"Oh don't you dare look back
Just keep your eyes on me
I said you're holding back
She said shut up and dance with me
This woman is my destiny
She said oh oh oh
Shut up and dance with me"
Walk the Moon- Shut up and Dance
The evening could not have come faster.
Sirius stood in front of a large mirror in the bedroom of his London home, looking at himself.
He collected his hair in a typical for him braid. As for the outfit, he decided that the occasion would allow him to give up his dress robes in favour of a more Muggle outfit: black chino pant s and a black shirt with rolled up sleeves revealing tattoos on his forearms.
He felt like a kid getting ready for his first date.
Only that his not-girlfriend was potentially dangerous, he was no longer a kid, but an influential magnate, and this meeting was not a date, but a reconnaissance.
He spent months. No. Years. He spent years thinking about her and her impact on his life. He spent years fantasizing who she is. He spent years thinking about whether he really wants to know the truth.
He was sure of one thing; he owed her a debt. A debt of gratitude, probably even life. Her enigmatic advice directed him to the path he was following now.
...thorny path...
For some time now he suspected that she was 'The One Who Walks In-between' Pandora's prophecy mentioned. Of course, he couldn't be sure. But the longer he thought about it, the more sense it had.
And if he was right, it meant Voldemort's imminent return.
Sirius followed the disturbing movements of the Death Eaters for several months already. Every time he thought he had reached the core of their activity, it turned out that their hierarchy had so many layers and levels that he did not even brushed against the surface.
He even went to Dumbledore asking for Order's reactivation. But the old man just brushed him politely off, claiming he keeps tabs over all alarming events in Hogwarts and outside.
Sirius of course didn't trust Dumbledore enough to just leave everything in his hands, to be the puppet master he always wanted to be.
He turned his family ring around his finger thoughtfully.
He had his narrow circle of trusted people he was sure of. There were a handful of them, but at least there was no risk of being betrayed. Anyway, he was sure that if he tried to call the Order of the Phoenix, bypassing Dumbledore's authority, the old members of the Order would simply ignore his call.
"Dad? You there?" Harry's voice snatched him out of his reverie. He went to the table by the window and picked up a small round mirror in a silver frame just to see his son's face.
Harry ceased to be a kid and entered teenage age. His face lost its childish roundness and began to gain sharper features. The dishevelled black hair fell on his forehead, covering a partially silvery lightning-like scar.
"I'm here. What's up?" Sirius asked with a smile that immediately dimmed when he saw Harry's worried expression. "What's wrong, son?"
"I...I mean..." the boy stuttered, took a deep breath and started again. "I wanted to ask you about something. Because...there's a girl..." he looked embarrassed out of his mind. Sirius felt immediate relief and did not even restrain the smile that came to his lips.
"A girl you say, ey?" he asked teasingly.
"Stuff it, dad." Harry grumbled. "Don't laugh at me."
"I'm not laughing. I'm happy." Sirius said reassuringly. "Will you tell me about her?"
"She's...smart and pretty and cool...I guess. I like her." Harry looked at him with pinched eyebrows. "But I don't know how to talk to her!" he blurted quickly. "How do you do it? Does it ever get easier?"
"I just talk to them kid."
"But it's so easy for you! I can't even say a full sentence properly when I see her..."
Sirius leaned against the windowsill; he hesitated, formulating an answer to this statement. He knew why it came so easy to him.
While reviewing documents enclosed in his family's vault, he accidentally learned where his ease in winning people came from. That was something his family clearly wanted to hide from the rest of the Wizarding World with a passion but of course it left some traces in papers. And in his mother's diary.
The moment when he learned that Orion Black was not his biological father was the moment in which he strongly doubted whether he would be able to finish his work of cleansing the Black lineage from secrets and infamous opinions. The moment when it turned out that his father was a half Veela was another blow. And many things started to make sense.
Romantic success in both genders for which he never asked, his ease in establishing contacts, his ease in getting exactly what he wanted from others... his mother disgust against him, his father's indifference, why he had felt different from his family since he remembered.
When he recovered from the first shock, he began to look for information. About his father, about Veela's legacy, about what it all entailed. He managed to find other hybrids and learned that the part that charmed others is something that can be controlled. The full-blooded Veelas didn't do it; it was part of their nature and identity so they didn't even bothered.
One thing he never found out: what his biological father's name was. This was the secret that Walburga Black took with her to the grave with any information about her indecent relationship with the man.
This case not only explained to him some parts of his life, but also made him realize that, after all, his identity related to blood and family ties was greater than he wanted to admit even to himself. For a long time, he felt as if someone had pulled the rug from under his feet.
In the end, for almost all his life, things were immutable; Earth circling around the sun, cats being little fuckers, Remus being an old man in the body of a young person, and he? He was always a Black.
"Listen, if I've learned anything about talking to people you like, it's just talk to them like any other person." he said finally. "Believe me, it's the best thing to talk with someone who shows genuine interest in the things you say. But never pretend just to be liked by someone. If you do not think the other person is interesting, just leave it. It isn't honest and it isn't fair to you and the other person."
Harry nodded but looked unconvinced.
"I just...really like her, dad. And I think she likes me...when I talk with her, I feel she likes me because of me...not because of..." he made a vague gesture towards his scar.
"That's good. That's how it supposed to feel." Sirius smiled. His son hesitated clearly before he asked:
"Did you ever felt anything like this? I mean...like you've met someone you feel a special connection with? Like you've known each other forever?"
This time Sirius hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to think about it to be honest.
"The closest I've got to something like this was with Remus." he admitted reluctantly.
"So why aren't you together anymore?"
"Sometimes it's not that simple. Besides your uncle loves Tonks."
"What?!" Harry's eyes became wide with surprise. "I didn't know!"
Sirius smirked.
"Because even Remus doesn't know this yet. I know them both well enough to see what's going on there." he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "Okay, I have to go. Don't tell Draco about our furry friends' heart problems. I don't want Cissa to know, she's too nosy, and she's a shit matchmaker."
Harry laughed and nodded.
"Have fun tonight dad. Hug everyone from me."
"Sure thing. Let me know how it went with that girl."
"Love you dad!"
"I love you too."
•••
He looked over at the main hall in the restaurant from one of the alcoves.
He saw Narcissa leading Dorea and her daughter inside, smiling, like the prefect host she was. Dorea wore a black dress robe and a refined pointy hat laying a little askew on her shiny hair.
Mia on the other hand wore crimson, fitting dress and black mantle with kimono sleeves embroidered in golden flowers. Her hair swinged in a high, messy ponytail.
Merlin, she's pretty.
Sirius flinched slightly at the thought.
No. Absolutely.
Not the place, not the time, not the person.
"You only need a mask and I would call it a perfect Phantom of The Opera reincarnation." Remus leaned over the entrance to the alcove with a mocking smile. "Don't look at her too intensely, or I'm ready to think you've fallen in love or something."
"It's more of an obsession than anything else." Sirius murmured still watching young Miss Potter. Dorea and Narcissa left her beside the snack table where she stood with a bored expression and a champagne glass in one hand.
"Try not to be creepy about it." the werewolf said turning to leave and laughed when Sirius growled at him.
She stood a little aloof, clearly watching the dynamics of the party and sipping champagne.
There was Corban Yaxley talking to Barty Crouch Senior. Nearby the Prewett Twins stood argued over the snack table. Sirius noted with satisfaction that Fabian didn't even blink when his eyes catched Mia in the crowd.
He saw Thadeus Avery looking around the crowd with an unpleasant expression; his dark eyes and earthy complexion made him look like a dead fish.
He also caught a glimpse of Rita Skeeter's atrocious platinum-blond locks. Sirius smirked; a perfect setting for his plans tonight.
He looked at the corner of the room where beside an ornate chocolate fountain stood Stephan Mulciber and Caleb Nott discussing something heatedly; probably something regarding Mia given how often Nott threw lingering glances in her direction.
He watched as Nott waved Mulciber off dismissively and walked towards Mia leaning over his cane.
Sometimes Sirius regretted that he only made him walk a cane and didn't just blow that fucker's leg off.
He watched as Nott approached Mia and started talking to her with a curtly smile. She looked at him with interest until he said something that made her eyes cold and expression distant.
Sirius thought that this is his cue. He turned into Padfoot and rushed down the stairs, turning into his human form just before he approached the exit to the brightly lit main hall. He whisked away a few invisible specks from his clothes and went on.
"Call me Caleb, please, I believe we will see each other often enough to skip polite formulas."
"...I'm here to work and expand my knowledge, Caleb." she said in an inert tone.
"And this is all the more intriguing. I'm looking forward to working with you...Mia." he bowed his head. "I hope that you will establish only beneficial alliances here. I think that you will quickly realize that the environment here is quite polarized."
Sirius felt a shiver run down his spine.
"What do you mean?" she asked with disinterest.
Nott smiled in a predatory skin-crawling way.
"Worldview, socially and politically. Recently, with a group of my old friends, we are working on a certain project. I hope that our case will interest you…"
"Really, Caleb? You are tormenting Miss Potter with work at a party? And they call me a workaholic!" She turned to face him with a pretty smile.
Too pretty.
"And what alternative would you suggest to Miss Potter, Sirius?"
"Given that I do not need a walking cane, I would say..." he could have sworn that she heard Caleb Nott grit his teeth at that allusion. "...maybe a dance?" he extended his hand to her with a small smile and he could see her reserve melt a little bit when she returned the smile.
She took his hand and threw an apologetic smile at Nott.
He led her to the dancefloor. He placed his hand on her back, she put her hand on his shoulder, and their free hands finally met. She still was half a head shorter than him in her killer heels. She moved elegantly and gracefully; like a woman who, since her childhood, had undergone innumerable dance lessons. Her big eyes looked at him with something between curiosity and distrust.
"That was incredibly rude of you. Pointing out the poor man his impairments." She scolded him quietly at which he scoffed and shook his head.
"Given that he walks this cane thanks to me, I think it doesn't matter so much right now."
"You did this?" Mia looked at him with big eyes.
"Yes. That charming fellow there was a Death Eater. He avoided Azkaban because he knew how to pretend convincingly that he was Imperiused." Sirius looked at her with a mocking smile. "But you know that already, don't you?"
"I don't know what are you talking about."
"Really? So you don't know why I asked you to the dancefloor and arranged that perfect opportunity to talk without any suspicion?" he asked with a taunt in his voice.
"Oh, so it's an elaborate plan to talk to me privately?" she arched an eyebrow. "Everybody's looking at us, you know?"
"The most discreet place is usually in the spotlight, love."
"It sounds like you've had some experience." she threw a glance around the dancefloor. "So, Nott is a Death Eater. How many of them is here right now?"
"Hard to tell." Sirius admitted. "Not counting the obvious bad guys of course."
She laughed at that.
"Oh right. Because you can tell who's a bad guy. Someone could count you as one of them as well, you know?" her hand slipped from his shoulder on his biceps. He felt her nails as they slid on his skin scratching him slightly through the sleeve. "A pretty face is nothing when you come from a family that was a stain on the fabric of this world." she said with a sweet smile.
"I've always been the first one to fail my parents' expectations." he said with a carefree smile. "Besides I don't think you would help me all those years ago if you thought that I would turn out to be a bad guy. Someone would think you know more than you let on...or it was a blind naivety on your part."
"People change. I only gave you the tools to draw your own path, I couldn't predict how it would end up." she looked at him quizzically and again he thought that he could so easily fall for these amber eyes. "I have my own plan on how to handle things this time."
"Which means?"
"You'll see." Mia smiled innocently again. "Can we stop talking about these horrible things and just dance?"
"I don't think we have the time to play games. All my sources suggest that."
"We don't have time?"
"Right now, I'm your best shot. All my resources are yours. Just ask."
"Bold of you to assume I will need help with anything, Sirius Black." he saw Rita Skeeter looking at them like a hawk so he strengthened his grip on her waist and spun her around only dip her lowly to the ground causing her to gasp.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"Putting up a show." he said with a mischievous smile; he liked her reaction. She could act all the self-confident, seductive woman she liked. Caleb Nott and others would fall for this like a dream.
But Mia Potter never met Sirius Black.
She craned her neck to look back at upside-down Rita Skeeter with her hungry expression when she licked the tip of her green quill.
Sirius brought them back up and they swayed.
"Excellent. I'm not even here a day and already I will have this harpy on my neck." she complained with clear distaste.
"Don't worry. I may have some dirt on Rita... She knows she must be nice to me. And for you by extension."
"Somehow I doubt that she will have any mercy over me."
He spun her again.
"It is possible that you have not noticed but you are now dancing with the most powerful person in this room."
She laughed throwing her head back.
"Certainly, with the most humble."
"And handsome and brilliant..." he murmured with a smile. Sirius for a second almost forgot that it was not a date and they are not just two people who are infatuated with each other. Almost. "I can be a very useful ally. And I don't ask you to explain everything yet. Just a little trust and..."
"Listen...I've may helped you years ago and led you on this path you are right now." she interrupted him sharply; the moment passed and she was clearly angry. "But that doesn't change the fact that I don't know you right now. I don't know who you've became and what's your agenda."
She spun herself and let go of his hand. She curtsied politely and straighten herself to look him right in the eye.
"I don't have anything to say to you until you understand that I'm an equal partner not a subcontractor for one of your businesses. I have my own project and I plan to execute it." she curtsied again and added in a polite yet stiff tone. "Have a pleasant evening."
She passed him and he almost automatically grabbed her wrist. She looked at him with a questioning expression.
"Mia..." he cleared his throat and hesitated. He felt his stomach making flips at the thought of what he wanted to say next. "I'm in debt with you. And you know that that binds me both by magic and my family's name."
There was something in her eyes he couldn't quite place. She averted her gaze and bit her lips just to finally say:
"I know. And you will have to live with this until I decide to take my favour back."
And with that she left.
•••
The party died out after a few hours leaving Narcissa, Sirius, Remus and Tonks in one of the tables hidden in the alcoves.
Narcissa rubbed her eyes smudging her make-up a little, Tonks yawned loudly and Remus scanned over some roll od preachment. Sirius rocked his whisky in the tumbler listening as the ice inside clinked quietly; a deadly habit to which he returned this year.
"So...what's next?" Tonks asked finally.
"We wait." Remus said absentmindedly. "It was a quite successful evening...for most of us." he threw a careful glance at Sirius.
"It could be worse, Siri." Tonks patted his hand.
"It couldn't." he said in a distant voice. "She has her own plans. Fucking interesting, really."
"At least she confirmed that you two met already." Narcissa said weakly. "Dorea is fucking evil incarnated, I will be hungover for a week." she added with a groan.
"Right now, she's as big of a thread as Voldemort." Sirius said and threw back his whisky in one gulp. "At least we managed to gather a few tips." he stood up and looked at the rest of group intensely. "We wait."
"But for how long?" Narcissa asked, clenching her lips into a thin line.
"Fudge is acting like there's nothing wrong. Crouch thinks you are a Death Eater yourself and Dumbledore is sitting in his ivory tower acting all and mighty." Tonks counted on her fingers. "And from I've heard today serving snacks for Avery and Yaxley we don't have much time, Sirius. They're waiting for something big."
"We can't act harshly, Nymphadora." Remus said quietly without looking at the younger witch.
"Don't you 'Nymphadora' on me! You know it as well as I do." she huffed and her spiky hair turned angry red at the ends. "The longer we wait to call the Order back the worse it will be. They organize themselves right now as we speak!" she jumped to her feet and clearly furiously left the alcove. Sirius was almost sure that it was not completely related to the suspicious activities of the Death Eaters and more so with a certain hard-headed werewolf.
Narcissa stood up with and dramatic sigh.
"I'm going to sleep." she announced in a tired, dramatic voice. "Cousin. Remus." she nodded towards them and left. Again, Sirius was almost certain that she would go after Tonks and try to persuade her to have another glass of wine and some innocent rumours.
"You will blow it if you won't act soon." the Animagus said filling his tumbler again.
Remus looked at him with big eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
"About Tonks being your mate."
Remus paled and put down the quill and preachment he held and shook his head.
"I wanted to tell you Sirius... But I didn' know how..."
"It's okay. I'm happy you found her." Sirius smiled, despite the awful feeling that weighed his heart at that moment. "I'm just tired of watching you two dance around each other. What's wrong Moony?" he asked seeing his friend look dully at his scarred hands.
"She's so young Sirius. Innocent. And yet...it's her. She feels it too...we talked about it." the werewolf mumbled. "I don't want her to waist her life with an old, broken man. Who additionally once a month turns into a monster."
"You were quite certain all those years ago that you want to find your mate..."
"It was years ago as you said yourself and I didn't expect that she's...she's too young, for Meriln's sake."
Sirius stretched in his chair and laughed grimly.
"Oh, my poor, naïve friend. If I can give you any advice when it comes to all of this, I have one." he took a sip of his whisky. "Act on it. You never know what will happen when the shit hits the fan next time...and then you can gravely regret what you didn't do..."
"Sirius..."
"Just be good to her Remus. Be the best version of yourself." Sirius downed his glass again and laughed hoarsely. "I know you can."