Voldemort's Amnesia Jewel Little Bird Chapter Four

Fleur was definitely not Black's type. She was a bit too... unemotional most of the time. That unnerved him, though it seemed to suit Snape just fine.

Last night, she'd told them they could stay at her place, but that they had to flip a coin for the only spare bedroom (right off the kitchen) and to be quiet about it because she was going to bed. Since neither of them knew what she meant by "flip a coin," they waited until her bedroom door had closed, pulled out a Galleon, each picked a side, and tossed it.

Black won; Snape might have hexed him into next week if Black hadn't reminded them that Dumbledore told them to get along.

Being right next to the kitchen had its advantages; Black woke up to the smell of bacon and waffles. This hastened him out of bed and through a quick shower (the bathroom was right off from the dining room), and to the kitchen table as fast as he could go. Ever since he'd left Azkaban, he'd been ravenous.

He was halfway through his second waffle and third helping of bacon when Snape finally made an official appearance. While Black had put on a blue sweatshirt and khaki trousers, Snape wore almost they same thing as he did the day before, except that his turtleneck was made of wool and his pants were made of leather (all in black).

Black had to admit that it made Snape look intimidating. Not that he never had to Black's knowledge at any rate.

Fleur was as annoying as a house-elf, but Black didn't mind much. Dumbledore had mentioned something about a young child, so Black figured she was just used to doing this sort of thing. "Would you like some more coffee, Black?"

"Yes, please," he replied, holding out his mug. "This is excellent coffee."

"Yes, Neecole taught me how to make it the America way," she chirped as she filled his mug. "What about you, Severus?"

Wait, Black thought. Since when have she and Snape been on a first nape basis? Oh, right. She was a teacher suring Harry's fifth year.

"Thank you, I'll pour it myself." Snape did so as Fleur took another waffle from the waffle iron and poured more batter on the Muggle contraption. Black continued to wolf down his food, half-expecting Snape to make a rude comment.

It wasn't long in coming. "Hungry, mutt?"

Black's response was a glare; he couldn't say anything since his mouth was full. Snape just smiled and took a sip of his coffee.

The two of them looked up as something pattered down the stairs, through the living room and dining room, and into the kitchen. The little girl stopped when she saw them. Her eyes passed over Black with no emotion, but her face clearly revealed that she recognized Snape. As she stared at him, he smiled (Black nearly choked on his bacon; the smile was actually NICE) and wiggled his fingers at her. She wiggled her fingers back.

Black remembered where he'd seen her before. Snape had wanted to watch some children at a playground in a nearby town called Methuen, and this child had been the only one that had seen them.

At the moment, her shoulder length black hair was messy from not being brushed yet. She wore a pink nightshirt that went past her knees and held a stuffed Pegasus with rainbow colored hair under her arm. She turned to look at Fleur. "Mama?"

Fleur looked over her shoulder at her daughter and smiled. "Lily, these men will be staying with us for a while. Why don't you introduce yourself to them?"

Lily turned back to them an curtsied, as if her nightshirt were a dress. "Hello, I'm Lily De'Lacour," she chirped politely. She looked from Black to Snape. "Who ah you?"

"I'm Sirius Black." She had a Boston accent: she said "ah" instead of "ar." Black, personally, had always found that amusing. "And that scary thing," he pointed at his nemesis, "is called Severus Snape. He's more evil than he looks."

To his surprise, Snape only smiled. "Whereas Black has a habit of barking his head off too much."

Lily blinked, then giggled happily. She pointed at Black. "You was the dog!"

"Smart girl!" He complimented. She hugged her Pegasus and smiled at him. "Yes, I was the dog."

"What's this?" Fleur asked with curiosity, setting a place on the table for Lily. "How does she know you can transform into a dog?"

"We had a chance to watch her on the playground yesterday," Snape replied as Lily climbed into her seat. "Isn't that right, Lily?"

She nodded. "Yup!" She looked from him to Black. "You two is magic, right? Like Mama?"

Black beamed at her. "That's right! You're really ARE an intelligent little girl." Just to tease Fleur, he added, "You must get that from your father."

Fleur looked murderous as Snape snickered into his coffee mug. Black wondered at that; since when had Snape started laughing to HIS jokes?

"I don't have a daddy," Lily said with a bit of a scowl.

Snape looked like he wanted to say something to the child, but Fleur managed to prevent that. "Eat your breakfast, Lily." She quickly plopped a waffle on the child's plate. "Then go upstairs and get dressed; your Aunt Neecole will be here any minute to take you to school." She noticed that Black's plate was empty again. "Would you like another waffle, Black?"

"Yes, please," he said, holding out his plate.

"What about you, Severus?"

"No, thank you. I'll just take some bacon."

As Lily ate her waffle, Black noticed that Snape was watching her with an odd expression; the Potions Master seemed pleased about something. Every time Lily looked up at him, Snape either grinned or raised an eyebrow at her; either one made the girl smile back.

After Lily had finished and scampered back upstairs to get dressed, the front door opened and closed. Before long a young woman with dirty blond hair had entered the room, whistling and tossing a set of keys from hand to hand. Like Lily, she stopped when she saw Black and Snape.

"Hello, hello," She said with interest, a smile curving her lips. "Stahtin' a new job without tellin' me, Fleuh?" Another one with a Boston accent, thicker than Lily's, however.

Fleur scowled at her. "Very funny, Neecole."

Nicole pointed at each of them as she said his name. "Sirius Black, mass murderah. Severus Snape, Potions Mastah. Am I right?"

"Yes." Black raised an eyebrow at her. "And how would a someone like you know this?"

"I'm a Squib, not a Muggle. Also, Fleuh's told me all about hah time in England."

"Oh, great," he heard Snape mutter under his breath. "First Filch, now her."

Nicole glared at him for a second as she took the seat Lily had vacated. Then she noticed breakfast. "Ooh! Waffles! My fave!" Like Black, he put one on her plate and began to wolf it down.

Snape watched her for a moment before turning to look at Black. "I think we've found your other half, Black."

Black just looked at him. "Tell me, do you spend half the day dreaming of ways to insult me?"

"You've no idea."

Nicole finished her waffle and slowly sipped her coffee. "So, what ah you two doin' he'ah?"

"Looking for someone," Snape replied, not looking at her.

"Who?" They didn't answer, so she did so for them. "You'ah lookin' for Harry or that What's-His-Name-Guy."

"'What's-His-Name-Guy'," Snape muttered, running a hand over his eyes with vexation. "Oh, he would've LOVED that."

"How would you know that?" Black snapped. Thoughts of mind reading went through his head.

"Who else could yah be lookin' for? Sides, it didn't seem likely to me that they would both die. One of them's got to live."

"True." Snape put down his mug. "Then you should also know that Voldemort might be running around using his Muggle name, Tom Riddle."

Lily trotted back into the room, fully dressed, but her hair still unbrushed. Fleur frowned, whipped a comb from her pocket, and started combing her daughter's hair, much to the child's annoyance. Nicole got up, when to the fridge, and pulled out a pink lunchbox. On the way, she looked at Snape, glanced at Lily, rested her gaze back on him, and raised an eyebrow.

Snape looked into her eyes then slowly nodded.

Black got the impression that he was missing something.

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End of Chapter Four