Disclaimer: If it were mine, I'd at least have a air conditioner… and a computer that works… and a job to put on my tax return LOL.
Updated Thursday 17 November 2005
Chapter 08: Stars and Moons
For the next several days, Estella put all the vacationers to work preparing patches of soil at locations all around the garden. Not that they toiled the earth all day… just a few hours in the morning or evening while the light was good and weather cool. The warmest part of the days they still spent either indoors, in the water, or out exploring the shaded areas of the property and mapping the grounds.
"I reckon, Harry," Estella grunted while pulling up a particularly stubborn weed early one such morning, "that if we document our progress, Professor Sprout may just give us extra credit in Herbology."
"Why can't we just get Moony to banish these weeds, again?" Harry scowled, stabbing his trowel at a thick root. Only a Ravenclaw would ever contemplate doing something for extra credit.
"Because, magic on the soil interferes with the growing process," Estella informed him exasperatedly, shaking some dirt from the sleeve of her dragon-hide gloves. "These are particularly sensitive herbs we're planting. Their magical properties would be severely compromised if the conditions aren't right. Honestly, Harry, this is first year Herbology stuff."
"Well then, why are we planting them, Professor Black?" Harry whined, looking over to where the adults were using magic to assist the sowing of less volatile seeds at various other points in the garden. Ever since having discovered the Muggle board game 'Clue' in the games cupboard, Harry had become particularly fixated on calling her 'professor' on account of the character she played.
"I can't tell you that; it's a surprise, Mustard" Estella reminded him, referring to the character he'd portrayed. "Anyway, bonehead, I played Professor Plum, not Black! How many times do I have to say it, there's no black piece in Clue!"
The last time they'd all played 'Clue', they'd each drawn a character card at random. After Remus' 'Miss Scarlet' and Tonks' 'Reverend Green' had Sirius suggestively quoting Hawthorne each time either made a move, they'd all taken to poking fun at each other's names. Even days after the fact, the banter continued… though Sirius was beginning to tire of the peacock analogies and had demanded a truce. Now, it was only Estella and Harry who kept it up… privately, of course, because neither could stand being called 'condiments' following Sirius' specifically themed dinner of Mustard Beef and Pork in Plum sauce. The teens were beginning to realise that it didn't take much for Sirius Black to twist things to suit his own unique brand of humour.
As for the garden's progress, so far only Sirius and Estella knew that all the gardening amounted to creating a harvesting ground for the ingredients for the Wolfsbane potion. Amazingly, the others had gone along with Estella's plan without asking any specific questions. Seeing Tonks about to trip over a shovel as she concentrated on hovering a pallet of bulbs in front of her, Estella leapt up. "Tonks! Watch out!"
In a display of lightning fast reflexes, Remus spun around and levelled his wand at the pallet, keeping it levitated as Tonks went crashing to the grass, breaking the spell. Beside her, Harry chuckled.
"They'd make a good pair." Harry sniggered.
Estella nodded distractedly to Harry, her attention swayed to the sight of her father darting away into the house. Narrowing her eyes, she muttered absently to herself. "I wonder what he's up to…"
"Huh?" Harry frowned.
"What?" Estella shook her head slightly and looked over at the Gryffindor in confusion. "You say something?"
"Forget it." Harry shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Thought you were talking to me."
"Oh," Estella brightened. "I was just wondering where Padfoot was off to."
"Probably gone inside to clean under his nails." said Harry, following Estella's line of sight. "I still can't believe he transformed and dug those holes with his paws."
"He's such a show off." Estella shook her head at the house fondly. "Always full of surprises, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Harry mused. "Like for one I'd never thought he'd actually sneak us off without Dumbledore knowing."
"Harry, he's a Marauder." Estella rolled her eyes at him and began to recite a well-worn phrase. "Never put anything past a Marauder…"
"…and never turn your back on one." Harry continued. "I know, I know."
"But yeah, I know what you mean." Estella said gravely. "It's something that we've been here a week and Dumbledore still doesn't know where we are."
"Did you hear he tried to track us using the mirrors?" Harry said lowly. "We shouldn't have left one behind…"
"Harry, our Dads created those things." Estella said reverently. "There's no 'tracking' them. Besides, by leaving one behind, we've given the old coot some peace of mind. Dad's been checking in late at night… so I think it's stopped Dumbledore from trying so hard to find us. Well, actually, I think it's more like Dad checks in so he'll be in less trouble when he gets back. Not that anyone can really hold him accountable for anything though. We haven't broken any laws."
"You don't think if he tried hard enough, he'd find us?" Harry furrowed his brow. "I mean he's Dumbledore. He'd have to be able to find us if he really wanted to."
"Dumbledore can't do everything, Harry." Estella said shortly. "If he could, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Think about it."
Estella was, of course, referring to the Prophecy and the risk that hung over all their lives. Before Harry could respond, however, Sirius emerged from the house looking extremely happy with himself. Both Harry and Estella turned to watch the man as he pointed his wand at something, his lips moving soundlessly before music started emanating through the air. He'd brought out an old gramophone and charmed the sound to carry throughout the garden.
"Pity all we have for that old thing is prehistoric vinyl." Estella grimaced at the gaudy music.
Seeing his daughter's look, Sirius grinned broadly and shuffled over, his feet keeping in time with the music as he pretended to be dancing with someone. "Come on, it's not that bad." he said, reaching out for his daughter's hands. Pulling her up, he started spinning her around. "People used to dance to this all the time!"
"In what, the dark ages?" Estella drawled, giggling as her father bent her over in a dramatic dip to shut her up. "What are you doing?"
"Why, dancing with you, of course!" Sirius spluttered, making to let go of her, but catching her before she fell to the floor.
"You'll have to forgive your uncivilised daughter, Sirius." Remus strolled over, pulling off his dragon-hide gloves and tucking them under one arm. "Estella's definition of 'dancing' is restricted to head banging and waving her arms around like a lunatic."
"Hey!" Estella protested, slapping her godfather's arm playfully. "You left out the part where there were thousands of Muggles there doing the exact same thing! So, if everyone was doing it, then it has to be a recognised dance form."
The beat of the music picked up, and Sirius began swinging his daughter around in an impromptu waltz, wincing as she stepped on his feet. "You've never done this before?"
"I've never had cause to." Estella shrugged. "But hey, I thought you would be happy about that fact."
"Why would I be happy?" Sirius looked confused for a moment before it hit him. For his daughter to have attended any one of Hogwarts' school dances at her age, she would have to of been asked by an older student. "Oh, well, yes. There is that."
Though Sirius had refrained from mentioning, he was inwardly surprised that his brother-in-law had not had Estella enrolled in finishing school from infancy. Growing up in a pureblood family himself, Sirius was more than familiar with the strict lessons in etiquette and 'traditional conduct'. Every summer until he finally got up the nerve to run away, dancing, had formed an integral part of his grooming. Shuddering inwardly at the memory of his cousin Bellatrix, who had been his partner during such instruction, Sirius made a note to owl Andromeda, the only Black sister he could ever tolerate.
"Harry," Remus threw in, changing the focus of the conversation. "You went to the last Yule Ball. You know how to dance, don't you?"
"Uh, kind of." Harry shrugged. "I'm not any good though."
"Well, what do you say, Moony?" Sirius spun Estella around so that he could look at his friend. "A lesson is in order!"
"But the gardening…" both children protested.
"Can wait." Sirius said, letting go of one of Estella's hands so he could pull his godson up. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure? We've got the weather, we've got the music… we've got the whooole world, in our hands!"
At that, Sirius fired a spell at the gramophone, causing the song to change to an arrangement with a distinctly more up-tempo beat. After convincing Remus that it was actually easier for students to learn the Quick-Step when dancing to a faster song, the impromptu lesson began. Unfortunately for Sirius, bad coordination seemed to run rife amongst the Black women. He was quickly beginning to regret not going with Remus' suggestion that they start with the Foxtrot.
"Ow!" Sirius leapt back, hopping on one foot as he grasped his abused shin in the other. "You kicked me again!"
"You wanted to teach the blasted Quick-Step!" Estella protested, frustrated at herself for not getting it right and worried about her Dad's legs at the same time. If her feet were starting to hurt, then she could only imagine the bruises her father would come out with. Whoever thought of a dance that involved the partners to kick between each other's legs without contact, must have not seen the damage it could do.
Harry too, was feeling the pain. Paired with Tonks, who, despite formal lessons in her youth was equally uncoordinated and out of step. Pausing to take a breath between sets, Sirius and Harry fell onto a garden bench to nurse their wounds. From his vantage point in the shade of the kitchen porch, Remus laughed at their pitiful moans and overdramatised limping.
"Can it, Moony." Sirius growled. "You'd be limping too if you were kicked repeatedly in the leg!"
"You're not exactly light on your feet either, Padfoot!" Estella said defensively, unwilling to take complete responsibility for their disastrous attempt.
Sirius looked down at his daughter's sorrowful face, and then caught his laughing friend's eye. He grinned. "Go dance with Moony, then," he said, squeezing her arm encouragingly and giving her a little nudge. "Compare."
As predicted, Remus stopped laughing immediately, and stood rigid as Estella approached him.
"What's the matter, Moony?" Sirius leered. "Are you afraid of the big bad foot?"
"Of course not." Remus scoffed, moving forward jerkily and accepting his goddaughter's hands. "I have every confidence that Estella will prosper under the guidance of proper tutelage."
Sirius snorted. "Yeah, whatever you say, Moony." He levelled his wand at the gramophone. "Ready?"
"Whenever you are, Mr Music."
Sure enough, both Estella and Remus got through the routine without stepping one foot out of place. Not tearing their eyes away from each other as they moved, it was as though they were of one mind; seemingly able to anticipate each other's actions. Ignoring their throbbing limbs, Sirius and Harry watched the pair, flabbergasted, while Tonks bounced up and down, clapping merrily. Through it all, child and godfather remained oblivious to their audience, not stopping to look at them until the song had finished.
"Wow! I did it!" Estella exclaimed, leaning over with her hands on her knees as she fought to catch her breath.
"Yes, yes you did." Remus applauded her, clapping a hand on her shoulder as he leant on her, seeking support as he waited for the world to stop spinning around him. Looking up at his friend, he added slyly. "What can I say, Sirius, I'm a good teacher."
"More like she had enough practice with me, she was bound to get it right this time round." Sirius pointed out, though a part of him was unnerved by the strange display. It was almost as though the two were connected at a subconscious level. Before he could even stop himself thinking it, Sirius began to feel jealous, but brushed it off hastily with a joke. "I'm sure she'll do just as well with me now that she's gotten it right once." he stood and reached out for her. "How's about it, kiddo?"
"Are you kidding?" Estella straightened up and leant into her godfather's side, exhausted. "I feel like I've just outrun a stampede of Unicorns. Give me a break!"
Deciding instead to indulge in an impromptu picnic under the shade of a blossoming fruit tree, they relaxed on the grass and drank chilled Butterbeer from the ice box. But that was not to say they were being idle, for they busied themselves extracting fruit directly from the tree above and eating it.
"Show off." Estella scoffed, taking a large bite from the piece of fruit in her hand. "Just because you can use your wand…"
Sirius pouted slightly at his daughter, but continued juggling the fruit in the air with his wand. Whilst Sirius plucked the tree of its fruit with his wand, Tonks cleaned it with hers, and Remus, sliced and distributed it. Mid-way through their antics, however, Remus dropped his wand, his attention caught elsewhere, causing several slices of fruit to fall.
"Remus!" Several voices called out in indignation.
Catching the deepening concern on his friend's face, Sirius frowned, his grip on his wand tightening. "Remus, what is it, my old friend?"
"Someone has entered the wards." Remus said hoarsely, his eyes fleeting over their under-aged wards in concern as he shut off the gramophone with an absent flick of his wand. "They Apparated to the ruins. I could just hear it over the music."
Whilst the nature of the wards ensured that all Muggles would be repelled from crossing into the property, wizards could still gain entrance. To protect the wayward traveller from crossing the path of a werewolf, only those invited by the guardian of the wards could transport themselves within sight of the villa. All other Portkeys or Apparations were redirected to the desolate site of the ruins in the hope that the impression of abandonment would deter further investigation. Magical wards aside, the property was descended from Muggle origins, and thus of little significance to the magical world. By all likelihood, any witch or wizard that stumbled across the property would do so only by accident.
"Someone has probably misspelled a Portkey or something." Harry shrugged.
"Harry, they Apparated." Sirius said lowly, rising to his feet, his body stiff and alert.
"Could just be a local student who bungled the destination on their Apparation test." Tonks supplied, though she too had risen to her feet, wand drawn. No one wanted to consider the alternatives.
Toying with the ring on her finger as though in deep concentration, Estella's eyes widened in realisation. Leaping to her feet, she smiled broadly. "It's all right." she assured them, tearing past them and setting off at a run towards the ruins.
"Estella!" Sirius cried out in alarm, reaching out to stop his daughter as she passed, but unable to catch her. Taking off after Estella, Remus hot on his heels, he yelled over his shoulder at Harry and Tonks. "Stay here! Hide in the caves until I return."
"But-" Harry leapt up, his hand gripped tightly around his own wand.
"No, Harry." Sirius pulled back and spun around, stopping his godson in his tracks as he tried to follow his godfather. "Do not follow. Do you understand? If you do not hear from us within the hour, Portkey back to London. You will be safe with Tonks."
Sensing from the tone of his godfather's voice, Harry knew better than to argue. Every minute he stopped to argue, was another moment Estella had unprotected. If, indeed, a malevolent force had happened upon them, neither she, nor Remus alone would be enough to stand against them.
Estella, meanwhile, was rapidly approaching the ruins, her feet negotiating the unleavened path with practiced ease. Ignoring her godfather's pleas as he struggled to catch up with her, she continued on until she came across a familiar form approaching them on the path.
"Uncle Sev!" she called out in welcome, getting the man's attention from where he had bowed to examine a patch of recently sowed Moonshade. "However did you find us? It was the ring you gave me, wasn't it? Its sister stone pointed its way, didn't it?"
"Why ever must you question that which you know the answer to?" Severus responded, his dark eyes travelling over his niece's form as though assessing her for signs of injury. "You are well?"
"Never better." Estella rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around the imposing form of her uncle. "It's good to see you, Uncle Sev."
Severus returned the hug awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder jerkily before pulling away to look at his niece. With her father's aristocratic brow and mother's angular lines, Severus noted that his Estella's face had lost its childlike wonder. The events leading up to the previous Christmas had weathered themselves on the young girl's features, and if not for her stunted growth, she'd pass for someone much older. As it were, Estella barely reached the crook of his arm, and the neat braids on either side of her head betrayed any formidability her expressive face could convey. He could not deny, however, that despite the thinning face and the knowledgeable glint in her eyes, the child before him was happy. Looking down on her with an uncharacteristic fondness in his eye, he quickly masked his features into a smirk.
"You're a hard witch to find, Estella Black." he said.
"You're not…" Estella took a step back, aghast. "You're not here to take us back, are you?"
"If I were here for that, I would have come on the first day." Severus pointed out, grabbing her hand and splaying her fingers in his palm. Drawing attention to the ring on her finger, he gestured meaningfully. "I could have found you at any time. Remember that."
At that moment, Remus appeared over the crest of the hill and spotted them. Stopping dead in his tracks, the out-of-breath man's relief was imminent. "Estella! Don't do that!"
"What? I knew who it was." Estella shrugged, moving to stand alongside her uncle, her hand slipping into his own.
"Yes, well, tell us next time!" said Remus exasperatedly. "Hello, Severus."
"Lupin." Severus inclined his head, one hand dipping into his robes to pull out a sealed goblet. Offering it to the man with a sneer, he retracted his hand quickly as the sandy-haired man accepted the goblet with a shaky hand. "Your Wolfsbane."
"Why, thank you Severus." Remus regarded the tall dark form in bewilderment. "Though I must assure you, we did not come on this trip unprepared."
"You purchased a supply of Wolfsbane from a brewer in London." Severus recalled factually. Clearly the man had done his research. "You should know better than to trust the integrity of your sources. That potion would not have kept."
"Are you saying that the potion we purchased is useless?" Remus' eyes widened. "Thank you, then."
"You foolish Gryffindor." Severus scowled, one hand flying up to rest on his niece's shoulder, as though to hold her back from a potentially dangerous threat. "Why do you think I have insisted to oversee the production of your supply all these years? It would not do for you to endanger my niece, or go ahead and kill yourself with an inferior poison and upset her."
"So…so you did not come here to bring us back?" Remus' feature dawned with realisation. "You are not here on Dumbledore's orders?"
"He could have come at any time, couldn't you have Uncle Sev?" Estella looked to the man in question, who nodded tersely.
"Well, on behalf of us all, let me thank you for exercising such discretion." Remus smiled appreciatively at his unlikely ally, before turning his attention to an approaching disturbance behind him.
"Estella! Remus!" Sirius voice called out in the distance, steadily getting closer. Severus hastily let his niece's hand in his drop as he steeled himself for his brother-in-law's appearance.
Turning back to look at his goddaughter from where she hadn't left her uncle's side, Remus nodded in understanding. "I'll head him off." he said. "We'll head back and give Tonks and Harry the all clear. Severus, you're more than welcome to join us for lunch. Thanks again for the potion."
Severus nodded slightly, uncle and niece watching as the nimble-footed man turned on his heel and darted off in the direction from whence he came. Pulling him by the sleeve of his robe, Estella tugged her uncle towards the patches of garden she'd cultivated alongside the path.
"You know, you really ought to transfigure yourself something cooler to wear." Estella suggested as she pointed out various seedlings, seeking his approval. "You must be awfully hot in those long sleeves."
"Estella," Severus pulled his hand away from where Estella was attempting to roll up his sleeve. "You know very well that I cannot expose my arms."
"Oh, come on, Uncle Sev." Estella frowned. "If not amongst friends, then when?"
"Estella." Severus spun on his niece and gripped her shoulder firmly. Giving her a slight shake, he fought to keep his derision in check. "The Mark of the Dark Lord is not something I wish to draw attention to, no matter the company."
Never mind that he hardly considered the company of the likes of Black, Lupin and especially Potter, as being amongst 'friends'.
"Why?" Estella frowned. "Everyone knows…"
"I will not answer to you." Severus let go of her and stalked away. "Do not question that which you cannot understand."
"Then make me understand, Uncle Severus." Estella put her hands on her hips and commanded her uncle shrilly. "Are you ashamed, is that it?"
"Do not try me, child." Severus rounded on his niece and leant over her, invading her personal space menacingly. Schooling his features into a mask of indifference, he took a step back coolly and sneered. "A week on vacation with such unsavoury characters has rendered you uncouth. I will forgo this private indiscretion, but be warned, Estella, that I will not tolerate such presumptuousness in public. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Uncle Sev." Estella grumbled, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Turning away from the garden bed, she looked down the path that led back to the house. "Come on, there ought to be enough ground between us now. You are staying for lunch, are you not?"
"Regrettably." said Severus drolly. By way of explanation, he added. "I have matters to discuss with your father."
"I thought you said you weren't here on Dumbledore's orders!" Estella's eyes narrowed.
"I am not here to do the man's bidding." Severus confirmed. "Be that as it may, I come bearing a thinly veiled message."
Estella snorted. "So you mean Dumbledore knew you knew how to find me, but knew he couldn't get you to act on it, right?"
Severus regarded his niece with a piercing look, and nodded. "It was he who informed me of Lupin's dealings with the underhanded potions supplier. He knew that it would force my hand." he gestured lazily. "I fully anticipate to be questioned at length upon my return."
"And your verdict?" Estella tilted her head to the side, faltering in her step.
"You're alive, I note." said Severus dryly. "That tells me all I need to know."
Lunch, with their unexpected houseguest proved to be a terse, interesting affair. After a tour of the property, enthusiastically led by his niece, Severus sat down at the humble kitchen table and shared in their staple fare of cold meats and salads. With the full moon just three days away, discussion of the werewolf's plans to keep the children safe occupied a majority of the meal, followed shortly by the runaway traveller's plans for their safe return to civilization.
As the two Marauders had planned in advance, Moony and Padfoot were to spend the full moon out in a clearing on the far side of the property whilst the children remained safely indoors under the watchful eye of Tonks. Then, two days following the cursed man's monthly transformation, the party would depart for London, going directly to Diagon Alley to collect the teenager's school supplies. It was mutually agreed that all accompanying adults would need to be fully alert and able to protect the teenagers in public.
"Dumbledore will not be pleased." Severus intoned, the corners of his lips threatening to turn into a satisfied smirk before he commanded control of his features. "He would expect you to return directly to headquarters for debriefing."
"Which is precisely why we are going directly to Diagon Alley." said Sirius smugly. "So, Estella tells me you have business you wish to discuss?"
"It would not be prudent for the children to be present." Severus narrowed his eyes at each minor in turn, causing a pair of grey eyes to roll at him and a green set to narrow in suspicion. "Oh do not concern yourself Potter, with theories of collusion and conspiracy. You will both be discovering the nature of our discussion before the hour is through."
"Then why can't we stay?" Estella pouted. Of all the people present in the Death Eater's company, Estella was by far the most comfortable and unaffected. Seeing her uncle's scathing look, she repented. "Never mind. Harry, c'mon, let's go for a swim."
"Not so soon after eating." Remus reminded them.
"Fine." Estella huffed, pausing in the doorway and looking back at the adults as they huddled around the table. Harry surveyed the situation and followed in her wake. "We'll go finish up our summer homework then, won't we Harry?"
"Uh, yeah." Harry muttered, suddenly keen to get as far away from his least favourite member of Hogarts' staff. "We'll be upstairs."
No sooner had the steps of the teenagers faded up the stairs, did Sirius and Remus exchange a look.
"We'd better cast an Impenetrable Charm."
"What do you mean?" Harry recoiled upon hearing their decision to have Snape teach him Occlumency once school returned. "Can't anyone else teach me?"
"I think you will find, Harry," Remus said, casting a warning look at an indignant looking Sirius, "that any issues that exist between yourself and Professor Snape will pale in comparison to the conditions of being in Voldemort's company."
"So you mean having to learn how to guard my mind against Snape will be good practice for doing the same against Voldemort?" Harry sighed, knowing within himself that such conditions will prepare him well.
The adults nodded. Estella, in turn, looked from the remissive look on the faces of her guardians and nodded more convincingly. "They're right, you know Harry." she threw in. "He's one of very few people who can attest to shielding their minds against the Snark Lord on a regular basis. Not even Dumbledore has experienced the prat's skills as a Legilimens so frequently."
"Doesn't mean he has to like the idea." Sirius scowled, clearly not happy with the idea of his godson being dependent on his childhood nemesis. Though an amnesty of sorts had seen the two men able to coexist in a room without undue tension for Estella's sake, that consideration was not extended to the son of his departed best friend. Blinking at his daughter as though she had just entered the room, a thought struck him. "Oh yeah," he added. "Your uncle wishes to see you in the garden before he departs."
Severus, meanwhile, stood rigidly on the edge of the garden, his hands firmly clasped behind his back as he stood with his back to the house. Upon hearing his niece's approach, he whirled around, wand at the ready.
"Whoa!" Estella raised her hands in defeat. "Jumpy, much?"
"Estella, I would have liked to have thought that it would take more than just a summer with Potter to render you incapable of constructing sentences." Severus leered at his niece before turning his attention back at the recently completed garden bed. "I see you are attempting to cultivate the ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion."
"You're the only one who's figured that out!" Estella exclaimed, chewing on her bottom lip. Her father had known of her plan before she'd started planting. No one else had managed to identify the one potion all of the ingredients had in common. "So, um, what do you think? Will they grow?"
"You have chosen the locations well." Severus confirmed, inwardly delighting in the way his approval made the child's face light up with accomplishment. "Provided the gardens are adequately maintained, I see no reason for the plants not to flourish. Who have you gotten to spell the irrigation charms?"
"We've not gotten to that yet." Estella informed him. "We're still working out the vermin-repelling charms and such. Things would be working so much faster if I could use my wand, but, well, you get that."
"I will see that it is done on my way out." Severus vowed. "It would not do for your hard work to be undone by poorly executed wand work."
"Thank you, Uncle Sev!" Estella beamed, throwing her arms around the man's waist in gratitude. Pulling back slightly as the man patted her head in his own aloof expression of affection; Estella looked up at her uncle in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Severus retorted stiffly, his body tensing reflexively.
"You look tired." Estella said. "Weary. I hope you haven't been worrying about me. Don't you trust Dad and Remus to keep me in one piece?"
"What?" he snapped, shaking his head at her deductive ability.
"Well, if not that, then what?" she demanded.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, child." Severus dismissed her. Gesturing to his left forearm suggestively, he added lowly. "I've been occupied with certain unsavoury business."
"Oh." Estella latched onto said arm protectively, as though her grasp alone would tear the Dark Mark from his skin. "I do wish you were not in such danger."
"I said nothing of danger." Severus assured her, his mind elsewhere.
Making their way towards the Apparition point, Severus casting the appropriate irrigation charms as they went, the pair made small talk.
"So where did you come from today?" Estella looked up at her uncle curiously. "You don't seem as tense as you were when you arrived."
Looking down at his last living relative, Severus found himself warmed by her genuine interest in his life. Of everyone he reported to, the child before him was the only person who actually cared for him, and not just the cost his loss would impose upon the war effort. Similarly, Severus felt that he could not censor his disclosure as appropriately as he supposed he should do in front of a child so young.
"I had business to attend to at Spinner's End." he explained vaguely.
"Why do I get the impression you've been roped into something you hadn't bargained on?" Estella narrowed her eyes.
"Because you are remarkably perceptive." Severus drawled, somewhat comforted by his niece's company. Being with her filled him with a sense of renewed purpose.
"What's Spinner's End?" Estella asked suddenly once they were a little further down the path. While they had been talking, they had been unconsciously headed towards the Apparation point.
"A family property on my father's side." Severus explained absently. "You are not familiar with it."
"Why not?" Estella halted in her step, causing her uncle to turn back slightly. "I thought you showed me all of the family homes?"
"Those on my mother's side, yes." Severus admitted. "You would not wish to step foot in my father's family home. It is… not very pleasant."
"So Snape Manor is from your mother's family? How can that be?" Estella was confused. She had been inclined to point out to her uncle the pleasantries to be found at the Grimmauld Place address the first time she'd gone there, but had refrained herself from making the comparison.
"Estella, Grimmauld Place is passed on from your grandmother's family in much the same way." Severus pointed out patiently. "When a woman enters into a marriage with a dowry of property, those estates become known by her husband's name."
"So you mean to say that if I get married, my father's home which will be passed on to me will form part of my husband's estate?" Estella screwed her nose up in contempt.
"Of course." said Severus simply. "Why else do you suppose so many families yearn for a male heir?"
Estella scowled, muttering her dissent towards such chauvinistic practices. At the mention of her maternal grandmother, she was filled with a renewed sense of curiosity, but knew better than to broach the subject just as her uncle were leaving. She didn't even have a photograph of her grandmother to speak of, and knew more of her father's parents from his mother's infamous portrait than any of her other ancestors combined. Though she was far from obsessed with her lineage like some of her puristic peers would be, Estella could not help but wonder.
"So what did you want to see me about anyway?" she said, her defensive tone mirroring the simmering frustration within as it threatened to spill over.
Looking at her strangely, Severus' eyes hardened. "Do not take that tone with me, Estella." he said levelly. "Is it so wrong for me to want us to part ways without an audience?"
"I'll be seeing you in a week, Uncle Sev." Estella rolled her eyes. "Though if you wanted a send-off, you need only have asked."
"You're incorrigible." said Severus. "I don't know why I persist so."
"Because you love me." Estella teased, as though making fun of the idea of the great Severus Snape ever loving anyone. "Admit it."
A comfortable silence passed over them, and Severus said nothing.
"Or don't deny it." Estella shrugged, unfazed. "Suit yourself."
"I will likely see you at the Opening Feast, if not before." Severus said in parting, turning to face her as he stepped back, preparing to Apparate. Stepping forward decisively at the last moment, he pointed his wand at Estella's neck. Trusting him implicitly, Estella's reaction was confined to a curious arch of a brow. A muttered spell and a slight tap to her pendant, and he was done.
Waving his hand at his niece dismissively, he addressed her unasked question. "I took the liberty of turning your pendant into a Portkey."
Grasping the offending piece of jewellery in indignation, Estella's jaw fell open. "A Portkey?" she cried. "To where?"
"Grimmauld Place." Severus informed her. "It will respond to the password 'Sanctuary'."
"What, no tapping it three times and saying 'there's no place like home'?" said Estella sarcastically, chuckling dryly at the look of confusion on her uncle's face. Shaking the Muggle reference out of her head, she frowned in all manner of seriousness. "But I never take my pendant off! What if I use the password in everyday speech?"
"A hand will need to be fully clasped around the stone at the time of incantation for it to activate." Severus informed her. "Say the word now, if you do not believe me."
"And Portkey myself back into Dumbledore's clutches?" Estella raised a brow in challenge. Seeing her uncle's exasperated look, she added hastily. "Don't worry, I trust you. I was just messing with you."
"Very well." Severus nodded, shaking his head slightly at the unsavoury influence her father's approach to life was having on his niece. "Do not hesitate to use it if need arises, understand me?"
"Yes, Uncle Sev." said Estella drolly.
"I mean it, Estella. No heroics." Severus looked at her intently, cringing at the implication that his niece could even consider distinctly Gryffindor behaviour. "You will be better served using the Portkey to where help can be summoned expediently."
"I understand, Uncle Sev." Estella patted his arm in assurance. "See you in a week. I'll be in one piece, I swear."
Nodding at her in acknowledgement, Severus increased the distance between them. Closing his eyes in concentration, he took a deep breath and was gone in a resounding crack. The further a wizard Apparated, the louder the disturbance. Knowing that the noise would have been heard from the house Estella tore her eyes away from the spot where her uncle had stood not a moment earlier and set off down the path towards the house. If she dawdled, she knew they would start to think her uncle had spirited her away.
The following few days were spoiled by an out-of-season downpour. The holiday-makers were thereby confined indoors.
"I'm sorry about the weather, kids." Remus apologised yet again as though he were somehow responsible for the forecast.
Looking up from where they laid sprawled on the rugs in the small study, the teenagers put down their pencils. After innumerable games of Exploding Snap, Chess and Gobstones, and after swimming their fill in the underground spring, the pair had taken to colouring an old collection of Muggle colouring books to pass the time.
"Do we look bored, Moony?" Estella questioned the reticent man, throwing a pencil at him. "You should be off apologising to Padfoot. He's the one who has been moping about the house like a lost puppy without a bone."
"I just can't believe you kids are getting so much enjoyment out of colouring." Remus squatted down on his haunches to look down at the teenager's handiwork. "At your age!"
"So?" Estella arched a brow at her godfather. "Some of us," she said pointedly, looking at Harry, "were deprived of the simpler things in our youth."
"Oh yes, well, you're doing very well." Remus nodded awkwardly at the two children. Stretching to his full height once again, he looked around searchingly. "I am still amazed that they were still around after all these years."
The colouring books in question had been in the cupboard of the main room, on hand for a young Remus to pass the time immediately after a Full Moon. "Well since you're all right," he shuffled uneasily on his feet and gestured towards the kitchen. "I may go see if Tonks needs any help with dinner."
Since their arrival, the group had taken it in turns to prepare the meals. Because they could not use magic, Harry and Estella were paired together, whilst the adults worked independently. After many years catering to his unappreciative Muggle relatives, and Estella's conditioned precision in potions, the teenagers were equally competent at the task. As for the adults, though nothing bad could be said about either of the Marauder's efforts in the kitchen, Tonks, more often than not, required assistance.
Almost on cue, a loud crash could be heard from the kitchen, followed by a signature yell. "I'm all right! I'm all right!" Tonks called out. "Dinner will be a little late. No catastrophes!"
Not moving from their place in front of the hearth, the dark-haired teenagers rolled their eyes at each other and laughed as Remus stumbled over his feet in his haste to back out of the room.
"I'm so gonna miss this." Harry said flippantly as he reminisced openly about the comfortable familiarity he felt within this unusual family dynamic.
Beside him, Estella sighed and nodded. Their time in the French countryside was so refreshing… so long as they stayed within the grounds, the outside world couldn't touch them. They were safe. There was no worrying about prophecies or school or war. Going back to Hogwarts for the first time since Voldemort's rising was something neither teenager was looking forward to. Those that believed the news would surely look upon them as fabled survivors, whilst those who chose to live in closeted denial would regard them with fanciful contempt.
The afternoon of the full moon was filled with an inexplicable feeling of foreboding. Estella didn't know if it were on account of the new surrounding or the wet and grey climate of the past few days, but the thought of her father and godfather spending the night outside filled her with unease. Specifically, her concern that the earth directly above the complex cave system that riddled the estate was too soft after the rains to be safe. Not all the cavities were carved in rock. The clearing in question had only been surveyed from the air, and Estella could not understand why they could not spend the duration of the transformation somewhere more known to them.
"We've already been through this, Estella." Sirius sighed. "I understand you're feeling anxious, but just about every transformation while Remus was at Hogwarts was spent out in the Forbidden Forest."
"So why can't you spend the night in the old vineyard?" Estella argued.
"It's too wild. Impassable. The vines have rotted away." Sirius pointed out. "There's not enough room to move in a hurry."
"Fine. But why not stay undercover in the caves?" Estella persisted. "What if it rains all night in that clearing? You'll get sick!"
"We've spent the full moon in the rain plenty of times, cub." Remus assured his goddaughter. "Moony and Padfoot's coats offer some protection from the elements."
"But why can't you-"
"I've already told you, Estella," said Sirius in a low tone. "The caves are not safe whilst in animal form. What if we squeeze through gaps that we haven't sealed yet, and Moony turns back on the other side? How will he get back then?"
"Well stay in one place, then!" Estella snapped. "You have your Wolfsbane, Remus! You'll be of mind to control where you go and what you do."
"Which is why we'll be fine in the clearing." Remus pointed out. "Come on, sweetheart, you know the transformations go smoother when I am within sight of the moon."
Estella sighed. Her godfather was right. The matter of his childhood transformations in windowless environments had been a topic of recent discussion. The less he saw of the moon, the longer the transformation took, and though the Wolfsbane alleviated some of the discomfort, the process was not entirely pain free.
"I just wish we'd been able to walk through the clearing beforehand." she sighed.
"Estella," Remus took a deep breath. It wasn't that he was losing patience; he was just consciously aware of the time and wanted the issue resolved before he had to leave. "As far as the wolf is concerned, you are my cub." He shot Sirius an awkward look who nodded for him to go on. "When I ingest the Wolfsbane Potion before the transformation, I can suppress most all of the wolf's instincts." He sighed. "All except those instincts that are already present."
"What this inarticulate lump is trying to say, Estella," Sirius cut in. "Is that Moony pines for you."
"Huh?" Estella's eyes widened. "Wait, you-you-you-"
Shooting a glare at his blunt friend, Remus stepped forward and rested his hands on Estella's shoulders. "It's not as bad as your idiot father makes out," he assured her, his thumbs reaching up to stroke the sensitive point below her ear soothingly. "When the wolf can smell your scent nearby, but cannot see where you are, he worries. Even with the Wolfsbane it starts to play on my sensibilities."
"Oh, Uncle Remus!" Estella rolled her eyes as she leant into the man's touch. Though it surprised Estella to hear of this only now, she supposed that Remus had only had cause to realise it in recent years. She had been almost ten before she'd stayed overnight with him or spent any considerable amount of time outside of Hogwarts and the immediately surrounding areas.
"You know the ironic thing is, if I were to run into Moony without the potion I'd be toast." Remus' hands flinched on her neck and Estella gasped in remorse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, cub." Remus collected himself and sighed, leaning down and resting his forehead on her head. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Try not to worry so much, all right? We'll be back before you wake up."
At that, Remus kissed the top of his goddaughter's head and backed off towards the door. "Sirius, I'll go fetch the brooms and meet you outside."
Nodding after his conscientious friend, Sirius assumed Remus' position in front of Estella. Wrapping her into a warm embrace, he lifted her off her feet and nuzzled her neck in his enthusiasm. Smothered by her father's chest as he held her to him firmly, Estella protested. "I can't breathe!" her muffled voice screeched. "Gerroff me, you big oaf! It's too hot!"
"I'm sorry…" said Sirius obliviously, turning to Harry who had walked in to see what the hold up was. "Harry, did you hear something?"
"I think Estella was trying to say something." Harry pointed out, trying not to laugh.
"Oh?" said Sirius as he put his daughter down and loosened his grip. "Well speak up then, kiddo! We can't very well hear you when you mumble like that."
"I wasn't mumbling!" Estella scowled moodily. "Harry, remind me again why I care so much about this great lump?"
"Beats me." Harry smirked, making sure he was well away from the man in question as he retorted.
"Hey!" Sirius protested, pouting playfully. Noting the shadow of his friend in the early dusk light, he sobered. "All right, I'm going to head off. Estella, don't worry so much. Moony and I will take care of each other. You just concentrate on looking out for Harry and Tonks."
"Okay, okay." said Estella, shooing her father out the door.
The kitchen was suddenly quieter without the presence of the two remaining Marauders. While Harry busied himself pulling some frozen yogurt from the icebox, Estella pulled herself up on the counter, watching pensively out the window as the flying forms of her father and godfather flew over the ridge of dilapidated vines towards the clearing.
Having shown a vested interest in werewolves from a very young age, Estella knew that the temperament of a werewolf borrowed traits from its human host. A werewolf like Moony, for instance, would be unlikely to attack out of malice. Instead, he would be inclined to infect people close to the human so as to expand his 'pack'. Likewise, the untamed Moony would kill any established threat quickly, rather than toying with his prey mercilessly, or making them one of his own.
"Planet Earth to Estella, come in, Estella…" Harry waved his hand in front of her face, causing her eyes to snap back into focus to see Harry waving a tub of frozen yogurt at her. "Want one?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." Estella accepted the small tub and spoon gratefully with one hand, the other leaning over to rub the condensation off the window with her sleave. When had night fallen? "It's so bizarre that even through the rain, it can still be hot."
"Yeah." Harry jumped up onto the counter next to Estella and followed her gaze out the window. "Don't worry, they'll be fine."
"What?" Estella forced her eyes away and stabbed her spoon at her dessert in search of a distraction. "Yeah, I'm sure they will be."
"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked, clutching at straws as he tried to keep up the conversation. Though he'd never really been in such close quarters with Estella, he'd noticed from afar that she was habitually down around the time of the full moon.
"Just something Moony said." said Estella dismissively. Looking at the boy's eyes directly, she confided in him. "I just keep thinking back to the time I ran into Moony before he had his potion… and I can't seem to imagine that there are werewolves out there that are deliberately more vicious by nature."
"I surely wouldn't want to run into one in the dark." Harry shuddered, absently spooning an overly large mouthful of yogurt into his mouth. "Ah, brain freeze!"
"Don't shovel so much in your mouth at once, then, bonehead." Estella shook her head at his behaviour and jumped off the counter. Spinning on the wincing boy suddenly, she gathered a small chunk of frozen fruit on her spoon and flicked it at him at close range, hitting him square on the nose.
"Hey!" Harry protested, arming his own spoon and firing back, his clump of frozen dairy product melting almost as soon as it landed on Estella's hair. Slinking from his seat on the counter with an almost predatory grace, he began circling Estella, the table between them. "You know what this means, don't you?"
"War!" Estella spotted a half-eaten box of Bertie Bots Every-Flavour Beans and palmed a handful, throwing them at him strategically whilst making the sounds of rapid gunfire.
"What is going on here?" Tonks screeched, emerging from her sleep-out bedroom, her arms laden with pillows and bedclothes as she prepared to sleep in the main house for the night. Before either teen could answer, she slipped on some melted yoghurt on the floor, sending pillows and sheets flying as she reached for something to break her fall.
While two sets of hands reflexively lunged to catch the clumsy Metamorphagus by the arms, pulling her up before she cracked her head open on the stone, they were not quick enough to prevent her from landing on her ankle heavily.
"Ow!" Tonks pulled herself up to her full height and grimaced in pain. Quickly flanked by two apologetic teenagers, she was assisted as she limped towards a kitchen chair. "What have you two been doing in here?"
"Um, food fight." Estella admitted sheepishly. "We didn't realise it was getting slippery, did we Harry?"
"No, sorry Tonks." Harry rubbed the back of his neck in remorse. "The yogurt must have melted."
Tonks removed her hands from their shoulders as she made herself comfortable in the chair and rubbed the stickiness off on the cuffs of her shorts. "You guys should get a look at yourself. You're all sticky."
Slipping into the 'mother-hen' role, Estella was quick to take charge of the situation. Grabbing an ice tray from the icebox and emptying it into a clean dishcloth she sat on the kitchen table next to where Tonks had elevated her injured ankle and surveyed the damage.
"It looks sprained." Estella observed sympathetically, gently resting the makeshift icepack against the rapidly swelling flesh. "Are you in pain? Harry, could you please fetch me my Potions kit? I should have a standard reliever in there."
Watching Harry leave, leaving a trail of sticky yogurt footprints in his wake, Tonks turned her attention to her ankle. "I could just heal it." she said. "My wand should be somewhere amongst all those pillows I dropped."
Gesturing for Tonks to hold the ice over her ankle, Estella hopped off the table and recovered Tonks' wand from the mass of blankets on the floor and handed it to Tonks, handle first.
"You do know the spell, right?" Estella asked, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Seeing the Auror's hesitation, her own unease increased. "Um, you know, maybe you should cast a diagnostic spell first, just in case it is broken or something."
"You're right." said Tonks, pulling her wand back from where she had about to tap her ankle with it. "I wouldn't want to foul up. Moody didn't get his wooden leg until he was much farther into his career."
"You don't know the spell, do you?" Estella chewed her bottom lip between her teeth as Tonks faltered with her wand. Estella knew a spell that would allow a person to bear weight on an injured limb. She'd used it on herself one time when she'd twisted her own ankle and had wanted to get away from her Godfather; whom she had been seething mad at. Subsequently, she'd learnt from that experience that it was not a good idea to use the spell because the body created pain for a reason. Estella remembered with a wince how she'd cast the spell and continued running. Luckily in her case she'd only twisted her ankle slightly, for had the injury been anything like Tonks', she'd have done permanent damage to her ligaments. In hindsight, Auror Potter had likely deployed a similar spell on his mangled leg that day in Hogsmeade. It would have been the only way for the man to continue fighting upright, and just look what had happened in his case – she was told he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Shaking the memory from her mind, Estella glanced at Tonks in question.
"I kinda bungled basic first aid in Auror training." Tonks smiled ruefully. "I spent most of the time playing the part of the patient."
Flicking her eyes over Tonks' current predicament, Estella's lips curled. "I couldn't possibly imagine that," she said sarcastically. Hearing Harry thundering back down the stairs, she took an assertive stance. "Well, since neither Harry nor I can use magic outside of school then, I guess the best we can do is give you something for the pain and try to reduce the swelling. I think there's a potion for that in my kit… I tend to keep it pretty well stocked, but I haven't really been paying it much mind this summer, cause, well, you know…"
"Your father is absolutely going to kill me." Tonks frowned. "It will not do well for me to be in this state if something bad were to happen."
"Don't be like that." Estella patted her cousin's knee encouragingly, gesturing with her head at Harry as he entered, wordlessly motioning for him to set her case down on the table. "Maybe after we get the swelling down it won't be so bad. You might only have twisted it."
"I couldn't tell which one was the vial you wanted." Harry said breathlessly. "So I brought down the case."
"It's okay." Estella nodded appreciatively, rummaging through the case and extracting a number of vials. Holding them up against the light one by one, she studied them closely. "Merlin, I hope they haven't spoiled." she swirled one vial to unsettle the contents before uncorking it and wafting it under her nose. "Smells all right," she said. She studied the colour again. "The colour is consistent. Preservation charms must have held."
"Preservation charms?" Tonks looked at her cousin uneasily. "Just how old are those potions?"
"Well I made them before summer." Estella said, unable to pinpoint the exact date. "But yeah, the vials are charmed to keep the contents fresh."
"You mean these are preservation vials?" Harry picked one up gingerly, his jaw falling slightly open. "They're rather expensive. I thought only professionals used them?"
"Not necessarily." Estella confirmed. "I mean yes, they are costly, but anyone can use them. Well, correction, you aren't allowed to use them in class-"
"Why not?" Harry cut in.
"Well because you could switch the potion you made for a potion you bought in one of these vials." Estella picked up one of the vials and jiggled it in front of Harry's face in emphasis. "Duh."
"Then why did you sniff it like that?" Harry looked at her suspiciously.
"Because you should never depend on foolish wand-play and silly incantations in potions." Estella stated as though it were obvious. Then, as though humoured by her own private joke, she chuckled. Seeing the confused looks on her company's faces, she elaborated. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking how ironic it is that it was my uncle of all people who got me these vials in the first place."
"Well good thing he did." Tonks said, her patience frayed a little by her pain. "Which of these should I be taking?"
"Oh, sorry Tonks." Estella shook her head at her distractedness and held out a vial. "Here, this one should reduce the swelling. If memory serves me correctly it needs to take effect before I can give you anything for the pain. The ingredients will be counterproductive otherwise."
"All right." Tonks said trustfully, accepting the uncorked vial and downing it in one strangled gulp. Screwing her nose up in distaste, she spluttered. "The fouler the taste, the faster the effect, right?"
"So some say." Estella confirmed, recognising the well-worn adage. Checking her watch and counting down patiently, she watched as the potion went to work. "Okay, I'd say it's safe to give you this one now; but what's say we set you up somewhere more comfortable first?"
Tonks nodded and Harry suggested the lounge in the study. Once settled, Estella administered the second potion. Frowning down at her bona fide patient she leant back, her work done.
"What's wrong?" Tonks asked her.
"I was just thinking how much better it would be if I could just use my wand." Estella mused.
"Don't worry about that now." Tonks assured her. "That potion is already working wonders, and look, the swelling is gone. You did great."
"I wasn't thinking of that." Estella smirked, eyeing Harry. "I was thinking more along the lines of how much longer it will take us to clean up the kitchen without magic. We had been labouring under the misapprehension that we would have a fully-trained witch on hand to wave her wand about effortlessly."
Tonks laughed. "Well, let this be a lesson to you." she shooed them off towards the kitchen. "You'd better get a start on it if you hope to sleep at all tonight."
Once they got down to it, however, the kitchen was clean in record time. Of course, a critical eye would likely come across splotches of dairy product in unlikeliest of places for days, weeks, months to come, but there were just some places a non-magical sponge could not reach. Exhausted after the fact, the pair cooled off with an ice treat and headed straight off to bed.
Over the course of their stay, the front airy bedroom that the teenagers had come to call their own no longer resembled the plain expanse of space it had been upon their arrival. On one of her frequent trips to the closest village, Tonks had made a point of bringing back bags upon bags of local home wares. The teen's room, in particular, had benefited the most from the enthusiastic Metamorphagus' expeditions, with a wide assortment of wall hangings and quirky little ornaments scattered around the room.
"I can't believe I agreed to this." Harry emerged from behind his privacy screen and flopped onto the top of his sheets, sighing as his head sunk into the soft down of his pillow. "This place is beginning to resemble Trelawney's classroom!'
"Hey!" cried Estella, throwing one of the many scatter cushions that littered the floor at her roommate. "I resent that! I'll have you know I have much better taste than that woman!" she picked up another cushion and shook it at him in emphasis. "I may like having a soft place to land, but I'm not as cheap and tacky as that!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Harry yawned and rolled over to face her fully. "I was just foolin'."
"Good." Estella nodded in approval and settled down on her matching twin bed. At first, they had tried to inject their own unique personalities into the room by splitting the space in half and reigning exclusive control on their own share, but after living with the results for a few days they had decided on a compromise. Though Harry made the occasional comparison to the decorating ability of the likes of Trelawney and Snape, both teenagers were equally pleased with how their cohabited quarters turned out.
"G'night." Harry mumbled, tossing his glasses onto the bedside table between their beds.
Estella was halfway through returning the gesture when the distant howl of a wolf caught her attention. "There's Moony," she said, her brow furrowing in thought as the howling persisted.
"Noisy sod tonight, isn't he?" Harry groaned, pulling his pillow over his ears. "Mustn't be too happy about being out in the rain, hey?"
"That's not it." Estella sat up abruptly, an alarmed look on her face. Swinging her legs off the bed, she turned and faced Harry. "He only howls when he's calling. Something must be wrong."
"Relax, Estella! Moony and Padfoot are probably singing in the rain, or something equally dense." said Harry dismissively, though he too sat up, if only to be at Estella's level.
"No, no, no!" Estella shook her head in refusal and stood, her hands reaching for Harry to pull him out of bed. "He's getting more insistent, listen! It's a call for help!"
"Estella, we can't go out there." Harry paused, "and Tonks…"
"Do I look like I care?" snapped Estella, glaring at him slightly with one brow raised in defiance. "Either you're with me, or you're not."
"I'm with you, of course." replied Harry without hesitation.
Estella, however, gave him a decisive look. Shoving him back down on his bed as he tried to stand, she shook her head. "On second thought, maybe you'd better stay." she said quickly, cutting him off before he could protest with a raised hand. "You're far too important. It could be a trap."
"Yes, but I'm older…" Harry pointed out. He had gone to point out that he was also a male, but he didn't want to open that can of worms.
"You're also on the Ministry's radar after that incident with the Dementors." Estella pointed out logically. "Last thing you need is another charge of under-aged magic on your record. They won't be as lenient with you again, Harry, and you need to finish your education."
"So? So do you!"
"Yes, but I have a clean record." said Estella. "And if worse comes to worse, two members of my family have teaching experience and a third is brilliant at Transfiguration."
"So what do you suppose we do?" Harry dodged Estella's efforts to keep him in bed by rolling off the other side. "You can't expect me to just sit here and twirl my wand while that- " he pointed in the direction of Moony's howls "- is going on!"
Sighing as she collapsed on the edge of her bed, Estella rubbed her temples. Her hand instinctively travelling to her pendant, she formulated a plan. "Listen," she said, gesturing to her pendant. "My uncle charmed this into an emergency Portkey. If I activate it, I will go to Grimmauld Place… and I'll do it if there's any danger, okay?"
"But what do I do?" asked Harry.
"Keep Tonks distracted." Estella said. "She's undoubtedly awake now… and I'll, um, send up green sparks every minute for the all-clear and red if we need to bolt. If you don't see anything for five, use the mirror."
"Right, so I'll wait in the kitchen, okay?" Harry gestured, heading towards the door.
Holding back slightly, Estella evaluated her potions supply – her case hastily discarded, open, on the dresser after being brought back upstairs. Making a mental note of deficiencies and possible needs before the night was through, she clasped the case closed and indicated for Harry to unpack his potions equipment. "I may need you to make a start on some potions," she said hesitantly. "I used all the anti-swelling potion and pain-relievers on Tonks. Hopefully, we won't need it, but I have a feeling Moony would only be this persistent if… if… if…" her voice trailed off and her shoulders slumped.
Seeing the fear on her face, Harry turned back and braced his shorter friend's shoulders.
"I'm sure he's fine." Harry assured her. "Sirius is made of tougher stuff than to let a little weather to get to him."
Slumping her shoulders tiredly, Estella leant forward and rested her head under Harry's chin. Exhaling a long, slow breath, she gathered her resolve before straightening herself up. Meeting Harry's eyes with a newfound determination on her face, Estella nodded briskly and headed for the stairs. Once down in the kitchen, Estella flung open the cellar door and rushed down the stairs without a backward glance. The map in her hands may only have been partially completed, but from what she could gather, her father was somehow underground. Intentionally leaving the cellar door open, Estella hoped distractedly that she could remember the incantation that would send colour-specific sparks to an intended recipient.
As her footsteps faded into the distance, she could faintly hear Harry bustling around the kitchen table, setting up his cauldron and pulling out ingredients. Unbeknownst to both teenagers, a similar thought was going through his mind.
Because the map was incomplete, a direct path to her father's location was largely unknown to her. Estella could only hope that the labyrinth of corridors that riddled the underground depths of the property would lead her to him. She did not know what she'd do if her path was blocked. It was generally not a good idea for a witch, particularly an untrained one, to use any sort of destructive curses when preoccupied. Course, she could always just banish whatever obstacles she came across… rather than fill her head with scenarios that had not yet come to pass, she pushed on.
Holding her breath as she drew her wand, she cast her eyes to the gods above and crossed her fingers. Hopefully, any detection of her under-aged magic would be overlooked, or, at best, the Ministry Owls delayed at the border. She hadn't wanted to tell Harry, but part of her suspected that the Ministry only really paid attention to unauthorised casting that took place in un-warded areas, or in front of Muggles – instances where the Magic-Reversal Squad or the Obliviators would automatically be dispatched as a precaution. If her suspicions were, in fact, correct, then her following actions would fall slightly short of the radar.
"Here goes nothing," she said to herself, sending a first lot of sparks back to Harry before casting a powerful Lumos to light her way.
Letting the map guide her, she ventured into a small, unused passageway; the walls narrow in places and ceilings closed in by formations of stalactites. Counting measurably in her head, she made sure she sent sparks at the correct intervals. She was perhaps a few hundred feet from her starting point when she began to hear the rustling of wings. Shifting her wand light from the floor before her to the ceiling just ahead of her, Estella stifled a gasp.
"Bats!" she grimaced, watching in abstract horror as they began to screech and fly at her, fleeing from her encroachment into their dark, damp home.
Standing rigidly, Estella tensed and held her breath, fighting the urge to wave her arms about her head.
'Get a grip, Black!' she chided herself. 'Bats have sonar, they can't fly into you.'
Exhaling in relief, she was about to cautiously make her way forward when, splat, something wet landed on her shoulder.
"Great." she muttered to herself in disgust. Bat excrement was clearly not as deflective as its source.
The bat cave now clear of its winged occupants, Estella continued on her way quickly. Soon enough, she could hear the sounds of water and see an unidentified light source up ahead. Judging by the bats, wherever her wand was leading her was not part of the main cave system. The parts of the caves Remus' Muggle ancestors had used for storage were trafficked well enough and lit with a series of man-made sky-lights, the small narrow cracks in the ceiling ensuring ventilation as well as sun light. Quickening in her step, Estella began to run along the slippery rock, her feet clapping on the cool stone and echoing throughout the underground cavity.
"Dad, Dad!" she began to call out, becoming more and more convinced as she made her way towards the light that there must be an entrance ahead that the adults had not been able to spot from the air. Maybe Padfoot had attempted to seek shelter and had gotten trapped by falling sediment, or perhaps the rain-soaked earth in the clearing above had collapsed under the two wizards as they waited out the full moon. Her breath stilting at the thought of her father's body laying impaled on a stalagmite, Estella shuddered with dread and hoped beyond hope that her fears were unfounded.
Getting closer and closer to the light with each step, Estella could see the narrow corridor begin to widen into an antechamber. In her hand, her wand began to thrum: wherever her father was, he was close. She could just feel it.
"Dad!" she called out again, the light from the tip of her wand covering not nearly enough ground.
Above her, slightly ahead, Estella could see where the soft earth of the ceiling had eroded away, creating a gaping wound that seemed to funnel all the rain like a cascading waterfall. Staying under the shelter of a sturdy part of the ceiling that was still intact, Estella chanced a look upwards. The moonlight that had been guiding her to this point was now blotted out by dark clouds. Suddenly, clumps of soil around the caved-in ceiling began to unsettle, and a dark shadow peered over the edge, howling.
"Moony?" Estella shone her light up at her godfather's lupine form, immediately alarmed as she saw his paws clutch at the edge of the hole, disturbing the weak, muddy clay as it threatened to implode. "Moony, be careful! The ground is not stable!"
At that, Moony disappeared from the edge, and Estella began to panic.
"Moony!" she cried out. Immediately, Moony's head appeared again, this time on the other side of the hole, where the ground was more stable and anchored by rocks. The look in his eyes was, if Estella didn't know any better, most bemused – as though to say 'make up your mind!' "Where's Dad, Moony? Where's Padfoot?"
Before Estella could even hit herself for being so dense as to try and get an answer out of her godfather's animal alter-ego, a pained moan drew her attention to a still form that was almost hidden by a clump of earth. Rushing forward, Estella was greeted with the horrible sight of her father's barely conscious body; the man having evidently transformed back into a human as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Directly under the flow of stormwater as it drained away into the cave, Sirius was drenched through and shivering. His clothes were muddy and torn and it was hard to discern any injuries. Shining the light along her father's length, Estella blanched when she caught sight of his right leg. Not only was it twisted an alarming angle, but, just below the cuff-line of his shorts a bloody wound revealed a splintering of bone. Turning from canine to human must surely have aggravated the wound.
"Oh, Dad!" Estella gasped, falling her knees beside her father's head as she leant over him protectively, shielding his face from the falling water. Smoothing his matted hair out of his face with clammy hands, Estella shivered as the rain began to soak her through. Under her ministrations, however, her father was faring much worse. "Dad?"
"Estella?" her father croaked with much effort, his eyes flicking open suddenly and registering her hovering form. Immediately, he tried to sit up.
Placing a steadying hand on his shoulder, Estella shook her head. "You really don't want to be doing that," she said gently as he winced in pain.
"You're not going to let me live this down, are you?" groaned Sirius, becoming more and more lucid. "I'm sorry, kiddo, we should have listened to you and checked out the ground cover before-"
"Hush, don't concern yourself with that now." said Estella distractedly, patting his shoulder comfortingly, her wand resting on his chest.
Grabbing her wand, Sirius flexed his fingers around the handle before flicking the tip towards the sky above and summoning his own wand.
"Are you quite all right, there?" Estella drawled humouredly. "By all means, help yourself to my wand, why don't you?"
Sirius merely smirked as, from his vantage point, he could see a familiar slither of wood fly in through the hole above, making a beeline for the back of Estella's head.
"Ow!" she exclaimed, a hand reaching up to rub the back of her head where the wand had struck her with a dull crack. "What'd you do that for?"
"Consider that your punishment for coming out here when we told you to stay in the house!" Sirius said half-heartedly, handing her back her wand so he could pick up his own wand from where it had landed by his side.
"Hey, don't get up my nose!" scowled Estella. "I was only answering Moony's S.O.S."
"He could have been calling for the moon, for all you knew." said Sirius soberly. "Werewolves are inclined to do so when they can't see it, you know."
"Don't you dare suggest that I should have ignored what was clearly a distress call!" said Estella irritably. "Now admit you need help, and maybe I'll be inclined to help you."
"I have my wand back now, thank you very much," said Sirius. "I'll take it from here."
"Oh, will you now?" Estella challenged him. "How do you suppose to use your wand to get back to the house, mmm? You gonna levitate yourself?"
"No, of course not!" scoffed Sirius. "For your information, I was going to splint my leg and conjure a crutch…"
"You'll do no such thing!" snapped Estella, grabbing the tip of his wand before he could point it at his badly broken leg. "Have you even looked at your leg?"
"Well I would if you would let me sit up and get a look at it!" snapped Sirius, his pain trying his patience.
"Oh, and what piece of bone would you like to scrutinise first, hey?" said Estella, leaning back to give her father freedom of movement.
"Bone?" said Sirius, paling slightly as he raised himself up on his elbows and caught a slight glimpse of his mangled leg. His strength waning, he slipped back, Estella's quick reflexes catching him before his head could slam weightlessly to the ground.
Shuffling closer so she could cradle his head on her knees, Estella stroked his hair in an effort to soothe the pained look off his face. Not saying a word, she sighed and shook her head slightly at his antics.
"Okay." he admitted once the stabbing pain in his limbs had numbed down to a dull throb, enabling him to speak once more. Holding up his hand and gesturing with his thumb and forefinger, he continued. "Maybe I need a little help."
"Well, you happen to be in luck," said Estella "for I happen to be in a rather generous mood."
"But, wait a minute, what can you do?" Sirius frowned suddenly. "You can't use magic… the laws…"
"Since when has that stopped the likes of us?" asked Estella.
Blinking at her in surprise, Sirius' logic caught up with him. "Hey, where's Tonks? Why didn't she come?"
"Oh, er, I thought it best that a fully-trained Auror remain with Harry." said Estella lamely. It wasn't such a stretch from the truth.
"Estella…" said Sirius in a warning tone. "What happened? Tonks would not have sent you out here alone, especially not if there was a good chance you'd need to do magic. Why didn't you all come?"
"Oh, one saviour not enough for you?" quipped Estella, feigning hurt.
"Don't beat around the bush with me, young lady." said Sirius firmly, though it was hard to maintain an air of authority when one was in pain and lying with his head cradled in the arms of the person they were supposed to be intimidating. "You snuck out, didn't you?"
"No." said Estella. "Harry knew where I was going."
"And Tonks?" growled Sirius.
"Is slightly incapacitated," admitted Estella. At her father's questioning look, she elaborated. "She fell and sprained her ankle."
Shaking his head slightly, Sirius snorted derisively, muttering something along the lines of "typical!" Above him, Estella sighed in relief; though she knew that if her father knew the circumstances in which Tonks had slipped, he probably would not find it as amusing.
"All right." said Sirius decisively, not wanting to be in his current predicament any longer than need be. "How are we going to work this? If I cannot walk, then you will have to levitate me. Do you think you could do that? How far is it by foot?"
Running through her own list of alternatives in her mind, Estella laid her cards on the table. "Well the way I figure it, we have four options."
"Which are?" prompted Sirius.
"One, I make you as comfortable as I can and we wait for moonset." eyeing her father's leg, Estella dismissed the idea almost as soon as she said it. "Two," she continued, "I levitate you through the caves back to the cellar." She took a breath. "Three, you summon your broom from the edge of the clearing and we fly through the rain."
At that suggestion, Sirius shook his head. "What's four?"
"I use my Portkey and take us back to Grimmauld Place where Dumbledore will never let you live this down." said Estella.
"Portkey?" Sirius frowned. "Who gave you a Portkey?"
"No one." said Estella, tweaking her pendant. "Uncle Sev charmed this."
"I thought he left all too easily." said Sirius, nodding in silent approval. He may not endeavour to have a heart to heart with his only brother-in-law any time soon, but he could appreciate the man's tactful subtlety. If there were one thing he could depend upon with the man, it was that he would often think of the things that Sirius himself had overlooked. Although they seldom collaborated, with the pair of them – and not to forget Remus, too – on the case, Estella was bound to be kept safe.
Taking a deep breath, Sirius braced himself stoically and nodded assertively. Adopting a theatrical game-show host voice, he smiled weakly. "How's about we see what's behind door number two?"
Nodding briskly, Estella sent the promised sparks into the air to let Harry know that she had found Sirius and was on her way back, she then set about levitating her father. Caught off-guard by his strangled yelp of pain, Estella fumbled and set him back down a little too harshly. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Estella's eyes began to tear in a mix of frustration and sympathy as her father did his best not to shout out.
Above them, Moony was watching them with concern, the werewolf whimpering slightly. Glaring at each of them in turn, Sirius channelled his pain into anger and snapped at them. "Don't either of you start blubbering on with feelings of guilt!" he said, knowing full well that Remus was up there feeling remorse for dragging him out for the transformation and his daughter was mortified at the prospect of escalating his pain.
"Why would we feel guilty?" said Estella airily, slamming the lid closed on the irrational emotions in favour of a sarcastic tone. "If you weren't such a wimp and quit with all the theatrics, we'd be halfway back by now!"
Seeing the mock-cross look on his daughter's face, Sirius' face brightened with mirth.
"Well, can you blame a man for being offended?" he said. "I could have been lingering near death, and all my family sends is just one rescuer!"
Silently observing the banter between father and daughter, Moony began to pant excitedly – the closest his four-legged form could get to laughing. Below, the injured man and his Calvary re-assessed the situation.
"Estella," Sirius swallowed back his pride. "Sweetheart, I don't think… I don't think I could bear it. Being levitated all that way…"
Nodding sadly, Estella pursed her lips together in thought. "I have an idea," she said. "But you're not going to like it."
Recognising the glint in her eye, Sirius sought a distraction. "What's that on your shoulder?" he asked hurriedly, trying to delay the inevitable. "Is it… it isn't… it is… bat crap?"
"Don't ask." scowled Estella, shuddering at the memory. Gripping her wand tighter, she trailed off in thought as she searched the recesses of her mind for the right spell. The words forming themselves on her lips, Estella levelled her wand at her father's leg and smirked. "And who said history doesn't repeat?"
"Estella, no!" Sirius gasped out as his daughter successfully cast the spell that removed the damaged bones in his leg.
"I'm sorry, it had to be done," said Estella simply. "There was simply too much damage there for any of us to take care of on our own, and short of Portkeying you back to London and getting you to a proper Healer…"
Sirius sighed. "Yes, well, I suppose it's done now." he said, sitting up. "Hey, the pain's gone!"
"Well, duh, why do you think I did it?" Estella rolled her eyes at her father. "So, do you want to hobble or hover?"
"Hobble away, dear bat girl." said Sirius, feeling in much better spirits on account of his leg being neutralised.
Narrowing her eyes at her father, Estella tried to recall if he were familiar with the Batman comic books, or if his passing comment was purely coincidence. Above her, however, Moony was making an odd chortling noise.
"Don't you start!" she snapped, glaring at each of them for good measure. Doing a double take skyward, her mouth fell open. "Are you… is he… Dad, is Moony… is he laughing?"
Looking upwards, Sirius could only bite back a grin. "Looks like it." he shrugged. Toying with the wand in his hand, he smirked. "Just remember, Moony, which of us has a wand right now."
Sufficiently warned, Moony yelped and retreated out of sight.
"Come on, jelly leg, we'd better get going." Estella said restlessly. "I've already sent the sparks up. Harry's gonna mirror-call reinforcements if we're not back soon."
"Bloody hell, why didn't you say so?" Sirius blanched, not wanting to lose face with any of the 'responsible' wizards who were already on his case enough as it was.
After letting Moony know that they were leaving and biding him farewell until dawn, Sirius hastily conjured himself a strong crutch and they were off. Remus would follow in the morning with both his and Sirius' brooms after he'd transformed.
"You know, add a glass eye and you could be Moody," said Estella as she assisted her father on their slow journey back towards the main cellar under the kitchen, the steady tapping of his crutch thundering through the tunnel.
"When I get my bones back, I'm going to test out my new foot by giving you a swift kick in the behind." grumbled Sirius. Cutting off his daughter's laugh, he sobered. "I mean it, Estella. That was a very foolish thing you did just now. Moony could have been trying to alert you guys of a Death Eater attack. You should have… well as much as I hate to admit it, you should have called someone at Headquarters."
"But I didn't want you to lose any credibility with them." Estella chewed on her bottom lip. "They'd flip their lid and use it as an excuse to keep me and Harry away from you or something!"
"I'd rather lose my pride than lose either of you ratbags," said Sirius quietly. Before his daughter could look too reproachful, he smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, everything worked out this time. I'll grant you this one little escapade as a sign of appreciation for keeping the old man out of the equation."
"Which old man?" asked Estella innocently. "From my young perspective, any guy who isn't a Hogwarts student is an 'old man'."
Finally making it back to the cellar directly below the kitchen, the pair was met by a visibly relieved Harry. After a brief debate, Sirius reluctantly consented to Estella levitating him up the ladder and into the kitchen. While they were gone, Harry had made equal quantities of the potions Estella had asked for and had long since bottled the dosages and cleaned up after himself. He was, without saying, quite put out to discover, then, that neither potion was required. Skele-Gro could not be taken in conjunction with any other potion. It was just a good thing Estella kept an emergency dose in her comprehensive sample kit.
With Sirius as comfortable as possible on a temporary bed in the room rechristened 'the infirmary' (for, with the equally bedridden Tonks, it had two patients); Estella tended to his wounds. After sealing the broken skin with a salve that would not interfere with the potion, she bandaged up his leg and administered the bone regrowing potion.
Though the teens were then free to head off up to bed, they chose instead to maintain a vigil, intent on supporting the weary Animagus as he went through the pain and trauma of regrowing the bones in his lower leg. While Harry made himself comfortable in the high-backed, padded desk chair, reclining back in it and propping his legs up on the desk; Estella curled up alongside hr father's 'good' side, her hand firmly clasped in his as a show of support. It was thus, how an exhausted werewolf happened upon his makeshift family, as he rushed back to the cottage before the sun had risen. After inspecting Tonks' raised ankle with confusion, and tucking in his godchild as she curled up against her father's unconscious form, Remus summoned two blankets from the other room. Draping one such blanket over the raven-haired teen at the desk, he then flopped into a well-worn armchair and threw his legs up on the coffee table that sat between the slumbering cousins of Black descent.
Cursing his stupidity for going to the trouble of grabbing himself a blanket when the early dawn sun was already going to work, warming the atmosphere, Remus Lupin shrugged off the unwanted layer and fell into a deep sleep. 'If this is what a vacation is supposed to be like,' he thought to himself as he drifted off, 'it's no wonder people manage to bring themselves home from them.'
END CHAPTER: Stars and Moon
NEXT CHAPTER: Unusual Welcomes:
Summary: With the holidays over, the group return to London, stopping by Diagon Alley to pick up school supplies. Just who are they trying to avoid? What's changed in the wizarding world while they've been away? Why are the Weasley Twins looking at them strangely, and what happens that make Sirius see red?
Due: 28th November 2005
