Sirius' Choice

Chapter Nine: When the Evening Falls

Whimsical Firefly

Author's Note: This chapter should finally straighten a few things out. Not fully of course. I like to keep you people in suspense. But still.

This chapter is dedicated to one of my school mates, whose mother died recently, rather suddenly and unexpectedly. She'll probably never read this, but our thoughts are all with you, Chook.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowlings.

Sirius sat sprawled out on one of the many lounges scattered throughout the Gryffindor common room. This had been his and Edana's couch. It wasn't official, it didn't have their name on it or anything like that. It just was.

He'd lost count of the number of times they'd sat together here, listening to their friends talk, and yet not needing to join in. There were those few memorable occasions when they'd woken up together here, Edana in his arms.

He sighed and nestled down into the couch. It still seemed strange that she was gone, and there were days when he woke up and it seemed unreal. He could distract himself by teasing and pranks and friends, but it was still always there at the back of his mind.

Ironic, really that he missed her so much. She'd come from a smaller inner city wizarding school, nowhere near as prestigious as Hogwarts, and lacking many of the facilities that they took for granted. Her school had been attacked and she was one of the few survivors.

He had mistrusted her initially. It seemed strange that she had escaped when so many others had fallen. But everyone else adored her. Tess and Lily adopted her into their group of friends. Edana was given the Gryffindor prefect badge for seventh year. She got involved in their fights, proved her loyalty against the Slytherins, and bested him on a broom. She was remarkable, and he began to see why she could have escaped.

She was special, in the way that she simply understood everything around her implicitly. In the way that she could smile and in the smile transmit so many feelings and thoughts.

Sirius swallowed desperately. After awhile he had no choice but to trust her. He could do little else because of how we felt for her.

A tear made it's way down his face and Sirius made no move to stop it. He continued to think of Edana, and the tears continued to flow until the portrait door swung open and a tall dark-haired witch stepped through. She hesitated upon the threshold when she saw the red-eyed Sirius sitting in the chair, but in the end came through and walked slowly towards him.

"Are you…alright?" she asked him softly, resting a delicate hand on his shoulder.

Sirius looked up at her and frowned. "What do you care?" he asked, and regretted the harsh tone of his voice. She was only being polite.

"More than you think," she said with a ghost of a smile, and Sirius reluctantly returned it. "Do you remember a time when we were friends?" she asked, her voice still quiet.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Think of this as a throw-back to those times, then," she said before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. She then stood up and left, leaving Sirius alone once more with thoughts of Edana and the past.

Sirius sat at the Gryffindor table that morning surrounded by his friends. Edana occupied her usual seat beside him and she seemed happier than usual, smiling and joking. Tess was sitting on Remus' lap, which was a new, if not unexpected development.

It was a perfectly ordinary morning until McGonagall hurried towards their group, with an anxious expression upon her face. "Miss Tierne?" she said crisply, gesturing outside. "I wish to speak to you before the morning owls arrive if you please."

Sirius watched as Edana stood and followed the formidable deputy headmistress outside and began to follow. "Black, sit down!" said McGonagall without turning around.

Sirius pulled a face, but sank back into his place. "What do you think that was about?" he asked with a frown.

Lily had a worried expression upon her face. "At a wild guess, her family was attacked. It makes no sense, but it's possible."

Sirius' face drained of colour, and he spent the next few minutes shooting anxious looks to the doors of the Great Hall and tapping his fingers against the table. He didn't notice that everyone else was doing similar things. When McGonagall finally re-entered the Hall, she was alone.

Sirius was the first one out of his seat, his long legs taking him quickly to where McGonagall was standing. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

"She's outside Black. I daresay she could use some company."

Nodding, he strode towards the door. Looking up he saw the morning owls come swooping down with parcels for their respective owners. He hesitated slightly, and then continued out the door, and stopped, seeing no sign of Edana.

A reasonable part of Sirius that he hadn't realised existed before now mentioned that she would probably be in the dorms or the common room. Breaking into a run, Sirius began to race towards the Gryffindor tower.

As he did so, he crashed into a slight figure that was sobbing heavily. Pausing, Sirius pushed her long blonde locks off her face. "Edana?" he questioned softly.

"Go away Sirius," she replied in a dead voice that sounded nothing like the Edana he had grown to love.

Stepping closer, he wrapped his arms around her. "No. What happened?" It wasn't a question so much as a demand.

She struggled against him, but Sirius held fast. "Just let me go, NOW. Trust me, Sirius," she said, the dead tone of her voice being replaced with one of anger.

"No," he replied mulishly. "You're upset, and you're not thinking straight. I'm not letting you go just yet."

Edana's face darkened. "Fine!" she kneed him viciously, and with a gasp Sirius released her and doubled over. "Sorry Siri," she said, not at all repentant. "But I did ask you nicely. And now to make sure you don't follow me…"

Fishing her wand out of her robes, she pointed it directly at him, and put him in a full body-bind. Sirius looked up at her with large gray eyes that seemed to be angry, sad, confused, and betrayed all at once.

Edana snorted. He thought he was betrayed? She turned and walked away without a second glance, leaving Sirius to watch helplessly as her black robes billowed out as she walked.

James watched Sirius walk out of the Great Hall. As he debated if he should follow him or not he grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet, and his face paled as he read the headline: Terror Spreads!

He read further, his heart thudding and his throat tightening. The Tierne's had been attacked. The youngest girl was still alive and well, but very much heart-broken, and the cousin that had been staying with them was missing in action. Mysteriously, there was no Dark Mark, and the bodies had been left in the most gruesome way possible. He heard Lily's sharp intake of breath, and knew that she had begun reading over his shoulder

Naturally, the reporters were having a field day. Had the cousin killed them? Was there another Dark Lord on the rise?

With a look of revulsion on his face, James shoved the paper away and got up abruptly. "I'm going to go and see if I can help," he said when everyone else looked up from various copies of the Prophet. Lily nodded and stood, along with Remus, Tess and Peter.

"Us too," said Remus with a shrug. "Edana needs everyone at the moment."

As a group they walked out of the Great Hall and towards the Gryffindor Tower, without discussing it. It just seemed to be known: that was the direction that they had to be going.

Peter saw Sirius first, and pointed him out to everyone else. Lily performed the counter-curse, whilst James and Remus helped their friend up. "What happened? Was it a Slytherin?" asked Tess, a note of suspicion in her voice.

"Edana," answered Sirius wryly. Concern slipped into his voice, as he continued, "She didn't seem like herself, she was really…" Shaking his head and running a hand through his long hair he exhaled sharply.

"She's gone somewhere else, I think," he said eventually. "She wasn't heading towards the common room.

Tess nodded, and Remus walked over to the window. If he wasn't mistaken, there was a small figure in black robes running towards Hogsmeade. "Edana." he said aloud softly. Lily turned when she heard his voice and joined him at the window.

"Where is she going?" she asked no one softly.

Sirius looked at his inactive friends. "Like it matters? I'm following her, I have a feeling that she's going to do something rash."

Without waiting he strode ahead, his long legs taking him quickly out of their sights. James and Lily exchanged looks and then shrugging, began to follow him, as did Tess, Remus and Peter, hearts beginning to thud with nerves.

Edana, unaware that her friends were following her, was at this very moment running towards Hogsmeade, as fast as her legs would carry her. Tears blurred her vision, and she stumbled often over the bumps in the path that she was following.

Incoherent thoughts jostled for position in her head but she couldn't follow any of them properly.

Dead, Mum, dead, Dad, betrayed, how, why, shouldn't have happened, couldn't have happened, it's a joke, why would she joke about this, revenge, make the bastard pay, why, how could he, mummy, no!!

Images of her mother and father smiling and laughing before her seemed to be burned onto her eyelids, and the tears did nothing to blur the images.

Sobbing she crashed into an unsuspecting person. Big hands with large scars on them helped her up, and she looked briefly into gray eyes. She apologized and got up quickly, continuing on her escape. She heard him yell after her if she was alright in a voice that was familiar and yet not, but she dismissed it and kept running. Soon, her mind promised her, and she ran quicker.

Pointing her wand at herself, she Apparated into Muggle London. Hitting the ground with a thud, she cursed as she felt her knee scrape along the concrete. A pair of hands reached down as though to help her out. Swearing, she pushed the hands out of her way, and got to her feet. Ignoring the twinge of pain that ran through her knee, she continued to run.

She paused at a street intersection. Was it this way or…? With a shrug she turned and walked down one of the main streets. Looking up she read the sign as 'Viper Street'. A little voice inside her mind snickered and quietly thought how appropriate the name was. Shushing it, Edana continued down the street and paused at a run down motel.

The only thought in her mind now was centered on revenge, as she pushed open the door.

The desk attendant looked up as she walked in, and continued past him. "What… Excuse me, miss?" he asked loudly.

Edana turned towards him, blue eyes cold. Smiling sweetly she brandished her wand and pointed it at him. 'Stupefy!' With an emotionless face she watched the young man fall to the floor, and then continued towards the back of the motel.

Coming to the last room, she pointed her wand at the door. "Alohomora!" The door swung open and she stepped inside, a dead feeling in her stomach spreading towards the rest of her body.

The man inside turned towards her. Voldemort. The most feared wizard alive. "Edana," he said with a cold smile. "What a pleasant surprise."

Edana looked up, her wand still pointing directly at him. "I'm afraid this will not be a cordial visit, Master."

Author's Note: And we'll end it there for now, otherwise the chapter becomes far too long. And now for the vital question… did anyone see that coming, and who would like to hazard a guess as to what will happen next?

Lunatic Pandora1: You know, when you say something like that people have no idea what the hell you're on about. The reason as to why it made no sense escapes me as it was reasonably straight forward. Just to refresh your memory: this is the story that has two (2) Sirius' in them. One normal, and one who got pushed into this time after he fell through the veil. The italics are memories from the older Sirius' time. Hope that helped… If not, tell me what's got you in a twist so I can fix it.

Pdlegirl: Lol, I missed you! And it's okay, because it has been awhile since this was updated. I'm glad you think this is going well… I freaked myself out the other day when I realised how long this would end up.

Sweet 16 Movie Buff: Well, if you insist I carry on with my evilness…

Lady of the Dragons2:The dilemmas will appear shortly… ish. The older Sirius really comes into it after they graduate, which is in four-six chapters. Something to look forward to, I guess. And it is good being right, isn't it? ::grins::

Okay people: review and let me know how it's all going, I'd love to hear from you!