Chapter 9

If you asked Ariana what she could remember of her parents, she could honestly say nothing. She didn't remember what her mother smelled like, if she had any siblings or what her father's name was. She didn't even knew her own name beyond Ariana and that was only because of Dobby calling her it so often. When she was younger, she used to think that the house elf had named her at birth.

She used to wonder if she was a Malfoy. After all, she vaguely shared some features to Narcissa like the high cheek bones, long lashes and slender build. However, nothing would ever convince her that she was related to Lucius Malfoy. Not to mention, her dark brown hair made the possibility of her being their child and thus Draco's sister unlikely at best. It also wouldn't explain why they treated her so clearly beneath them.

And if not a Malfoy, then what was she? She had long since given up on finding answers. The mere question of her parentage had once led to an hour long harassment and beating from Lucius. When she asked Dobby, the house elf had wanted to answer, but couldn't and beat himself against the floor in shame. She never dared to ask either again.

She had simply presumed that her parents were dead. She had taken that assumption and made it a fact in her mind. After all, there was no escape from Malfoy Manor, so there was no need to daydream about parents that would never exist to her.

And now what were once concrete facts in Ariana's world were now crumbling before her. She had done the impossible and broken free from the Malfoys. She had been kidnapped and or rescued by a wanted criminal from Azkaban. And now, she had a father.

It sounded insane even in her head.

She supposed that she should've guessed it sooner. What other purpose could Sirius Black have for breaking into Malfoy Manor and helping her escape? It seemed rather foolish now that she knew the full picture. Of course, she was a little busy being overwhelmed by the outside world to really take the time to consider everything. A new question plagued her mind today. What now?

Black had seemed devastated by the very idea of her suffering under the hands of Malfoy, another foreign concept to Ariana. Even more shocking, he had actually hugged her. The closest comparison Ariana could make to it were the hugs that Mrs. Malfoy so often wrapped Draco in after he arrived home from school. And even then, they didn't come halfway to the full embrace that Sirius had wrapped her in. Despite her fear from the physical touch, there was something oddly protective about it.

Was that what it felt like to have a father? Draco and Lucius's relationship certainly seemed quite different than what she had experienced last night. Ariana pursed her lips. Perhaps it was for the best that she had no more comparisons to the master of Malfoy Manor.

She sat up in her hammock on her side of the tent. She wanted nothing more than to ask Sirius Black a million and five questions. Why hadn't he shown up earlier? Why had she ended up with the Malfoys to begin with? Did he leave her there? Or the most daring one of all, did she have a mother too?

Ariana promptly squashed her hopes on that one, least she be disappointed. No, she would focus on her ... her father for now. The very word seemed strange to her. Sliding off the hammock, she tilted her ear toward the entrance to the rest of the tent. No sounds greeted her in return, so curiosity got the best of her and she peaked her head around the tent flap and into the common area.

It seemed that Black was nowhere to be found. Odd. He had very much seemed like the early riser type to her. Not unlike herself, she noted, blushing at the comparison. She briefly wondered if any more existed.

The sound of footsteps pulled the girl's gaze to the other side of the camp, revealing a slightly disheveled Sirius. She noted the bags under his eyes and wondered if he had slept at all last night. It looked like he was asking himself the same thing. He glanced at Ariana a bit hesitantly before forcing a small smile on his face. It looked more like a grimace.

"Good morning." He greeted her. He headed off to the kitchen to brew up a cup of tea. He pointed his wand discreetly at the kettle to heat up some water. Ariana watched his every move, curious to learn more about the man she now knew to be her father. It shouldn't have mattered. He was still a stranger to her. She shouldn't feel anything else for him, but she could not deny her interest in their newfound connection to each other.

He poured them each a cup before handing one to her, sipping it in silence. A few minutes passed by with neither father nor daughter knowing what to say. Sirius opened his mouth several times to speak, but found that he had no words. Ariana felt very much the same.

"I meant what I said last night," He said at last, avoiding her gaze. "I don't want you to run away anymore. I'll find some place safe for you. You can forget you ever met me and I won't bother you again."

She blinked, a bit taken aback. Did he want to get rid of her? It certainly hadn't seemed that way last night, not by how tightly he held onto her. She frowned slightly. Maybe she had just imagined it?

"Um, where?" She asked. Sirius closed his eyes, trying to masked his pain.

"I could take you to Remus, the man you met the other day." He said after a while, "He's ... well he's got on a lot on his plate, but he would help you in a heart beat. I could also take you to my cousin Andromeda. She has a daughter a little older than you and she wouldn't hesitate to take you in. Of course, she doesn't know about my innocence yet, but she's very kind."

He wracked his brain for a couple more options, trying to think of every possibility for her.

"I suppose I could also take you to the orphanage, if you wanted a complete fresh start." He pursed his lips, "Thought I'd really prefer not to. I ... I know my opinion isn't of your concern at the moment, but I'd like to think we could do better than that."

It seemed that he had really put some thought into these possibilities. Ariana wondered just how much of the night he spent thinking about all this. She didn't know whether to be honored or slightly disappointed.

"I'm not really sure," she replied meekly. She wasn't. Each of the options he had listed involved dealing with new people, all of whom she didn't really know. She barely trusted the man before her, let alone a whole new series of strangers. The idea made her stomach lurch.

"You don't have to decide immediately," Sirius was quick to respond, "You could take the day to think it over. I must ask that we keep moving though. I don't want us to run into dementors or worse."

So the pair ended up breaking down the campsite shortly after. They each worked in silence. Neither one really knew how to approach the other. Sirius was enveloped in shame, already dreading the idea of saying goodbye to the daughter he had just finally managed to find alive after all these years. Ariana was lost entirely, feeling very small in a sea of unknowns. Buckbeak seemed to sense his riders' inner turmoil for he seemed extra fidgety to fly.

They were in the air again in no time. While she was still extremely cautious of the beast, she no longer believed it would immediately murder her. She was able to climb on behind Sirius without as much hesitation as yesterday. They flew for several hours in an attempt to cover a decent amount of ground. Sirius said that due to his escape, he wanted to spend as little time in one place as possible to prevent recapture.

Around dusk, they stopped again in a dense forest, taking advantage of the cover. Ariana did her part to set up the tent while Sirius set up the enchantments. She enjoyed the small routine that was beginning to form. It was simple and predictable. She could trust it. However, when she was ready to go back into the tent, Sirius walked up to her.

Without a word, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black key with an elaborate crest on it. The crest was detailed with tiny ravens in the center with the latin phrase 'toujours pur' on the bottom. He handed it to her.

"This is your key to the Black family vault at Gringotts," he explained, "Take whatever money you need, for anything. It's yours."

Her eyes widened as she looked back at the tiny key. He was just giving this to her? Without hesitation?

"But I-"

"Please," He said, folding her hand around the key, "I have no use for it as a wanted criminal and it's been collecting dust for ages. You're the only heir to the Black family fortune. Anything you decide to do with that money will be a much better use of it that just having it sit there."

Ariana didn't know what to say. She had never been gifted anything before, save for the occasional sweets from Dobby and Draco. Now, to have been offered an entire vault of money, it was beyond her wildest dreams.

"Now," Sirius cleared his throat, trying to prepare himself for the next part of their conversation. "Where would you like me to take you? Have you thought about any of the people I've listed? If there's someone else, I could arrange that as well."

"Where will you go?" she asked, glancing up at him with slight concern. He tried not to let himself be touched by it. It would only hurt more when she left him.

"I haven't quite decided yet." He answered honestly, "I'll probably be moving around a lot. I plan on heading to Germany for a few days before I drop down to Italy. Awful sunny this time of year. It should keep the dementors at bay for a little while."

"May I come?" The three simple words were enough to shock Sirius. He glanced back at Ariana to make sure he had heard right and there she stood, gray eyes looking right back at him in question.

"I thought you wanted to be away from me? Wasn't that why you ran away?" His brows knitted themselves together in confusion. She turned away for a moment, no doubt asking herself the same question in her head.

"You said you're my father," She replied with a hint of uncertainty, "I ... I've never had family before. Besides, being with an escaped convict is still much better than him." She didn't need to specify who him was for Sirius nodded in understanding.

"You're sure?" He said, "I am on the run after all. It could be dangerous at times. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to leave."

Yet the girl didn't change her mind. She stood there with a shy look on her face, like she was embarrassed to be asking something so important.

"I've never had family before." She admitted, "If...If it's alright by you, I'd like to stay."

The smile that burst forth on Sirius Black's face was enough to ward off a thousand dementors. He didn't hug her again, for fear of scaring her off, but he did gently take her small hand in his.

"Once I'm a free man again, I'll be a proper father to you." He promised "We'll be a family once again."