Updated: Monday 9th May 2005
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Chapter Seventy Five: Family ConnectionsEstella had fallen asleep in her father's arms on the rooftop. Sirius knew he should have been a responsible parent and packed her off to bed as the night wore on, but he couldn't bring himself to rouse the slumbering child as she unconsciously snuggled against him. He sat up all night, watching the night stars fade to make way for the new day, delighting in how the lights from the streets below played off his daughter's face, lighting her up like a beautifully drawn portrait.
"Oh Selina…" He whispered into the approaching dawn, missing her even more at that particular moment. "I hope you are seeing this."
"I am now…" A sleepy voice murmured into his robes, all a flurry of wild hair and robes as its owner sought to bury their face under the cloak he had draped over her, averting her eyes away from the piercing dawning light until their eyes could adjust. Then, chancing a look at the horizon, the child gasped. "It's beautiful!"
Sirius averted his eyes from the sight before him to gaze lovingly at an even more magical sight – his daughter's wonder. "I can think of something even more beautiful to look at." He said softly.
Matching grey eyes flew to his in astonishment, twinkling in contentment. "That line is so overdone." She rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. "And you're bias. You contributed to the gene pool."
"Mighty good gene pool if I may say so." Sirius grinned. "Look what I have to show for it."
"Everyone says how much like my mother I am, you know." Estella flashed her father a victorious look.
"They're clearly in denial." Sirius scoffed, grabbing his daughter in a playful headlock and ruffling her hair. "This hair… it's mine…" Then, cupping either side of her face in her hands so he could examine her closely he added in most analytical tone, kissing each part of her face as he went. "Let's see what else… eyes… check… nose… mmm, a bit of your mother in there… chin… check… smile… oh that's definitely your mother's… ears… check… hands… nope, they're your mother's too… oh and that's Selina's laugh alright" Pulling the child in a hug. "Yes, it's all very official. An equal mix."
"You're crazy, you know that?" Estella shook her head, pulling away to stare at him in awe, slightly taken aback by her father's spontaneity.
"Crazy about you." Sirius smiled, hauling her up as he stood. "Come on, let's get inside before Moony discovers we were out here all night!"
"Why, don't you want him to know?" Estella said.
"You saw what he was like last night! He's a mother hen!" Sirius sniggered. "Mmmmm… maybe I should brush up on my transfiguration… what do you say?"
"Don't you dare!" Estella glared.
"Merlin help me, you sounded exactly like your mother just then!" Sirius gawked, helping her through the window. "Now scoot, go get dressed for the day, I'll make breakfast."
Half an hour later Estella emerged from her bathroom feeling refreshed and excited.
'This is what it's like to have a father!' Her mind spun in amazement. Everything had changed so quickly, and she had yet to find her feet… but part of her didn't even want to stand. Sirius was a lot like her Godfather, only better, somehow.
He was all hers, and she was his.
Throwing on her favourite pair of jeans – soft, faded blue denim that had distressed seams and flared at the bottom – and the shirt that she'd got from Reading which she had to keep getting Remus to charm so it would still fit; Estella then rubbed her hair dry furiously with her towel, throwing it up in a messy pony tail that sent straggly bits flying around her face before padding downstairs barefoot. Following her nose towards the kitchen, she stood in the doorway and watched her father work. Standing behind the counter with his back to her, Estella could see his wand peeking from the back pocket of his black jeans; his crumpled white shirt hitched around it as it hung loosely at his sides, untucked. He'd showered too – his hair, cut short after he'd given up on untangling the matted mess it had become in Azkaban, was glistening with moisture, tickling the tips of his ears and leaving a damp patch on the collar of his shirt where it lapped over. Through the warming smells of bacon and eggs cooking, Estella could smell the manly musk of sandalwood, coffee, and cigarettes.
Storing the image in the forefront of her mind, Estella snuck up behind her father and, in a true moment of daring, wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.
"What are you cooking?" She exclaimed, halting in her line of inquiry when her father flinched at her touch and went rigid. Darting her hands away as though she had just touched a hot stove, confused grey eyes met startled steel as her father turned around to face her.
"I'm sorry, Estella." Her father said, taking a calming breath. "You surprised me."
"You… you don't like surprises." Estella bowed her head, chewing her lower lip nervously.
Lifting her chin with a gentle grip, Sirius sighed. "No, I love surprises. Don't ever stop surprising me." He said, then, noting her look of confusion, he clarified. "I'm just not that used to… I didn't see…" He furrowed his brow, searching for the right way to explain things to his child without driving her away. He took another deep breath and went on. "I will need some time to readjust."
"It's alright." Estella furrowed her own brow, looking altogether very similar to her father at that moment as they shared a pensive look. "I think I get it. You don't need to explain."
Smiling warmly, Sirius took his daughter in his arms and welcomed the expected contact with his daughter as his mind continued its healing process.
"Are you cooking the Muggle way?" Estella asked suddenly, pulling away awkwardly, her eyes taking in the sight of the counter before them.
"It's relaxing." Sirius shrugged, licking a bit of batter from his finger as he moved to stand beside his daughter and continue his work. "There's nothing better than sitting down to a fully cooked breakfast, knowing that you created it." His eyes darkened and Estella got the feeling he was thinking of all the times he had gone without food of any measure of loving creation in the past decade.
"Can I help?" Estella offered.
"You can dunk the bread in the bowl over there." Sirius gestured towards a bowl of egg mix. "You like French Toast?"
Estella nodded, washing her hands in the sink. "I eat just about anything." She giggled. "Uncle Remus said once that it was strange to see such a small girl with an appetite that outstripped the Quidditch team."
"I'll take that challenge." He growled mischievously, kissing the top of her head as he finished his mouthful of cheese, their earlier awkwardness cast aside.
"You know, if you keep eating, there'll be nothing left to cook!" Estella admonished. "You'll lose your appetite."
"Every good chef samples his wares." Sirius said, popping a cherry tomato in her mouth before she could argue. "This smells fantastic, doesn't it? Let's have a cooked breakfast every day!"
"We eat like this too much, we'll end up the size of fully grown dragons!" She cried, eying the delicious sight of sausages frying in a pan. "Besides, you really got to taste my fruit smoothies! They're really quick and easy when you need a feed in a hurry."
"Well go on then, make them too." Sirius smirked. "I want to taste everything. My taste buds have been sorely neglected over the years."
"I'll make you one later. You really won't appreciate its magnificence if you overload your senses."
"You want to keep me in suspense?" Sirius growled. "Tease."
"Must be from your side of the gene pool." She grinned, darting away before her father could flick her with a dishcloth.
"Where'd you learn to cook like that anyway?" She asked curiously when she was a safe distance away.
"Your mother." Sirius looked at her briefly, his eyes flashing with sadness. "She used to love it when I cooked for her. She loved… ow!"
Sirius' anecdote was interrupted as he sliced his finger open, blood gushing over the small pile of herbs he had been shredding so delicately. Estella sprang into action, grabbing his arm and pushing it under the sink, turning on the tap.
"Apply firm pressure and don't take it out from under the tap, I'll be right back." She said worriedly as she bounded off downstairs to the basement, returning seconds later with a little first aid case and a jar of ointment. Pulling a clean towel from a drawer as she made her way back to him, she stood on her toes as she leant over him to turn off the taps and take his hand in her own. Hoisting herself up onto the counter so that they were level, Sirius could only stand opposite his daughter and watch on in amazement while she dabbed the wound dry with a corner of the towel.
"Now, this will sting slightly." Estella said softly, uncapping the jar she had sat next to her. Wrinkling her nose in protest, she added. "…and smell."
Placing what little was left of the thick, olive green paste on her finger, she applied it to his wound sparingly, her other hand holding his wrist firmly to counter his jerk of surprise.
"Oh don't be such a wimp." She grinned at her father, before leaning down and blowing on the cooling ointment soothingly as she fumbled in the case for a bandage.
Wrapping a bandage around his finger firmly, she wiped her hands on a towel and packed away the first aid materials. "There, that wasn't too bad, was it?"
"What did you do?" Sirius asked, inspecting his finger in amazement. It didn't even hurt anymore.
"It was a deep cut, so I wouldn't recommend getting that hand wet or dirty for the next 2 hours if you want the wound to heal completely." She said matter-of-factly, slipping off the counter. "You can always call Moony down to heal it with a spell, but I can tell you his skills in the area have not improved since before I was born."
"How? What?" Sirius stammered, in shock at the efficiency of his daughter's ministrations. Despite the copious amounts of blood that would have made a normal child frantic, she had been so calm and collected in dealing with his injury.
"My Uncle doesn't think too highly of foolish wand waving and silly incantations." Estella said wistfully. "Remind me to brew some more of that paste though. I gave what I made at school to Hermione to show her parents because Uncle Sev kept her class sample for assessment."
"You can make potions?" Sirius asked dumbly.
"I just finished second year, silly." She shook her head. "Not only that, I lived with a Potions Master for 12 years, you don't think he wouldn't have had me behind a cauldron as soon as I was tall enough?"
"But everyone tells me Snape hates teaching! You mean to tell me he spent his spare time teaching you?" Sirius was astounded. There was evidently more to his brother in law than what he gave the man credit for.
"Severus dislikes wasting his time on unwilling students." Estella shrugged, choosing her words carefully. "There's a difference."
"You wanted to learn about potions?" Sirius asked, a little insecure at the image of his daughter fawning over Snape and trying to emulate the greasy git.
"I used to sit and colour in the lab while my Uncle brewed potions, so I wasn't left unattended." Estella explained. "One day I didn't want to colour." She paused. "Uncle Sev called it my 'impulsive Gryffindor curiosity' getting the best of me; and he started to show me a few things."
"Your mother had the same passion for potions." Sirius said admittedly, wondering why Severus didn't just dump his daughter on any number of Hogwarts' House Elves whenever he needed to brew potions. "James Potter was my Potions partner… our interest in the subject was limited to what potions we could make for pranks."
"You make it sound like I am all work and no play." Estella pouted. "I guess it would surprise you then that I spiked Filch's goblet with a potion that turned his hair green for a week."
Sirius flashed his daughter a conspiring look. "Say, you don't have anything like that on hand, do you?" He said as he turned the stove back on and reheated breakfast. "Moony's looking awfully grey these days."
"No way!" Estella said waving her hands in front of her, stepping away. "Uncle Remus gives as good as he gets."
"That's so cute." Sirius mused. "'Uncle' Remus! Who'd of thought ol' Moony would become all grown up."
"That's nothing, you didn't have to call him Professor Lupin all year, knowing what he was really like!" Estella scoffed, putting away some of the unused food back in the fridge.
"That's priceless." Sirius grinned. "I was almost convinced I had gone insane when I found out Remus had become a Professor!"
"Why, you don't think he would have made a very good teacher?" Estella frowned slightly.
"No, on the contrary. I always knew he'd make a great teacher." Sirius assured her. "Though I just could never picture him placing so much store on title."
"Well if it makes you feel any better, he was always just 'Moony' when he was teaching me how to do magic when I was younger." Estella shrugged. "One of the fringe benefits of living in a school." She added by way of explanation.
"Ah yes, I've noticed that you're pretty handy in defence." Sirius' eyes glittered at his daughter in pride. "You almost had me in the Shack, you know. We should go back there and give it a proper go – friendly of course - the Ministry won't pick up your under-aged magic there. Maybe there's something left for me to teach you."
Paling, Estella swallowed. "He didn't tell you, did he?" She asked.
"Who didn't tell me what, sweetheart?" Sirius asked as he dished up their breakfast, not seeing the expression on her face.
"What happened at the Shrieking Shack." Estella's jaw set in a firm line as she pushed away the memories.
"What happened at the Shrieking Shack?" Sirius asked, looking at his daughter's haunted face in concern.
"Never mind, it's all the past." Estella tried to deflect the question. "We…we… just don't…"
"Estella, what happened?" Sirius asked, his voice laced with fear, putting down a plate of pancakes with a little more force than he had intended. The possibilities were endless.
"I'll tell you later, alright?" Estella answered warily. "Why isn't Remus up yet?"
"You're changing the subject." Sirius narrowed his eyes at his offspring. "Don't think I didn't notice."
"I wasn't trying to be subtle." Estella shrugged, not averting her eyes. "Remus never sleeps this late."
"I suspect he wanted to give us some time together." Sirius said searching his daughter's eyes curiously, becoming increasingly convinced she wasn't going to divulge the information he wanted. Then, looking at the door behind her, he raised his voice so that a prying ear would hear him. "I bet he's spent the morning pacing his room wondering if we'll ever invite him down to eat."
"Should I go fetch him?" Estella asked, thankful that her father hadn't pushed her for more information.
"No need." Sirius said offhandedly as he set a third place at the table. "He's outside the door."
"I can't hear anything." Estella strained her ears, but sure enough, the kitchen door opened, revealing her Godfather. "Oh, there you are. Morning!"
Sirius watched Estella and Remus together, his daughter pulling the bemused werewolf to his seat and telling him excitedly how she had contributed to the meal they were about to have. The atmosphere had positively darkened when he had mentioned the Shrieking Shack to the radiant child before him, causing unnerving questions to linger in his mind. Resolving to question Remus about the matter at length at a later time, the escaped convict pushed his concerns to the back of his mind to concentrate on enjoying a morning with his family.
"So, Uncle Remus, I told Dad I would make smoothies for breakfast tomorrow; do you think we could go to the grocers later and get some fruit?" Estella's voice broke his reverie. He and Remus shared a meaningful look.
"Estella, your father needs to leave today." Remus said quietly. "It's too dangerous for him to stay here. It won't take the Ministry long to think of looking here again now I'm back from teaching."
"What? No! It's not fair!" Estella cried out.
"Relax, Missy." Sirius patted his daughter's hand encouragingly. "You and Moony will follow in a few days. We just have to take precautions, see. Now, did you find that Muggle snow globe hidden where I said it would be in your mother's room?"
"Yes, I packed it, why?" Estella nodded.
"It's a Portkey to where I'm going." Sirius explained. "I could have you come with me straight away, but I really don't know what condition I will find the place in."
"Where are you going?" Estella asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"My parent's London home." Sirius grimaced. He had once pledged never to return there.
"I didn't know there was a house in London too!" Estella said in surprise. "Uncle Sev didn't show me that one."
"He wouldn't have known where it was." Sirius explained. "My father was extremely paranoid, so the house is protected with many unplottable charms and wards. Anyone who didn't live in the house cannot get there without an invitational Portkey, and those who had seen the house would leave not knowing where it was."
"Why can't I come with you?" Estella pouted. "It's just a house, isn't it?"
"This house was the family's stronghold." Sirius said. "My parents didn't trust the Goblins at Gringotts with anything except their gold, so the house is full of their most prized possessions… namely dark arts artefacts and the like. I promise I will send for you as soon as I am sure it is safe. We can pick a room for you together and paint it, how's that sound?"
"Alright." Estella sighed. "When will you be leaving?"
"After breakfast I am afraid." Sirius frowned. "I know your Uncle let you come here, but I'll feel more comfortable once he doesn't know where I am."
"You think he would tip off the Ministry?" Estella frowned, her eyes darkening to a murky charcoal. "He wouldn't do that if he knows what's good for him."
"I don't doubt what he knows, I am worried about what he's capable of when he doesn't think." Sirius said. "It will only be for a day or so… sooner if I can manage it."
"Guess it's a good thing I didn't unpack." Estella smiled up at her father acceptingly. "Now I will be able to spend my time packing a few extra things to help make this house we're going to bearable."
"I'd like that very much." Sirius smiled back before looking to his friend in awe "Moony, how'd I get to be so lucky?"
Remus shrugged, watching the interplay between father and daughter with a warm feeling in his heart.
"You spent close to half your life in the most horrible hell imaginable and you consider yourself lucky?" Estella's brows shot above her hairline. "How can you be so lucky?"
"Because I have you." Sirius said gently, leaning over and caressing her cheek lovingly.
"Ugh." Estella giggled nervously, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the man's openness – her Uncle was the polar opposite to the man before her, and even though Remus was affectionate, not even he could hold a candle to her father's enthusiasm. "Again with the corny one-liners!"
Across from her, Remus chuckled. "I'm afraid Estella's right, Padfoot. You're acting like a lovesick puppy."
Sirius smiled at them goofily. "I can do that too." He said proudly, changing into his animagus form so he could give real puppy dog eyes to his daughter. Laughing uncontrollably, Estella patted the dog on the head, squirming when he began to lick her hand.
"Gosh, Padfoot, if you're hungry, have a sausage." She admonished the dog lightly, shoving a sausage in his mouth just as he was transforming back to his human self.
"Id ooo arf uh ick er ow ing nnnmmm ow!" Sirius garbled incoherently, his face full of sausage. Chewing and swallowing it completely, he reiterated. "Did you have to stick the whole thing in my mouth?"
"Did you have to transform with a mouthful of sausage?" Estella quipped back.
Sirius licked his fingers and pulled a face at his daughter. "You know, this was so much nicer than the other sausage you gave me last Summer." He said. "But of course, I cooked this one."
"Hey you're lucky it wasn't a dog biscuit." Estella growled back, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"What's wrong with dog biscuits?" Sirius asked innocently. "Padfoot likes them."
"Yuck." Estella screwed up her face, her hand half way across the table to reach for a apple.
"Don't touch that." Remus scolded her. "Go wash your hands!"
Estella held her hand out in front of her like it was infected and nodded, rushing to the sink to comply.
"Sheesh, Moony, do you have to be such a responsible adult?" Sirius pouted, throwing a apple over his shoulder at Estella as she was flicking him with water from her wet hands a few moments later. She caught the apple gratefully and took a bite from it as she rejoined them at the table.
"Someone has to maintain the order." Remus shrugged, smiling.
"Oh like you were really capable of maintaining order when you were busy moshing at Reading." Estella scoffed. "Don't think I didn't see you!"
Sirius stared at his daughter, noticing the nature of her shirt for the very first time. "You took my daughter to Reading? The Reading Music Festival?" He rounded on his friend in mock indignation. Then, smirking, he quipped. "My, seems you're not always the responsible one. I would have waited until she was at least 14!"
"Oh believe me, he had no idea what he was getting himself in for." Estella's lips curled. "Why do you think he's so grey?"
The dog animagus barked with laughter. "God, it's been years since I went to that! The summer after we all graduated I think was the last time I'd been!" Sirius thought aloud. "So, Moony, has it changed much? Estella, did he bring home a girl again?"
Estella gaped at her perceptively proper Godfather and shook her head. "Nope, only me and my friends." She responded. "Why, who else should he have brought home?"
Remus blushed an even darker shade of crimson and glared at Sirius.
"Oh…" Sirius said dramatically, taking heed of Remus' slight shake of head. "I don't recall. My memory you know, is not like it used to be. Forget I said anything."
His whole omission had been given with a underlying lilt of 'Moony got a girlfriend, Moony made out with a giiiirrrl.' This did not go overlooked by Estella, who eyed her father carefully before playing along and believing the implication that Azkaban had taken away his memory of the event.
Remus continued to glare while father and daughter sniggered into their pumpkin juice.
"Merlin knows what I've gotten myself into!" Remus shook his head, throwing down his napkin in defeat. "Sirius, I'd hate the be the responsible one, but you really should be leaving if you want to make the most of the daylight hours ahead of you. I'm sure you can't wait to see your mother."
"Your mother is alive?" Estella did a double take.
"She's not, and let me assure you she was hardly a loss." Sirius said lowly. "Remus is referring to a horrible portrait of her in the entry hall."
"Oh." Estella said, suddenly remembering something that set her mind in action. "Can't you just take it down?"
Sirius shrugged.
"You finished?" Remus gestured as he began to clear the table around them.
"Right-o. I'll be off then. Sorry you'll have to clean up old friend." Sirius smirked, leaping from the table with unerring energy. "Estella and I cooked, you clean."
"How utterly convenient." Remus drawled as he sent the dirty dishes flying into the sink with a flick of his wand. "Thankfully, unlike some, I use my wand."
"Sure, suck the fun out of it, Moony." Sirius grinned, his hands playing with his daughter's hair as he came to stand behind her. His look turned contemplative. "You know all the details?"
"Yes, Sirius, we've been over them a million times already." Remus shooed him off. "We'll meet up with you as planned, don't worry. Just don't leave the house and get yourself caught."
"Yes Mum." Sirius rolled his eyes, pitching a towel at Remus before ducking out of the room. "See you!"
Estella looked from her Godfather, to the messy kitchen, to the door her father had just left through and back again questioningly.
"Go to him." Remus urged her, shooing her away. "You don't really suppose he'd actually leave without you there to see him off?"
Smiling awkwardly at the unfamiliarity of the situation, Estella tried not to appear too eager as she rose from her chair and left the room.
"Are you going to Floo out?" Estella asked her father curiously, finding him in the Living room.
"No. I doubt the floo would be connected." Sirius shook his head, moving past the Lounge and into the Library. "Last thing I need is to hit a closed grate and end up falling out of Fudge's fireplace. Though mind you…" he gave his daughter a meaningful look, "…he and I really need to have words."
Estella growled. "Given half a chance he and I would be having words."
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do then." Sirius smiled, kissing the top of his daughter's head after he had pulled a dusty looking ceremonial dagger in a sheaf from a overlooked top shelf. "Ah, here it is, my Portkey to hell. Be good for your Godfather while we're apart. I won't be here to cover for you."
"Yes, sir." She nodded, squeezing his forearm gently as he patted her cheek. "You take care of yourself too."
"I will." Sirius said, pulling his daughter into a one-armed hug. "Don't worry about me, alright? The house is unplottable, not even Narcissa will be able to get in there now. I don't plan on inviting her, and I am the only one who can."
"It's alright." Estella smiled reassuringly. "I believe you. Now go."
"I'll see you in a few days, I promise." Sirius pledged, stepping away to activate the Portkey.
The room empty, Estella shuddered. Though she was accustomed to it just being her Godfather and herself alone in the house, it suddenly felt empty without her father with them. It was almost scary just how natural it felt to have him around.
"Estella!" Her Godfather's voice bellowed from the kitchen, blissfully distracting her from her thoughts. "What do you know about the Muggle airplane?"
Estella and Remus had rendezvoused with Sirius three days later, giving the hiding convict a chance to lock away the most threatening of dark objects his parent's matrimonial home possessed and give it a hearty dusting; as well as giving Estella and Remus a chance to establish their alibi. The day Sirius had left, they had been sighted at the Ministry registering a travel itinerary and activating a international Portkey to Spain; allegedly set to return the weekend before school resumed. Once in Spain, the pair had boarded a Muggle airplane and flown back to the UK, touching down at Heathrow later that same night. They were scheduled to fly back to Barcelona just in time to activate their return Portkey.
As such, they were all housebound. Not that any of them minded, for there was enough in the house and in each other's company to keep them occupied for many a summer.
Coming to land in the entrance hall of the gloomy looking abode, Estella and Remus were necessarily quiet as to not to disturb the omnipresent eyes of the overbearing portrait. Unfortunately for them, the slight 'pop' from the Portkey was enough to draw back the curtains and set her off.
"Bane of my existence! Rotten fruit of my loins! Plotting to besmirch the sanctity of his father's threshold with filthy mudbloods and blood traitors!" The angry looking woman screamed.
A bemused expression on her face, Estella faced the portrait head on. "Why, hello Grandmother." She said benignly.
The woman's expression changed. "You're back!" She said, almost delightedly. "I trust your Uncle raised you the right way."
Having just heard their arrival, Sirius emerged from a neighbouring drawing room to hear his mother's last comment. A shocked look on his face, he looked to his daughter and friend questioningly, only to see them shrugging in confusion.
Knowing from Remus' conversation on the plane, Estella slipped on the mask she wore at the Malfoy's with ease. "My Uncle is head of Slytherin House." Estella said proudly. "I am well versed in the beliefs of its most valued student."
'I think they're all a fascist load of codswallop, but I know all about them.' Her mind finished.
"I thank the dark stars you did not have to live with your Blood traitors of parents." Her grandmother lamented. "It is a shame you are not a male, child, though I am sure you will marry a powerful pureblood one day in honour of the blood that flows through your veins."
"My Uncle has been in negotiations with Lucius Malfoy, Grandmother." Estella informed the gullible old portrait, a hint of sarcastic enthusiasm in her voice. "His son is around my age."
"I doubt you could have aimed any higher!" Mrs Black gasped. "BOY! You had better accept the terms."
"I most certainly will not!" Sirius bellowed at his mother, placing a protective hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"Don't worry Grandmother," Estella said in a superior tone, turning her nose up at her father in contempt. "As I am heir apparent to the Snape line, my Uncle has a vested interest. Lucius has been ever so kind as to lobby the Ministry to grant him loco parentis. After all, in light of my father's convict status, my Uncle remains my guardian."
"Never would I have thought to see the day where grace and purity was returned to the noble house of Black." Mrs Black beamed, looking almost foreign with a smile on her face. "Whatever are you doing here without your Uncle, child. It vexes me to see you in such inferior company."
"I was kidnapped." Estella said forlornly. "I only consented willingly when I discovered I would be brought here. To think my father would soon as destroy all that he could get his hands on! I took it upon myself to come salvage what I could… at your behest of course."
"Your forefathers would be indebted to you, child." Mrs Black said congenially, shooting daggers at her muggle-sympathising son. "Kreacher will assist you with anything you require. Take Regulus' old room. It is most befitting of this house's true heir."
"Why thank you, Grandmother." Estella curtsied exaggeratedly before allowing her ashen-faced father pull her out of the room, and out of ear shot of the disdainful old portrait.
"What is going on?" He asked in confusion after he had cast a privacy bubble. "You've been here before? What is with the Slytherin talk?"
"I had no idea. Honest." Estella shrugged. "Did you like my act?"
"It was an act?" Sirius asked dumbly.
"No, I'm really a Slytherin and want to marry Draco Malfoy." Estella stuck her finger down her throat and made retching noises. "Come on! I know better than that! You should have seen your face though, it was priceless! And Uncle Remus! Merlin, you looked like you were going to wet yourself!"
"Sweet mother of Merlin, I'd known your Uncle had versed you how to act around the select circles of our society, but I didn't realise you were so good!" Remus gawked at his niece. "That was amazing!"
Still a little shaky from seeing his daughter openly win his mother's favour, Sirius rest his hands on Estella's shoulders. "Just how close are you to the Malfoys?"
"Oh, what, you mean besides Lucius trying to get his hands on the dark objects in this house, Narcissa trying to get me to call her mother and Draco salivating over the power we would wield together? Not very close at all."
"That's all?" Sirius paled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that man is?"
"Of course." A haunted look came over Estella's face. "Why do you think I go to such lengths to stay in his favour?"
"Oh I don't know, you're a sadist who likes mutilating body art?" Sirius drawled.
"It's just role playing!" Estella protested. "I'd never go that far."
"It's not safe." Sirius whispered, fear gripping his heart.
"No, it's not." Estella agreed. "But as the saying goes, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
Pulling his daughter into a fierce hug – more to assure himself of her wellbeing than anything else.
"Let's not think of such things." Remus suggested, breaking the moment. "Sirius, how about you show us to our rooms?"
Estella did, in fact, take Regulus' old room as her Grandmother had directed. It brought Sirius much joy to know he was getting one up on his batty wench of a mother, and Estella revelled in playing the double role – it was the one thing in the entire Summer she was familiar with. Kreacher too, had taken a specific liking to his new Mistress, and was only too eager to please her despite never listening to a thing Sirius or Remus said.
"Ask him to chop his head off with a butter knife." Sirius pleaded with his daughter for the millionth time that week. "He'd do it for you."
"Don't talk like that." Estella admonished her father. "Who else will I get to boss around?"
"You can boss me around." Sirius offered, desperate to be rid of the elf. "Oh alright… I wouldn't want that ugly monster's blood staining your perfect little hands anyway. I'll miss it when you go back to school though – nothing will get done."
Kreacher had let the house go to ruin after the death of his former Mistress; and, in harbouring the same beliefs as said matriarch, he hated Sirius and Remus with a passion; often refusing to carry out their orders, or fulfilling them extremely poorly. With Estella, however, things were different. Under the impression that she would be the one to bring honour back to the house of Black, the house elf was only too keen to please her. As soon as the child had deviously told him that she was a 'sickly' child and was highly vulnerable to high levels of dust and mould, the house elf suddenly couldn't get a room clean enough… often forbidding the young girl entrance into a room so he could clean it 'one more time because he really didn't want his mistress to fall ill.' Sirius' room, was cleaned the least effectively, Estella had noticed, so she went in there one day and put on a spectacular show of wheezing and coughing in order to entice the elf to do a proper job. Kreacher came running and cleaned the room top to bottom, before disappearing to his room for the rest of the day; returning later that night covered in burn marks from an iron and bruises over most of its lanky torso.
"Kreacher made Mistress sick. Is Mistress pleased with Kreacher's punishment?" He had asked. Estella was speechless. Sirius, on the other hand, was rapt, and made it his favourite past time to put pepper on Estella's napkins and collars, inducing her to sneeze. The house elf, in turn, never failed to entertain him with its valiant attempts to win his daughter's favour.
"Stop doing it!" Estella scolded her father, distraught, as she leant over a cauldron in the basement. "Kreacher will kill himself!"
"And your point is?" Sirius smirked at his daughter. "Estella, that same house elf used to beat me on my father's orders when I was a child… he's crazy and insane. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't deserved."
"Why don't you just throw him a sock and be done with him?" Estella shrugged exasperatedly.
"Because he knows how to get to this house." Sirius said. "Besides, the shock of clothing would kill him."
"Isn't that your point?" Estella frowned, confused.
Sirius watched his daughter in fascination as she methodically prepared ingredients and added them to her cauldron.
"It's no wonder you enjoy helping me in the kitchen." He said quietly, in awe.
Setting the cauldron aside to cool, Estella turned and looked at her father curiously. "On that note, it's a wonder you don't enjoy making potions."
"I never said I didn't like it." Sirius said defensively.
"I've never seen you behind a cauldron." Estella said matter-of-factly, her eyes staring directly into her fathers, reading his expression.
"I just don't find it productive." Sirius shrugged, "Why make potions when you can get them ready made at the apothecary?"
Not even bothering to enter into a debate on the quality of over the counter potions, Estella rolled her eyes. Adopting her father's tone, she leered. "Why cook food the Muggle way when you can use magic?"
The pair stared at each other challengingly, playful opposition glinting in their matching grey eyes.
"You know what I think?" Estella spoke first, casually interjecting the silence as she stirred the cooling potion with her wand. "You won't admit that you like potions because it will mean admitting that you share something in common with my uncle."
Dumbfounded, Sirius narrowed his gaze. "That's not it!" He said shortly.
"Oh really?" Estella quirked a brow at him knowingly. "Could have fooled me."
"Now see here!" Sirius wagged his finger, becoming increasingly agitated by just how perceptive his daughter was being. "I may be new at this parenting thing but I don't think it's your place to question what I do."
"You don't think?" Estella's brows shot above her hairline as she barely managed to suppress her laughter. "I was merely making an observation."
"I wish I had never let you find this room." Sirius grumbled. "There's so much more we could be doing."
"What happened to asking me what I want?" Estella gave her father a sidelong look as she bottled the completed potion.
"You asked me not to keep asking you that, remember?" Sirius grinned triumphantly.
"Oh, so you're going to stop me from doing what I want?" Estella frowned. "Even when it's not doing any harm or interfering with my homework?"
"Estella, it's hardly normal for a twelve year old to spend all Summer couped up in a basement brewing potions." Sirius sighed. "My animagus form is not registered and we're in the centre of Muggle London, we could get away with a walk. You're just a kid, you should be out flying on broomsticks and running and playing with your friends."
At the mention of flying, Estella stiffened, but said nothing. Not paying attention to his daughter's body language, Sirius continued. "Maybe we can talk Dumbledore into letting us have Harry for a few days… we can go out in the country someplace where no one will ever see us and all four of us – you, me, Moony and Harry, can play Quidditch even."
"I don't know how to play Quidditch." Estella replied, refuting the idea. "Besides, it's much too risky for you to be out."
"You don't know how to play Quidditch?" Sirius cried out, incredulous. "Your uncle, I can understand, but what was Moony thinking? We'll have to fix that… oh, I know… we can go to Hogwarts and use the room of requirement. No one will see me there. Have you heard of that? It's on the map. Where is the map anyway?"
"What are you talking about?" Estella snapped, confused. "If you're going to continue being like this I'm going to blow up my cauldron!"
"You're making another potion?" Sirius was exasperated.
"Look, I get it, alright!" Estella cried, dropping her knife with a clatter as she turned to glare at her father. "You don't like that I like something my uncle likes." She paused to take a calming breath. "Look, you're over reacting, alright? I do not spend all of my Summers making potions – nor did my Uncle keep me from doing normal stuff to indulge him. Just ask Remus, he'll tell you! This house just hasn't been lived in for close to ten years, it needed to be restocked."
"But I just don't see why we couldn't have ordered them from an apothecary." Sirius whined.
"So if I were mortally ill and required a restorative draught you would trust that the potions from a apothecary were prepared in a way that would work properly?" Estella's lips curled into a thin line as she stared at her father pointedly.
"I would see to it that you were treated at Hogwarts by Madame Pomfrey." Sirius parried.
"You do realise that the potions supply for the Hogwarts infirmary is stocked by my uncle." Estella smirked.
"Fine. You win." Sirius shook his head. "But I still don't see why you need to make so many potions. We'll never have a use for half of this!"
"Do you even know what half of this stuff is?" Estella raised an expectant brow at her father.
"How much longer you gonna be down here?" Sirius whined resignedly, changing the subject. Then, suddenly remembering why he had come to seek out his daughter in the first place, he added. "Buckbeak's feeling neglected."
"Buckbeak's feeling neglected?" Estella rolled her eyes. "Right."
"Oh alright, your Godfather's feeling a tad left out too." Sirius smirked.
"Last potion." Estella said, adding her essence of hellebore to her bubbling cauldron. "Five more minutes."
Sirius peered over Estella's shoulder into the murky steam before them, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Alright, so what are you making?"
"Draft of Peace." Estella replied, as if it were obvious.
"What?" Sirius was astonished. "That was a fifth year OWLs potion when I was at school!"
"Still is." Estella shrugged. "Though who knows why, it's not really that difficult."
"Not really that difficult?" Sirius gaped. "Not really that difficult? Estella, it's a fifth year potion! What are you doing knowing a fifth year potion?"
"I've been making potions since I could read, you know that." Estella sighed. "If I really applied myself I could probably pass NEWT level Potions."
"Where was your Godfather when all of this was going on?" Sirius scowled, his resentment building. "You should have been outside chasing butterflies and skipping rope at that age, not being kept captive in a dungeon learning how to make potions!"
"I already told you, I wanted to learn!" Estella cried. "And he hardly had me chained down there all the time."
"Five year old's don't know what they want, let alone what's good for them." Sirius scorned. "I thought he was just humouring you with a few basics! Your Uncle should have known better!"
"He did the best he could." Estella hissed, her eyes narrowing at her father in her uncle's defence. "If you have issue with how my Uncle raised me, take it up with him."
"I have issue with the man raising you period." Sirius huffed. "It should have been him in Azkaban, not me."
Estella thumped the cauldron she had been lifting back down with a crash. "You take that back." She said in a dark, low tone, rounding on her father; her grey eyes darkening to a deep charcoal, her glare looking altogether too much like a true Snape's in the dim light.
"Why?" Sirius turned his nose up in defiance. "I did nothing Estella, nothing. Your Uncle was a Death Eater! Am I wrong in suggesting he deserved it more than I did?"
"No..." Estella screwed up her face in discontent.
"Sure, Dumbledore secured him diplomatic immunity or whatever the hell you want to call it after he turned spy." Sirius waved his hand dismissively, cutting Estella off. "But he wasn't always a spy, you know, Estella. He's as guilty as they come."
"I know that." Estella hissed.
"Do you?" Sirius raised a brow in disbelief. "I don't think you do. Are you saying he was upfront with you about what he did? I find that hard to believe."
"Alright so he didn't go into specifics. What did you want him to do, give me nightmares?" Estella snapped haughtily. "He told me it was in the past and that he regretted it and that he had paid a price."
"Paid a price!" Sirius scoffed.
"Do you think he wanted the life he has?" Estella cried.
"He was free!" Sirius shouted.
"Is he?" Estella shouted back from where she was pouring her now ruined potion down the sink. "There's more to confinement than just bars and locks."
Sirius stared at his daughter as though she was a stranger. "You know, sometimes I wonder if that performance you put on for Kreacher is really all an act." He blurted unthinkingly.
Estella froze, her shocked eyes glassing over with tears as her lower lip trembled; her heart and body feeling as though they had just been betrayed. Suddenly feeling suffocated in the small basement room, Estella brushed past her father and tore up the stairs, looking clearly distraught.
Realising what he had done, Sirius tried to renege. "Estella!" He called up after her. "I didn't mean that!"
Tracing his daughter's steps up into the kitchen, the fraught father was cut off by a overprotective werewolf.
"Remus, let me pass!" Sirius pleaded with his friend as he tried to step around the man who was blocking the doorway leading out of the kitchen.
"No." Remus said in a no-nonsense tone. "I come down here because I thought I could hear shouting, and then seconds later Estella comes running out of here looking like her whole world had just crumbled! What did you do to her?"
"What makes you think I did anything?" Sirius sulked. "It's all his fault!"
"By him, I assume you mean Severus?" Remus sighed. "Sirius, you have to let go…"
"…don't tell me what to do, Remus." Sirius interrupted. "Don't tell me I have to forgive him."
"Don't forgive him then." Remus shook his head. "But don't expect Estella to choose between you."
"I am not asking her to choose!" Sirius stamped his foot in frustration before huffing. "Though it wouldn't surprise me if she picked him! I can't believe it Moony!" His voice broke as he fell into a chair at the kitchen table and buried his face in his hands. "I can't believe it Moony, what did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this?" The distraught man's muffled voice reached the sensitive ears of his werewolf friend.
"Sirius." Remus said falteringly, his voice softening as he placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "You're going to have to accept that Severus is a part of her life – a big part of her life."
"I know that." Sirius said forlornly, in a tone not unlike his daughter's moments earlier. "I really didn't mean to upset her. I just want to spend time with her!"
"Then why don't you spend time with her?" Remus said. "You were down there with her for a while, I thought you were spending time with her, helping her. Merlin knows she could teach us both a thing or two."
"It's hard, Moony." Sirius admitted. "I'm so proud that she's so good… but it hurts."
The man didn't have to explain anymore.
"I know, Sirius." Remus said soothingly. "But maybe you should be telling her this."
"Oh, so you'll let me pass then?" Sirius snorted.
"I won't keep you from your child, Sirius, you should know that." Remus sighed. "I just kept you long enough to sort yourself out."
"Thanks, Moony." Sirius acknowledged gratefully as he rose from his chair and looked at his friend squarely. "I really don't know what's wrong with me! Azkaban…"
"Say no more, Padfoot." Remus held up his hand in protest. "We're all going to need time. I'll help you as much as I can."
"I'm glad you're here." Sirius sighed, embracing his friend briefly. "I'd ruin everything otherwise."
"Go to your daughter, Sirius." Remus waved him off towards the door. "No doubt she'll be in your mother's room with Buckbeak."
"You know her really well, don't you?" Sirius shook his head in amazement. "Have I thanked you for being there for her, Remus?"
"Only every second day." Remus rolled his eyes, his lips twitching. "Quit stalling and go make amends."
"What if she hates me now?" Sirius said worriedly, turning back to face his friend as he got half way to the door.
"You said yourself that I know Estella really well." Remus said by way of response. "It's up to you to make the first move. She'll be waiting."
Sirius nodded, transformed into Padfoot, and left the room.
Sure enough, Sirius found his daughter in Buckbeak's company. The door to his mother's room was slightly ajar.
'She'll be waiting for you.' Remus voice echoed in his mind as he nudged the door open wide enough to creep through.
Through a veil of shaggy black dog's fur, Sirius could make out the resting form of Buckbeak in a dimly lit corner of the room; and there, resting against the majestic beast with her back to the doorway, was Estella. The slight hum of her walkman reached his ears as he crept closer, and he could see her twirling her wand round the fingers of her hand – a trait he had come to identify as a nervous habit. As the sleek black body of his animagus form melted in with the shadows, seemingly undetected, glinting grey eyes flashed with astonishment when the hand twirling the wand stilled, the wand stiffening into a defensive pose. Then, almost simultaneously, the hand relaxed, and the wand started twirling again.
She knew he was in the room.
"Hello, Padfoot." Estella's voice acknowledged him, the owner of said voice unmoving; though the walkman had at some point been switched off.
Taking that as his invitation, Sirius – as Padfoot – padded up to his daughter's side and nudged his head against her arm submissively, his puppy dog eyes gazing up at her pleadingly. He whined.
Exhaling a long breath, Estella pursed her lips; her hand finding itself buried in the dog's soft fur.
"Prat." Estella murmured, the anger leaving her. "You know I have a soft spot for strays."
Padfoot whined, crooking his neck so that Estella would scratch a little higher up, behind his ears. Complying, Estella pinched the sensitive gathering of that she found threateningly.
"You know you can't keep transforming every time we have a fight and then just expect everything to be okay." She said warningly. "I still want you to take back what you said."
She was answered with a apologetic woof.
"Oh, no." She hit the dog on the nose admonishingly. "Doggy responses don't count."
At that, the dog backed away, head bowed, and transformed.
"I'm sorry I upset you." Sirius said unhesitatingly. "I take back what I said. I wouldn't wish Azkaban on anyone. Especially not someone who has done such good job raising my daughter."
Estella peered at her father questioningly. 'Well this is a complete turn around!' Her mind thought. Studying him closely, Estella could see that he was sincere – his admission heartfelt.
"My uncle would dearly love to hear you say that." Estella said coyly.
Sirius shuddered. Though it was hard to deny that the unconventional potions master had indeed done the best he could with Estella, there was no way in bluebell flames that he was going to admit that to the man.
"I don't know why I behaved like such an ass." Sirius admitted to his child, somewhat frustrated with himself. "My mind is still split in two from the Dementors… I'm hardly myself anymore."
"Alright, I'll buy that." Estella said. "But I'm warning you, there will come a time when both you and Uncle Sev will have to stop using that as an excuse."
"I'm not using it as an excuse!" Sirius said. "I'm stating fact."
Estella stared at him hopelessly and shook her head.
"Fine. You're not using it as an excuse." She drawled, putting her headphones back into her ears. "Now if you'll excuse me, I wish to preserve this conversation in my mind for my pensieve."
Sirius did a double take as the implication of what she said sunk in. "Don't you dare show him!" He growled playfully.
"I was only messing with you, you know." Estella assure him after a break, backing down on her threat. "Though the look on your face when you thought Severus would see it! That I could use."
"Why?" Sirius asked, confused.
"Because if I let Uncle Sev see that look on your face, it will drive him insane not knowing what caused it." Estella replied with an evil glint in her eye.
Astonished, Sirius could only gawk. "You truly are my daughter, aren't you?" Sirius beamed. "I'm surprised your Uncle is still sane."
"You think he is sane?" Estella deadpanned, her lips twitching. "Was that another compliment? If I didn't know any better I'd suspect that he slipped some Unctuous Unction in your butterbeer."
"Some what?" Sirius stared at her blankly.
"I don't know, maybe you should ask him for some next time you see him." Estella smirked. "Would do you a world of good."
"What is it? A potion?" Sirius persisted, his curiosity piqued.
"You call yourself a prankster, yet you've never heard of Unctuous Unction?" Estella raised her brow. "I had Remus put some in Uncle Sev's tea once, why don't you ask him?"
"Why, what did it do to Snape?" Sirius asked impatiently, his eyes wide open with awe.
"Well, let's just say it put him off tea." Estella snorted. "Though I must say it made for an interesting day."
"You're not going to tell me any specifics, are you?" Sirius scowled. "Tease."
"What, and spoil my fun?" Estella grinned mischievously. "What would be the point in that?"
"You'll make me happy." Sirius stated without hesitation.
"Ah, but I already make you happy." Estella retorted smugly.
"Touche." Sirius shook his head. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"Is that a compliment or a curse?" Estella quipped.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, why don't you guess?"
"You're not going to tell me any specifics, are you?" Estella mimicked. "Tease."
The pair erupted into infectious giggles, their past indiscretions pushed aside.
"So what made you come up here of all places, anyway?" Sirius asked his daughter once they had calmed down. "It positively stinks in here."
"Hey, quiet, you're insulting Buckbeak!" Estella admonished her father. "Besides, I thought you said that Buckbeak was feeling neglected."
"I can't get anything past you, can I?" Sirius shook his head in awe.
"Nope." Estella threw back flippantly as she leant back into the feathery down of the resting Hippogriff. "So you flew off on Buckbeak, did you? Where did you go?"
"Well for a long time I just flew." Sirius replied wistfully as he joined his daughter propped up against the torso of the content animal. "It's the most amazing feeling…"
"I know." Estella nodded.
"What do you mean you know?" Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I hadn't finished what I was going to say."
"You were talking about what it was like to fly on Buckbeak, weren't you?"
"No, I was talking about what it was like to fly again after being confined to a cell for 12 years." Sirius corrected.
"Oh." Estella mused. "You know I saw you escape. Saw you from a window as you were flying away."
"I saw you too." Sirius said. "That day you flew Buckbeak… I was watching from a cave in the hills just outside Hogsmeade."
"Really?" Estella's eyes widened. "You know, I was really lucky not to get in trouble for leaving school grounds like that. Though if you look at it that way, I suppose anyone who takes off on a broom is technically leaving school grounds."
"Your mind works in mysterious ways, Missy, has anyone told you that before?" Sirius shook his head in astonishment.
Before Estella could answer, Kreacher appeared.
"Murdering, traitorous son! Turns his mother's room into cage for filthy foul beast of satan!" The disgruntled house elf grumbled under his breath as he carried out his orders to feed the creature and muck out its room – which he did to great effect seeing as it was really the beloved quarters of his deceased mistress.
Sirius and Estella were heaved aside by the rising form of the Hippogriff, and from their vantage point sprawled on the floor, they could only watch in silent transfixion as, as though in slow motion, the Hippogriff reared on its hind legs and kicked Kreacher across the room forcefully.
"Buckbeak, no!" Estella cried out, her hands moving quickly to try and placate the wild beast… the wild beast who was apparently having a hard time distinguishing Kreacher from his next meal of ferret. Meanwhile, Sirius was torn. Though it brought him much joy to see the pesky little elf get its just desserts, he did not wish to expose Estella to it. Besides, despite his failings, they needed Kreacher around. Only Kreacher was able to remove some of the dark objects that the house held in its bowels. When Estella had professed to her Grandmother her plan to spirit away under cover of darkness the most precious of dark objects, she was only too willing to give her blessing. As far as the old woman knew, Estella was having Kreacher pack up and send to her Uncle her family's most 'treasured' possessions without her father's knowledge. As far as she was aware, her reluctant son was asleep in his room, blissfully unaware of his daughter's devious attempts to preserve what he had come to the house to destroy.
To make a show of things, father and daughter had put on frequent showdowns… with Estella 'trying' to rescue a miscellaneous dark object from her father; who always invariably ended up destroying it in front of her and causing her to erupt into crocodile tears. Later, in the sanctity of either of their private rooms, they would giggle and laugh about it, conspiring late into the night their next award winning performance. All the while, Kreacher would be downstairs, packing away objects he himself had hidden from Sirius and sending them off to Estella's 'wonderful' Uncle under Mrs Black's watchful eye; both unaware that Severus – after a letter from his niece deploying his help – would suitably dispose of the packages.
Estella's actions to prevent Buckbeak from attacking Kreacher further served well in reinforcing to the psychotic house elf that Estella was on side.
"Thankyou young mistress!" Kreacher bowed deeply. "Mistress is saving Kreacher's life. "Kreacher is sorry he cannot rid the house of its living filth."
"That's alright, Kreacher." Estella slipped on the mask effortlessly. "Be sure to assure my grandmother's portrait that we succeeded in protecting the valuable keepsakes of this room."
"Young mistress is very thoughtful, Kreacher thinks." The foolish elf bowed so low his nose was rubbing in a pile of Buckbeak's excrement, bringing a whole new definition to the term 'brown nosing' for Sirius, who could barely contain his mirth at this point. "Young mistress' grandmother will be very pleased to hear young mistress is successful in deceiving her horrible convict father."
As on cue, Sirius scowled and spat at Kreacher incoherently.
Later that day, once Kreacher had informed his mistress of her granddaughter's 'heroic' deeds, the one dimensional portrait of the woman became immovably convinced that she had a weapon in her granddaughter.
How little did she realise just how wrong she was.
"Grandmother." Estella approached the portrait sweetly one day after most all of the unwanted dark objects had been purged from the house. "There's an estate in Devonshire on my mother's side that I would dearly love to make a home for myself in one day."
"I do not believe I am familiar with it, child." Her grandmother replied.
"It's even more unplottable than this house." Estella stated. "Superiorly appointed as well."
"Is this where you have sent our family's treasures?" Mrs Black asked.
"Yes, of course." Estella said. "The extensive dungeon vaults are ideal for preserving valuable family heirlooms. A bulk of the Snape legacy is bound there."
"I see." Mrs Black nodded approvingly. "What do you wish to transfer there now?"
"Well, since I am as much a Black as I am a Snape, and it appears my father will not relinquish his stronghold on the Black estate anytime soon, I was ever so curious if it was at all possible to have that beautiful family tapestry grace the halls of my noble home." Estella asked. "I would dearly love to remove it tonight without my father knowing. I fear he would insist on keeping it here just to spite me."
"There are protective charms on it to ensure your father won't destroy it as long as it hangs in this house." Her grandmother assured her. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to let it hang here as a poignant reminder? This house will belong to you before too long."
"I know, Grandmother." Estella frowned, trying to think of another tact. "It just seems so wrong though to have established my own House of Black with all the exquisite Black artefacts without the one thing that will truly make it a home. I'd even ask if you'd like your portrait moved there, but I like the fact that I have you and Kreacher to watch over my interests here while I attend school."
"If it means so much to you child, I would be honoured to see the Black family tree hang in a hall of more grandeur." Her grandmother conceded eventually. "I will see to it that Kreacher sends it on before your father is able to intervene. I do trust measures are in place to ensure he cannot enter this Manor?"
"Thankyou Grandmother." Estella beamed genuinely. 'Dad will get the biggest surprise for Father's Day tomorrow!'
Estella was sure her father's whoop of joy was audible three blocks away. When he'd awaken to see his most hated tapestry removed, he'd been unable to restrain his jubilation… swinging Estella around in his arms and thanking her profusely.
"That's only half your present." She whispered in his ears before adding more loudly, for Kreacher's benefit. "I only removed it so it wouldn't have to befoul itself with your presence!"
"Befoul itself with your presence?" Sirius had quizzed her lightly when they were away from eavesdropping ears. "You have been spending far too much time talking with that blasted portrait of my mother!"
"It's all for a good cause." Estella said cryptically. "Just wait and see."
Soon after, Estella disappeared into the basement potions lab one of her Black ancestors had established many years ago. As part of a plan she had hatched with her Godfather, she put the other half of her father's first Father's Day present in action. Unbeknownst to Sirius, his mother's portrait had been removed from behind its curtain and propped up in the basement; and Estella had confined Kreacher to his room for the entire day; such was in her power.
The spited portrait of Mrs Black was under the miscomprehension that her granddaughter wanted her visage to observe and witness the child's formidable potion making skills. Estella had won the picture over with the promise that she was making a special potion that would render her father and his 'filthy halfbreed friend' defenceless, vulnerable to the tender mercies of both she and Kreacher.
"Perhaps your son will turn out better after a mild attitude adjustment." She had suggested, winning over the old woman's acceptance. Just as Estella had planned, it was the baneful old woman herself that suggested that her portrait be moved downstairs so she could watch the potion being brewed.
Estella could only smile malevolently. Sometimes she really did think she should have ended up in her Uncle's house.
"Remus! What is she doing down there? Why can't I go down there?" Sirius pouted. "It's my first Father's Day with Estella! Why is she avoiding me like this?"
"You never did have much store for patience, did you, Sirius?" Remus chuckled, dealing out the next hand of cards. "It will be well worth your wait, trust me."
"I suppose I can't complain." Sirius sighed, glancing over his hand with a calculating look. "Kreacher's out of sight and my Mother has learned to shut up."
Five minutes passed.
"Alright Moony. Tell me what she's doing down there!" Sirius pleaded desperately.
Looking at his watch nonchalantly, Remus shrugged. "Why don't you go down there and see for yourself?"
Sirius scraped his chair along the stone kitchen floor eagerly in his rush to satisfy his curiosity.
"Estella!" He called down the stairwell. "I'm coming down."
With that, Sirius barrelled down the stairs. Remus, not wanting to miss out on the surprise his friend was in store for, followed close on his heels.
End Chapter: Family Connections