Weasley. The three of them wondered why Ron had been called away with Hermione and Harry for the weekend. Professor Lupin had instructed them not to say anything about the whole thing.
"Where are you three off to?" asked George.
"The Common Room," answered Ron. Fred and George glanced at each other. They knew when someone was hiding something. Ginny kept her mouth shut, but she was worried about her brother and his friends. She smiled shyly at Harry.
"What have you three been up to lately? It's been too quiet," said Fred.
"Nothing. Lay off," said Ron defensively.
"Look, it's our last year here, and we won't be able to get in on the fun anymore once we leave. Why not just tell us what you're up to?" asked George. He was referring to himself and Fred. Actually, they were kind of worried. Despite all the joking around that Fred and George did, they still worried about things like everyone else. Last year was an eye opener for both of them. They had never realized that Ron was in danger just for associating with Harry, so they had made it their mission to make sure nothing happened to the trio. Fred and George were trying to look discreet about it, so they appeared to be annoying instead.
"Then go find something better to do than asking me questions," said Ron. Funny, last year Fred and George thought he was annoying for doing the same thing. But, this was about the war that was brewing, not about stupid gambling debts. Harry gave his winnings to the twins after the Triwizard Tournament.
"Are you talking about Draco Malfoy?" asked Ginny in a quiet voice. "Everyone's talking about that. Professor Snape is looking into it, and Professor Dumbledore gave strict orders that no one is to say anything about it to the outside."
Harry stopped at his tracks the moment Ginny mentioned it. "We thought that you'd be relieved that he's gone," said Fred.
"You'd think so wouldn't you?" said Hermione.
"He's been acting strange since the year began anyway. He hasn't been so insulting. He doesn't even bother to look at you guys during the meals," observed George.
"He looks at us?" asked Ron.
"No doubt planning what to do to you guys. He just looks like he's thinking," said Fred. "I didn't notice at first. I was surprised that he was capable of doing that."
"Something must have happened during the summer. Let's go to the Common Room. We shouldn't stand here in the middle of the hallway like this," said Hermione.
They didn't talk anymore until they got to the Common Room. Everyone had noticed that Draco Malfoy was acting strange. He was usually more agressively making trouble for other students, but he seemed more subdued and quiet this year. Another thing, Draco's mother wasn't sending anything to him. She wasn't sending his usual amount of cakes and candies from home. Neville caught up with them during their discussion. He mentioned that Draco Malfoy had gone one early morning to go to Hogsmeade. Neville had noticed because Malfoy left by himself. That was another observation that Seamus and Dean added when they joined the group. Malfoy was alone often. They heard Pansy Parkinson loudly whining about Draco pushing her away.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry had the largest evidence that Malfoy was acting strange out of all of them. They had seen him in London wearing Muggle clothes coming out of a Muggle department store. They kept their mouths shut, but each was carefully listening to everyone who offered something. These were observations they could report Sirius and Remus later.
What they didn't know was that Remus already knew that Draco was sent to San Francisco to keep an eye on Fiona Black. Professor Dumbledore didn't think it was a good idea for Remus to tell Sirius about Draco, especially considering that Draco was Voldemort's choice for Fiona.
*
Draco was waiting for the Muggle school to let up, so he was sitting on the concrete wall reading the book he had bought from London while staying in the shade. The sun usually burned his skin, so he stayed out of it as much as possible. There were magic creams for sunburns, but he didn't have any.
"What are you reading?" asked a sweet voice from below him. He looked down from where he was sitting at the lovely face of Fiona Black.
"Lord of the Rings," answered Draco.
"It's a good book. Well, I have to go. Just wondering," said Fiona as she walked off. She saw Nell and waved at her. She got into the car. Draco had to jump off the wall. He went off to follow them. He noted the direction they went. He had to figure where they were going first, but he did noticed that there was a big, black dog in the backseat of the car. He thought that was a little strange.
"Why did you bring Scruffy with you?" asked Fiona. She looked at the dog in the backseat. He looked happy to see her.
"Well, I had to bring him with me. I didn't want him wrecking the house while we were gone. By the way, I've been calling him Snuffles all day. He won't listen to Scuffy anymore," said Nell. She and Sirius had discussed it, and they had both agreed that it was easier to call him Snuffles.
Sirius barked because Nell had indirectly insulted him. He laid his head down after that. "See? I told you he likes Snuffles better," said Nell with a smile.
"Okay, but only because I couldn't really come up with a name other than Scruffy. Snuffles sounds stupid," said Fiona. Sirius barked again because Fiona was now insulting him. "By the way, I was wondering if the wizards found him yet. What will happen if they do, Aunt Nell?"
"Honey, do you know what it's like in Azkaban?" asked Nell softly.
"It's a prison. Aren't all prisons the same?" asked Fiona with a shrug. Sirius didn't like where this conversation was going at all.
"Wizards prisons are different from non-Magic prisons, Fin. Azkaban is the worst prison ever built. It's also one of the oldest. They don't have normal guards like normal prisons. No, they have Dementors instead," said Nell quietly.
"What are Dementors?" asked Fiona quietly. Sirius let out a soft whine. He would prefer that Fiona never hear of it. He would have preferred her to remain as innocent as possible, but there was no other way.
"They are monster that suck the happiness out of anyone near them. They take away all happy thoughts, even ones in dreams. They break down the soul and the mind. When those go, the body will too along with the heart. Most of the prisoners go mad early on. All of them wish that they were just executed. The worst part is what the Dementors really can do," said Nell, pausing.
"What?" whispered Fiona. She felt a chill go down her spine while Nell was talking. Sirius sensed Fiona's fear immediately. He glared at Nell for scaring her.
"I know that you're scared. I don't want to frighten you, but I need you to understand. The Dementor's Kiss is the worst punishment. Death would be kinder than it. The Dementor's Kiss sucks the soul out of the person, so they don't have one. They become merely shells. That's worst than death, Fin," continued Nell.
They both remained silent for the rest of the trip. Sirius was worried about Fiona being scared. Fiona was thinking about her father. She bit her lip in thought. She thought of him not having a soul or having his mind gone. She couldn't help, but feel sorry for him, even if he had abandoned her mother and her.
When they arrived at Sensei Ran's flat, they got out of the car slowly. Sirius walked next to Fiona and he was looking around to make sure nothing would hurt her. He wanted to see her teacher. They were greeted by a gentle looking Asian man who was tall and handsome.
"Hello," he said in a gentle voice as he looked at Fiona and Nell. He looked straight at Sirius, making him uncomfortable. Sirius could swear that the man knew he wasn't a real dog.
"Hello Sensei," said Fiona as she bowed to him formally.
"Who is this?" asked the man as he walked over to Sirius.
"This is Snuffles. We just got him," said Fiona proudly. Sirius wagged his tail at her tone.
"I see," said Ryu. He had heard about the dog earlier from Fiona, but they both agreed that they had to look like they hadn't talked at all. However, the dog was making him feel unsettled. Ryu Ran was also an Animagus. He could tell another one just by looking at him or her. He wanted to know what this Animagus was doing with Fiona. He looked at Nell.
"Excuse me, Dr. Lawson, but there is something important to tell you," said Ryu in a more serious tone.
"Tell me what?" asked Nell as she looked at Fiona. She realized that Fiona was backing away from her as if she knew that Nell was going to be angry. "Fiona Lily Black, what is going on?" she demanded in an angry tone.
Fiona knew she was in trouble when Nell used her full name. Sirius watched Fiona look back at her teacher. He had seen that look on James' face before, and he was pretty sure that he wore that look as well. "Well…you see, Aunt Nell, don't get mad. Promise me you won't get mad," said Fiona. Sirius wanted to shake his head, knowing that wasn't going to work.
"I promise I will get mad," said Nell evenly.
"Sensei Ran isn't a non-Magic. He's a wizard," said Fiona in a quick, small voice. She stepped closer to Sirius. The look on Nell's face made Sirius want to back up.
"Fiona!" shouted Nell.
"But…Aunt Nell, you weren't going to let me learn magic. I had to find another way. And besides, Sensei Ran offered to teach me along with the martial arts," said Fiona.
"You lied to me," said Nell coldly.
"But, you're lying as well," said Ryu Ran bravely. He earned a glare from Nell that would have turned Medusa to stone.
"Yes, I lied about her mother, her father, and everything else. But that was to protect her," said Nell in a cold, defensive tone.
Ryu Ran waved his hand way at what she said as he eyes narrowed at Sirius, "You're lying to her right now." Without a wand he murmured a spell familiar to Sirius' ears.
Sirius immediate felt the counter spell for his animagi spell. He felt his body being twisted and pulled apart to be rearranged once again. He knew that he was back in his human form. "Snuffles?" asked Fiona. "What's going on?"
Sirius straightened up. His back was still to Fiona. He didn't have to be a dog to sense her fear. "What's going on?" repeated Fiona as she backed away from all of them.
"Fiona," said Sirius gently as he turned around.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Fiona at the stranger, causing him to recoil from her. It was very different from Harry's first reaction. She folded her arms over her body, instead of going into a more defensive stance like she had been taught. Sirius backed up a little bit, but he looked at her with sad, haunted eyes.
"Calm down, Fiona," said Ryu.
Fiona backed up until she was against a wall. "Who are you?" she whispered.
"Your father," whispered Sirius.
AN: Now that was most unexpected. I wasn't even planning to stop, but I thought it made a good cliffhanger. I'll take a little break after chapter ten. I've been ahead of schedule the whole time. I started writing this story before Living Memory was even completed. I really like this story a lot it goes back to more fantasy elements and it's surprisingly easy to write compared to Living Memory and Runaway Fox. There' s lots of things going on. I personally don't know who to link Fiona to either Harry or Draco. Draco is getting stronger; he and Fiona have finally met. Harry and Fiona are linked also, but in a different way, not just through their fathers.
There are lots of interesting characters in this story. It's starting to feel like a real fantasy novel. Although, people have argued that I'm a better mystery writer than a fantasy writer. I'd like to think I'm versatile. The next part Fiona and Sirius have a talk. I predict this story will be much longer than Living Memory or Runaway Fox.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. He belongs to J.K. Rowling. I own the characters that you don't see in the books, and probably never will.