A/N: We are approaching the end of this story! I think I have just a couple of chapters left.
I also started a new story, The Flames of the Soul! You should check it out. It's another Sirius/OC story, but it is going to be much much different from this one. A couple of chapters are already up, so give it a read :)
April 22nd, 1998
My birthday. Nearly four weeks from the time Sirius had left. It had been two days since Fred and George had reported that there had been a body pulled out of the woods. Luckily, they had been able to clarify last night – the body found was that of a death eater by the name of Clarins. How they got their information…I didn't know, but I trusted them nevertheless.
We had a subdued party that night, none of us feeling much like celebrating. Fleur and Narcissa had put together a wonderful meal of steak and kidney pies, along with a huge chocolate cake with my name on it. We were all just finishing up dinner, when Harry yelped and squirmed in his chair. He reached in to his back pocket and pulled out the mirror that Sirius had given him for Christmas a few years ago. It was glowing blue, and likely had burned him through the back of his pants.
"Sirius?" I asked, breathless as I jumped out of chair and rushed to stand behind him. Sirius's face was framed in the mirror, slightly dirty, but otherwise he looked well.
"Hi there, kitten," Sirius said with a grin. "Miss me?"
"What happened?" Harry asked. "You were supposed to be back weeks ago."
"I'll explain in a bit – Hollyn and I will be back just as soon as I introduce you to…" He turned the mirror away from his face, and what looked like a crib appeared.
"Edward Remus Lupin," said a deep voice off to the side of the mirror. The mirror shook as Remus pulled it out of Sirius's hands. "Teddy for short."
My jaw dropped. "A baby? What? Tonks's?"
"Did nobody tell Addison that Tonks and I were having a kid?" Remus asked in exasperation, although he was still grinning.
"No!" I said, smacking Harry's shoulder lightly. "That's amazing! You two figured it all out then, huh?"
"Too right we did," Tonks said, sliding in to the screen with Remus, Teddy happily bouncing in her arms. Her hair was bubblegum pink again, I noted, my heart soaring. "The night you were taken I convinced him that wasting any more time was stupid. We were married two weeks later. Sirius and my parents were the only ones who came, so don't be too upset that you missed it. We'll have a big party once this is all over!"
"He's beautiful, guys," I said, my eyes tearing up.
"You'll be godmother?" Tonks asked.
"Of course I will," I said, taken aback by the question, but touched all the same.
"And Harry…you'll be godfather?" Remus asked.
"Me?" Harry said, his eyes widening. "What about Sirius?"
"I already got to be a godfather to a pretty great kid," Sirius said, his eyes twinkling. "Plus, with Addie as godmother, I'm just as good as his godfather. Lucky bastard, two godfathers."
"Don't curse in front of Teddy," Remus chastised immediately. His grin was still in place, however.
Somebody else spoke now. "Can I see the mirror?"
Remus smiled at us before handing the mirror over. Hollyn appeared and I gasped. She had grown so much since I had last seen her – her hair was long and curled, her face more angular, much like Sirius's. Her cheekbones were high and she had lost any baby fat that she had been concealing. Her eyebrows were arched above her sparkling grey eyes, which had taken on a more calculating look than I had ever seen. She had matured in so many ways…she was an adult now.
"Hi Mum," She said, and I saw tears falling down her cheeks.
I smiled at her. "It's okay baby, I'm here. Don't cry."
She couldn't help herself. She was sobbing in earnest now, so hard that it seemed she couldn't speak. I felt Malfoy come up behind me, staring desperately in to the mirror. His eyes were searching, as though trying to reassure himself that he was really seeing her – that she was real.
"Hollyn," he exhaled. She opened her eyes and gasped.
"Draco?" She exclaimed. She pressed her face closer to the mirror. "Is it really you? Are you alright? What happened? Why are you with my Mum?"
"We'll explain when you get here, alright?" Draco assured her. "Just get here. Soon. Please."
Draco was speaking in such a gentle, intimate voice, that I almost felt as though I were intruding on a moment not meant for my ears. Sirius must have felt the same way, as he wrestled the mirror away, looked straight in to my eyes, and said, "See you in a minute."
The mirror went blank, and suddenly I was staring at my own reflection. "They're coming!"
I squealed and ran to the front door. I threw it open, and sure enough, Sirius and Hollyn were standing feet from the front door. I launched myself in to their arms, wrapping my thin arms around their necks and pressing kisses wherever I could reach.
"Hi Mum," Hollyn said, squeezing me back just as tightly as I was holding her. Draco walked out behind me, and Hollyn pushed away from me upon seeing him.
"Hi," she said quietly, her arms hanging loosely at her sides.
"Hi," he breathed back. At once, they launched themselves at each other, meeting in the middle. He wrapped his arms around her, his tall body towering over her slight frame. He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head, resting his chin there afterwards and tightening his hold. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in deeply.
After a minute, Sirius cleared his throat, his arm slung around my shoulders. Hollyn ignored him, leaning up to press a kiss to Draco's lips.
"Oi!" Sirius said, more pointedly. Hollyn took her time breaking off the kiss, but eventually pulled away from him. I noticed that Draco's eyes were red – he had hidden his tears in her hair. It made my heart swell, seeing so much emotion from the two of them. They reminded me of Sirius and I at their age. I could see how much they cared for each other, and any doubts that I had, disappeared.
"Let's go inside," I said. "We have a lot to talk about."
Everyone listened to me, turning to walk back in to the house. Draco held on to Hollyn's hand, refusing to let go. He was squeezing her hand so tightly, his own knuckles were white. We walked back in to the kitchen, and everyone called their greetings to Hollyn. Bill waved his wand, expanding the table to allow two more place settings to be placed down.
Sirius slid in next to me, while Hollyn sat next to Draco, who had been sitting across from me.
Fleur slide plates of food down in front of both Sirius and Hollyn. "'ere," she said. "Special for Addie's birthday."
Sirius cursed. "Shit. It's the 22nd already? Sorry, love. I didn't think I'd be gone this long."
"It's alright. What happened? What took you so long? You were supposed to be back weeks ago." I said, as Sirius shoveled unhealthy amounts of food in to his mouth.
"Happy birthday, Mum," Hollyn said, wiping her mouth daintily after swallowing a bite of food.
"Thank you, love. Sorry I missed your 15th."
"That's alright. Nothing you could have done. Dad explained everything to me."
"Did he tell you how your boyfriend is the one who was holding her hostage?" Ron asked rudely, looking around Hermione to glare at Draco.
"Yes," Hollyn snapped. "And you can knock it off with whatever stupid insult you're straining so hard to come up with. I know everything that Draco has done."
"How can you date him? After everything he's done? He tried to kill Dumbledore!" Ron accused, pointing a finger at Draco, reddening immediately, his temper rising.
"I knew everything that he was doing then, and shocker Ron, I don't care," Hollyn said coldly, slamming her fork down. "Draco is a good man, who was in a terrible situation. He didn't want to kill Dumbledore. But if he didn't, he was going to be killed. There was nothing he could have done, and if you so much as breath at him wrong, I will hex you so hard that bats will be coming out of your nose for weeks."
"Has he hexed you? Is that why you think he's such a good man?" Ron pressed, his voice rising. "He has you so manipulated; it makes me sick."
I expected Hollyn to scream at him, but she folded her arms slowly and turned to glare at Ron with some much ice, that even I shivered. "You know, after the Quidditch World Cup, I was really shaken up. I couldn't remember parts of that night, and that really scared me. And then, Harry was chosen for the Triwizard tournament, and I spent the entire year worried that someone was trying to kill him. Did any of you bother to ask me how I was doing? All of that time I spent with you, helping learn spells and do research, did any of you bother to ask how I was handling the events of the World cup? When it was obvious that I was nearly falling apart, did any of you even think about me? No."
"Hollyn," Hermione protested. "That's not fair, we spent the entire year desperately trying to help Harry."
"Fine, you all get a pass that year; the year after, did anyone ask me how I was doing after my father had nearly died? When he was again a wanted man? When my Aunt and cousin were killed, did any of you even offer your condolences? When Eliana was born, did any of you ask me how I felt, suddenly being an older sister to a baby that we had to keep hidden so that Bellatrix Lestrange wouldn't attack her? You three tend to forget that other people have problems too. Ginny feels the same way."
"Why would Ginny feel that way?" Ron interrupted harshly, glaring at Hollyn accusingly.
"Forget about the Chamber of Secrets already? That's exactly what I'm talking about. You three ignore any problem that you don't consider important. And I get it – you have the weight of the world on your shoulders; but I needed someone and Draco was there. He's been there for me through it all…since the Quidditch World Cup when…" Hollyn trailed off, glancing at Draco to see if she could continue. I sat up straight, curious. Were we were about to find out what had happened that night?
Draco looked at her, his eyes shining with admiration for the way she had handled Ron's belligerence. "I confounded her in the woods, so that she would turn around. If she had continued forward, she would have run in to my father and likely would have been killed."
"Of come off it," Ron scoffed. "You really expect us to believe that bullshit?"
"It's true," Narcissa sniffed, looking down her nose at Ron in disdain. "Lucius was in the woods, and he would have killed her. Draco saved her life…although he had no reason to at the time."
"Why did you?" Sirius asked, bemused.
Draco shrugged, taking his time before answering. "Because I didn't want her to get hurt. Because I've never wanted anyone to get hurt, let alone some little girl I went to school with. I didn't know anything would ever come of it, but after that night…I was drawn to her. I could see she was down that year, and I couldn't help myself from comforting her."
"Right, I'm sure you had no ulterior motive there," Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes. He looked down at his plate, pushing it away from himself aggressively, causing Fleur's glass of wine to knock over. It spilled all over her, and she cursed rapidly in French as Bill hastened for his wand to clean the stain.
"Ron!" Bill snapped. "Calm down."
"What I don't understand," Harry interjected, his expression hurt. He ignored Ron's antics completely. "is why you didn't tell me you weren't doing well."
Hollyn looked at him, her eyes shining with tears. "Harry…I've never wanted to be someone who adds to your already overwhelming pile of responsibilities. My…problems, weren't as important as the ones you had to deal with."
"They are," Harry whispered, dropping his fork, which he had been holding in the air for the last several minutes. "I'm supposed to be your brother. And I did a shit job at that. I'm sorry."
Hollyn just nodded at him in acknowledgement, smiling slightly, before turning back to her plate.
I sensed that the conversation was over, so I turned to Sirius. "So, now that that's over with, what happened after you left?"
Sirius swallowed his food hastily, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, before he responded. "Was followed. They have all of the safehouses completely surrounded; one of them recognized me and they all went on the chase. I had to run for several days in the wrong direction, trying to get them off of my trace. Shook 'em off, but then as I turned back around to head towards Muriel's, I ran in to a pack of werewolves…that took up a couple of days as I tried to run without them smelling me. Spent the next week hiding in the woods, scoping out the situation in front of Muriel's. Rotating group of death eater's – one of them is Jase – had to stop myself from blowing my cover and ripping his fucking throat out." I squeezed his hand appreciatively.
"What about the guy who died? We thought it was you, honestly," Bill asked.
"Clarins, they called him," Sirius confirmed. "I got him when he separated from the group to take a leak – blubbering idiot he was, ripped his throat out before he even knew what was happening, willy out for everyone to see. Luckily, after that, the death eaters assumed the werewolf pack had migrated in to the area, and so they lightened their defenses. I injured a couple more of them a couple of days later, may have killed another one, but couldn't tell. I made it in to the safety charms protecting Muriel's house, and got Hollyn. Explained everything – Molly fell for it, so you owe me a galleon, Bill – and then got word that Tonks had gone in to labor, so we apparated over there to help Andromeda out with the delivery. We tried to mirror call as soon as we could, but there was a lot going on," he finished, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"And 'ow is baby Teddy?" Fleur asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"He's the cutest!" Hollyn exclaimed, happy to fill the silence that Sirius's story had created. "His hair started changing minutes after he was born, he's sure to be a metamorphmagus, just like Tonks."
"And…" Narcissa started, but trailed off as she seemed to second guess herself.
"'Dromeda is fine," Sirius assured her. "She said to tell you that she misses you, and that you are welcome in her home whenever you would like."
"That is…very kind," Narcissa said thickly. She cleared her throat and shook her head, as though trying to shake the emotion away.
"She lost Ted," Sirius said, looking between Narcissa and me, probably the only two at the table who didn't know. "I think she feels that you two will better understand each other now. Given that you have both just lost your husbands."
"Different situations," Narcissa waved her hand at him. "She loved her husband; I hated mine."
"Hear, hear!" Sirius cheered, raising his glass to hers. To my surprise, Narcissa picked up her own glass of wine, clinking it with Sirius's glass. The rest of the evening passed in a much more cheerful manner; although Ron spent the majority of the night huddled in a corner sulking, the rest of us took the opportunity to just…relax, and pretend nothing else in the world mattered. We forgot about Voldemort, the war, horcruxes, and we just enjoyed everyone's company.
Sirius and I laid down that night on the couch, which Sirius had expanded in to a full-sized bed for the two of us to share. Hollyn lay on a cot in the corner, having been told in no uncertain terms by Sirius that she was to stay within his line of sight the entire night. Draco had just kissed her goodnight sweetly, and went upstairs to the room he was sharing with Narcissa, Luna and Dean without a fight. I rolled over, laying my chest on Sirius chest, tracing his tattoos with my finger, as he ran his hands through my hair.
"Are we alright?" Sirius whispered, once Hollyn's breathing had slowed.
"I don't know," I sighed, honestly.
Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "There's a lot we need to talk about."
"I know," I said, pressing a kiss to the tattoo of my initials which lay above his heart.
"Are we ever going to be okay?"
I took my time answering him. There were a lot of confusing emotions that I was feeling towards Sirius that would need to be processed, but now was the not the time to do so. But the most overwhelming emotion I still felt towards him was love. Always love, no matter what. "Till death do us part, right, love?"
"Do you want to talk?" he asked, pulling me tighter towards him.
"Tomorrow, not tonight. Just hold me for now?"
He didn't let go all night. It was the first good night's sleep I had gotten in nearly a year.
The next day, we did talk. And we screamed. And we cried. And we made up. And we fought again. And we made up again. We talked through everything that had happened in the last year – from the time of the battle at Hogwarts, to Sirius deciding to go on the run with Harry, to winding up at Malfoy Manor.
We weren't perfect, but we were better. From that point on, we had each other's backs again – like we had promised all that time ago at Hogwarts, after Sirius had found out I had spoken to his brother to get him the Black Family watch for his seventeenth birthday. As soon as we had had our day together, he jumped right back in to planning with Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco. There was lots of shouting that could be heard coming from the room they strategized in – always Ron and Draco's voices rising above the others.
Hollyn and I sat in the living room, catching up and trying to ignore the fact that her cousin was plotting her boyfriend's death, and vice versa. After a week of this, Sirius came bounding downstairs one day, a wry grin on his lips.
"Ron just threatened to do something to Malfoy's bollocks that would have made James proud," he chuckled.
"He WHAT?" Hollyn screeched. "Oh Merlin, I am going to kill him."
"Why's the tension so high?" I asked, after Hollyn had disappeared upstairs.
"We're doing it tomorrow," he said casually.
"Doing…?"
"Breaking in to Gringotts."
"Oh."
"Do you want to come?"
"No, I think one of us should live to see Eliana potty trained."
"Your loss. I hear they have a dragon!"
"That's a myth!"
I was wrong.
