New Chapter!!!
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Wintermoon: I didn't say you couldn't ask me questions! I like getting questions because it shows that you're really interested and sometimes can point out things that I hadn't thought of.....just don't always expect straight answers! (But I do like mindless flurries of praise too!)
Hermione 'DB': Oh no, don't cry! Don't worry I gave Sirius a hug for you and he told me it made him feel much better. Erm...yeah, subtlety is lost on me, I really need big flashing lights to spell things out!
Home Is Where The Heart Is
When Sirius awoke the next morning his room was still in complete darkness. After much tossing and turning he decided that going back to sleep would be impossible, he had too much on his mind. Straining his eyes until his clock became visible he realized that it was only six am. He would have been annoyed that he had awoken so early but it then occurred to him that it was probably a good thing. He was planning to visit his old family home that day and the last thing he wanted was to have Mrs. Lupin fussing over him, if he slipped out now he could avoid that. Sirius knew that Patty Lupin only had his best interests at heart but he felt it was time that he stood on his own two feet. He could no longer rely on her, he had to rebuild his life on his own. Interference on her part may have been just a friendly gesture but after fifteen years it was time that he began to think for himself.
Pulling on his robes, Sirius made his way down into the kitchen where he pulled his winter cloak from a hook beside the door. As he made his way out of the house he realised that he was no longer feeling nervous about his visit, it was more a state of anxiety. He was no longer dreading the visit to his former home, he just wished it was over with.
The air outside was cool but not as turbulent as Sirius had expected, it was pleasantly calming. The road leading out of the village was a long one, which twisted awkwardly and lead up to some very steep slopes. It was not long before he found himself growing tired.
Sitting down on a nearby wall Sirius stopped to catch his breath. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the heavy, brass key that the Reverend Michael had returned to him. He stared nostalgically down at the small object and tried to recall the last time he had used it. It had been the day he had left the house, just days after his parents death. The day he had moved into his new home with Ebony, determined to start a new life.
Well, even the best laid plans can go wrong.
Maybe it was destiny, maybe it had all been written in the stars. It had always seemed odd to those around Sirius that he had not decided to sell Belle Reve upon his departure. To Sirius the idea of selling the house had not seemed possible, it was his parents house and the thought of someone else living there was far too much for him to bare. But could there be a deeper reasoning for his decisions? Was it simply fate's way that he should once again access his the home of his childhood? Whatever the justification for Sirius's actions regarding the house, there was only one reason he had to re-enter it now. To surround himself with memories of his parents and the sister he had lost.
With thoughts of his past and missing sibling clouding his mind, Sirius pulled himself heavily to his feet and restarted his journey . As the countryside around him grew thicker he knew that he was getting closer and closer to his destination.
Belle Reve was a large converted farm-house, situated on a forested hill-top. The front of the house was guarded by a wall of large fir trees that protected it from the eyes of muggles and intruders, unless a visitor knew of the house's existence it would be near impossible to find. The rear of the house however stood completely bare and provided a perfect view of the small villages that meandered at the foot of the steep hill. Since the building's renovation few had entered it's threshold and due to it's exclusion from the rest of the town it had been subjected to numerous rumours concerning ghosts and poltergeists , rumours which had only intensified following the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Black.
As Sirius began to climb the steep, rocky hill he could understand how such rumours had come about. The density of the surrounding forest blocked out any sunlight that would have fallen on what the villagers had named 'Shadow Hill.' He remembered how much he had hated this hill as a child. Even though he knew that the house was not haunted, it was hard to believe that such a darkened woodland was not. He had never walked this hill alone as a child, ensuring that anywhere he wished to travel was connected to the Floo Network, if not he simply would refuse to leave the house.
As the steep slope began to take it's toll on his tired knees Sirius wished that he had taken the courage to ask the Ministy if the house could still be accessed by Floo. However, he knew that his visit to the house would cause a lot of speculation within the Ministry and Magical Press Association so he had decided that he would risk the walk.
As he reached the top of the hill his old house came into perfect view. A large clearing had been made in the forest which the Mr. Black had used to provide his family with a garden. Leaving the forest track and mounting the family drive-way, Sirius felt a numb sensation growing within his stomach.
This was it.
After years of fear and resentment he was finally going to have to enter the old house.
Looking up at the house it now looked more specter-like than ever. The cold stone structure had weathered badly due to the frequent storms and rain-fall. The building was a heavy, grey structure reinforced with thick layers of visible concrete to protect it from the elements. Dark, gloomy shadows hung at the windows, like blank, soul-less eyes devoid of any signs of life.
Taking a deep breath Sirius drew the key from his pocket and cautiously approached the front door of the house. The name 'Belle Reve' was carved into the hefty, mahogany door. Clutching the key in a trembling fist he pushed it uncertainly into the worn, brass lock. With a dull click the key lodged itself into the door.
'Right' Sirius thought to himself, his sweaty hand still clenched around the key.
'Don't worry, it'll be alright just turn it.'
He suddenly felt extremely childish.
What was so hard about opening a door?
At his age he had gathered plenty experience at opening doors , it was, all-in-all a pretty easy task.
Filled with sudden determination, Sirius rotated the key in his hand, releasing the door from it's locked state. It creaked loudly, stiff with disuse, making Sirius jump back in terror.
'God!' he scolded himself. 'Pull yourself together, it's just a bloody door.'
His heart racing with the sudden shock, Sirius timidly pushed the door ajar.
Peering down the hallway he suddenly felt very sick. Everything was so dark, the air within the house felt cold and damp. Sirius moved a shaky foot over the threshold and cautiously made his way into the house. What he was being cautious of he didn't know, the only ghosts in this house where the ones in his head.
'Lumos' Sirius whispered .
A constant stream of golden light emitted from his wand, allowing him to see the darkened hallway more clearly.
Sirius was distressed to see that the house really was exactly how he had left it. His fathers cloak still hung across the banister before him and his mother slippers lay by the front door, both covered in a thick film of dust. The whole hallway was filled with the dry smell of dust, even the walls were covered in a thin layer of the grey powder.
Sirius felt strangely relieved to see that all of the doors in the downstairs of the house were closed, the darkness coupled with the eerie silence that hung in the air were making him feel extremely uneasy. A small white door to his left lead into the family dining-room. Straight ahead lay the kitchen and to his right where the stairs which blocked his view of the living room door which was situated to the far-side of the stair-case.
Something within Sirius forced him to move silently and carefully towards the living room door, in the same fashion a person would adopt when in a doctors waiting room. He moved so carefully that it was as if he was scared of waking someone.
As he approached the room he saw something that brought tears to his eyes.
The door handle had been smashed open, obviously in Voldemort's attack. The broken handle hung in pieces from the door, covering scratch marks that had bore deeply into the wooden frame.
With a dull aching in his heart Sirius pointed his wand at the damage.
'Reparo' he croaked, and the handle flew back into it's original position, all signs of damage disappeared.
Sirius had never asked where his parents bodies had been found, he had avoided all rooms but his own until he was able to move into his own home. Judging by the state of the door and the slashes he could see in the carpet this had been the room, the last one his parents had ever seen. Maybe it was best he didn't go in here. Not just yet.
Instead he made his way up the long, spiral staircase towards his own room. Lighting the way with his wand he crossed the landing and rested his hand on the handle of his bedroom door. Looking around he could see his parents bedroom door was closed but the bathroom was open. Intrigued he walked into the small washroom. It was strange how many fond memories he could draw from such an unimportant area. It was in this dim room that he had spent many nights bathing Ebony, splashing her playfully with the warm soapy water and entertaining her with his bubble-blowing technique.
After seeing that room Sirius began to feel more at ease .There was more to this place than his parents death. The house had once been filled with happy memories, more so before Ebony's conception but he would not think like that. Whatever his parent's thoughts and actions, to him it was baby Ebony who had brought the place to life.
Brushing his dust-covered hands across his robes, Sirius mounted a second staircase. These stairs lead to the third floor of the house, the floor once solely occupied by Miss Ebony Black.
At the top of the stairs there was no passageway and no doors, just one long open room. In the corner of the room were numerous old boxes and several shelves lined the bleak, stone walls. The boxes, as Sirius recalled, contained old clothes and toys of Ebony's, things that were no longer used and wouldn't fit into the new house. Sirius had held onto them with the hope of going through them again one day, he couldn't bear to throw any of his sister's things away. The shelves were filled with his fathers old things that were never touched once Ebony had set up house in the old attic. All of Ebony's old furniture and newer toys were now gone, they had all been moved into Sirius's home which had been destroyed upon his arrest.
Sirius went over to the boxes and began to drag them one by one over to the stairwell. It would be pointless going through them up here, his wand light was barely bright enough to cut through the darkness in the heavily shadowed room. He climbed down the steps with as many boxes as he could carry and set them down in his own room. He returned to the bottom of the stairs and aimed his wand at the remaining boxes.
'Accio' he called and the rest of Ebony's things followed him into his room.
Once safely inside his old room Sirius slammed the door shut on the rest of the house. The room resumed the state of sanctuary that it had held after the Black's had died.
Sirius lit several candles and the room gradually came into focus. Like the rest of the house a thick mound of dust covered everything in sight.
'Deletrius' Sirius coughed, his chest tightening as he inhaled the dirt.
Suddenly all traces of the dust had disintegrated leaving the room spotless.
Sirius never thought he would be pleased to be in this room again but he was. The pale blue walls glowed softly in the candle-light, to him it was almost like being a teenager again, but many things had changed since then. His Hogwarts books weren't strewn all over the floor, his desk wasn't covered in letters from James and his mother wasn't at the foot of the stairs yelling at him to 'Turn that bloody racket down!.' The thought made Sirius laugh aloud. His mother had never understood his musical tastes which she frequently referred to as 'noise', 'banging' and 'clatter' but whenever James came over and played his disco records she would burst into the room singing and dancing in the embarrassing fashion that teenagers grow to expect from there parents.
He missed those days.
Maybe just for a moment he could pretend, let his mind wander back to better days.
What was the point?
Sirius sat down at his old desk and picked up the small mirror that sat in the corner behind his quill-sets.
When had life started to go so horribly wrong?
It was all so long ago he could barely remember, possibly a symptom of Azkaban. He looked at his tired weary reflection in the mirror. If this room had eyes it probably wouldn't remember him.
His now shoulder-length black hair over-shadowed much of his face. The darkness of his skin had slowly come back, covering the grey complexion he had achieved in prison. Thin lines weaved their way across his forehead and around his black eyes.
When had he grown so old? He had been in his early twenties the last time he had checked.
Sirius began to realise how much of his life he had missed out on. He now had to face the fact that he way no longer the care-free young man he had been, in a couple of years he would be forty, he hadn't even noticed that he was now in his thirties. Time hadn't stood still while he was in Azkaban, it had carried on without him.
That was why the Lupin family were so against him finding Ebony.
It dawned on Sirius that she would soon be eighteen, she was no longer a toddler. So much would have happened to her in his absence. She would have learned to write and do maths and would have been a part of the wizarding world for some time. She would be able to perform advanced charms and would be studying for her exams. In a few months she would be old enough to vote and drink alcohol. There was much he had missed out on.
Slamming the mirror down on the table Sirius began to cry. Up until now he had shown no strong resentment of his imprisonment but now it was becoming to much for him to bear. How could he be reasonable when he had missed so much? For the first time in his life Sirius wanted to find the idiots that captured him and.....
He brought his fist down onto the desk top. What was the use in thinking like that? Nothing could be done to bring back those missing years, but he could try and mend the damage that had been caused.
Sinking into his bed, Sirius pulled a small stuffed rabbit from one of the old boxes. It looked as good as new except for a few food stains from when Ebony had decided that the toy would like to swim in her liquidized vegetables. Time obviously stood still for some things in this house.
Sirius held onto the rabbit and lay back onto his pillow.
Something sharp dug into the back of his head. Sitting up Sirius realised that the object was an envelope, he hadn't noticed that before. He picked the letter up and read the scribbled address.
It was addressed to 'The Previous Guardian Of Ebony Black.'
What could this be?
Noticing that the envelope was yellowed at the edges and obviously old Sirius turned it over to read the franking date. The envelope had been franked by the Ministry of Magic just days after his arrest.
'Why would the Ministry send a letter about Ebony after I had been arrested?' Sirius wondered aloud as he opened the letter.
To The Previous Guardian of Ebony Black,
In accordance with Wizarding law the Ministry of Magic has enclosed a copy of the adoption certificate concerning Miss Ebony Black. It is compulsory that all former guardians receive a copy of the adoption certificate and keep it for future reference.
Signed Cornelius Fudge
Sirius reached into the envelope and discovered an additional piece of paper, which read.
Adoption Certificate
Miss Ebony Black
Guardian prior to adoption: Mr. Sirius Black
Former Residence: Belle Reve, Belle Reve Estate, England
Adoptive Guardian: Mr. and Mrs. T. MartinResidence at time of print: 47 Phoenix Lane, Green Pastures, England.
Reason for adoption order: Imprisonment of prior guardian
Signed: T Martin
C Fudge
R Lupin (temporary custodian)
Sirius brain didn't even register the last name on the certificate. It didn't register any of the names on the certificate, the only thing he cared about was the address.
He had Ebony's address. This was it!
A/N Gosh! This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written! Oh-no, I hope you're still awake!