"She's just a girl used to taking the stairs,
when she stands in line then nobody cares.
In her too high heels and her too short skirts,
keeps her from blocking the jeers and clocking the flirts
She's on her own down to shout it, they just can't stop from talking 'bout it
Introducing our newest line of modern woman doll!
She speaks all by herself when you take her out of the box!
(…)
They want her number but she's caught in the
crossfire, she signs a "Thanks for nothing Julie Newmar!"
The lady does just what she wanna,
causing efforts making way like shes a prima donna
Never not the main attraction, the girl can't get no satisfaction!
(…)
They say that girl she evil, that's how they know she evil
They say that girl she evil, They say that girl she evil
That's how they know she evil
She evil!"
Jinkx Monsoon – She Evil
They sat for a longer while in silence after Remus finished. Each of them somehow processed the whole story.
It was well after one in the morning.
Finally Fabian's voice broke the quiet of Remus's living room:
"You've got that business card, mate?"
"Wow, Fabian. Like fucking wow." Sirius looked at him with something akin to disgust.
"Yeah, I've got the business card. And I'm giving it to Sirius at this point." Remus moved a thick folder across the table toward Sirius. "Here's everything I've gathered in the Great Archives."
"Thanks." Sirius took the folder and looked at his friend and his sickly, pale face. "Really. I owe you for this Moony."
"Oh, you bet." Remus laughed weakly. "It was an interesting experience but hell, I hate going overseas."
"Okay, but what we've really got from all of this?" Fabian grumbled. "Because what I gather, she can be a Yankee spy."
Sirius snorted.
"Merlin, Fabian, are you sure you didn't drink from Mad-Eye's mug? You didn't catch something in his office?"
"She's an ex-Thunderbird, Black. That's no joke really. Your girlfriend would kick our asses with her hands tied behind."
Sirius had no doubt that she would do it without training, but he didn't say it aloud and only shrugged. He decided to ignore that stupid jab.
"I don't see why MACUSA would decide on snooping on us. It's not really that hard to find out about most, even classified work at the Ministry. Maybe only the Department of Mysteries is somehow fine when it comes to this. But the rest?" he huffed. "Why bother sending here one of your more prominent young politicians only to try spy things you can just pay to find out about?"
Fabian eyed him suspiciously.
"I guess I don't want to ask how you know so much about obtaining classified information?"
"I guess you don't." Sirius shrugged and seeing Remus doze off leaning on the palm of his hand he downed his tea. "We'll be going Moony. You need to rest."
"Wait." Fabian stood up. "What are we doing right now with all of this?" he motioned towards the folder currently lying under Sirius's palm.
"I am taking this with me. What will you do? I have no idea. Frankly my dear i don't give a damn."
"What? But that's intel!"
"Well, yes. That's intel I've that I commissioned as a private person for my private money."
"As if you would pay Remus for this!" Fabian snarled and Remus only shrugged.
"I'll have my profit from it."
"I gave a written recommendation for Lupin on this trip! The Ministry have the right to it!"
Sirius and Remus looked at each other before Remus spoke.
"Mate, I didn't use it. Didn't have to. Mia made everything open. I can return that paper to you."
Fabian opened and closed his mouth a couple of times like a fish taken out of the water. Finally he scowled and said to Sirius:
"I can still confiscate this."
"Of course, you can. The same way I can go complain to Fudge about this unlawful decision."
The Auror sighed heavily and rubbed his face tiredly.
"Asshole."
"Send your own people to gather intel. You're here only because Remus thought it's important for you to be here."
Remus shrugged tiredly.
"We're playing for the same goal, gentlemen. I thought it would be good as Fabian will decide for himself whether to trust this woman."
Redhead clearly felt abashed when Sirius and Remus looked at him questioningly.
"I...I don't know! I have a lot of questions right now. And I won't answer until I get them all clear." with stern expression he pointed his finger at Sirius. "And I also advise you to think with your big head, not the small one, Black."
"I think you're confusing me with someone else." Sirius said lazily, putting the folder in his messenger bag. "You really think I have time for romance, Fabian? Or that I would put in risk everything I'm working for, for a lay? I've really sacrificed more than that already. I thought you knew me better."
He had the decency to look ashamed after that but despite it added:
"No offence Black but I've seen wiser man get tricked like that. And it never ended pretty."
•••
He was in the church in Godric's Hollow several times in his life.
First time at the wedding of Lily and James.
Then at Harry's baptism.
Then at the funeral of his best friends.
He remembered the interior of this church quite well.
Sirius nervously adjusted his dress robes and left the vestibule entering the main chamber of the church. His footsteps echoed between the empty benches while he walked.
His eyes were fixed on a small figure standing at the altar in a white dress. Hearing his footsteps, the figure twitched and turned toward him.
Mia smiled at the sight of him, making him feel butterflies in his stomach. She looked unearthly with her hair cascading down her shoulders and the white of her dress highlighting her skin.
On her head was a simple gold tiara in which he recognized the tiara of his great-grandmother; one of the Black family memorabilia that has been laying in the treasury for decades because it was worn by a "blood traitor".
A gold necklace glistened on her chest. It had a round amber-coloured stone which reflected the dim light of the candles at the altar. It looked ancient and well-crafted.
He didn't recognize that one.
Sirius stood in front of her smiling tenderly, feeling the emotions make his heart speed up. He had a feeling like love and pride were about to burst his chest open.
"Hi puppy." she said quietly with a sly smile crooking her lips.
"Hi kitten." he responded huskily; the pet-name rolled off his lips like it was his second nature.
He was so captivated by the way the light danced in her eyes like in the gem in her necklace that when he saw a hand encircling her waist, he almost screamed startled.
He automatically took a step forward but stopped when his eyes met a pair of teal ones.
On both each of Mia's sides, hugging her, stood two fair-haired men.
One in a leather jacket stood on her right looking him straight in the eye while caressing her cheek and gathering back the hair from her shoulder. He leaned in and started kissing and nipping at her neck. Sirius saw his lips stretch in a mocking grimace. It wasn't erotic in any means. It looked almost predatory as if he wanted to devour and appropriate her.
Just to destroy her.
The other one had glasses and simple navy robes. He didn't look at Sirius; instead his whole attention was on Mia. He touched her face gently with one hand while the other grabbed hers. He smiled tenderly at her completely ignoring the fact that she still looked at Sirius like nothing changed. Like they were still alone in the church.
Sirius felt he should be furious at them for touching her. He was possessive in nature and it was the most natural thing in the world for him. But the need to grab her and mark as his didn't came as fear gripped tightly at his heart.
"Mia..." he breathed out taking another step towards her. She looked at him questioningly still smiling.
"What's wrong Sirius?"
He extended his hand and with a pleased smile she did the same. But just as their palms were about to meet, she gasped, and her eyes went wide.
Her face paled and Sirius screamed in horror as a dark-red stain appeared on the front of her white dress, and the bloody gore spilled from her parted lips.
A quiet chuckle pulled him from stupor. He looked up and met a pair of cold brown eyes.
Behind Mia stood a tall, young man with long brown hair, pale skin and square jaw. His pale hand with long spidery fingers gripped Mia's shoulder while the other held up a bloodied knife. His mouth stretched in an ugly way revealing white teeth with extremely sharp fangs.
"Is this enough?" he asked in sweet tone...
•••
...and then Sirius jolted awake with a scream.
He sat upright in his bed, alone, the sheets slipping from his chest and pooling around his waist. He immediately regretted doing that, bending over in pain.
His chest hurt like he was the one stabbed. His skin was covered in a thin layer of cold sweat and his head pounded with pain.
He lay down on his side and a strangled sob escaped his throat.
It's been a while since he had such a dream.
Last time before Pandora...
He jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom next to his bedroom. He practically hung on the edge of the bathtub, vomiting into it loudly time after time until his stomach was completely empty. His head ached so much that he though he went blind.
Finally- he wasn't sure if it was an hour or just five agonising minutes- he collapsed back onto his bed. With shaking hand, he covered his mouth feeling hot tears running from the corners of his eyes.
Sirius focused on his emotions in the dream; it was so real he felt like could collapse just from the mere thought that something could happen to her...
"Kitten..." he whispered through his hand felling the same familiarity he felt there.
His chest still ached like his mind didn't register that it was all a horrible vision. That Mia was safe and sound, probably sleeping in her hotel suite.
That they were just acquaintances. Not lovers. Not even friends.
He sincerely hoped it was just a nightmare.
•••
The next few days passed in the whirlwind of work.
Meetings, papers, headache.
Meetings, papers, headache.
Meetings.
Papers.
Headache.
He didn't avoid Mia.
Nothing at all.
Absolutely.
Not.
...
Okay.
Maybe he did avoid her a little.
The truth was he didn't know why. After hearing out Remus's story and after that dream he just felt...strange to say at least. He felt like that dream's supposed to be some kind of clue or warning. But he couldn't read it for the life of him.
The thing that freaked him out the most was that he didn't look at the photos from the file he got from Remus. He didn't open the it at all before going to sleep. Yet his mind managed to produce a perfect image of the Sayre brothers and Blake King.
It scared him shitless.
So, despite the gravitation he felt for Mia and her company, he avoided her for almost a week and a half.
But in that moment sitting in the office of his London home after saying his goodbye's to that old hag Lady Greengrass ("Of course Margerie, I know you have great granddaughters but I won't arrange a marriage for my son) he looked at the next surname on his list of meetings for that day and he knew that Mia had obviously had enough fun playing cat and mouse.
He was sitting behind the desk, leaning back in his chair. He covered his eyes with his hand; migraine caused him to have photophobia.
"You look terrible." he heard a voice from the door and glanced at Mia. She stood there in a loose sunflower-coloured dress and black leather jacket with matching motorcycle boots.
Kiki reached the door at that moment, clearly annoyed and breathless. She bowed her ears sweeping the floor and announced:
"Lady Potter, Sir."
"Thank you, Kiki. Close the door, would you?"
Kiki bowed again and backed out of the room, casting a few suspicious glances at Mia.
When the elf closed the door behind her Mia looked at Sirius and smiled.
"She's a treasure. She didn't want to let me in 'because Lord Black just talked to one Lady, give him a break!'" she sat in the armchair in front of the desk. Sirius chuckled and immediately winced when pain shot through his skull. "Migraine?" he heard concern in her voice.
"Yhm..." Sirius hummed quietly. He waved his wand without looking and the curtains in the room drew themselves cutting off the afternoon light coming through the windows. He waved again making few candles in the room light up. "I'm sorry. I know you won't mind."
"I won't."
He finally looked at her fully in the dim light. She had her hair in a braid. Her big eyes gleamed like liquid gold. She had big golden hoops in her ears but no necklace.
He silently sighed with relief.
"You're avoiding me." she stated sardonically.
"Am not. I'm busy. Talking with people about business." Sirius shrugged. "I had to put the gears in work for the Charity Ball. There's so much to do..." he ended with a dramatic groan.
Mia shook her head laughing.
"Come on, you've been dodging Percy for couple of days already."
"I'm dodging the kid because usually he forwards me invitations for a dinner with his family. If I don't receive one, I don't have to go and listen to his mother telling me how I will be lonely and bitter before my son turns twelve if I won't find a wife. Harry's fourteen now, so imagine how long I haven't been at Weasley's for dinner."
"Well, my owl also seemed to miss you. I had to make an official appointment. Guessed you wouldn't escape from your own office."
"Let's say that I got a knack what's going on when I saw Lady Potty-train listed on between my suppliants for today."
"Ow, a suppliant?" she laughed in that happy, slightly mocking way that made his heart flutter and his mind wander to the things he could do to change that laugh into a sweet moan.
He mentally kicked himself.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Chanted his Remus-sounding inner voice.
"Yeah, okay. Let's call it that way." she leaned back crossing her legs and looking at him with a cocky smirk. "I wanted to talk with you about few things. Firstly, you mentioned the Werewolf Law you advocate for."
Sirius nodded straitening himself in the chair.
"Yes...the Lupin Act."
He could have sworn that her eyes widen in surprise for a second.
"Remus...he...?"
"Outed himself? Yes. Had no choice thanks to Daily Prophet and Skeeter. We...were close. After I returned from Aussie with Harry and took the title there was a lot of commotion around us." it pained him to this day but Remus stubbornly repeated that it wasn't his fault. Despite this Sirius did everything he could to pin down Rita. When he found out she was an unregistered Animagus he made sure she would behave when it came to news coverage about his family.
He mostly felt sad about all that but when he looked at Mia she looked livid.
"That's horrible! How could she! That...that disgusting cow!" she sputtered. Electricity crackled in her hair. Sirius couldn't help but chuckle.
"There, there...No need to get feisty. I've managed to keep her in check for last couple of years." he teased at which she growled at him with blushing cheeks.
"I'm not getting 'feisty'. I'm not a ten-year-old so don't talk to me like I'm one. It's just...so unfair! For Remus! And for you! It's none of people's business what you two do with each other or what Remus does at the full moon!"
Sirius leaned in letting his hair fall partly over his shoulder and face and said in a lower voice:
"Still I think it's adorable, Mia."
It worked and her face became even redder and she averted her gaze.
"I'm ready to adorably kick your ass, Lord Black if the situation calls."
He shrugged and beamed her a smile.
"It's that more exciting, love." he laughed and added. "I think seeing you flustered is my favourite state to see you at so far. I can't wait to see more!"
"How can you be so sure you'll see more?"
"Call it intuition." he looked at her and stopped smiling suddenly remembering his nightmare again. Blood on a white dress, her lips parted and covered in gore, her eyes wide in shock and fear...He cleared his throat feeling a wave of nausea hit him again along with the migraine. "You...you wanted to ask about the Werewolf Law?"
Mia looked at him with concern; of course, she saw the shift in his behaviour.
"Yes...I wanted to take part in the committee meeting. Percy told me there is one that you're leading. Of course, if you still want me to advise..."
"Of course! We need people with experience and charisma." Sirius said quickly. "Given that, for example, sweet, sweet colleague Dolores Umbrige, who is responsible for counter-act, comes regularly, I'd say we could use help." he mustered up a smile and clearly failed in making it convincing because she crooked an eyebrow and asked:
"What's wrong Sirius?"
"Nothing." his respond was too quick and to heated. Mia frowned but dropped the topic.
"Okay, if you still want me there, I will ask Percy to write it down in my schedule. I..." she hesitated but after a while she continued apparently deciding that she doesn't care about his strange mood swing. "I wanted to ask if you'll be at Hogwarts at the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament."
"Well. Given that I'm School Board's chairman I'm afraid that that particular enjoyment will land on me. Why?"
She hesitated again and Sirius hated himself for making her doubt asking him anything.
"Crouch asked me to be there as a MACUSA representative since Ilvermorny will be taking part. And I wanted to ask if you could show me Hogwarts? You told such beautiful things about this school that I would like to see it for the first time through your eyes." she ended with smile that seemed both embarrassed and hopeful. It seemed to him that her cheeks darkened even more.
Sirius swore his brain just shut down for a second. He tried to comprehend what she just said and why exactly it made him feel giddy and just stupidly happy.
He was thirty-four. Thirty-four years old for crying out loud.
But when the second passed and he managed to wrap him mind around the fact that she wanted him to show her his most beloved place on Earth, his first home the way he remembered it...
"Of course, if you'll be busy, I understand. It was just an idea..." she continued but he cut her off quickly:
"No, no! It'll be a pleasure!"
She beamed at that it and made him even more pleased with that decision.
"Soo...it's a date! I can't wait!"
Sirius leaned on his palm smiling.
There goes all the common sense...you have a death-wish Padfoot... his inner Remus voice said in an amused tone.
Sirius didn't give a fuck.
"Also, since you mentioned it...I wanted to talk about the Charity Ball. I thought that as the current Lady Potter I should get involved." she continued in a more solemn manner.
He nodded; it made sense.
"You have something specific in mind?"
"Well...formally I'm Harry's cousin. And your cousin. I'm currently the heiress of the second, when it comes to wealth, family in UK. Given how often Caleb Nott wrote to me in the past few days I have the strange impression not everybody understands where my loyalty lies."
"Caleb Nott wrote to you? He looked for you outside the ministry?" he straightened up alarmed.
She nodded.
"So far no. But he's pushy. He came looking for me at my office. I told Percy that regardless if I'm inside or not he has to say that I'm out. I guess...You avoided me, and I avoided Nott for couple of days." Mia chuckled but her face fell a little when she saw Sirius's expression.
He couldn't resist the dark, slightly hysteric chuckle escaping him. He leaned back in his chair and folded his fingers at lips. His face looked rather grim. He sat like that looking at her for a couple of seconds. He really tried to contain the slight twitch he felt in the corner of his left eye.
When he finally spoke, he noted with satisfaction that his voice, even if slightly lower than usual, sounded composed.
"Nott knows exactly where your loyalty lies, love. And he doesn't give a single fuck about it. He's not only a Death Eater, Mia. He's a sick man."
"What do you mean?" she asked carefully.
"Nott had a wife. Colette. Sweet, innocent bird, really." He felt anger welling up in him, so he thinned his lips and closed his eyes trying not to look at Mia. "He allegedly met her in Paris when he was there in business. They've married in 1973 or 1974. I don't remember, I wasn't invited because I crashed my cousins Bellatrix wedding few months prior. So, Nott, then thirty-three and this girl, barely sixteen at the time...they married...and they had a son. The little shite-eater is Harry's age right now...So before I took in Harry, I didn't give a shit for Nott or his family. I blasted his leg when he tried to flee from the raid, we made for the last Death Eaters, so he was caught thanks to me. But when I came back and started sorting through my mother's documents...I found her journals. She wrote them her whole life. The magic she used to secure them revealed them to me as the righteous Black heir..." he broke off and opened his eyes. Mia listened to him intently. "I found a lot of dirty secrets in these diaries. Things going back half a century and more. Regarding my family." For example, that I'm a half-breed bastard. "But not only. One of the things my mother mentioned in there was about Nott and his wife. And when I read that I finally saw it...it was so subtle and so terrifyingly wrong..."
"What? What did you saw?" Mia leaned towards him. She looked uneasy.
"He had her under Imperius the whole time." he said quietly. "At some point she had to start overcoming the spell. After so many years of enslavement, her mind slowly got used to its effects. Apparently, she began to behave strangely at parties. I even heard a rumour that she was trying to drown her five-year-old son in the bathtub." Mia gasped quietly. "I'm not surprised because the brat is probably a result of rape and her imprisonment. Enough said when I found out all of this and went to hand over the information to Moody, it wasn't two days when the news about her death came." he huffed a humourless laugh. "She apparently had an 'accident'. She was making herself a contraceptive potion and one of the ingredients turned out to be mislabelled. The vapours that arose made her unconscious and she burst her head forward into the mixture. She drowned in a cauldron. They found her after about two hours. Her face and shoulders boiled up. No evidence of foul play. They officially blamed their house elf for all of it. For the bad labels and not checking if her lady is all right. She explained that Colette asked her to keep away until she calls her. But regardless...they threw her out."
There was a longer silence in which they looked at each other.
"Don't. Ever. Meet. With Caleb Nott. Alone." Sirius finally drawled.
Mia nodded; she looked like she was going to throw up.
"I don't want to go to Azkaban for murdering this piece of shit. I want to destroy him as legally as I can. Preferably exposing him with all the dirty stuff he did. You said the other day that you feel that everyone knows each other here. That you feel watched and alienated at the same time. It's because it's true. You are watched. You are judged. And they will prey upon you. It's hard to keep secrets in here. You have no idea how hard I had to work to keep mine." Sirius added quietly. "There were more things about Nott's as a family in my mother's journals. And Cissy told me what she has seen and heard while being married to Lucius Malfoy. I don't like Nott being around you. I don't like Nott talking with you. He is sick. And he is blindly loyal to Voldemort's cause. And you..." he jumped to his feet and wandered around his desk waving his wand revealing windows and putting out candles. He looked outside through the window; somehow the numb pain the light caused helped him cool off. "You are the perfect opportunity, love. You have connections here and in the States. You have the title, the blood status and the power a man like Nott would like to use. You're frightfully smart and sodding gorgeous. And you are temperamental..." he looked at her with blank eyes. "And they say he likes to break his girls."
"Circe..." Mia groaned weakly hiding her face in hands. Sirius looked at her and after a moment of hesitation he crouched in front of her placing his hand gently on her arm.
She didn't flinch feeling his palm, quite the opposite; she leaned into his touch and looked at him with wide eyes from between her fingers.
"You know what?" she asked a little hoarsely. "I've left the Thunderbirds counting on that I won't see this kind of stuff again. It was naïve on my part. But I was so focused on moving here, on Death Eaters, on blood purists, mad dark wizards, on trying to figure out which of my information is still valid that I really didn't thought about things that I couldn't know. Like this. This makes me sick. And yet...I've done some violent things in my life."
Sirius nodded. He still didn't fully understand what she meant by that.
One step at the time.
"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters."
"It would be so simple and nice, wouldn't it?" her eyes absentmindedly drifted to the family ring on his hand. She ran her thumb over the round onyx. "What happened with Nott's house-elf?"
He watched her small hands toy with the ring, only not to look at her teeth tugging at her bottom lip; it was something he saw her doing on several occasions, clearly something she did unconsciously when she was stressed, or she thought about something intensely. Every time she did that, he wanted to replace her teeth with his.
Looking at her skin from this close he could see the faint shimmer of the glamour covering the burn scars.
He wondered how she looked without it.
Don't be creepy Pads.
"She found a new family. A master and his son. They appreciated her and she soon became a part of their family. She loves to spoil the boy and nag the father that he's too skinny and that he sleeps too little." he huffed a laugh and lifted his eyes to look at her.
Mia's eyes had something warm in them. She looked at him almost tenderly.
"What?" he asked amused.
"Nothing...you have time to go grab lunch?"
Sirius threw a glance at the wall-clock and nodded.
"Sure. It's actually a good idea." he stood up and held out his hand to help her up. "I really need a breather between the meetings. Mia..." he added with a solemn expression when she stood up; he didn't let go of her hand and she didn't take it away. They stood so close that she had to tilt her head to look him in the eye. "I know you can take care of yourself. I just want you to be alert. They don't know what kind of threat you are and it's an huge advantage. But remember that the politics here are mostly orchestrated from behind the main stage by dangerous, ruthless men. They don't take well when someone tries to sabotage their rotten structure. They don't take defiance well at all."
"Are you one of those men?" Mia asked crooking her head.
He couldn't help but laugh at that.
"Yeah, I have to! But I don't mind sharing power and I don't mind destroying the status quo. I've been trying to do this for almost a decade now. And the most important thing is that I'm on your side. You're not alone here."
Suddenly they both turned their heads hearing Kiki's shrill voice behind the door.
"Master has a guest! You can't go there! MASTER SIRIUS HAS A GUEST!"
A male voice with a thick accent responded to her dismissively:
"Get out of my way elf. He doesn't have more important guests than me."
The door burst open when Igor Karkaroff entered theatrically almost immediately deflating seeing Mia and Sirius standing in the middle of the room holding hands. He was wearing a long white robe with gold and silver ornaments. Shoes with sharp toes protruded from under the hem of the robe.
He didn't say a word before Sirius barked sharply:
"Karkaroff! What you think you're doing?"
The other wizard's face stretched in a sly smile; his pointy, thinning goatee made his features look like one's of a caricature.
"Well, well... At least for once the Prophet foretold something real." he bared his yellow teeth in an insincere smile. "You finally started dating women, Black."
Sirius growled under his breath.
"And sorry, where are my manners?" Karkaroff strolled towards Mia and took the one hand Sirius wasn't holding and bowed above it to kiss the air above her knuckles. She looked at him with indifference. "I'm Igor Karkaroff. A man for dealing with impossible things. Merchant of magic artefacts. And you my beautiful tsvetok must be Lady Potter."
Mia looked Karkaroff up with a cold gaze and without answering him she turned to Sirius and asked:
"I guess it's rain check for you?"
"Yes, love, I'm sorry." Sirius sighed and squeezed her hand reassuringly. She smiled sweetly to him taking her hand from Karkaroff and turned to leave. She blew a kiss towards Sirius before turning.
When she was almost out of the room Karkaroff added:
"Oh, if you don't want, I can take care of her Black."
Mia turned hearing a high-pitched gasp and saw Sirius already at the other wizards face with the tip of his wand under his chin. Karkaroff was taller than he was, but he was clearly terrified by Sirius' gaze when he spoke in perfect Russian:
"Say one more word. One more and you will regret it greatly."
Karkaroff shuddered hearing Sirius' dispassionate voice but tried to push back also responding in Russian:
"Or what? Will you get rid of me like you got rid of Dung Fletcher?"
Sirius responded in an easy laugh and said with almost a gleeful tone:
"No. Dung got it light. Because after I will be done with you there will be no trace that you've even existed, Igor." he pressed the tip of his wand higher making the other man whimper and stand on the tiptoes to avoid it. "You're not irreplaceable you know? And so far, the only thing you've managed to do is piss me off. Too often. Now apologize to the lady." Sirius's eyes caught Mia still standing in the doorway; her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes gleamed with something akin to excitement.
When she caught his gaze, she bit her lip and quickly averted her eyes.
Interesting...
When Karkaroff turned his head a little bit to look at her she schooled her face back to the same disinterest she showed earlier,
"I'm very sorry miss. It was uncalled for." Karkaroff squeaked in English at which Mia smiled almost nicely and said in perfect Russian:
"How's your Dark Mark, Karkaroff? Getting darker?"
The question made the merchant open and close his mouth staring at her incredulously.
Sirius only shook his head looking as she turned around and left in a jaunty step closing the door behind her.
He could guess...
"Okay." he dropped his wand looking at still dumbfounded Karkaroff. "Let's see if what you brought is worth my time."
•••
It wasn't worth his time.
("It's not even a cup you fucking moron!"
"Of course, it is! And look! It even has badgers!"
"It's not a cup, more like a bloody bowl. And it clearly doesn't match the description I gave you! These badgers are not like those of the Hufflepuff emblem. And there are too many of them! You bought it from some badger-obsessed old lady?!")
He kicked out Karkaroff soon after Mia left and stayed in a foul mood for the rest of the day.
In the evening he was supposed to go to Remus; they had a quiet agreement and met regularly just to laze together.
Fabian laughed at them saying they were meetings of old, sad bachelors.
Sirius told him to go fuck himself.
So, he laid on the sofa in the evening in Remus' living room after a pint of beer, looking at the cracked cream-colored ceiling, while the werewolf read a book in the armchair nearby. His headache subdued after the dinner and some alcohol and left him with intrusive thoughts chasing in his head.
"Remus?" he said finally, his voice soft in the silent room.
"Hmm?" the werewolf responded with a hum followed by a rustle of paper.
"When we were together...what did you like about me?"
Sirius heard a hollow thud of a closing book and creak of the armchair when Remus reached for his teacup.
"Hmm...Why do you ask? You haven't been fishing for compliments for a long time." he wondered out loud. "Missed the old times?"
"Merlin, no...you were such a bore." Sirius groaned glancing at Remus.
"Funny, I remember you've moaned something else." werewolf chuckled when his friend flipped him off. "Where that came from Pads?"
"I dunno..." he drifted off thinking about where indeed that came from? "I feel so detached lately. From...I don't know...that's stupid really. Just forget it."
"Come on Sirius, I can see something's bothering you."
After a moment of silence Sirius finally sighed and said:
"I feel detached...I haven't really met anyone for almost a decade. Like really get to know somebody. I feel like the majority of people that surround me have this fixed vision of me that they are content with seeing. I think just...I feel very lonely, Moony..."
Remus clicked his tongue thoughtfully.
"I know it's been hard for you. Especially since Harry went to school. And I don't think that the problem really lies in you." he turned his armchair a little toward him. "You think it's something wrong with you?"
Sirius sat up and hung his head looking at his hands. They didn't look like the hands of an aristocrat; they were big, with long fingers, knuckles harden because of the beating he received and gave. The skin on them was slightly calloused from physical work he done in his life. Sometimes he had hard time scrubbing off the grease from his motorbike when he worked at it.
Of course, it wasn't often given how much work he had. Last time he did anything with it was back in March.
"Maybe it is something in me. I mean...how can you explain that I just can't, can't find any connection with others...And when I finally find it I'm so fucking scared..." he closed his hands tightly. "I'm so scared because I've fucked up so many things already. I alienate myself because I don't want to drag in anyone to this cursed bloodline...and then I look in the mirror and I see that day after day I look more and more like my mother..."
"Your mother was a beautiful woman..."
"Yeah, she was. But it's not entirely about the physical appearance. My mother was cold and heartless and as years went by it showed more and more in her eyes and face. And I feel like there's this gaping hole in me. And it's seeping outside. It's like I don't really deserve a happy ending. I feel like whatever I do everything's that rotten in my blood is just there waiting to pollute another part of my life. I'm not a good person by nature, Moony, not by blood. I can only pretend."
"Listen Pads." Remus leaned towards him to catch his gaze. When Sirius looked at him, he continued in a soft tone. "The reason you even think about it it's exactly why you're not like the rest of your family. You feel so much, care about so many people. And you need someone who understands that and has a heart as big as you have. Answering your question..." he leaned back taking his teacup and warming his hands around it. "I think the thing I loved the most about you, and all in all still love is how you just make everyone around you feel important. How you being the heir to a powerful pure-blood family reached out to a small, scared and ragged boy in the Hogwarts Express. And you stayed friends with this boy through the years even when he didn't deserve it." Remus smiled bitterly. "Because I've been an ass many times, Sirius, you can't deny. And yet you've always been there for me...and I loved the way you've made me feel...like the two of us were the only people who mattered..." he suddenly laughed and added in a slightly higher sing-song voice. "You Sirius Black are a boyfriend material. You make a girl feel special!"
"Don't make fun of me you prick." Sirius grumbled making Remus laugh.
"I'm not. I am being seri...wait." his golden-green eyes went comically wide. "It's about Mia, right? I mean...I saw you two. I wouldn't be worried if I was you whether she likes me or not. She does."
Sirius frowned.
"It's a problem, really. Especially that I like her too." he frowned at the inappropriate word, that did little to do the justice for the feelings he felt lately. "But I had this dream..."
He proceeded to tell his dream to Remus who listened carefully sometimes asking questions to verify or confirm something he found unclear.
When Sirius ended, he pursued his lips thoughtfully.
"I will admit that it is strange. But not overly strange. It doesn't seem to be a prophecy. Maybe a premonition of sorts. You had those earlier."
"I don't know why but it freaked me out Moony..." the other man admitted quietly. "I woke up terrified. And I don't know...It felt like it was my fault there. In that dream. It feels good to talk with her though. It feels like we've met already..."
"Go for it then." Remus said and when Sirius looked at him questioningly, he continued. "If there's a chance for some happiness for both of you then go for it. I would say that you shouldn't overthink it. You're brilliant, handsome and interesting. A little bit mad but who isn't right now? And you're charming when you want to. If it feels right, then why ignore it?"
Indeed, why? Sirius thought sitting for a moment in silence. But suddenly he felt his lips stretch in a mischievous smile.
"So if you think so, then when you will finally ask Tonks out?"
The werewolf paled a little and cleared his throat.
"It's an entirely different situation..."
"It's not, mate. You feel it's right. I see how you look at her. And how you two interact with each other when you take out that broomstick out of your butt for like five seconds."
Remus shook his head.
"I'm not talking with you about it. I'm not talking about heart problems with a human-mess."
"Ey! I maybe a mess but I sincerely believe in a happy ending for you. More than I believe for a happy ending for me for that matter. Chances are still slim for you. But at least there are some..."
"Shut up, Padfoot."
"Never, Moony."
•••
Mia liked Marlene.
She very much reminded her of Alex but a little bit more put together.
So, when Marlene started pulling her out of her office to get lunch together, they quickly found a common language. The only thing Mia had to endure was Marlene's merciless teasing about her and Sirius. But it still was within good taste and Marlene didn't overused that, so it was okay.
During the third week of October while sitting in the canteen Mia finally snapped.
"Circe, why the food here is so horrible?!" she asked looking at something which in the menu was supposed to be a simple salad. It indeed looked like a salad but a very old and tasteless one.
Marlene snorted poking her dried-out chicken.
"I don't know. I guess it has something to do with the fact that the ministry gave up keeping the kitchen and house-elf's. I've heard that the Department of Mysteries is experimenting on the canteen with the multiplying spell." she said grimly. "That's why it tastes so bad."
"That's horrible." Mia scrunched her nose in disgust.
Working in the Ministry was tiring. She had to admit that MACUSA with all it's flaws and inconveniences was so much better that the UK Ministry. It made her miss home even more.
But on the other hand, being there extinguished some deep burning need that she felt inside her almost her whole life. She knew it was Hermione's doing.
It creeped her out a little; knowing that the familiarity she felt towards some of the people there was just a phantom of someone else's feelings. The connection she developed with them was underlined with old, dead memories.
Marlene was one of those people who didn't leave her with that feeling, since Hermione didn't have any memories of her.
"How the remodelling goes?" Marlene asked taking a sip of her pumpkin juice and lifting her brow.
Mia shrugged.
"Not so bad. It should be ready sometime after Halloween. I added some last-minute changes and made the goblins very mad with me for that."
"Ohhh! What is it? A secret chamber? A secret sex-chamber? A wine cellar? Maybe a giant wardrobe?" Marlene asked excitedly with a wicked glint in her baby-blue eyes.
"No!" Mia laughed. "I asked for an indoor pool and a sauna."
"That's good too!" the blonde smiled contently. "A girl deserves her own spa!" her smile turned mischievous. "And you can invite Lord Black for some steamy action!"
"Circe, what's wrong with you? You think about anything else?" Mia choked on her drink and swatted the other witches' arm.
Marlene shrugged without an ounce of shame on her face.
"I'm a single and bored office worker. I like to hear about other people's affairs."
"We don't have an affair."
"Not yet, sister. Merlin knows I haven't seen Sirius so interested in someone's company since...well since Pandora really."
Mia frowned.
"Who's Pandora?"
"Like who was Pandora." Marlene shrugged. "She died a couple of years ago. She was with us in school three years higher. Strange bird. She was never a part of our friend group. But Sirius started to hang out with her often when he came back from Kangaroo Land...They seemed to be very good friends. But then the gossip started." she looked around to make sure nobody is eavesdropping and leaned in. "You see, Pandora was married, to a very eccentric fella, named Xenophilius Lovegood. He's a head redactor of a very weird magazine with conspiracies and articles about non-existing creatures. He and Pandora were school sweethearts and married almost right after finishing school. Xeno doesn't like Sirius at all and was very disapproving of their friendship. And the gossip that Sirius and Pandora have an affair didn't help. They ignored both the gossip and Xenophilius's rage. But then the tragedy happened. Pandora was a brilliant charm-maker and one of her experiments went very bad. She died from ricochet of her own spell. Her daughter was there when it happened."
"That's horrible!" Mia gasped. She knew this story. She knew how Luna lost her mother. But the variable in shape of Sirius's and Pandora's relationship was something new. She leaned in towards Marlene and asked quietly. "Do you think they had an affair though?"
"I love Sirius and he is a real sweetheart. Literally there's no other man I know who would invest so much of himself for the well-being of his family and friends. I'd like to think he wouldn't do something so...I don't know...dishonourable, you know? But then again, I didn't trust Pandora so much in that matter. And he was so..." she broke off and shook her head. "He was so vulnerable then."
"What are you whispering about ladies?"
Mia and Marlene almost jumped hearing Caleb's Nott voice form very nearby.
He stood next to them with a polite smile, but his eyes had that angered expression Mia saw so many times in other men eyes.
"That's not polite to eavesdrop, Mr. Nott." Marlene scolded him sharply. He regarded her with and cold glance before turning again towards Mia with that same smile. "Is it me or have you been avoiding me, Mia?"
Mia looked at her plate keeping her face as emotionless as she managed; Nott got on her nerves from the very beginning and now, after what Sirius told her, she also felt disgusted by him.
"I don't have time to avoid you Caleb. I have work to do."
"Then it's only more advisable for me to take you out on a dinner. You could relax and I could tell you more about our country and it's customs."
She looked at him feeling a pleasant smile stretch her lips; she felt she couldn't contain her sweet, laced with venom tone.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have time, Caleb."
He smiled a little bit wider, but now it more resembled a grimace.
"For Lord Black you apparently had time."
"Frankly, that's none of your business."
"I just wonder why you're avoiding meeting with me so thoroughly."
Mia sighed; she really didn't enjoy doing things like that, but she had to all too often. So, she responded a little louder than previously:
"And I wonder how many times I have to decline your invitation without proposing an alternative date for you to understand that I'm not interested in a date with you, Caleb."
There were a few muffled chuckles from nearby tables that quickly dimmed down when Nott threw a dirty look at the nearby table.
Nott stepped closer; his cane clicked on the floor menacingly and Mia wondered did he held his wand inside of it. She also had this quick and sudden thought about kicking it from under him to see if he would collapse without the support.
"You are aware that I can make your life much more difficult here?" he asked quietly; the kindly façade vanished, and he resembled more the raged man from a year ahead.
"Yeah. Good luck trying." she waved him away. Mia meet Marlene's wide eyes. The blonde looked both terrified and impressed.
Judging by the fact that sound of Nott's cane and footsteps sounded after a couple of seconds he didn't expect her to brush his threat's so easily.
"He looked pissed." Marlene said carefully.
Mia took another sip of the pumpkin juice wincing slightly; her mind pointed her out that this one wasn't as good as the one served in Hogwarts.
"Good." she finally beamed a smile at the other woman.
•••
The evening was foggy, and moisture was in the air, causing Mia's hair to be completely out of control.
She swore under her breath the moment she stepped out of the public restroom that served as the entrance to the Ministry; her hair momentarily just fizzed and doubled the volume. She gathered it on the top of her head in a messy bun.
Mia headed for the Leaky Cauldron; she wanted to catch some autumn air in that short walk between the Ministry and her hotel.
The side-streets of London were deserted and dark. The wet pavement clicked hollowly under the high-heels of her boots. The only sounds beside that was the evening traffic and the overall hum of the city. She liked the solitude that came with living in a big city. She envied muggles for their anonymity; you had to be really someone for people to know you.
There were still too few of them for Wizards to even have this kind of possibility. You either lived within the community or existed on outskirts of it
She was leaving the office late. Again. The documents Sirius gave her through Percy turned out to be a comprehensive collection of statistics and reports from the last decade.
The foundations for the new law were decent. She didn't expect anything else from him, but it was still a nice feeling to know that there was at least one other person besides her and Percy who didn't mind the tedious paperwork.
Comparing this Sirius to the one she had in her mind came again naturally by itself. She really tried not to compare the two; how can you compare a seventeen-year-old trapped in a thirty-year-old ex-convict's body to a mature, cultured man.
And yet it still came to her and she still felt surprise time after time.
Like a couple of days ago in Sirius's office.
Mia saw the scorching rage in his grey eyes, saw the twitch of his brow and the tight set of his jaw. She expected him to burst with anger.
But he didn't. He held back. He told her about Nott with fire and bloodlust in his eyes. And yet his hand was gentle when he touched her arm. It was gentle when they stood and held hands looking at each other. The familiarity was there but it didn't creep her out like with the others. It wasn't forced.
It was delicate, it was welcomed.
The complete opposite of what she felt seeing the domineering, arrogant side of Lord Black. There was something ruthless and dangerous in him when he held his wand at Karkaroff's chin. There was something thrilling in his composed demeanour, in the mocking laugh.
Mia did not want to evoke exactly the impressions that this view caused. Nor did she want to think about the perverse flash she saw when her and Sirius' eyes met over ex-Death Eater's shoulder.
She really preferred to think about why exactly Sirius made any kind of businesses with that slimy creep. She still wondered how to discreetly check on Karkaroff's life after he left Azkaban because obviously, he wasn't Durmstrang's headmaster this time around...
She turned into another alley; narrow, dirty street filled with trash cans and the smell of urine.
To her tail's credit she really more felt in her gut it than heard any movement behind her. She spun on her heel with her wand already out of the holster and in her hand.
She remembered the day mum and dad took her to choose it. They were there almost an hour when the wandmaker at last brought a dusty box form the back of the small shop.
"It's an unusual combination really." she said giving the wand to small ten-year-olds hand.
When she held it in her left hand it was like blood finally coursed through her veins for the first time in the ten years of her life. Daddy later often said that it was the day her hair fizzed with magic for the first time and that it kept doing this ever since.
It was then when for the first time she finally felt like the powerful magical being she was.
Yew wood, thunderbird feather core, eleven and one fourth inch, hard flexibility.
And now, seventeen years later, some cockroaches thought they could scare her, harm her in any way.
Jokes on them.
When she shouted the spell, they were just trying to aim at her.
"Expeliarmus!" his wand flew from his hand into Mia's extended palm. The wizard started running towards the exit of the alleyway.
The second one threw a sloppy hex which she deflected with a lazy wave of her wand. He sounded very young.
Not the brightest fishes in the pond.
She flicked her wand and with a loud bang the younger one shot five feet into air and just stayed there suspended by his ankle. His wand landed on the pavement with a click.
"FAAATHER!" the young one screamed.
'Father' apparently decided that his life was more precious than his offspring's and didn't even look back, still clumsily running away.
Merlin, are you even real people?
She didn't know how to even describe the feeling that accompanied her when she did The Trick.
It was a lame name, she knew that. But still better than 'evaporating', 'mysting',
"poofing" or any other strange name Theo proposed her. The native name in Wichita language was such a mouthful she abandoned the idea to even try to use it.
Her skin suddenly felt cold, so cold it started to burn. And just like that she stopped feeling her weight, the clothes on her skin and the dangling of the haphazard bun on the top of her head. There was no autumn air and the putrid smell of the alleyway.
It was it.
The Trick made her feel like all her being blended with the air.
She darted towards the running man, materialising just behind him and landing with both her feet on his back. She bounced off his back and landed gracefully on the pavement. The man fell face-first onto the piss-stained pavement with a hollow grunt.
The kid screamed in the background.
Adrenaline coursed through her like a nice shot of firewhisky. She liked using The Trick in combat.
No...
She just liked fighting overall.
She called pointing her wand at the man:
"Locomotor Mortis!"
Mia walked lazily towards him crocking her head curiously when the man started to crawl away from her; his legs useless and limp. She waved her wand and he shoot a foot into the air with a loud yelp and landing on his back. He immediately covered his face with trembling hands. The Death Eater mask laid beside him useless. She still recognized him.
"Hello, there Flint. Such a strange coincidence, meeting you here. And I see you've brought your son with you."
Flint senior whimpered quietly, still covering his face. Mia sighed and waved her wand again; the wizard went stiff as a board and stared at her with wide, terrified eyes. Young Flint wiggled around in the air still screaming. With another flicker of her wand Flint Junior let out a weird choking sound.
"Better stop screaming, kid. With every sound you make, you will be choking more and more on your tongue."
The teen immediately went silent.
"Let me guess. It was his first mission? Not kill. You didn't want to kill me." she chatted while starting to rip Flint Senior's robes to display his chest and stomach. "That's unfortunate. I'm really surprised that you agreed to take Nott's dirty work, Filnt. That's so stupid. But my guess is that thinking has never been your strength." she lifted her wand a little and the remains of Flint's robes flew on the sides revealing his skinny ribs and hollowed out stomach. "Don't worry, it stops hurting after a few slashes." she said with a sincere smile and brought the end of the wand to the man's skin. He let out a muffled vail; his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Sweat momentarily covered his forehead. "I must say I'm disappointed. I mean, I didn't expect Nott to just go and attack me in the dark alleyway. From what I've gathered he thinks he's too classy to do such things. Really, I'm just disappointed that they've sent someone so disposable and simple-minded after me. It looks like Death Eaters really have a problem with assessing their opponent." Mia chatted while doing the next lines; the man whimpered silently with every touch of the cutting tip of her wand.
His son just hanged limply without a sound. It looked that he just passed out.
"But hey! It's good for you Flint. It means you'll live. Since you don't have anything I want, and you are so disposable that even your colleagues don't care about you. We'll make a beautiful demonstration out of you and your son. I hope you like rats. I've heard that in Azkaban you must hunt for your meals. You like hunting, don't you? I can see you like hunting down muggles. Tsk, tsk, that's disgusting. They should at least try to teach you Occlumency, really." she pressed the tip of her wand a little harder and Flint howled through clenched teeth. "At least then I wouldn't have to hear that thought you had while fallowing me. You know...that one about having enough time to have some fun with me after you scare me enough." she laughed in an easy way. "Very brave of you to even think that."
Mia stood up looking at her work. The blood trickled down the pale, wrinkled flesh from the carved from three words she carved. Flint Senior looked like he was about to pass out. Ignoring him now she walked to young Flint's wand laying near the garbage can. She picked it up; it was dirty, covered in fingerprints and generally poorly kept.
Well, he won't miss it anyway. She thought and snapped the wand in half. She waved hers and the young Flint collapsed on the pavement.
Mia lifted the charm that kept him silent and pointed her wand at his temple and muttered:
"Obliviate." with the flicker of a soft, green light she started working at his memories, altering them, deleting most of them, and adding new ones in their place. When she finished the boy immediately opened his eyes wide looking blankly towards the sky with confusion.
He stood up slowly looking around dumbly and blinked a few times before asking:
"I'm sorry, m'am, but do you know where I am?" he looked at his petrified father lying on the pavement. "Something happened? Do I need to call help?"
Mia smiled and cooed:
"Oh no, don't worry. I already called the doctors to help this man. I'll wait with him here. You look lost though, hon. Maybe you should go to the police station at the end of the Brining Road and ask for help?" she said recalling the farthest form their location police station she could think off. "It's that way." she waved her hand.
The boy looked confused like his two last brain cells tried to gather up and understand anything from what was happening. The thought flashed through Mia's head that perhaps clearing his memory had damaged the remnants of intellect that were left to Flint after the countless Bludgers he had taken on his head for years of playing Quidditch.
But finally, there must have been some kind of conclusion in his mind because he nodded and said:
"Okay. Thank you m'am. I really think I'm actually lost. I'll go there."
And just like that Marcus Flint, wobbled out of the alleyway leaving behind his father, just like he wanted to leave him earlier.
Mia turned again towards the other man who laid on the dirty pavement, breathing hard and looking at her with bloodshot eyes.
She smiled lifting her wand again.
"You see Flint? We will have some time for more fun."
•••
"Black!" Sirius just exited the lift with his cup of take out coffee in one hand and a copy of The Financial Times folded up on the page with stock market forecast tables when he heard Fabian calling his name. When he saw the Auror's face he immediately became alert.
Fabian motioned for him to fallow and they made their way towards the Auror's Headquarters.
There was some kind of nervous energy between the cubicles, but Fabian ignored it and led them inside of his office.
When the door closed behind Sirius, Fabian without pleasantries said:
"Kiefer Flint turned himself in today."
What?
"What?" Sirius asked out loud with big eyes.
"He turned himself in." Fabian repeated seriously. "He admitted being a Death Eater. And he admitted to..." the redhead took a deep breath. "...to buying underage muggle girls on a black-market auctions."
"Shit." Sirius swore under his breath and added "But this is good. One off the list."
"That's not all." Fabian's expression was unreadable when he picked up a photograph form his desk and handed it to the other man.
Sirius took the photo and felt cold chills running down his spine.
The photograph showed Kiefer Flint with unbuttoned robes and shirt showing off his pale chest and stomach covered in bloody, dried-up slash marks forming a sentence:
TOM RIDDLE I'M COMING FOR YOU