Chapter 12: A completely different world

Cornelia Dustin rose from her seat in front of the children, closing her storybook as the small chime next to the window rang. She'd just finished reading them the story – The Magical Choice, and today the children had chosen to follow the road of thorns, leading them to Beatrice Sleeping's castle.

A look at the great clock above the chimney confirmed what she thought: it had to be Black, here for Juliet. The girl's hand on the clock was the closest to pointing at the sky above – Cornelia's clock showed as many hours as she wished, one for each child who had to be picked up by their parents – Juniper and Oleander Masson were on the same hand, of course – and the whole thing turned as time passed, so that the current hour would always be at the top.

Sirius Black didn't always pick up his girl at the same hour, and he didn't leave her in Cornelia's care on regular weekdays like most parents – surely due to his hours for the Auror Office – so she had to change Juliet's hand all the time. Today, he was the first one to pick his child up.

Cornelia gave the seven children in front of her – the youngest, Luke, was four years old, and the oldest, Oleander, was nine – a smile.

"Everyone stays nice while I'm answering the door, alright?"

Her eyes flickered to Totty, the house-elf she'd somehow managed to enlist for her budding business two years ago. He'd just been let off by his family – he was still wearing the disgraceful scarf his mistress had flung at him in a fit of anger when she'd found out her favorite clothes had been munched on by a bunch of hungry mothlers – and Cornelia had said the first thing that had come to mind to stop him from crying: she needed help with watching the kids. Totty had hiccuped, and the next thing Cornelia knew, she had a house-elf helping her with her business – cleaning after the children, watching the others when she had to take care of one child in particular, cooking for everyone.

Totty nodded fiercely, and turned around to play a game with the two youngest, Luke and Juliet.

Cornelia had no doubts that he would call her should anything happen that even he couldn't handle – which was unlikely.

The witch could go and greet Black herself without worrying.

As soon as she left her daycare room, her eyes fell on the round mirror at the end of the corridor. It displayed the view on the other side of the front door – it was indeed Sirius Black waiting for her to let him in. He was just a bit too tall for the mirror, and the top of his head disappeared out of the picture she could see – she would have bought a bigger revealing mirror, but those were expensive and she didn't have the money, so she'd made do with a small one, even if it meant she couldn't place it at an appropriate height to correctly reveal the faces of some of her visitors.

There was something a bit weird with the collar she could see at the bottom of the mirror – it didn't look like anything she had ever seen him wear before.

Cornelia stopped before the front door, biting her lower lip.

Instinctively, she took out her wand and tapped on the Kenaz rune engraved in the hard wood.

It shone brightly once... and then three more times.

Black... wasn't alone at her door.

He was also wearing unfamiliar clothes.

So far, Cornelia's business had been left alone, but there had been several attacks on Redmarsh Cross since 1975, and it wasn't like her clientele was the kind a Death Eater wouldn't dare touch. Of the seven children she was currently taking care of, only one was pureblooded, and two were muggleborns – identified as such early, after a particularly violent bout of accidental magic for Thomas.

She couldn't see a reason why Sirius Black would come and get Juliet with three other people accompanying him. She could, however, imagine Death Eaters imperiusing him to get her to open the door and let them past the wards, or even one of them impersonating him with polyjuice, which would explain the weird clothes. Maybe they were even here because of Juliet – to finish the job, to punish Black for joining the Auror Training Program in spite of his blood, for...

Cornelia took a deep breath – it was five in the afternoon in the summer, hardly a usual hour for a Death Eater attack in the middle of a wizarding community, and Black was, if anything, on time. It wasn't like she hadn't been expecting him and he'd showed up early.

In the daycare room, the clock rang as Juliet's hand reached the summit.

On the other side of the door, Black frowned and took a step back. He turned around, speaking to someone behind him, and Cornelia caught the disgruntled face of a boy around thirteen.

She let out a breath in relief, and moved to open the door – still clutching her wand, of course, ready to aim at the runes on the door frame if need be. Thurisaz would reflect any magical attack, Mannaz would warn all the neighbors who'd gotten a linked rune, and Isa would slow the attackers down for a bit.

Cornelia had no idea who that child was – why Sirius Black had come with him – but he was a bit too young to be a willing part of any Death Eater treachery, and the look on his face wasn't one you got when forced to comply by death threats.

Black raised a hand to acknowledge her, and Cornelia smiled a bit.

"You're just on time."

He tugged at the collar of his unusual robes and winced.

"Yeah, I thought I'd try something different for once."

Cornelia raised an eyebrow at his words – he wasn't late that often, even if it happened more regularly than with the other parents – but before she could say anything, she finally saw the other two people with him.

"Are they..."

She had no idea of what she'd been planning to say after that, and her voice died away instead.

There were two other teenagers next to the boy – two girls. And now that she was actually looking at them all, standing behind Black, well. There was something.

All three had Black's silver eyes.

Which, if she wasn't mistaken, were characteristic of his family in general – which begged answers considering Yasmine, one of the girls in her daycare, but anyway.

Cornelia had been in the same year as Narcissa Black at Hogwarts. While none of the three Black sisters sported those eyes, she'd heard about it well enough – how there was a mold, something that always came back for all the Blacks, and they could deviate, of course, but in the end, the family still looked the same, centuries after centuries. The eyes, the hair, the complexion. The general look of them.

Sirius Black, Narcissa's cousin, was – according to the sisters – what you'd call a quintessential Black in looks.

"...You don't have more younger siblings, do you?"

Black blinked at her, and Cornelia just kept staring at the three children behind him – who were returning her look without embarrassment.

"Hum. I... don't. You'll hear all about it in the newspapers, I fear. But, hum, they are... staying with me. Them and... others. Those three volunteered to tell Juliet first."

It seemed obvious that there was a lot more to that story – and what did he mean, she'd hear all about it in the Prophet? – but Cornelia wasn't about to pry. Not yet. She had six other kids to manage, after all.

Oh, she wanted to know, all right. But now wasn't the time.

"...Right. Well, Juliet was well-behaved today, as always. She..."

Black interrupted her, then.

"Oh, and Juliet won't be coming for the next... I don't really know how long, actually. I... I'm staying with my grandparents, and they'll be watching the teenagers for what's left of the summer break when I'm working. I think it'll be... better for Juliet, if she has some time to adjust before coming back here."

Cornelia didn't ask – not about Black's grandparents, not about the teenagers who were apparently more numerous than just three – even if she really wanted to.

Instead, she noted that he still wanted Juliet to come back to her daycare at some point, which was probably a good thing for her, even if apparently "his grandparents would be watching the teenagers for what's left of the summer break". Logical, by the standards of the British wizarding community – there were no proper holidays except Christmas for children until they got to Hogwarts, and families kept their kids at home according to convenience, generally one week at a time. It wasn't the most efficient system, and Cornelia truly believed that both the caregivers and the children could benefit from a more structured learning space, which was why she was aching to one day start a true wizarding primary school – but that was neither here nor there.

"Let's say you'll get her back here in... ten days? Monday, fifth? That way Juliet will be able to adapt to... whatever is going on at home, but it won't be so long that she'll forget everything?"

"...Alright."

Cornelia took a step back to let Black in, so that he could go and get Juliet from the daycare room.

The teenagers followed him – the boy and the older girl were looking around her corridor in idle curiosity, Cornelia noticed, and she wondered if they realized what some of the objects were.

Everyone had their own security, these days, on top of the usual anti-apparition wards, and it was generally better for everyone if their security measures weren't the same everywhere. Cornelia had found her revealing mirror in a small shop at the very end of Diagon Alley, and none of her clients knew it was more than a simple mirror – she'd also taken Ancient Runes to NEWTs level, which was why she knew how to use them for more than just reading old texts. She'd gotten the neighbors to install a Mannaz rune and link them together with the help of a group of other rune graduates in the village, but she had no idea of how exactly they'd done the rest of their security in their own homes.

The youngest girl – blond, eyes like Black's – tilted her head at her and said a brief "Hello" before disappearing behind the rest of her silver-eyed group.

Elizabeth entered the daycare room with cautious steps, and her eyes fell on a little girl with silver eyes and curly hair who looked suspiciously like Yasmine, looking at a picture book in a corner of the room. She licked her lips as her eyes jumped back to her father and the girl who was half-hiding in his robes while Marianne kneeled next to them.

She might have to speak to Dad about Yasmine and her mother at some point, but that wasn't a priority, right? Juliet, on the other hand...

Elizabeth joined the rest of the group, waving awkwardly at the girl who, in another time, had become well-known for assisting Hagrid in his lessons – making sure no accidents happened, that his lessons weren't only interesting but also well-structured.

Juliet eyed her warily – not quite afraid, but cautious and unwilling to be convinced otherwise. The Juliet Elizabeth knew wasn't afraid of much, but at the same time, she'd had years to get over witnessing the brutal murder of her parents – and the possibly more brutal execution of their murderers. Dad wasn't exactly known to fight with niceties, and from the little Elizabeth had gathered on the matter, he certainly hadn't that day.

"...Hey."

A look at Marianne, and Elizabeth knew they hadn't gotten past the introductions.

"I'm Elizabeth. We're going to live together now, you know."

Juliet looked at their father – he wasn't hers yet, was he? He'd said he hadn't adopted her yet.

The older wizard had a hand around her shoulders. His face looked much more convinced of whatever he'd just told her than he probably felt.

Oh, Sirius Black might have been Sorted in Gryffindor, like Lamia and Procyon, but that didn't mean he couldn't – and wouldn't – lie with the best of them. His relationship with honesty, he'd once told his daughter, was more direct than the rest of his family – but only because he didn't see the point of lying around the truth just for the sake of it.

Elizabeth, despite having been Sorted in Slytherin, most likely lied less often than her father, all in all. Lying expertly asked for too much commitment – knowing what you'd said and what you hadn't to who and how and when, keeping the lies straight – for her to want to even get better at it. She'd rather spend her time getting acknowledged as someone trustworthy and not having everyone doubt her goals, as she'd be busy enough doubting theirs.

That being said, Juliet was five years old, possibly traumatized, and she most likely had no particular goals at the moment, so there was no reason to overthink any of it.

"You're taking them in too?"

Elizabeth blinked at that – and her eyes jumped onto Almaric, the triplet who'd come with them, as he seemed to get it and answered before Dad could.

"Exactly! We... We all lost our moms and, uh. Sirius' grandfather offered to house us all at his manor. He even said you two could come and live there too, because Da... Sirius was worried his grandparents wouldn't be able to handle all of us!"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at that – see, lies. Maybe those would be for the best, a way to introduce the change without drowning Juliet with talks of possible futures and the fact that Sirius Black now had eighteen blood children.

Or maybe it'd end poorly, if they didn't manage to catch the right times to introduce those facts before someone told her exactly what was going on, in ways which she could take badly.

There was also the fact that they had lost their mothers – and that wasn't a lie, but Elizabeth didn't want to think about it. Or about the fact that, in some ways, she had also lost her father, and the rest of the family, her friends, everyone she'd ever known.

Juliet, of course, latched exactly onto that.

"I'm sorry about your moms."

There was a moment of silence, and Dad stood up, clearing his throat.

"Right. So, we're going to get some things at the flat, and then we'll meet the rest of the kids, okay?"

Juliet nodded and he sighed.

"I'll get your bag, alright? Say goodbye to your friends, you won't be coming for a few days."

Almaric was already on their father's heels, asking if he could help, and Elizabeth remained with Marianne and Juliet – who was looking at the other children in the room, unsure of what she was supposed to do exactly.

Marianne watched her for a moment and frowned.

"Which are your friends?"

Juliet didn't answer, her eyes still going from kid to kid. Marianne winced and took the little girl's hand.

"Come on, I'll go with you. There has to be someone you get along with at least a bit."

"...I..."

The little girl didn't seem to have much more to say than that single word.

Marianne looked back at her cousin, standing behind them, but Elizabeth only shrugged. She didn't seem to have more of a clue than Marianne.

Change of plan.

"Can you introduce me to the others, then?"

Juliet looked up at her for a moment, then looked away just as quickly.

"Okay."

The little girl took a tentative step towards the youngest of all the children, who was doing a puzzle with a house-elf. When the boy tried to put together the wrong pieces, they became completely black until he took one out. The house-elf was apparently trying to convince him that the goal of the puzzle wasn't to have a big black rectangle.

The boy smiled at Juliet when she stopped next to him.

She gave him something that vaguely resembled a smile.

"That's Luke."

Luke put a puzzle piece in the right place, and the whole puzzle glowed for a few seconds.

Juliet pointed at Marianne behind her.

"She's Marianne. I'm going to live with her and I won't be there tomorrow."

Luke blinked at them, head tilted to the side.

"Hello! Do you like puzzles?"

Juliet looked back at Marianne.

"He's four."

Those three words apparently explained everything, so the little girl took Marianne's hand again, and guided her to another girl, a bit older, who was having a conversation with her dolls. Her name was apparently Juniper and she was Oleander's younger sister.

Marianne dutifully helped Juliet go through everyone in the room – Oleander was the oldest boy, Yasmine had eyes just like Sirius', Thomas' parents were muggles like hers but they were still alive, and Rabela wanted to be Mugwump when she'd be an adult. The teenager bit her lower lip when she crossed Yasmine's eyes – oh, yes, definitely the right Yasmine, no doubt about that – but didn't say anything – yet. She wasn't sure what Uncle Sirius could even do about Yasmine, at this point, and the Khorasani family was probably in less danger if they weren't put in the spotlight through the House of Black. Halfbloods with no particular affiliation, they didn't have a target on their back – and that might change if they got tangled up with an unstable Black family.

Juliet was presenting Marianne to Totty, the house-elf, when Sirius and Almaric got back to the daycare room. Elizabeth joined them as they said goodbye to the caregiver before leaving.

Outside, Juliet didn't let go of Marianne's hand, Sirius noticed – just as the children didn't miss the fact that he had his wand at the ready, barely hidden in his sleeve. He also had them walking before him, never leaving his visual range.

It was barely five-thirty in July. Nighttime was far away, and Redmarsh Cross looked like a perfectly safe village.

Almaric, who'd remained fairly well-behaved – for his standards – since the talk they'd had before leaving Black Manor, kept glancing at the few people they were crossing paths with. Two or three were wizarding people, and the rest looked like muggles, but he'd heard about Redmarsh Cross before and he knew almost everyone here knew about magic, even when they were muggles.

Almaric couldn't help but notice how everyone looked in a hurry – to get back home, to get off the streets. Like they feared it would start raining any time.

The day was beautiful, though.

If it was Dad with him, he would already be asking – was it like that back then, during the war? Did everyone really feel hunted, like potential targets?

Even growing up with Dad on the run wasn't like that.

...But this wasn't Dad, not really, and "back then" was "right now". It wasn't 1994 anymore.

Even if Almaric could have known this Sirius Black like he did his father, asking wouldn't make any sense for the man.

This was the war, and maybe nothing would happen on the way back home – but maybe something would happen. Maybe... Maybe someone in a dark hood and a white mask would apparate into the street and start cursing whoever was there, just because they could, just because they wanted everyone to be afraid of them. Maybe that person wouldn't be alone.

Maybe they'd disappear before the aurors and the hit-wizards would even know about the attack – because most witches and wizards weren't dueling champions, because they didn't have the appropriate gear, because they'd been taken by surprise.

And it wouldn't matter, would it, even if no one died – if only one person did, or two, or three, or more. No matter how many, someone would have been hurt anyway, and no one would have been able to do anything about it.

In the end, people would be just a little bit more afraid.

Dad... Sirius might be able to do something. He was training to be an auror, after all – maybe he wasn't yet as... efficient and terrifying as he'd grown to be as Almaric's father, but – and he was most likely doing overtime with the Order of the Phoenix. Then again, he had to look after four children, and Almaric had a high opinion of himself but he also knew he was only thirteen. If they got attacked by Death Eaters right now, he might, maybe, manage to trip one of them before getting shot in the face with something nasty.

...It was a completely different world, the teenager realized, that this Sirius Black was living in. Almaric had thought his father could be rather strict about security, but this was entirely different – because it wasn't about hiding from the Ministry of Magic.

It was about living when Juliet's parents had been murdered at the beginning of the month.

And that, Almaric didn't know how to deal with it.