Disclaimer: Ebony is the only character that I own
Authors note: The next four chapters will be from Sirius's perspective.
Chapter five: Fugitives
Sirius was beginning to feel restless again. It had only been one day since the children had left for Hogwarts. Already he had begun to miss the noise that had filled the house during the holidays. Tonks had taken Ebony to Diagon Alley to buy clothes sufficient for her stay. When she returned, he knew they would have to begin lessons to work against her memory modification. He was not particularly looking forward to this. Of course Ebony had turned out to be very interesting company, but he was certain she would not be the ideal student. She could be very stubborn and had a habit of loosing her concentration. Books could only hold her attention for so long before she started pacing up and down her bedroom and about the house much to Sirius's annoyance.
Still, Ebony also had a habit of doing something especially redeeming just when Sirius thought he could stand her no more. ( A good example of this was the night she hit Snape in the stomach with a frying pan.) This quality was part of what made her interesting. The more he thought of it as he sat in the bedroom starring out the window, the more he began to see these lessons in a positive light. At least by attempting to break through Ebony's memory charm, he was doing something useful for the order.
No sooner had he thought this than he heard the door open and his mother's portrait begin her usual chorus of screams. He hadn't expected them back for another two hours at least. Although he couldn't imagine what could cause such an early return he ran into the living room to silence his mother's portrait before meeting the girls at the front door.
When he arrived, he found Tonks looking frazzled and carrying much fewer bags than he had expected. Ebony on the other hand looked extremely cheerful.
" It's official, I am now a fugitive!" She said happily as she walked over to the coutch and threw herself down
"What?" Sirius asked incredulously. He was looked to Tonks for some kind of explanation.
" It's true!" Tonks said heaving, she was apparently some what out of breath.
"She is now wanted for the assault of a ministry official and resisting arrest."
"What happened?" Sirius was now looking to Ebony and he could feel his old rage at her beginning to return
"Well don't look at me!" she said defensively as Tonks moved to set her load down near the couch.
"I don't really know what happened either. I suddenly noticed this red haired boy who was walking next to the shope across the street. I asked Tonks who he was, she said the name Percy Weasly. Well the second she said that, I had a sudden urge to go over and punch him so I did." She said all this very calmly. It was as though punching complete strangers in a packed street was as common as having afternoon tea.
"Well soon enough Percy was taking a pretty hard beating from Ebony, " Tonks continued. "But he eventually got enough wind in him to pullout his wand and try to jinx her, I jumped in with a counter jinx and that's when someone signaled for the magical law enforcement. We ran for it as soon as we saw them coming."
There was a few moments silence as Sirius took it all in. He was now struggling between anger at Ebony for nearly betraying the order and jeopardizing Tonks's position in the ministry and amusement at the idea of her beating a man he thoroughly despised.
"Do you think any one recognized you?" Sirius asked Tonks finally
"Nope. I've still got a few disguises that the ministry hasn't seen."
As she said this Tonks moved her face into a pained expression and replaced the wavy blonde hair and round nose she had sported for the day with her usual purple spikes and heart shaped face.
"Of course you know that now neither of you will be allowed to leave the house?" Tonks said to both Ebony and Sirius
Sirius nodded dismally, but Ebony made no reply. He could hear her in the back round rummaging through her bags of clothes. The anger Sirius had felt towards Ebony was slowly turning to curiosity. How did she know Percy? And even more importantly, what had he done to her in the past that made her want to attack him?
"Well I'd better get back to the ministry." Tonks said. It seemed that she had gotten over the shock of running from the law. "After all if I take too many sick days it'll begin to look as if." She was cut off by a soft hooting sound. All three of them looked up to see a scrawny brown owl fly into the room. It dropped a small note into Sirius's hand before flying off again out the opposite window.
"It's from Dumbledore." Sirius said reading the note.
"There's to be another meeting tonight."
"And I suppose this is another exclusive affair to which I am not invited?" Ebony burst out suddenly.
"Unfortunately, becoming a criminal does not entitle full fledged membership to the order. If it did I wouldn't be stuck here." Sirius said more bitterly than he had anticipated.
"First of all, I've told you what happened wasn't my fault!" Ebony retorted. "And second, at least you know what's going on! I'm stuck here with out a clue as to who I am or why everyone became so interested in me after I had that dream."
Sirius and Tonks looked at each other slightly taken back. It must have shown because Ebony now bore a self-satisfied smile.
"I 'm not a complete idiot you know. I realised that none of you went to bed after I told you about that nightmare. And I know that it's no coincidence that my bedroom is right above the kitchen. I've been trying to talk to some one about it for a week. But every time I mentioned nightmares, or corridors, everyone, even the kids became temporarily deaf. Now what's going on ?!" She demanded
Tonks and Sirius simply starred at her for a few seconds. Then Tonks spoke.
"I think you'd better handle this Sirius." She said fairly quickly. "It'll make a good topic for the first lesson any way." And before Sirius could stop her, Tonks dis-apperated from the room with a loud crack. Ebony was now starring stubbornly at him. He would have to tell her. There was no use putting it off. He was sure that she would be able to handle it, no matter how disturbing it seemed. She was after all a full grown woman.
"Allright, you want the truth? Here it is." He started rather weakly
"Obviously you already know that your memory's been modified."
"Obviously," Said Ebony impatiently. "Go on."
"The order thinks that it may have been modified by some one on the other side. The dark side." Ebony was now sitting at the edge of the couch. Her curly black hair fell around her face making her look like a wild animal ready to pounce.
" The dream. about the corridor and the door? The thing is Harry's been having a very similar reoccurring dream. And most important of all, the laugh you heard.do you know who lord Voldemort is?"
Ebony nodded
"Harry told me about him. He's sort of the leader of the dark side. He was very powerful about fifteen years ago, but when he tried to kill Harry the curse somehow failed and re bounded on him. He lost all his power. He's been weak until last year when Harry saw him return. But what dose he have to do with my dream?"
"The laughter you heard belonged to him." Sirius said rather hesitantly. This revelation did not however, have the effect he had been expecting. He continued
"We think that Voldemort's laugh might have very well been the last thing you heard before you lost your memory. Do you remember if you've had any dreams after that first night?"
"Well yes. I have them almost every night. The details aren't as clear as the first night, but I do remember that there's always a corridor that I'm forced to walk down. And I always hear that high pitched laugh, Voldemort's laugh just before I wake up." Ebony said. She had a very concentrated expresion on her face. Sirius had a feeling he might be breaking through the charm. If he could just get a little farther in.
"Do you remember anything else besides the dreams?" Sirius asked. He felt a jolt of excitement as Ebony began to think again.
"No. Except for the dreams, my mind's completely blank."
"Oh." Sirius said disappointedly. He didn't know why he felt so miss lead. It was a large achievement to have enabled Ebony to even remember the dreams. To ask her to remember anything else about her past would have been pushing it. Still he had been so intrigued by her and so curious about her past life that he had probably set himself up for disappointment.
"Wait!" Ebony said after a few moments silence. Sirius began to feel a rush of excitement again.
"What is it?" He asked a bit too enthusiastically. Ebony was now putting her hand to her head and her brow was furrowed with concentration.
" ' Tomorrow we'll discover.' that's one of the last things I remember saying. Only I don't remember really saying it, I think I sang it. Is that completely obsurd?" She looked up at Sirius questioningly.
"Not at all. It might be part of a spell, maybe an incantation. Do you remember anything else?"
"No. no that's it I think. Maybe I'll be able to think more clearly by tomorrow." She added cheerfully "Fancy a spot of tea?" She asked him suddenly Sirius smiled weakly. "Sure" he said. Ebony smiled back and moved into the kitchen.
Sirius gave a small sigh as he moved to sit down on the couch. He was certain of one thing, life with Ebony would not be boring. And who knew. Maybe it would pay to have a second fugitive living in the mansion.
Authors note: The next four chapters will be from Sirius's perspective.
Chapter five: Fugitives
Sirius was beginning to feel restless again. It had only been one day since the children had left for Hogwarts. Already he had begun to miss the noise that had filled the house during the holidays. Tonks had taken Ebony to Diagon Alley to buy clothes sufficient for her stay. When she returned, he knew they would have to begin lessons to work against her memory modification. He was not particularly looking forward to this. Of course Ebony had turned out to be very interesting company, but he was certain she would not be the ideal student. She could be very stubborn and had a habit of loosing her concentration. Books could only hold her attention for so long before she started pacing up and down her bedroom and about the house much to Sirius's annoyance.
Still, Ebony also had a habit of doing something especially redeeming just when Sirius thought he could stand her no more. ( A good example of this was the night she hit Snape in the stomach with a frying pan.) This quality was part of what made her interesting. The more he thought of it as he sat in the bedroom starring out the window, the more he began to see these lessons in a positive light. At least by attempting to break through Ebony's memory charm, he was doing something useful for the order.
No sooner had he thought this than he heard the door open and his mother's portrait begin her usual chorus of screams. He hadn't expected them back for another two hours at least. Although he couldn't imagine what could cause such an early return he ran into the living room to silence his mother's portrait before meeting the girls at the front door.
When he arrived, he found Tonks looking frazzled and carrying much fewer bags than he had expected. Ebony on the other hand looked extremely cheerful.
" It's official, I am now a fugitive!" She said happily as she walked over to the coutch and threw herself down
"What?" Sirius asked incredulously. He was looked to Tonks for some kind of explanation.
" It's true!" Tonks said heaving, she was apparently some what out of breath.
"She is now wanted for the assault of a ministry official and resisting arrest."
"What happened?" Sirius was now looking to Ebony and he could feel his old rage at her beginning to return
"Well don't look at me!" she said defensively as Tonks moved to set her load down near the couch.
"I don't really know what happened either. I suddenly noticed this red haired boy who was walking next to the shope across the street. I asked Tonks who he was, she said the name Percy Weasly. Well the second she said that, I had a sudden urge to go over and punch him so I did." She said all this very calmly. It was as though punching complete strangers in a packed street was as common as having afternoon tea.
"Well soon enough Percy was taking a pretty hard beating from Ebony, " Tonks continued. "But he eventually got enough wind in him to pullout his wand and try to jinx her, I jumped in with a counter jinx and that's when someone signaled for the magical law enforcement. We ran for it as soon as we saw them coming."
There was a few moments silence as Sirius took it all in. He was now struggling between anger at Ebony for nearly betraying the order and jeopardizing Tonks's position in the ministry and amusement at the idea of her beating a man he thoroughly despised.
"Do you think any one recognized you?" Sirius asked Tonks finally
"Nope. I've still got a few disguises that the ministry hasn't seen."
As she said this Tonks moved her face into a pained expression and replaced the wavy blonde hair and round nose she had sported for the day with her usual purple spikes and heart shaped face.
"Of course you know that now neither of you will be allowed to leave the house?" Tonks said to both Ebony and Sirius
Sirius nodded dismally, but Ebony made no reply. He could hear her in the back round rummaging through her bags of clothes. The anger Sirius had felt towards Ebony was slowly turning to curiosity. How did she know Percy? And even more importantly, what had he done to her in the past that made her want to attack him?
"Well I'd better get back to the ministry." Tonks said. It seemed that she had gotten over the shock of running from the law. "After all if I take too many sick days it'll begin to look as if." She was cut off by a soft hooting sound. All three of them looked up to see a scrawny brown owl fly into the room. It dropped a small note into Sirius's hand before flying off again out the opposite window.
"It's from Dumbledore." Sirius said reading the note.
"There's to be another meeting tonight."
"And I suppose this is another exclusive affair to which I am not invited?" Ebony burst out suddenly.
"Unfortunately, becoming a criminal does not entitle full fledged membership to the order. If it did I wouldn't be stuck here." Sirius said more bitterly than he had anticipated.
"First of all, I've told you what happened wasn't my fault!" Ebony retorted. "And second, at least you know what's going on! I'm stuck here with out a clue as to who I am or why everyone became so interested in me after I had that dream."
Sirius and Tonks looked at each other slightly taken back. It must have shown because Ebony now bore a self-satisfied smile.
"I 'm not a complete idiot you know. I realised that none of you went to bed after I told you about that nightmare. And I know that it's no coincidence that my bedroom is right above the kitchen. I've been trying to talk to some one about it for a week. But every time I mentioned nightmares, or corridors, everyone, even the kids became temporarily deaf. Now what's going on ?!" She demanded
Tonks and Sirius simply starred at her for a few seconds. Then Tonks spoke.
"I think you'd better handle this Sirius." She said fairly quickly. "It'll make a good topic for the first lesson any way." And before Sirius could stop her, Tonks dis-apperated from the room with a loud crack. Ebony was now starring stubbornly at him. He would have to tell her. There was no use putting it off. He was sure that she would be able to handle it, no matter how disturbing it seemed. She was after all a full grown woman.
"Allright, you want the truth? Here it is." He started rather weakly
"Obviously you already know that your memory's been modified."
"Obviously," Said Ebony impatiently. "Go on."
"The order thinks that it may have been modified by some one on the other side. The dark side." Ebony was now sitting at the edge of the couch. Her curly black hair fell around her face making her look like a wild animal ready to pounce.
" The dream. about the corridor and the door? The thing is Harry's been having a very similar reoccurring dream. And most important of all, the laugh you heard.do you know who lord Voldemort is?"
Ebony nodded
"Harry told me about him. He's sort of the leader of the dark side. He was very powerful about fifteen years ago, but when he tried to kill Harry the curse somehow failed and re bounded on him. He lost all his power. He's been weak until last year when Harry saw him return. But what dose he have to do with my dream?"
"The laughter you heard belonged to him." Sirius said rather hesitantly. This revelation did not however, have the effect he had been expecting. He continued
"We think that Voldemort's laugh might have very well been the last thing you heard before you lost your memory. Do you remember if you've had any dreams after that first night?"
"Well yes. I have them almost every night. The details aren't as clear as the first night, but I do remember that there's always a corridor that I'm forced to walk down. And I always hear that high pitched laugh, Voldemort's laugh just before I wake up." Ebony said. She had a very concentrated expresion on her face. Sirius had a feeling he might be breaking through the charm. If he could just get a little farther in.
"Do you remember anything else besides the dreams?" Sirius asked. He felt a jolt of excitement as Ebony began to think again.
"No. Except for the dreams, my mind's completely blank."
"Oh." Sirius said disappointedly. He didn't know why he felt so miss lead. It was a large achievement to have enabled Ebony to even remember the dreams. To ask her to remember anything else about her past would have been pushing it. Still he had been so intrigued by her and so curious about her past life that he had probably set himself up for disappointment.
"Wait!" Ebony said after a few moments silence. Sirius began to feel a rush of excitement again.
"What is it?" He asked a bit too enthusiastically. Ebony was now putting her hand to her head and her brow was furrowed with concentration.
" ' Tomorrow we'll discover.' that's one of the last things I remember saying. Only I don't remember really saying it, I think I sang it. Is that completely obsurd?" She looked up at Sirius questioningly.
"Not at all. It might be part of a spell, maybe an incantation. Do you remember anything else?"
"No. no that's it I think. Maybe I'll be able to think more clearly by tomorrow." She added cheerfully "Fancy a spot of tea?" She asked him suddenly Sirius smiled weakly. "Sure" he said. Ebony smiled back and moved into the kitchen.
Sirius gave a small sigh as he moved to sit down on the couch. He was certain of one thing, life with Ebony would not be boring. And who knew. Maybe it would pay to have a second fugitive living in the mansion.