The Color of Black
Chapter 6
Finding out the truth, part one:
Daphne was in her car, driving back to her mother's side of town, thinking over what to say to her mother. At first, when she'd figured it out, she had been angry at her mother for keeping this a secret. Her father, father, was a mass murderer…it was unbelievable.
She looked over at the animal, and froze for a moment, wondering what he had to do with Sirius Black. Was this his old dog…she looked closer at him, her eyebrows furrowing.
She shook her head, pulling into her mother's driveway.
She wasn't so angry about the fact that he was her father(she couldn't help the fact that she had sprouted from a 'demon's' seed), she was upset that her mother never told her the truth about him. That instead of just leaving it be, she would tell stories of how great he was to her. Why couldn't she have at least tell me his name?
She sat for a second, thinking about what to say to her.
'"Hey mom, how's it going. Why don't you tell me about a man named Sirius Black…the murderer who fathered me! Or about the fact that he is a madman and extremely powerful!"'Daphne shook her head, that wouldn't work. Her mother hadn't wanted to tell her for the past seventeen years, she wouldn't change her mind now.
She got out, looking at the dog, "Stay." She looked up at the small cottage-like house, then marching up the steps,tried to think about what to say.
Knock. Kn-kn-kn-knock.
"Coming!" A voice sang out, and the door opened to reveal Anne in a pair of black jeans and an oversized grey sweatshirt, "Oh, Daphne! Can I help you, dear?" Annes said, rather coldly, her smile sliding down a little.
Anne and Daphne had never got along after the news of Daphne's magick and power.They had started to fight over everything and had not seen each other since the summer before Daphne's seventh year at Hogwarts. She had only sent small informal cards, and Daphne only sent one letter, at Christmas, to her.
"Hey, mum. Who's Sirius Black?" Daphne mentally slapped herself, 'Idiot! That's now how it was supposed to be said!'
Anne paused, the smile totally dissappearing now, " What are you talking about? I don't know of a Sirius Black." she said, her lips pursing.
Daphne sputtered, this reaction was completely unexpected.She'd expectedAnne to at least have the decency to fess up once she'd been caught, "I'm talking about Sirius Black, the man who fathered me. The murderer. That is my father, isn-is-isn't it?" Daphne asked, her confidence draining at Anne's frozen face.
"How did you find out?" she whispered, the color draining out of her face.
"Tell me about him, mum." Daphne said, sidestepping the question. Anne would pinpoint the fact that she'd gone researching about him behind her back and probably would ignore the point of the Sirius Black question.
"Okay." She sighed, grimacing, "Your father's name is Sirius Black-" " Mum! I already know that! Don't try to get out of this." "Daphne, you let me tell you my way or I won't tell you at all." She ushered Daphne into the house, closing the door.
Daphne rolled her eyes as she walked into the spotless house. It was warm, a fire burning in the beautifully furnished fireplace.
"Your father's name was Sirius Black," she continued, "He was a wizard and friends with a man named James Potter.Our story started way back when I was around eleven and I lived in the city. I'd lived there all my life with my dad, and the summer I turned nine, a family moved into the apartment." Anne sat on the couch, gesturing the chair across from her.
"I was very lonely there, and felt very fortunate when the neighbors turned out to be, not one, but two little girls around my age that I could play with!
"The eldest was a girl named Petunia, a little annoying that one, always tattled on me and Lily. Lily was the youngest, with a set of flaming red hair. We looked very much alike, even at such a young age and Petunia would tease Lily and tell her she was adopted.
"On the summer when Lily and I turned eleven, she received a letter telling her she was a witch…I, of course, did not. Her birthday, though, was on August 13, and they were on vacation in America for her birthday. She was planning on missing the first day of school when she came back. I never saw her off.
"Her parents were very proud of her magic, but told me only that she'd gone abroad for schooling, and once again I was lonely. Petunia never played with me, always making fun of me and saying I was lower class.
"Well, Lily returned, telling me the truth and showing me her tricks…and promptly receiving a letter saying she musn't ever do it again. The damage was done, though, and in those days they didn't believe in performing the Memory Loss spell on minors. She told me everything, and despite the fact that we didn't see each other near as often, we remained the best of friends.
"She returned after her fifth year at Hogwarts, like usual, but she returned back with a new story. That she was in love. In love with a boy named James Potter. She hated him, or used to, but she felt like she was in love with him now.
"She had invited him to come visit that summer (with her parent's permission, of course), and he'd said yes. But, he was bringing his brother, Sirius along.
"I thought she meant some five-year old little boy, but it turned out Sirius was older than James (by a few months). They were the best of friends, both of them adopting each other as brothers, like Lily and me. They came about a week after summer began.
"James was tall, slender and handsome in the pretty boy way, but not my type. Besides, Lily'd claimed him. Sirius was tall and stocky, like a footballer, and handsome in this dark rugged way. You inherited his eyes, God, they were so lovely…"
"Mum!" Daphne said, giving a grimace.
"I was just talking about his eyes! Anyways, he wasn't my type, either, but he swept me off my feet with his charm and daring. I saw him the next two summers as well, and again at Lily's wedding, where I was the maid-of-honor. We'd been going out for awhile, thought my parents didn't approve, and it was the first time my parents and him had been in the same vicinity for awhile.
"I was having money troubles, and lived at home for the time. But I was oddly independent and rebellious of their warnings and rules, wanting to break them. Anyways, I saw him at the wedding, handsome as usual, and Lily placed his seat at the reception table next to mine.
"At the reception, he proposed to me and I said yes. My parents were floored, but we married and then he did that-that- thing!" Anne shook her head, sadly, tears starting to form in the blue eyes.
"I was planning on telling him that night that I was pregnant, but he had to leave; he said…well, it doesn't matter what he said. He went and killed my best friend and her husband. Then he tried to kill their only son…how could I ever have loved him?"
Anne had started crying, her shoulders beginning to rock, " I've missed him, though, after all these years, and the thoughts of what an asshole he was and I still miss him!"
Daphne scooted quickly over, encircling her mother's shoulders, leaning her head on them. She whispered, " Shh, mama, shh…he's trash, mama, trash," doing her best to make her feel better.
'I shouldn've asked. I should've left it alone. Did I really need to know about my father? He's not even my father, really…'
Daphne was never sure afterwards if maybe the pain of the secret was what had pushed Daphne and Anne apart. Was never sure if maybe the heartbreak Anne finally admitted to feeling was what brought them together again.
Daphne held Anne's hand, " He would always come for me, no matter the weather, and take me out on Fridays and Mondays. It was the only time we could see each other, besides when he visited me at work, and (of course) couldn't visit him at work."
Anne had begun to reminisce about their illegal love to Daphne; Daphne found it highly funny to hear what her father would do to see her mother...she benjoyed it so much that she nearly forgot that in the end he would kill 13 people, and betray everyone who loved him.
"He would jump the tree, as though he was a cat, and tap on my window, looking at me with those huge eyes. He always had a sense of humor..."
"He was able to get up to your window without anyone asking questions?" Daphne asked, her doubt showng in her face.
"No,he would climb up as a dog. He said he was an animafu...no, it was an anilamus, no an-"
"Animagus?" Daphne put in.
"Yes, that was it. He said he was an animagus. He could turn into a dog. I always knew it was him because he had the tattoo of a rose on his belly, he was-"
"What!" Daphne exclaimed, standing up abruptly and walking towards the door Anne looked up, " What is it, Daphne?"
'How could I have been that stupid? He was right there! Now he couldv'e escaped...Damn you, Daphne! Damn him!'
She was out the door, Anne trailing after her,Daphne's wand out. She slammed open the car door, taking the dog and pulling him inside. She didn't care that she was being cruel; he was a mass murderer, wasn't that cruel?
She practicaly screamed the words for the spell at him, looking horrified as he began to grow, Anne's face growing more shocked by the second. Daphne felt a sinking feeling in her chest. She'd known it to be unlikely that all of it was just coincidence, but she still had hoped.
A few seconds later, a haunted man stood before them, his dark eyes staring about him.
Author's Note: Well this is an update...next chapter you guys will see more plot...and the reason why Sirius is alive ( I'm trying to make this as un-AU as possible)...I would appreciate greatly reviews! I hope you enjoyed this and if your a new reader please please PLEASE! review...I loooove them
Glaze:woohoo! you reviewwwwwwwwedddd...I hope this is okay, I was really happy with this chapter, don't know about the rest of the world though...Hey when are you going to update Pirates? I really enjoyed the story...it was very good.