A/N: I am COMPLETELY sorry for the lateness of this chapter. My beta and I have been delayed in writing and editing lately. Have no fear, I am nearing the completion of chapter seven now and I'm sending six out to be edited. Thank you for your beautiful patience!

It Felt Like Flying

Chapter 5

Cecily was worried. For two days, she paced her flat waiting for her mother to appear. Where could she be? Both apartments showed no evidence that someone had been there for at least three days.

"Cecily?" Sirius asked, brushing ash from his robes.

Cecily stomped her foot. "You're notsupposed to be here! If the Ministry finds any trace of you, they'll think you had something to do with the disappearance of Mum!"

"About your mother—Cecily—she's…"

"Yes?"

"She is a Death Eater."

For a moment Cecily only stared, dazed by the sudden disturbance. She felt like biting the wall.

"My mother? My mother?" said Cecily in disbelief.

"The Ministry…you see…she's…in Azkaban."

The witch stumbled back in horror. How? How could she be in Azkaban? She wouldn't last a week! How did the Ministry find out? Cecily couldn't believe any of it.

"How did you find out?" she demanded. Her face was twisted in betrayal as she glared at the floor.

Sirius reached inside his robes and pulled out the current Daily Prophet. "Got it this morning."

Cecily read it in a gripping shock. Her hands shook terribly as she read a list of Death Eaters thrown in Azkaban that week. She wanted to scream when the name Mary Adams reached her eyes.

"I need to leave," choked Cecily. Her gaze swayed across the room. Sirius steadied her noticing a slight jolt in her legs, hinting that she might just faint.

"You're not going anywhere but back to Moony's. Look, you just need to relax—"

Her eyes filled up. "My mother is a Death Eater! I want to see her! How could she do this to me? I don't believe this. All the lies, the secrets...why? Why did she become one of them? How could she be someone so repulsive?"

Sirius didn't answer. He looked at her gently, as if he was considering some sort of reply with difficulty. It was as if whenever he made the effort to settle Cecily, his words floated so tenderly through her ears and calmed her to a rest. She was pleased he was mulling over a clever and respectful response, but wished he could at least hurry it up.

While he was gathering his thoughts, Cecily's tears were falling silently and steadily from her dark eyes as she cursed out her mother and her stupid mistakes.

What angered Cecily the most was her mother's choices. She wondered whether Mary had made a mistake—maybe she had joined the Death Eaters for what she believed in. On the other hand, she could have been forced…but Cecily couldn't bear to reason that her mother had told her many times before how she disliked muggle-borns learning in Hogwarts like the other witches and wizards.

"Say something," Cecily implored. She sniffed.

Sirius looked down at her. "My mother isn't a Death Eater, but she hates me. Least yours appreciated you."

Cecily twisted her face in revulsion. "At least she hasn't ever lied to you." She uncoiled his arms from her body and stepped back. "At least she never deceived and betrayed you."

"Your mum wanted to protect you—"

"And you're defending her! Look, I know you liked her and all, but defending Death Eaters doesn't appear smart to prove your innocence!" Cecily said before adding, "I'm leaving. And don't you dare follow me."

She passed Sirius and strode to the door, yanking it open in a curt manner. "I will see you tonight," she murmured and slammed the door behind her.

Sirius sighed deeply.

Cecily was confused, staring up at her building and waiting for Sirius to come after her. Where was he? He was supposed to follow her! Maybe he actually believed she wanted to be alone, but she could hardly consider that. It was obvious she needed support right now; was Sirius that ignorant not to notice?

She began to walk, ignoring the frigid air. A car hustled by. The buildings slumped and growled at her. Her mother, her stupid mother was most likely sitting in an Azkaban cell, waiting for rotting death to pierce her handsome face. The thought, although it satisfied her restless mind, made an ill feeling in her stomach.

The sound of a dog huffing behind startled her. But she knew it was only Sirius in his Animagus form. He trotted up beside and nuzzled her hand.

Cecily sighed and rubbed his ears, producing a small smile at his amusing doggish grin. "I didn't think you'd actually follow me, like I told you not to."

Sirius grunted. He tugged on her coat with his monstrous jaws, beckoning an unpleasant looking alley.

A moan escaped her lips. "No, Sirius. Not in there."

But he insisted.

"Fine, but if we die, it's your fault."

He became a human and grasped her hand. His hair was disheveled and circles appeared below his eyes. A soft grin lit his face to a strange happiness.

"It'll be hard," he said. Cecily nodded impatiently. "But I promise to make everything better."

"You can't promise that."

Sirius winked. "I'll find a way." He carefully supported her head with a strong hand and leaned in. His lips paused before hers. "Don't tell the werewolf."

In a second, he kissed her gently. Cecily stood limply against him with her arms hanging pathetically by her sides. You're kissing me! she wailed silently. Don't stop, don't stop, DON'T STOP! Sirius pressed his lips firmer against hers and when she thought he was about to go further, he ceased.

"That was just a sneak preview."

Cecily was stunned. What a bastard! Although in the back of her mind, she knew his promise to make everything better could never be broken.

"Hello, Emily. I assume you've heard about Mum. Too bad, right? Yeah, so I'll be seeing you later!" Cecily said to the oldest sister of the Adams clan.

Emily squealed in delight. The baby she balanced on her hip wailed, but she was able to seize Cecily into the house. Cecily mentally growled.

A stampede of children charged into the foyer with grins. They clawed at their aunt like monkeys begging for gifts and stories. Emily did her best to shoo them from her youngest sister.

"Well, what'd you expect, Cecie? You haven't visited in years!"

"Years, well…you know how time flies—"

Emily was a rather hyper woman with the priorities of six children, and now, one baby. Her eyes were slightly crazy with excitement and her dark mane of hair was disheveled as if she hadn't combed it in months.

She always wanted children, and Cecily could produce several memories of her sister advising Mary Adams on how to parent her and the other siblings. Emily enjoyed cutting up everyone's food, nice and tidy (and safe) and demonstrating good sharing skills. She was a woman that never rubbed any of her high energy on you, instead sending you into a world of hugs and loud comments on your hair.

After shaking off a herd of wild children, Cecily followed her flouncing sister to the kitchen for cold tea and rather unpleasant biscuits. Emily giggled senselessly even as she put the baby on the floor to frolic with a few shiny pans.

"I guess you've heard about Mum?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh that woman?" She wasn't quite fond of her mother. "To tell the truth, Cecie, we all knew about her being a Death Eater and all."

Cecily gave her a strange look. "What the hell—"

"Cecie!"

"What the heck? You never told me? Why the hell not?"

Emily looked around frantically to make sure none of her children had heard the 'naughty' word repeated several times. Again, she rolled her crazy eyes.

"You were really attached to Her, and we had no hope of you not becoming a Death Eater—"

"But I didn't!"

"True, but the way things were going with you…well…you know. She went when You-Know-Who killed Dad and Martin."

Cecily certainly did not want to remember the terrible day when she learned of her father and her older brother, Martin's murder.

"Why?" asked Cecily.

Emily leaned in. "Because she's insane!" Her eye twitched twice.

Cecily pulled a face and thought, Because that doesn't run in our family. "She must have thought she could protect the rest of us or something."

"But she's still insane!" said Emily, splashing tea across the carved and crayoned table with a jerk. Cecily was suddenly very aware of her sister's own lack of sanity.

"Yes, Emily, yes," said Cecily. Now she desperately wanted to leave, for Emily's nose was twitching madly and the baby on the floor seemed to want to waddle (actually crawl, but it was more of a waddle-crawl than anything else) to the next room.

Cecily crossed her eyes and pretended to squint across the kitchen. A fearful look washed over her face before she boomed, "Madeline, get away from that stove!"

As Emily jumped to fetch the child (who wasn't really even there), Cecily dashed for the front door.

Emily sighed loudly in relief. She stared at Cecily's unoccupied chair and shrugged.

"Why does that always happen to me?"