Did you know that today, (July 24, because I forgot too!) is national drive-thru day?!
My challenge for you is to go out and treat yourself! Y'all know we all need it.
Anyways, I don't own Harry Potter (those rights go to a rather transphobic *cough* J.K.Rowling *cough* person we don't support here).
Enjoy!
Sabine's POV
This is not how I wanted this conversation to go.
Granted, I didn't really know what to expect, hearing someone tell you your brother was dead, abandoned by his trusted house elf and the girl he'd risked life and limb for, couldn't be taken lightly.
Still, having to pull Kreacher behind me as Lupin wrestled Sirius away from the miserable git hadn't ranked high on my prediction list.
I was still in shock, had he been here the whole time?
Hidden in the walls? The pipes? Okay, that just got really creepy real fast.
Was I happy he was alive? No, probably not. He was a bigoted corn husk with the temperament of Regina George.
But Reggie would have been happy, he loved Kreacher, something no other living being had ever been able to do.
"Sirius, stop. Your scaring the kids!" Lupin called in a last ditch attempt to calm his boyfriend down.
It seemed to do the trick, the dishonored black pausing to look down at Athena and Harry.
They stood in shock, having never seen Sirius so angry. Harry's eyes began to water.
"Aw prongslet..." Sirius cooed, slumping out of Lupin's grip to scoop the little boy up. Athena stood awkwardly beside them until Sirius picked her up too.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Just lost my temper. That's all." He reassured, petting Harry's hair.
The-Boy-Who- Lived sniffled again before speaking in a hushed voice. "Are you going to hurt him? Did mister munchkin do something wrong."
Sirius didn't answer right away, eyes locked on Lupin . They could read each other's minds, I swear.
"No, uncle Sirius isn't going to hurt him. I'm sorry we scared you." Lupin said after a while, his gaze never leaving Sirius's face.
Harry didn't relax.
"Did he do something wrong?" The raven haired boy asked again.
"Yes-" I answered, coming up next to Lupin . "He did, but you don't have to worry. The adults will take care of it."
Harry looked ready to argue when Athena spoke up.
"I thought you had caught all the munchkins, on the night I had my bad dream and you were in the hallway."
Everyone paused, Lupin's head snapped up, face ashen.
"Sirius, what she talking about?" The sandy haired man asked cautiously, eyes glued on Athena.
Before Sirius could speck, theny cut in again.
"The night I had my bad dream, don't you remember? You were standing by the door all night next to the window. I remember the moon was all big and full! Remember?"
If it was possible, Lupin went even paler. I narrowed my eyes.
What had him so freaked? He was sick on the full moon anyways-wait. My eyes snapped up to Lupin's, blown wide.
He looked terrified, he knew I'd figured it out.
How could I have missed it?! The scars, being sick on the full moon, the torn up room-"
"Is that what happened to the room at the end of the hall?" I asked very quietly.
Lupin looked desperately between Sirius and I, aghast. I set my shoulders in determination.
"Kids, how 'bout you go play upstairs for a bit longer, the adults aren't quite done talking yet." My voice sounded sickly sweet in my ears.
Athena took the hint, getting up without a word and dragging a still very put out Harry upstairs.
I turned back to Sirius and Lupin, gesturing for them to sit back down.
Sirius's POV
Oh shit, this was bad.
I sat next to Moony again, holding his shaking hand. He'd plastered a brave face on, but the fear showed clear as day.
Sabine sat down in silence, her hands folded on the table and her head bowed. When she finally spoke, her voice was deathly quiet.
"When were you going to tell me? Do you have ANY IDEA how much danger you've put me in?! Put Athena in?!" She yelled her hands now balled into fists.
I opened my mouth to argue but Remus squeezed my leg warningly.
"Your absolutely right." He replied, his voice hallow and strained.
Sabine opened her mouth to continue but Moony cut over her.
"Your completely right." He said, rising to his feet."I put you and your family in inexplicable danger. I'm unimaginably sorry. I'm- I'll just leave."
"Where the hell do you think your going."
"Come off it mate!"
We both yelled at the same time.
I looked back at Sabine, she'd stood too, head still bowed. Remus froze, looking ready to flee at any moment. I put a reassuring hand on his.
"Lupin-Remus, sit back down, I'm not done." She muttered.
I scoffed. "Like hell you are! I'm not going to just let you sit here and tell him off like his some stupid child! You can't make him leave, over my dead body-"
"Sirius, enough!" She snapped back, finally meeting my eyes. She looked tired, but not angry. I stoped.
"If you had let me finish, I don't want Remus to leave,-"
"You don't?" Remus interrupted weakly, head shooting up fast enough to cause whiplash.
The seer's eyes softened a little as she continued.
"Of course I don't want you to leave. Harry needs you, Sirius needs you, and while I'm not to thrilled about the fact you lied about your er- condition, Athena might go into cardiac arrest if you go."
"Your not disgusted that I'm-" Remus began.
"A werewolf? No, of course I'm not! On my list of concerns and worry's and fears, werewolves don't make the top 30."
The seer continued. "Hell, if you had told me, I'd have started picking up more pain potions on my runs to diagon ally, I m sure bill wouldn't have mind."
I paused at her words. As did Remus. "Who's bill?" I asked slowly.
She looked a little taken aback. "He's my friend, meet 'im when I was out with Harry and Athena a couple weeks ago? Been writing ever since."
I tensed. "And what have you told him, huh? Anything about us?!"
Sabine looked exasperated. "Do I look stupid to you? Of course I didn't tell him about you or Remus or Harry! We just been chatting here and there, got a letter from him just yesterday in fact, wrote back straight after."
"Could we see it?" Remus asked pensively, glancing over at me . We locked eyes.
Oh, we were so snooping later
Sabine snorted."Absolutely not! What makes you think you can go through my mail all of a sudden? Your the ones on thin fucking ice!"
I puffed up a bit. "You haven't exactly been Pinocchio yourself, Flaversham! Plus, we did tell you, right while you were finally telling us about Reggie.
Oh, speaking of that! Don't you think information on my lost brother would have been helpful before now?!"
""Oh ya, plenty of opportune moments! Oh hey Sirius, sorry to mention this, but your brother that I didn't know you were related to is dead, pass the sugar."
She called back, voice rising.
"How could you not know we were related?! We have the same last name! Our hair could be brothers, LITERALLY! This is my house!" I yelled back.
"Well I-"
"ENOUGH!" Remus shouted over us, pinching his nose in frustration.
"Look, we all are at fault here. Sabine, we should have been more honest about my lycanthropy. But you could have been more up front with us. Now can we please stop?"
I nodded sheepishly. All this yelling couldn't be good of Remus's ears, especially so close to the moon. I quickly crossed over to him, pull my Moony into a hug.
"'Im sorry." I huffed into his sweater, pressing my face in and inhaling deeply.
He smelled just as he always did. Like the Hogwarts library, like a freshly brewed cup of earl grey, like the woods. It was the best smell in the whole world.
I realize how tired I was, how empty. Reggie was dead. I hadn't talked to him in years, hadn't agreed with him in longer. Now...
I snuggled closer into Moony.
It was to much. To much to think about, to much to grasp.
"I'm sorry."
I looked up, Sabine had walked towards us her head still slightly bent. When she looked at me, her eyes shun with understanding. They shun with grief, too, but it was communal, something we could share.
"He was a good person. Complicated and incredibly misled, but a good person in the end. If you ever want to talk about him, when your ready, I'll be here."
I nodded, closing my eyes as I hurried Sabine step away. The door swang open and closed not long after, leaving me tired and numb in the kitchen, burrowed deeply in Remus's arms.
No one's POV
Dumbledore was many things, intelligent, generous, manipulating, but honest...that almost never made the list.
He was an controled man, emotions in check at all times. It was a good thing to, because the muggles in front of him were severely testing his patients.
"What do you mean he's gone."
The headmaster asked for the uptenth time, resisting the urge to rub his temples.
Across from him sat Vernon and Petunia Dursley, both as haughty and disagreeable as ever. They, to no one's surprise, we're not being the least bit helpful to him.
"He's gone, what else is there to it! And good riddance! He's been a burden and a nuisance, spreading his freakyness everywhere he goes!"
Petunia huffed, hands balled in agitation. The old wizard resisted the urge to sigh.
"Yes, but where did he go? I gave you explicit instructions to keep the boy in your sights, he couldn't have just vanished!"
He was fighting to keep his voice level now, something neither muggle noticed.
"I don't know what to tell you, we sent him out to take the rubbish to the curb and he never came back. Hardly our fault, the little freak probably chased that stray dog."
Vernon said. Dumbledore paused at his words.
"Dog?"
Vernon looked a bit surprised.
"Why.. yes. Big black mangy thing, thin, saw in traipsing around that night out the window."
Dumbledore nodded to himself. Yes, he'd suspected Sirius was an animagus, the merry band of animals that ran with Remus on the full moon were hardly coincidental, and the nicknames were a bit on the nose.
Still, this confirmed it. Sirius had taken Harry, clearly he'd seen how the Dursleys treated him and had acted brashly.
Dumbledore grumbled, couldn't anyone see the bigger picture?
What was one little boy to the greater good of the wizarding world. A world clutched safely in Dumbledores palm.
Sure, Harry would suffer, but he'd get over it. He'd come to Hogwarts, see it as his safe haven and become fiercely loyal to it, and in extension him.
He'd prime the boy for a savor's complex, set him up to die at Voldemort's hands right before he could swoop in and save the day. Painting himself as the grieving mentor, the hero.
But of course, no plan could go completely right. Hiccups were bound to happen, people could never just sit by and be controlled.
Yes, this Sirius business put quite a damper on his plans and needed to be rectified as soon as possible.
Perhaps another decade in Azkaban would do Sirius good, Dumbledore thought with a small smile, a twinkle returning to his eyes.
That'd teach him to metal.
The headmaster stood, bidding the useless muggles good day and promising to keep in touch.
As he walked down the drive, he allowed a small grin to form.
Oh yes, he'd get Harry back. Sirius and Remus couldn't hide him forever, they were bound to slip up eventually. It was only a matter of time.
Bill's POV
She was an interesting bird, he'd give her that.
Smart and slightly mysterious, Sabine had him puzzled.
She was nice enough when he first met her, cute and funny if not a little rushed. That's why he'd written back.
But as time went on, he'd started to grow suspicious.
Not of her of course, but of who she surrounded herself with.
Though she had two room mates, (they were Harry's parentage, whatever, he didn't judge) she rarely spoke about them or Harry.
He'd never seen either of them when they hung out together, and she'd been admitted to never bring him to her home.
Hell, he didn't even knowwhere she lived besides "downtown London, in the muggle suburbs.".
What the bloody hell was a suburb anyway?! She made no sense!
Like her last letter, the one he was now staring at as he sat at the kitchen table.
It wasn't so much her words that confused him, but the picture she'd inclosed with it.
He'd jokingly asked her to send a little proof that they weren't ghosts in his last letter and she'd provided, only in the most bizarre fashion.
The photo was a muggle one, on account of it not moving. But what made it to peculiar in my opinion was what they were doing.
There were two men, both in there mid-to-late twenties, sitting at a table. They were both laughing, but neither were looking at the camera.
This seemed odd to me, especially since Sabine had written about how long it had taken her to get this picture.
Wouldn't someone who had worked hard to get this photo want to be able to see their faces?
Not only that, but someone had tampered with their images, though not very well. Almost like she didn't want them recognized.
But why?
Were they criminals? Murderers? Just extremely ugly?
He didn't get it.
My thoughts were interrupted by mum bustling into the kitchen, a chattering Ginny on her heels.
Though usually shy, she could talk any of their ears off with no problem. He smiled down at her, his only little sister.
And hopefully the last of them!
"Morning bill, whatcha got there?" Mum asked, setting down the small basket of eggs she'd just taken from the chickens.
I looked back down at the photo, before I could speak however, the door burst open and another person walked in.
If you didn't know, Tonks (NEVER Nymphadora if you wanted both kneecaps intact) is my best friend.
She's fierce and punky, with spiky bubblegum pink hair and golden owlish eyes. She wanted to be an auror when she grew up, and was honestly the most badass person I know.
Today she was sporting her signature style, ripped jeans and a weird sisters shirt, her hair bobbed and purple, a bit toned down for my mothers sake.
She'd been staying with us for about a week now, easily the best week all summer. I called her over.
"Hey mum, this photo look suspicious to you? 'Bine just sent it to me."
"Who's 'Bine?" Tonks asked, genuinely curious. She wasn't jealous or anything, that was one of the things that made our friendship so easy.
"Oh this lovely girl we met just a bit ago, her and bill are pen pales." My mother replied, putting the eggs away before coming to look at the picture.
Tonks leaned over too.
"Looks a bit suspicious, ya. Why they both looking away?" She asked, quirking her head to the side.
"Oh well sometimes when muggle pictures are developed with magic, they come out a bit funny. Here let me fix it." Mom said, taking the photo and taping it with her wand.
The picture swirled before turning back, now with both of the men's faces showing. Tonks gasped.
"What? What is it?!" I asked quickly, looking back down at the photo.
Tonks glanced at my mother before sending me a look.
"Oh nothing, just a cool bit of magic. Hey bill, could I uh...borrow your gloves, I want to climb some of the orchid trees?"
"Uh, ya, let me go help you look for them!" I replied hastily, getting up and following her upstairs.
She didn't speak until we were in my room (we were sharing right now under mums watchful eye, like she need to, ew!) and the door was locked.
"Come on, spite itout!" I asked. Tonk, in fact, did not spite it out, not until she picked up a copy of the Daily Profit from the floor.
"That's him!" She exclaimed, pointing from the dark haired man in the photo to the front page. I stared back at her, stunned.
"Sirius Black?!" I said incredulously. "Come off it! Your kidding me!"
"Am not-" Tonks replied, smoothing out the newspaper. "Their practically identical!"
"Practically!" I challenged, rolling my eyes.
"Look, I know it's him!"
"Oh, and how is that?!"
"Because-" she explained, lowering her voice. "-He's my cousin, we've got a picture of 'im at my house."
"So?" I asked.
"So, you see that tattoo on his hand, the fancy B with the cross over it? My mums got the same thing! It's the mark of a disgraced black, and I can almost guarantee that the photo of him I have will match that tattoo on that hand!"
She exhaled deeply, eyes boring into mine.
"You sure?" I asked after a while.
"Positive." Tonks replied, her face gone completely serious.
I let out a whistle. That was a lot for a bloke to wrap his head around.
"So what do we do? Go to the aurors?"
She scoffed, flipping her purple hair over her shoulder. "Oh come off it! No one's gonna listen to us, we're just kids!"
"Then what do we do?!" I snapped, now a bit frustrated.
Her face morphed (not literally) into determination. "I reckon we take things into our own hands!"
"Are you mad!" I yelled back, lowering my voice with a glance at the door.
"There's no bloody way we can do this on our own! If it really is black, I reckon his super dangerous, him working for Voldemort and put to kill-"
And then it hit me, like, and anvil of dread falling from the sky.
"When we met her, she was with this little boy, he'd be about Harry Potter's age." I whispered, looking up at her as cold icy fear filled me.
"He looked like him too! Like the baby photos in the paper! You don't think..."
"That must be why he broke out! To kill Harry!" Tonks exclaimed bouncing a bit as she sat down on the bed.
"That poor boy-Did he seem alright when you say him, the little boy?!" She asked suddenly, head shooting up.
"I mean ya, he looked like any normal kid." I replied, thinking hard. Had I missed something?
"Do you think 'Bine knows?" I asked timidity, more dread filling my gut.
"Has to, only reason to explain why she'd mess with the photo." Tonk reasoned.
"Do you think he's holding her and Athena hostage?! The other guy too?!"
Tonks scrunched up her face in thought, then looked back at the photo.
"No... I don't think so maybe she's being held, but not him. The guy, that's Remus Lupin, I recognize him. Was a friend of Sirius, met him once when I was little."
"You met him?" I asked, bewildered.
"Ya, Sirius come over with him once to visit. It was them, the Pettigrew guy, and James Potter." She said sadly.
My eyes widened. "You met Potter?"
Tonks grimaced. "Like I said, it was only the one time. But, god can you imagine? Betraying your best mate like that?! To You-Know-Who!"
I looked up at her, a grim sort of determination hardening in my chest. "Never, I'd rather die."
She looked back and smiled. "Same mate, they'd have to kill me."
We stared at each other for a minute, an unspoken agreement passing between us.
"So what do we do?" I asked again.
Tonks smile turned into a grin. "Schedule another meet up.I think it's time I met this Sabine!"
Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
(It took an embarrassing amount of time to finish)
If you have any questions about me or the story, please ask.
Love you guys, Maddie over and out!