(PoA) CHAPTER THREE: Father-Daughter Bonding
Against her better judgment, Ellie spent the next hour cutting her father's hair and telling him all about her life at Hogwarts, from her friendship with the twins and the golden trio to her near-death experiences at the end of both years. The only thing she avoided mentioning was her romantic relationship with Harry; until she had heard the full story of her father's innocence, she couldn't put Harry at risk.
"And your mother?" Sirius asked her when she was finished. She'd finished cutting his hair, too, and it had made a startling difference to his appearance. Already, he was inching closer to the handsome man she had once seen in the mirror. "How is Serena?"
"Sad. Lonely. Living a life without magic, like I mentioned. She…" Ellie bit her lip. "She believes all of it, you know. Everything they said you did."
His eyes darkened at that. "It seems that everyone was quick to believe it."
"And why shouldn't they?" she asked, hostility rising to her voice for the first time. "From what I can tell, there was hard evidence against you—witnesses to your crimes."
"Witnesses who don't understand what they saw," he said impatiently. "Evidence that can be explained."
"And me?" she asked, her voice little more than a whisper. "Why did you bring me there? Why did you leave me there?"
He sighed, running a hand through his freshly cut hair. "I was afraid for you, Ellie. No one in my family knew that you existed. If I had told the Ministry when they came for me, the word would have gotten out. I knew that Serena would find her way to you; I couldn't risk someone like Bellatrix or Narcissa finding you first."
"But why bring me in the first place? Didn't you know there was going to be some sort of… of altercation?"
"I never should have brought you with me," he admitted. "I should have brought you to Serena first. But I was overcome with fury toward Peter for what he had done to James and Lily, and I was… cocky. I thought I could handle Peter easily. I didn't think you would be in danger."
"Peter," she repeated, struggling to keep up. "That's Pettigrew?"
He nodded. "Peter was the one who really betrayed James and Lily; my fatal mistake was in trusting him. I was supposed to be their Secret-Keeper, you see—the one person who knew where they were hiding. But Lily was worried the choice was too obvious, and that it would endanger me, and, to that end, you. For your sake, I agreed to let them change to Peter—which led to their downfall."
"But the Muggles," she said. "The people who died that day. They say—"
"Peter killed them. Tried to kill me, too, and would have, if I hadn't casted a protection charm on you and me both."
"But didn't he die that day, too?"
Sirius's grey eyes glinted with a kind of animalistic fervor at that, and the sight sent shivers down her spine. "No, Ellie—he didn't. And in about a month, he'll be joining you at Hogwarts."
Much to Ellie's dismay, Sirius refused to go any further with his explanations that night. He slinked back off into the woods in his dog form, and she back to her mother's house.
The next day, she convinced her mother to allow her to go shopping—under the watchful eye of Shane, of course. She had little interest in shopping for herself, but was determined to sneak a few articles of Muggle clothing for Sirius so that he might stand a chance of looking more normal if he was ever spotted.
Her appearance was starting to change, she noticed as she tried on a handful of items for herself at the store. She'd grown another inch or two, putting her at around five-four. She wasn't quite so scrawny and thin anymore; she was starting to develop the beginnings of a woman's body. And her hair had grown nearly as long as Sirius's was before she cut it.
There were several letters waiting for her when she returned home—one from a frantic Fred, begging her not to do anything stupid, and another from a less frantic Harry, telling her he missed her and to be careful. Fred also mentioned that his parents had won some sort of cash award that they would be using to travel to Egypt to visit his brother Bill, which made her smile. Don't hesitate to glow me if anything comes up, though, he added. Here if you need me.
As if she would bother Fred during one of the few family trips his family would ever be able to afford.
To her surprise, there was even a letter from Oliver Wood, who knew nothing about the Sirius of it all. Thinking of you, it said. Just a reminder that this is will be my last year at Hogwarts—for whenever you decide to cut the Boy Who Lived loose.
She rolled her eyes at the ever-persistent words of her Quidditch captain before heading upstairs to put all of the letters away in her room. She waited impatiently for dark before tearing across the backyard and back to her and Sirius' spot.
"Easy, there," he said with a bit of a chuckle when he saw her expression.
"Easy, there?" she repeated, glaring at him. She shoved the bag of clothes at him, then crossed her arms. "You drop the bombshell about Peter Pettigrew being alive on me, refuse to tell me anything else about it until that night, and expect me to be calm?"
He laughed. "You have more of Serena in you than I expected."
"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, horribly offended.
But he didn't seem to think it was an insult at all. In fact, judging from the twinkle in his eye, there was at least a part of him that was still very much in love with her mother.
"I don't want to talk about Peter," he finally said. "He's dangerous, and he's my problem, not yours."
"If he's the reason my father was in Azkaban for most of my life, then he's my problem, too," she said stiffly. "Can't you at least give me a hint?"
He considered for a moment, then said, "I think the smartest thing to do is to give you my memories. If memory serves, Dumbledore has a Pensieve in his office. Do you know what that is?"
Ellie shook her head, feeling strangely disappointed that she wasn't able to impress her father with whatever knowledge this was.
Then again, he'd seemed pretty impressed—not to mention concerned—that she'd already fought Voldemort twice and won.
"It's a sort of magical device that allows you to immerse yourself in memories—whether yours or someone else's. Almost like… an interactive movie."
"Like with Riddle's diary," she said, realizing too late that he had no idea what she was talking about. "Sorry—yeah. I get it."
"Can you come back tomorrow night with a vial?" he asked her. "And… your wand?"
She bit her lip. She had no real reason to doubt her father's innocence anymore, but he hadn't offered her any hard proof yet, either. Would she be a fool to give her wand to the most wanted man in the wizarding world?
"It's okay," he said when he saw her expression. "It was just a thought—but of course, I understand."
"No." She cleared her throat, forcing herself to trust her instincts. They had been right about him all along, hadn't they? Why stop now? "It's okay. I'll do it."
For the next two weeks, Ellie came out to meet Sirius every night. He used her wand just long enough to extract his memories and put them into a vial for her; as soon as he was done, he handed the wand back to her.
She wanted to learn more about him, but he didn't seem intent on telling her much. "The memories will tell you all you need to know," he always assured her. "I'd rather learn more about you."
He was sorry to hear about how Serena had chosen to raise her, though he seemed to understand that he was a big part of the reason for that. He was horrified to hear the details of her multiple experiences with Voldemort, but undeniably proud of her bravery in both instances.
To her surprise, it was her stories about the Perelli Charm that seemed to concern him the most.
"I had half-hoped you would never find out about it," he admitted reluctantly.
"Then why do it at all?"
"As a prominent fighter in the war against the Dark Lord, it was always a possibility that I might die. As I've told you before, I did everything within my power to keep your existence secret from my enemies, but I still feared the worst. I hoped that, between the Animagus and Perelli charms, you would have enough extra strength to fend them off if they ever came for you. And if they didn't…"
She nodded, understanding. "Then I'd lead a normal life—or so you hoped."
"Your Animagus abilities are one thing, Ellie. But the Perelli charm… You need to be careful with it. The stronger it gets—"
"—the more of a target it puts on my back?" she finished for him. "Yeah—I've heard that one before, actually."
He blinked, looking surprised. "From who?"
"Oh, just Tom Riddle. Also known as Voldemort."
Sirius quite nearly blanched at that. "He knows?"
"Well… not exactly. It was only the memory of him. But it's not exactly a well-kept secret, either. The first time I ever used it was while I was performing on stage at a rock concert."
She realized, as the words came out, that she hadn't told him everything; she'd neglected to mention The Weasleys, the rock band that she, the twins, and Ginny had formed the first summer she met them.
"Well?" Sirius asked, seeming to temporarily have forgotten his concerns about her Perelli charm. "When can I hear some music?"
She parted her lips to answer him, but something stopped her. He was looking behind her at something—someone—in her backyard.
She followed his gaze, squinting through the trees, and froze when she saw who it was: Harry.
He didn't see them, but it was only a matter of time.
"Sirius," Ellie whispered. "There's something I haven't—"
"Don't tell him you've seen me," Sirius interrupted. "Trust me."
And with that, he changed back into a dog and darted deeper into the woods.
Gotta love that father-daughter bonding! And what's Harry doing at Serena's? Did he blow up his aunt in my version, too, or is something else afoot? Stay tuned for "Reunited," and don't forget to review!
