April fussed around the house like there was no tomorrow. Sirius watched her slightly worried. When she had gotten back from work she hadn't looked that well. April wasn't acting normally. Sirius walked up to her and held her by her shoulders. April looked at him.
"April calm down, it's only dinner with your parents" Sirius said.
"Yes I know." April said, "But Becky will also be there, and her husband, and her child." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Why are you worried?" He asked.
"I don't know. I just feel a bit stressed out. I'm going to have too much free time now." April said. Sirius sighed and pulled April into a hug. He knew April loved her work and hated lying around. There were times when all she wanted to do was lie around but then everyone had those times.
"Just relax." Sirius said. He felt April relax slightly in his arms. "Ok" He said with a smile. He bent down and gave April a soft kiss. April came away smiling slightly.
"Ok, where are the kids?" April said, "RHIA! ORION!" There was a banging from above them and they could hear something banging down the steps. April and Sirius went into the hall and saw Orion attempting to slide down the steps.
"Hurry Orion." Rhia said as she ran past him. Orion scowled a cute little baby scowl and turned and climbed down the steps. April reckoned that when Sirius was Orion's age he would be exactly the same, both in looks in personality. That thought normally made April feel slightly nervous about the future. But Lily got the same when she looked at Harry and Jenny at Bo. Rhia stood at the bottom of the stairs and to attention.
"Mummy." She said. April looked at her slightly confused and Rhia grinned. "Love you." She said.
"What have you done this time?" April asked. Rhia shook her head. April didn't have time to check upstairs. She plucked Orion off the stairs and handed him to Sirius. Orion waved his limbs wildly like he was trying to swim in the air until Sirius put his arms around Orion. Orion grinned and began to tug at Sirius' hair.
"Come on." April said taking Rhia's hand.
"April, Sirius." Mr. Marsden said happily as he received his youngest daughter and her husband.
"Hi dad." April said kissing his cheek.
"GRANDDADDY!" Rhia screamed. She held her arms up and Mr. Marsden picked her up.
"My, you're getting heavy." He said. Rhia laughed and cuddled Mr. Marsden.
"Is Becky here?" April asked.
"Yes, she arrived earlier." He said. April turned and smiled at Sirius, who was trying to stop Orion from trying to grab a rather expensive ornament hanging on the wall. Sirius got out his wand and did a protection charm on the ornament then put Orion on the floor. Orion looked up at the adults. Mr. Marsden set Rhia down on her feet and Rhia ran up the stairs.
"Ok, well I think Becky and her husband are in the living room." Mr. Marsden said. April grinned and went into the living room. Her sister, Becky, had shorter blonde hair then April and she looked slightly darker then April. She was plying with a young boy, who sat on her lap grinning. He didn't look much older then about four. Her husband sat reading a newspaper and looking quite interested in it. April had only seen him once before and that was her sister's wedding. He had short light brown hair that was swept back smartly and he looked quite lean and strong but he wasn't as good looking as Sirius or even James or Remus.
"Hey Becky." April said. Becky looked at and grinned. Her eyes were a slightly different shade of brown to April's. Becky lifted the boy up and put him on the sofa. She got up and hugged her sister.
"Oh my god April, I haven't seen you in years."
"I know." April said.
"So where are your children, I've seen pictures but I want to see the real things." Becky said. April laughed and turned as Orion toppled through the door.
"I swear he still hasn't got the hang of walking." Sirius said picking Orion up. Orion was grinning wildly. When he saw Becky he looked at her in wonder, who was this woman who looked like his mum?
"Oh, hi Becky." Sirius said with a grin. Becky looked at him amused. When Sirius was at school almost everyone had been on the end of one of the marauder's pranks, including Becky. But Becky had also been Ellie Potter's best friend. She had lost contact with James since Ellie died but she remembered James and his best friend, none-the-less.
"Hello Sirius." Becky said. "April, Sirius, this is my husband Patrick." Patrick had put the newspaper down and was smiling at them. He got up and held out his hand. Sirius took it and smiled. "Patrick this is my sister and her husband."
"I've heard a lot about you two." He said with a smirk. He had a fairly strong American accent. April and Sirius looked at each other, not because of the accent but because of what he had said.
"Like what?" April asked suspiciously.
"Well, does the Marauders ring a bell?" Patrick asked. Sirius' grin grew so that it was stretching from one ear to the other.
"We're famous in America as well." Sirius said. He turned to April, "didn't I tell you we'd be famous?" April rolled her eyes and looked at the boy.
"Um, who's your, um, son." April asked, waving a hand at the boy. Becky smiled and picked him up.
"April, this is Nick." Becky said. Nick looked at April. He looked completely different to both Patrick and April. He had blond hair that had a slight tinge of ginger in it and shining blue eyes. He looked a bit thin but April could tell he was gaining weight. Nick cuddled Becky, clearly terrified of April and Sirius. Orion looked at him and held his hand out.
"Orion." He said copying the adults. Nick looked at him suspiciously. April raised an eyebrow and looked at Becky.
"He was found locked in a basement." Patrick said. "His parents had moved away and when the new occupants moved in they found him. We saw him and just had to adopt him." Patrick said. April knew that last sentence was what Becky would have said, it was probably where it had come from. Sirius' smile disappeared. He lowered his arms with Orion, so Orion was hanging closer to the floor.
"Woo!" Orion said.
"Really?" Sirius said, "People actually do that?" Patrick nodded.
"So, he might be a bit...shy." Becky said. April nodded.
"Um, is he alright?" April said. Suddenly she didn't really know what to say.
"Oh yes, he's fine, aren't you Nick?" Becky asked, looking at Nick. Nick smiled and hugged Becky. April and Sirius looked at each other speechless. They suddenly didn't know what to say. Becky and Patrick looked at each other as well.
"So, we hear you're pregnant again." Patrick said. Perfect ice breaker! April sighed.
"Yeah, I know." April said, "But so is he." She nodded to Sirius.
"You had to remind me. I was just ready to forget the morning sickness, I haven't felt ill since this morning!" Sirius said, sounding fed up. Becky tried not to laugh.
"Oh, you can laugh, everyone else has" Sirius said.
"Um, why are you pregnant?" Patrick asked hesitantly.
"April wanted revenge on me." Sirius said, "So she got Lily, her best friend, to steal a pregnancy bump from her work. Lily's a Healer and so she did, and now I'm pregnant and I've got to go through what April goes through for the next nine months."
"Right." Patrick said. April sat down and sighed.
"Merlin, I'm tired." April said. She gave Sirius an innocent smile.
"Well getting pregnant will do that to you." Becky said. She sat down next to April. Nick watched April suspiciously the whole time. "I still find it so funny how you've managed to keep a family, you couldn't even keep a goldfish when you were sixteen!" Becky said.
"People change." April muttered.
"Particularly her." Sirius said. He put Orion on the floor. Orion decided he was going to pretend to be a dog and started crawling around on all fours and gave a small bark. Sirius grinned.
"He's going to be like me." Sirius said gleefully.
"April, I don't envy you." Becky said to her younger sister. April gave her a long look.
"I'll go and see when dinner's going to be ready." Patrick said. He walked out of the room. Sirius sat in the empty chair and gave a sigh of relief.
"So how's the U S of A?" April asked. Becky smiled.
"Oh, it's great. We just moved into a bigger house." Becky said, "You should bring your children over one day, we have a huge garden and the kids will love the pool." Sirius sat up.
"Yeah, lets go to America!" Sirius said.
"When the baby's born." April said,
"What? But we have so much time to do what we want now." Sirius said. April rolled her eyes and shook her head. Becky laughed.
"As much as I hate to say it, Sirius does have a point." Becky said, "But you don't have to come. The house is open." She said. April smiled and nodded.
"Woof!" Orion barked. Becky turned to look at him.
"Ok, Orion?" She asked, looking at April. April nodded, "So where's Rhia?"
"AH!!" Came a scream from upstairs. The three adults in the room looked up. April and Sirius got up and rushed up the stairs. "GET OFF!! GET OFF!!" came Rhia's screams from April's old bedroom.
"Rhia!" Sirius asked. He tried to push the door open but it wouldn't budge. Sirius slammed into the door again, trying to knock it down.
"Rhia?" April called. Becky appeared behind them.
"AH!" Rhia screamed again.
"Rhia!" Sirius asked. There was a knocking and thudding against the door with more of Rhia's screams. April pulled Sirius out of the way and got out her wand.
"Reducto!" She screamed at the door. The door shattered as there was another scream from Rhia followed by a loud crack, like someone apparating. Rhia's screams stopped immediately.
"Rhia?" April asked running into the room.
"Shit." Sirius muttered as he walked further into the room. Rhia wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Rhia!" April said more urgently. She looked at Sirius, Sirius looked around the room. Sirius turned into Padfoot. Becky started in surprise. Padfoot sniffed around then turned to April.
"Anything?" April asked anxiously. Padfoot hung his head. Padfoot turned back into Sirius and looked at April with a sad expression. April wiped her eyes and went to Sirius. Sirius let out a shaky breath and put his arms around April. Becky frowned.
"I'll go and tell mum and dad that, um...yeah." Becky turned and silently left April and Sirius.
"It's alright." Sirius said shakily.
"What if she's hurt Sirius!" April said. She glanced around the room again. "I mean, she could be-" April didn't want to think about it, she put her head against Sirius' shoulder and started crying. "We were right on the other side of the door!" April sobbed into his shoulder. Sirius tried to keep the horrid lump in his throat down. He could feel April getting heavier as her legs began to give way slightly. She couldn't believe she'd let her daughter get taken. She was just on the other side of the door! If she'd used her wand earlier! Sirius gently lowered the two of them to their knees and pulled April closer. He wanted to cry but he had to be strong for April. He felt some tears escaping his eyes and fall into April's hair.
"We'll find her-" Sirius just managed to get out. April started crying harder. Sirius kissed her forehead and held her tightly.
"What if-" April stammered, "What if they k-"
"April, don't think about it." Sirius said. Sirius was saying that but he was thinking the same thing as April. What if they hurt Rhia? What if she was killed? She was only three, too young for anything! Sirius stroked April's hair and kissed the top of her head as she leant against Sirius. Sirius felt like his stomach was empty and that there was a gaping hole in his body. It was like he was going to jump off a fifty meter cliff and onto some jagged rocks. He closed his eyes and tried to block all thoughts of what might happen to Rhia. He had been so stupid, hitting the door! He was a wizard, why was he banging against the door like a stupid muggle!
He let out a shaky breath and looked up as he heard someone approaching. Orion was standing in the doorway looking rather confused. Behind Orion were April's parents.
"April." April's mum said coming into the room. She went to April and Sirius and put a hand on April's back. April shrugged her mum's hand off and pressed herself against Sirius. April's mum looked at Mr. Marsden, a few tears glistening on her cheeks. He looked around the room.
"I don't understand how anyone could have gotten in without us knowing." He said uncertainly. His eyes were glistening slightly. April turned to glare at her father, her face was stained with tears, she stood up shakily.
"It doesn't matter how he got in!" She shouted, "He took my daughter!" April looked around the room, trying not to look at Sirius. He knelt on the floor helplessly. "She could be...be...he could have hurt her" April said heavily. She swallowed hard and turned to Sirius again. Sirius stood up and took April's hands.
"Maybe she's at home?" Sirius said. Trying to deny what happened. April nodded.
"Yeah. She's at home, she's just tucked in bed or trying to read. She's at home isn't she Sirius?" April asked him. She wanted Sirius to say yes but she didn't wait that long. She waited a few seconds before disappearing. Orion started in surprise, he hadn't be expecting that. He walked to Sirius and held Sirius' leg and tugged at Sirius' trousers to be picked up. Sirius bent down and picked him up. Orion looked at Sirius and put his hands on his dad's cheek.
"Wet?" Orion said confused. Sirius let out another shaky breath.
"I better follow April" Sirius said weakly. Mrs. Marsden nodded and gave Orion a quick kiss on the forehead. Sirius leaving was a silent affair. Orion had become rather subdued and cuddled Sirius the entire journey home. Sirius opened the door. None of the lights in the house were on and April's jacket had been discarded on the floor. Sirius felt butterflies developing in his stomach. He went slowly up the stairs. Orion yawned and seemed to nearly fall asleep in Sirius' arms so before Sirius did anything he put Orion to bed. Once that was complete he slowly walked to Rhia's open bedroom door. He walked in, fearing the worse.
"No, don't think like that." Sirius muttered to himself. "She's just tucked herself into bed and is fast asleep in her bed-" He walked in the room and looked at the bed. It was empty, Rhia's room hadn't been touched since they'd left. Sirius heard a sob and turned to see April sitting on the floor leaning against the wall.
Sirius slowly got off the bed. He had made sure he'd gotten April to sleep as soon as he'd found her in Rhia's room. It disturbed him that April was even crying in her sleep! Sirius had never known that April could be hurt so badly! Sirius leant over and kissed April gently on the lips before he turned away and picked up his baseball cap that Lily had bought him last year. He didn't want people to see that he himself had been crying. Where was Rhia? She couldn't be missing but she was! Sirius could hear Rhia screaming in his head, he'd never heard Rhia scream like that before either. It was like someone was ripping her apart-
"No!" Sirius snapped at himself. "Don't think like that." He had to keep telling himself that but the more he said that to himself, the more he thought about it. He stood at the front door deciding whether he should walk or apparate to Lily and James' house. He decided to walk, it would save him having to go over everything all over again. He put his hands into his pockets and walked to Lily and James' house. He could see it at the top of the hill. He walked slowly, and got there in a few minutes, a few minutes too soon in Sirius' opinion. He knocked on the door and waited for another few minutes. The hall light switched on and the door opened. James stood in the doorway yawning.
"Sirius? What are you doing here? It's gone midnight." He said. Sirius shrugged and pushed past James and into the house.
"Is it? I hadn't noticed." Sirius said. James looked at Sirius and frowned.
"Are you alright mate?" James asked. Sirius turned and looked around the hall, like the person who took Rhia could be hiding in James' house.
"Someone took Rhia." Sirius said glumly. James stopped in mid yawn.
"What?" He asked, he was fully awake now. Nothing like a kidnapping to get you awake, Sirius thought.
"Someone took Rhia at April's parent's house." Sirius said, his voice was shaking slightly. "We were at the house when we heard some screaming, it was Rhia screaming. It was like...like she was being tortured or something." Sirius finished weakly. James looked at Sirius.
"Why aren't you going to the Ministry!" James nearly shouted. "You should be there right now, go down there Sirius. Get Aurors on it or something!"
"I can't go to the Ministry because all they'll do is have some investigation that will take too long! It could be too late by then if Rhia isn't already d-" Sirius couldn't bring himself to say the word. There was the sound of movement from the floor above. Lily walked down the stairs looking rather tired.
"What on earth are you guys shouting about?" She asked, "Could you keep the volume down, you might wake up the kids." Sirius glared at her. How dare she rub it in! But then she didn't know about Rhia.
"Anyway, I just wanted to ask if Lily could check up on April a few times tomorrow. I need to go away." Sirius said.
"What?" James asked. "You can't go after those People, you don't even know where they are!" James said. Lily looked at them confused and stood next to James. She put her arms around him and looked at Sirius.
"What's happened? Is April alright?" Lily asked worriedly. She looked carefully at Sirius. She noticed his eyes were slightly red but didn't comment on anything.
"No she's not." Sirius snapped. Lily started slightly and James put his arm around her tighter.
"Look Sirius, go to the ministry, you're not going to be able to find Rhia any other way-"
"Wait!" Lily said, letting go of James, "Something's happened to Rhia?" Lily asked. She looked at Sirius. Sirius looked at her and then nodded.
"She was taken." Sirius said. Lily's mouth fell open. "April's a wreck. Don't tell her that I've gone to try and find Rhia." Sirius said as he head towards the door again. Lily wan between him and the door with his arms out.
"Honestly, Sirius, do what James suggests. I mean, look at how many times Harry's gone missing. The ministry has always found him and April and James are Aurors, they can get people working quickly. Sirius, this isn't the way you should be doing this" Lily said.
"Yeah, and there's a difference between Rhia and your son." Sirius said bitterly. "Rhia's not the Boy Who Lived." Sirius said, pushing Lily to the side slightly and then opening the door. Lily looked at James uncertainly. James shook his head and ran out of the door.
"Sirius!" James shouted as he followed his friend. "Sirius, listen to us. This isn't what you should be doing. Go to the ministry and report Rhia! For god's sake, you have no idea what the kidnappers what." Sirius stopped and turned to look at James.
"And why would they want anything?" Sirius asked. "What could we possibly have that they want."
"Sirius, think about it! Who's your wife?" James asked.
"April."
"And what do you know about her reputation?" James asked. Sirius looked at James for a moment.
"She's famous for catching the bad guy" He said quietly. "They hate her."
"Exactly, and who's your best friend's son?" James asked, in an even gentler tone.
"Harry Potter." Sirius said, "But why would they want Harry or April?"
"Sirius, you're not using your head. April hasn't wanted to tell you but the number of times she's nearly been killed because Death Eaters hate her. Anyone who's stupid enough to take Rhia will most definitely want to hurt April. Family is an Auror's weakness." James said.
"And Rhia's our eldest daughter." Sirius said, he looked at the floor.
"Yes, and April loves her just a little bit more then Orion."
"Or me." Sirius muttered. James smirked slightly.
"If you say so. Report it to the ministry and then stay at home, don't do anything stupid like go after them. If I'm right they'll send some kind of Hostage note or something." James said. Sirius looked like he could cry again but James knew that Sirius wouldn't cry.
"James, you didn't hear Rhia screaming." Sirius said, "We were right on the other side of the door!" He said quietly. James tensed slightly, he knew what he should do but he felt slightly awkward having to do it. James glanced around before giving Sirius a brotherly hug. They let go quickly though and faced each other.
"Sirius, stay at home and look after April." James said, "I'll go straight to the ministry and report the kidnapping ok." Sirius nodded. "Ok, good. I'll see you later." James disappeared with a crack, leaving Sirius in the street. Well, James had just talked Sirius out of going to almost certain death. Sirius turned to walk back to his house when an owl seemed to materialize out of the dark sky and dropped a letter into Sirius' hands. Sirius looked up but the owl disappeared. Sirius tore the seal open and read the letter in the dark, he could just make out the words.
Don't worry, your daughter is safe. She will stay safe if you hand over Harry Potter. You have four days before she dies. If you accept the trade then say the following spell. Acceptae. Remember, four days.
Sirius couldn't identify the writing at all. It was neat but wasn't like anyone's he knew. He put the letter to his nose and started to transform into Padfoot. He got about half way into the transformation when he picked up the smells of horses and general farm smells. He turned back into a human, a farm with horses? There were hundreds of places like that! He started to transform into a dog again. He let himself fully transform into Padfoot so that his senses were keener. He put his nose near the letter, which had dropped on the floor. He sniffed it and tried to ignore the usual smells around him. There were smells he recognised, they seemed very familiar, they reminded Sirius of his honeymoon when he and April had gone to-
Cadover Bridge in Dartmoor. Padfoot growled and picked up the letter in his teeth and ran to his house. He turned back into Sirius and pushed the letter through the letterbox before turning to the street, he was about to go when he turned and looked at the house. He apparated into the house, just outside his bedroom. He walked into his bedroom and knelt next to the bed and kissed April gently on the lips before leaving the bedroom. He closed the door gently and looked towards Orion's room. He could see Orion from where he was standing. Orion was fast asleep in his bed, his mouth open and a small dribble of saliva dripping down his cheek. Sirius smirked before apparating from the house.
A/N:-Hot, right off the press. YEs, I know i haven't updated for a while but my frend stayed over for like 4 days so i wasn't able to write anything and i'm going round hers tomorrow so still no updating tomorrow.
Ok, if any of you think April and Sirius over reacted slightly....that's how i was told to write it. I did have it differently but Kaylee (sweetest-sin980) told me that parents would react differently, she has her reasons for telling me and I'm quite pleased with how I have done the chapter though i don't really truly know how April and Sirius should react, seeing as I've never had my oldest daughter being abducted....because i'm only 17 and don't have a daughter, if i did i'd be very worried about myself! coz i don't even have a boyf! anyway, yeah, but my sister did used to go missing a lot when she was younger and my parents did kinda react a little like this so i've done it like that.
Sirius...he'll never learn to follow orders. Ok, so i think i've layed off the Sirius-bashing thing for a while. He's going to be brave but stupid for a while, i think. I haven't planned the next chapter fully yet. I have a April/Lily/JAmes moment planned (in the non romance sense) and a few other little things for the next chapter, give me a while to write it...and i will love you people forever....There is probs gonna be a chapter all about Bo later as well, i think the stoylines are going round in many circles at the moment. need more storylines for Bo, Jenny and Remus, so if you have any...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me!! I'm going to see how long i can make this story before i have to write HArry's 6th and 7th year....Jessie, your moment will come. Kaylee, Jessie.....stop confusing me...if you don't get it it's a joke between us.