CHAPTER SIX: FIGHTING
Buffy hesitated at the front door. She hadn't been back in the house since the morning she'd killed Angel. And even then she'd only been in there for about ten minutes, grabbing what little she needed, including clothes, weapons and her stuffed pig Mr Gordo, before climbing back out the window. She breathed in deeply and stepped across the threshold, the dog following closely at her heels.
Joyce led them into the living room and Buffy sat down awkwardly. Blackie came to sit directly in front of her, as though guarding the Slayer from whatever might have tried to attack or upset her.
Joyce gave the dog an angry look, but walked towards the locked cabinet. Buffy had never looked in there, or really had the desire to, but now that her mom was looking through it, she couldn't help but be curious.
Joyce pulled out a large box and placed it on the coffee table. She cut the tape and opened the lid and began pulling out the first few items. At the top was a black piece of material with a red and gold emblem embroidered into it. Joyce placed it beside the box and continued to pull things out. Books and loose pieces of old parchment, a feather and a pot of ink followed. When Joyce had reached the bottom, she pulled out a large leather bound book with one word embossed in gold running down the spine.
'Black'
"Buffy…before I met your father…well…I was married once before," Joyce said quietly.
Whatever Buffy had been expecting, it hadn't been that. "What?"
"I married him when I was eighteen," Joyce continued. "We…separated when I was twenty-three."
Buffy froze suddenly. She knew her mother was only thirty-seven and that Joyce had had her at the young age of twenty. But if Joyce had been married to another man when she'd been twenty that meant that Hank Summers wasn't her father.
"Dad…he's not…" Buffy trailed off.
Joyce sighed. "No. I wish he was," Joyce said.
Blackie suddenly growled softly and Buffy absently petted the dog's head, calming him. Joyce stared at the dog, glaring at it, angry that her daughter didn't seem to instinctively know that only badness could ever come from it.
"Who is he?" Buffy asked.
Joyce sighed. There was only one way to explain who Sirius Black was. And that was to admit to the truth about herself. To who she had been before her husband's betrayal. To admit that she was no ordinary person.
"I grew up in England, just outside of London," Joyce said. "When I was eleven, I began at a boarding school called Hogwarts. And that's where I met your father. We were in the same year and he was best friends with…with my brother."
Buffy's brow furrowed. "Your brother? You never told me you have a brother," Buffy cried.
Joyce's eyes watered at the thought of her beloved brother James. She hadn't thought f him in so long, and hadn't spoken of him in even longer.
"His name was James. We…we were twins. We did everything together and then…when we got into Hogwarts, we found new friends. My best friend was Lily and his best friend was…" Joyce trailed off and looked to the dog. Buffy completely missed the significance of the glance and kept her gaze on her mother, completely intrigued by the tale being woven. "Anyway, Lily and James fell in love and I…"
"Fell in love with James' best friend," Buffy completed.
Joyce nodded. "When we were sixteen there were problems at home for James' best friend, and our parents took him in to live with us. He and I got closer, and…we married at eighteen. You were born two years later, and then…James and Lily had their son four years after that. And a year later, they were killed. Because he'd betrayed them."
Buffy felt sick to the stomach. "My father? He betrayed his best friend? Your brother?" Buffy asked quietly.
Joyce wiped away a fallen tear and nodded sadly. "After that, he was sent to prison. I was granted an annulment, and came to America. I met Hank, and we were married when you were five and a half."
"Five and a half? Then how come I don't remember it? I should remember him if I was that old!" Buffy said.
Joyce hung her head and reached into the box again. Her fingers touched on the cold wooden stick that felt so familiar to her fingertips. She pulled it from the box and placed it gingerly on the table in front of her.
"The reason I reacted so badly to you being the Slayer wasn't just because you'd lied to me. It was because I've tried for thirteen years to keep you away from all that. To keep you away from the supernatural," Joyce admitted.
"But why? What's so wrong about it?" Buffy asked.
"Because I grew up to it," Joyce explained. "I grew up as a witch in a wizarding family within a completely magical community. My husband and my brother were wizards, my best friend was a witch. And when he defected and chose to betray us, I wanted nothing more to do with that world."
Buffy was completely silent. Her mother, a witch? It seemed impossible.
And yet, at least part of what Joyce was saying was ringing true. The more the woman spoke of her past, the more her American accent seemed to drop. She was begining to sound British, and Buffy wondered how it was that she'd been able to train herself to sound American for so long.
"After we left England, you kept asking me where your father was. I never had the heart to tell you the truth, so…I modified your memory," Joyce explained quietly, shamed that she was having to admit to this after so many years. She had never wanted for Buffy to know the truth, but now that her ex-husband seemed to be back in the picture and trying to cause trouble, she had no other choice. "After I met Hank, we married and I took his surname and gave it to you as well as giving you a new first name."
"And what was I supposed to be called?" Buffy asked.
"Eliza Anne Black," Joyce replied. "Eliza after my mother Elizabeth, and Anne after my best friend, Lily Anne Evans."
Buffy snorted slightly, a grin tugging at her lips. "So what possessed you to pick Buffy then?"
Joyce laughed slightly, thankful for the break in tension.
They quickly sobered and Buffy looked at her mother thoughtfully.
"Why now?" Buffy asked. "Why pick now to tell me all this?"
Joyce stared at the dog. "Because of him."
Again, this was the last thing that Buffy had expected her mother to say. But Joyce reached for her wand again and pointed it at the dog.
"Show yourself," Joyce said.
Buffy looked between her mother and the stray dog that sat at her feet. Just as she was about to ask her mother about her mental health, the dog suddenly twitched. It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upwards, limbs were sprouting; next moment, a man was crouching where Blackie had been.
The Slayer stared in shock and jumped to her feet. The man in front of her had short and spiky black hair and was wearing what looked like a tattered black ankle length robe. He had hazel green eyes that looked exactly like her own, and a look of desperation on his face as he stared at her, silently begging her for something. But what he was asking for, Buffy didn't know.
"Holy shit," Buffy whispered eventually.
Both Joyce and Sirius scowled at the girl. "Language," they chastised simultaneously in exactly the same tone of voice. They then turned to glare at each other and Buffy couldn't help the small laugh that erupted from her mouth.
"You guys are definitely parents," Buffy whispered.
"Eliza," Sirius whispered.
Joyce stepped forward and pulled Buffy to stand behind her. "Don't talk to her," she said harshly. "I never wanted her to know about you, but…you had to come back and start causing trouble, didn't you?"
"Joyce, I swear to you, I didn't come to cause trouble," Sirius said seriously. "I…I came to see you. Both of you."
"You killed my brother Sirius. I'd hoped never to see you again," Joyce said.
"You don't know what happened that day," Sirius said. "I never betrayed them, I promise you."
"You were their secret keeper," Joyce said.
"We switched. Pettigrew and I switched at the last second. We thought for sure that Voldemort would come after me instead of him. But Peter ran straight to him. He was the double-crosser."
"There were fifty witnesses who say that you killed Peter and thirteen muggles," Joyce said, though her voice was wavering. Buffy was looking between them as they spoke, as though watching a tennis match. "All they found of poor Peter was his finger."
Sirius pushed his hands into his robe pockets and Joyce shifted uneasily, raising her wand to aim it at him again. Sirius met her eyes and slowed his movements down. He drew out a crumbled piece of newspaper and cautiously stepped towards Joyce, holding the paper out to her. Joyce snatched it from him, wondering what was so important about it.
She glanced at the article, but found nothing of importance. It was just about a family winning a trip to Egypt, and nothing all that important.
"And?" Joyce asked.
Sirius sighed. "The picture Joi, look at the picture."
Joyce had to fight to keep her heart in her chest. It had been years since anyone had called her Joi, and the softly spoken name coming from someone she had once loved dearly was messing with her emotions. She did as he'd asked and looked carefully at the picture. Her eyes suddenly widened.
"Wormtail," she breathed.
Sirius nodded. "He never died. He was the one to kill the group of muggles. He blasted off one of his fingers, transfigured into his animagus form and ran off into the sewers, leaving me to take the blame."
Joyce felt her knees give way, and Buffy barely caught her before she hit the ground. With Sirius' help, they moved her to the couch, and Joyce was trying to control her breathing.
"You never betrayed James," Joyce whispered.
Sirius knelt in front of her, holding onto one of her hands. He shook his head, tears in his eyes. "Never," Sirius said vehemently. "I would rather have died than betray him and Lily."
Tears were streaming freely down Joyce's cheeks, and the hatred she'd felt for the man in front of her slowly melted away. Sirius wiped at the tears on Joyce's cheeks with his thumbs, their foreheads touching. Buffy watched, hopeful for something she didn't quite understand, but knowing this was one love story that had a real chance of being happily ever after. She could see the love that Sirius held for Joyce, and she could see how hurt Joyce had been by the thought that Sirius had turned evil. And that was something that Buffy could definitely sympathise with.
She could understood the sudden feeling of joy of getting back a loved one after they'd gone to the darker places of the soul. She could only hope that her mother had a happier ending than she and Angel had got.
Suddenly, Joyce flung her arms around Sirius neck and hugged him fiercely.
"I love you," she whispered, her voice clogged with emotion as she clung to him. "I tried not to, but I never stopped. God, I never stopped!"
Sirius kissed Joyce's shoulder before drawing back slightly and pressing their lips together for a proper kiss. Buffy grinned and wiped at the tears on her own cheeks, thankful that she'd seen the reunion between her mother and her real father. It was a beautiful sight, and one that Buffy was glad to have in her memory.
Long moments later, Joyce and Sirius pulled back from each other, and Joyce grabbed hold of Buffy's hand, tugging her down into the group hug. He kissed the top of his daughter's blonde head and breathed in the scent of vanilla and strawberries, committing it to memory. Sirius closed his eyes and felt as though his heart was about to burst with the happiness he felt at finally being reunited with his family.
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Hehe, once more without the spelling mistake. Many thanks to everyone who pointed it out to me. Can we say 'whoops'. While Sirius may be a god in some respects, I honestly DID mean dog. *pouts*