Hello!

I hope I haven't left you hanging too long.

There's not much to say except, I hope you like it.

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Chapter 15: A Brief Encounter

"Kali…"

Mum?

"He's here."

"What should I do?"

"Believe."

Kali opened her eyes as her mother's image lingered in her mind. She dreamed of her mother often but Dahlia only spoke to her in times of trouble. As she became fully awake, she also became aware of the sound of footsteps in the room beyond. They were faint but unmistakable.

Her mother's words came back to her.

He's here.

Without hesitation she moved off the bed, casting a silencing spell as she went, and tiptoed into the lounge. In the darkness, she could barely make out the shadow of a tall figure at the other end of the small room with something slender in its hand.

Her wand.

Oh, shite.

The warm glow of the streetlamps filtered in through the window, illuminating the figure as it moved. She knew instinctively who it was before the light hit his face. Nevertheless, a tiny gasp escaped her lips as he turned.

The silence broken, he looked towards the corner of the room where she stood. Before she could react, he pointed her wand at her and thin ropes shot out, binding her wrists and hands. She tried to scream but made no sound. He approached her slowly, wand pointed at her heart.

"Silencing charm," he said amusedly, "very clever." His voice was hoarse, as if it hadn't been used for a while, and he had a mad glint in his eyes.

He was disheveled, and rough – looking, but still she recognized her father. His gray eyes sparkled in the dark and she realized, as she stood bound and as good as gagged (by her own hand), that it was the first time she'd ever heard her father's voice. Up close, she could see his gray eyes, large and round, staring at her keenly. His face was gaunt and wasted, with sunken cheeks and protruding bones. His hair, long and black, reached down to his elbows in tangles. He had the look of a madman and Kali was genuinely afraid.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said, probably sensing her fear.

She wanted to speak and seeming to sense that as well, he whispered, leaning close, "I'll lift the spell for you if you promise not to scream."

She looked into his eyes, so much like her own, and nodded.

He muttered under his breath, waving her wand in front of her then looked at her expectantly. "Well?" he demanded.

She didn't know where to begin. There were so many questions rattling around her head.

Does he know who I am?

She tried to focus but felt overwhelmed.

Why is he here?

His piercing gray eyes fixed her with an intense stare and she finally found her voice.

"What do you want?"

Looking pensive, he began to pace. "What do I want?" he muttered. "What do I want, what do I want?"

He turned towards her suddenly and with a flick of her wand, sent her soaring towards a chair. She felt it push against the backs of her knees and, losing balance, she dropped onto the seat.

"I want to be a free man," he croaked, approaching her.

"A man like you will never be free," she responded darkly.

He squatted down in front of her and peered up into her eyes. "And what would you know about it?" He had a look of disgust on his face.

She didn't respond. He continued to stare at her but before her eyes his expression changed – a change that caused her to panic.

"Who are you?" he demanded. She didn't answer, determined not to show any emotion, and he sprung up and grabbed her chin. Leaning over her, he jabbed the lighted tip of the wand in her face and examined her closely.

"I'm Dahlia del Fuego's daughter," she finally spat out, trying to wrest her face from his grip.

He loosened his grip and pulled back, his eyes growing round and wide once more. He stood for what seemed an eternity staring at her. "Who's your father?" he asked finally, his voice barely above a whisper.

She scoffed, her eyes stinging as she fought back tears. "You have to ask?"

"No," he said, breathless, "no, it can't be." He began to pace once more, shaking his head. "She told me…it wasn't mine."

Kali felt a twinge of pain at the word 'it' and a sudden wave of anger came over her.

"Stop!"

He jerked suddenly to a stop as if his feet were very heavy. He looked down, grunting, as he tried to move his legs in vain then looked at her, a baffled expression on his face.

"How did you…?"

He toppled forward suddenly as she silently lifted the one – tonne jinx and he hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Oof!"

She jumped up and vaulted over him, as he lay sprawled on the floor. Summoning her wand, she lifted the binds from her hands and wheeled around to face him. Already on his feet, he lunged for the wand but this time she was ready.

She flung a spell at him with a wave of a hand, which lifted and pinned him to the nearest wall. A look of terror clouded his gaunt features as he dangled helplessly, unable to move.

"Please,' he pleaded, "You have to let me go." He struggled against the invisible force that held him there. "I need to finish it, I need to kill him."

A sick feeling came over her.

"He's just a child," she breathed, horrified.

"A child?" he asked confusedly. "He's not a child, he's a filthy rat!"

Rat?

Despite her confusion, she went on. "You'll never get near him, you know," she said angrily. "Dumbledore would never let you hurt Harry."

The words seemed to sting him and he looked genuinely hurt. "I would never hurt Harry," he choked.

Baffled by his reaction, she asked, "Then who?"

"Peter," he spat out venomously, "that rat, he has to die."

A sinking feeling in her stomach replaced the anger as she realized he must be truly mad. Sirius slid a little down the wall.

"Peter's dead," she whispered, "you killed him…you killed him twelve years ago."

His face twisted like a waxy mask into rage.

"I. Didn't. Kill. Him!"

"And you didn't betray James and Lily Potter either," she stated, disbelieving. Albus had told her the whole story just this past summer.

His eyes shone with tears at the mention of his best mate and his wife. "That was Peter," he choked out, overwhelmed by emotion, "He betrayed them!"

She couldn't believe he was denying his guilt. After all the stories she'd heard over the years about how callous he'd been, cackling madly when they arrested him, it didn't fit. Why would he deny what he did when he had nothing to gain?

She knew what she had to do but was hesitant. The mind of a mad person was different from others. Their memories were even more disjointed but very powerful and often overwhelming. Besides, after the assault on his mind by Dementors for a dozen years, it was more than possible that his memories from that fateful night were gone.

She sighed, breathing deep, and approached him as she lifted the spell slowly, allowing him to stand firmly on the floor. He had the look of a frightened child as she pressed her palms to his cheeks and rested her fingers on his temple.

Believe.

"Look me in the eyes," she whispered. He looked at her wearily as he struggled to move. She took in his face – the still regal nose, the classic line of the jaw, the arch of the cheekbones. She imagined him as he must have looked, young, charming and, for a man, handsomely beautiful.

You have to do it.

Her heart pounded in her ears as she fixed her eyes upon his. Before she knew it what was happening, the images began to race through her mind.

A prison cell, dark and dreary, the moon glowing distant in the sky…a werewolf running through a forest…Azkaban growing smaller in the distance…a stag galloping by the edge of a lake…frigid water…the starry sky overhead…

Kali pushed in deeper, as nausea threatened.

A red – haired woman in a white dress, smiling brightly as green eyes shine with joy…a bespectacled man with a goofy smile on his face…Remus, young and healthy, dancing with the red – haired woman among a small crowd of couples…a short, chubby man patting the bespectacled man on the back, congratulating him…

Something shifted in his mind and suddenly Kali was deluged with images of flying bodies, severed limbs and a gaping hole in the street. She shuddered but couldn't stop. The short, chubby man, the same one from the previous memory, the same one from the photograph of her father and his friends she'd found among her mother's possessions, held his wand to Sirius' chest, a strange look on his face as he learned the Potters were dead. She saw the look turn to horror as Sirius told him Harry was alive and Voldemort was as good as dead.

Sirius started to slip from between her fingers, his body slumping slowly to the floor. Kali was aware of the movement but could do nothing to stop it. She felt herself being dragged down as the gruesome images were replaced with the couple once again, except now they weren't smiling, but had grave looks upon their faces. She heard the words, 'secret', ' keeper' and 'Remus' distinctly but couldn't make out what was being said. She saw the chubby man, looking grave as well, utter 'it's for the best' and then she knew.

She believed.

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Sirius hit the floor, his knees weak and his body shaking from the unexpected assault on his mind. His vision clouded, he could barely make out the woman, his daughter, as she stumbled to the bathroom. The wretching sound and the cold floor brought him back to the present, and getting a hold of his thoughts, he picked himself off the floor and walked slowly to the bathroom, afraid of letting her out of his sight.

As he approached the door he saw her sitting on the stone floor, head in hands, shaking. She looked up suddenly, as if sensing his presence.

"Why?" she breathed.

He didn't understand. He leaned against the wall and slid down, sitting across from her on the cold stone floor of the tiny bathroom.

"I don't know...why...he did it," he said through shallow breaths.

"No," she said with more energy, "why didn't you fight?" She looked at him with furrowed brows. "You were innocent, why didn't you fight when they took you away?"

He looked at her and the sudden realization that she was indeed Dahlia's daughter hit him. She looked so much like her it was uncanny.

Except she didn't.

There was something about her that left him cold.

It was the eyes.

Their colour changed before his eyes, swirling brown and gray with emotion. He saw her lips move but couldn't hear what she said. His father's stern face, the look of anger always present on his regal features, came into his mind.

"Answer me!"

He snapped back to the young woman in front of him. "What's your name?" he asked, oblivious to anything she'd just said.

She scoffed, looking hurt. "You won't answer me, then I won't answer you," she whispered. "Get out."

From the look on her face he knew she meant it. He rose slowly from the floor, his eyes fixed on her, and backed out of the bathroom. She stood up as well and he noticed the wand in her hand.

"You can't have it," she said coldly, looking down at her wand.

Sirius considered lunging for it once again but stopped himself. It was obvious she had extraordinary powers and he couldn't risk being bested by her again. Not if he wanted to keep Harry safe. His back hit the door and he groped for the handle.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he pulled open the door.

She stopped advancing towards him. "So am I," she breathed.

For a moment she looked like a little girl and Sirius felt a pang of sympathy for her but it quickly evaporated as the cool night air hit him and he remembered why he was there in the first place. He turned around and stepped out onto the back steps.

Without a word, without a backward glance, he disapparated.

So, um, satisfying? Yes? No? Let me know.

Coming Soon: Chapter 16: untitled - a Sirius sighting, a visit from the Ministry and lives hanging in the balance...