A/N: Hello, bit of quicker update this time. Thanks as always to MissBubbles for beta-ing. Enjoy the chappie.
Summary: Lost and sick in the middle of nowhere, Sirius falls into the hands of a woman whose secrets will tie inextricably into the fate of his godson. What will happen when he finds himself attracted to this strange witch?
The Complexities of the Heart
By katemary77
Chapter Twelve
Let
me show you
Sweet smell of a delicate whisper
Behind the vision
of gardens
Go and read of your life
Tiny ripping at the
heart
Drunk from a rose
- Erica Caitlin Lee
When Harry woke up the next morning, he realised that there was something he had forgotten to ask Hermione and Ron the night before. Washing his hair in the shower, he resolved it was probably best to ask Hermione about his rather than Ron, seeing as it was of a more… sensitive nature. With this in mind, he cornered Hermione as they went down to breakfast.
"There's something I wanted to ask you," Harry began in a low, determined voice.
Hermione flushed a funny colour and stumbled over her words.
"Oh, Harry… er, that's really nice and all but I don't really feel about you that way… I'm sorry."
Harry's brow furrowed.
"What?"
Hermione stood there like a deer caught in headlights with Harry towering over her for a moment until the boy clicked.
"Oh! Oh no, Hermione, you didn't think…?"
"Didn't think what?" she said carefully.
Harry grinned.
"I wasn't going to ask you out, Hermione."
She seemed to sag against the wall in relief.
"Oh, thank Merlin, for a second there I was really worried."
Harry began to laugh but then stopped when he realised what she'd just said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded. "Why wouldn't you go out with me? I'm not asking or anything, but come on, I'm not that bad. I'm not an ogre, I play quidditch, I've got at least half a brain – "
It was Hermione's turn to smile as she quietened her friend with a hand on his shoulder.
"Harry, I'm sure a lot of girls would go out with you, just not me, which I'm sure you understand. Now what did you want to ask me?"
Harry was about to press the issue but decided it was futile.
"Well, I forgot to ask you something last night."
"Yes, I gathered that," she said dryly. "What did you forget to ask me?"
"Well… er…" he said, suddenly awkward. "Um… are Sirius and Anna… y'know… well… y'know..."
"Going out?" Hermione finished.
Harry nodded vigorously.
"Well, not in the traditional sense as neither of them can actually go out, but yes, they are together," she finished.
"And when did this happen?"
"A few days ago, maybe." She looked at him critically. "You're okay with that, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," he said eventually. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Hermione shrugged.
"Come on, let's go to breakfast, I'm starving."
-------------------------
Sirius held a finger against his lips to Ron and Harry, signalling that they should be quiet as they entered the room.
It was unnecessary. None of the occupants thought anything of their entrance, it seemed. Hermione, Ginny, Molly and Anna were sprawled across a Conjured mattress on the floor of the room, eyes riveted to the large, black box in front of them. On it, a man dressed in old-fashioned clothes was addressing the woman beside him.
"You are too generous to trifle with me," he was saying. "If your feelings are what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever."
The lady seemed to reply in the affirmative and Sirius' brow furrowed as each woman in the room sighed.
The couple – who had before been walking along a muddy road – now paused and the man looked down at the woman, his eyes darkening with intensity.
"Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth!"
Ron, Sirius and Harry each jumped as Molly began to wail. Sirius looked at Harry who was grinning stupidly at the television.
"Finally!" he said. "I've been waiting for Darcy and Lizzy to hook up for ages!"
"It's just so romantic!" Anna sobbed pathetically into the pillow she was clutching to her chest.
"You've been watching this crap?" Sirius asked Harry, who shrugged sheepishly and muttered something about his Aunt Petunia.
The couple were in a church now, a priest intoning about love and marriage and whatnot over Molly's wails. Sirius was astounded to see that even Hermione – who he'd thought was the most sensible of the girls – had tears running down her cheeks.
"Why can't you be like Mr. Darcy!" Anna said suddenly, throwing her pillow at him. Sirius caught it deftly, bewildered. He didn't know what to say. "Stupid man."
"Well, what's he then? An alien?"
"No, he's perfect!" She looked inches away from hugging the T.V.
Sirius opened his mouth to argue but Harry put a hand on his arm and shushed him.
"Give it up, Sirius. Every woman in Britain's gone crazy about Mr. Darcy. You haven't got a chance."
Sirius huffed indignantly.
"I'll have you know I was a certified Sex God in my time. At Hog – "
"Shh!" Ginny hissed. "They're kissing!"
And indeed they were. In a carriage out in the snow, the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy were locked in a passionate embrace. And Harry had looked disgusted to be hearing about that anyway.
As the credits began rolling, Anna found Hermione's hand and grasped it with her own.
"Hermione," she said, eyes still wet with tears, "Thank you for introducing me to the marvels of BBC television."
Hermione nodded gravely.
"Any time."
Molly gave one last wail.
-------------------------
Anna was humming softly as she moved about the room, tidying her clothes into the drawer and Banishing dust with her wand. Hermione's cat Crookshanks was curled up on her pillow and every now and then she gave the cat an affectionate rub. Sirius was watching her from the doorway, an odd smile on his face.
"I always wanted a cat when I was a kid," she told him, glancing up at the doorway. She wrinkled her nose. "Severus didn't think it was suitable."
Sirius grinned and finally entered the room, flopping onto her bed.
"I'm kinda bored, Annie."
She looked up from where she was folding a grey t-shirt.
"Well, I guess you'll just have to find something interesting to do."
As she crossed the room to grab another shirt from her pile of clothing, Sirius grabbed her around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.
"I bet I could find something interesting to do to you."
Anna put a hand to her mouth in pretend shock.
"Mr. Black, you are a lecherous fiend! I demand you release me at once."
"Not going to happen," he smiled into her neck before taking her lips in his own. She shifted on his lap to face him properly and twined her pale fingers into his hair.
"You are just too tempting," Anna hummed between kisses.
Sirius made an affirmative murmur and brought her closer, pulling her flush against him and deepening the kiss. Her hands were trailing down his back, her mouth was wet and hot and he felt her invade his every sense –
"Oi! Get a room!"
Anna giggled into his shoulder as Sirius turned partly towards the doorway, which Harry, Ron and Hermione had just walked past.
"We're already in one!" he replied to his godson.
"Well close the door next time," Sirius heard echo along the hall, accompanied with Ron and Hermione's laughs. "You're too old to be doing stuff like that."
"Too old!" Sirius yelled, moving Anna – who cried out in protest – bodily off his lap. "I'll show you too old, runt!"
"Run!" somebody yelled, and Sirius grinned ferally, transforming into Padfoot and racing out of the room.
"Well," Anna said with a sigh, "I guess he's not bored anymore."
-------------------------
Harry trudged into the kitchen, wiping his wet hands on his jeans with a grimace.
"Sirius been slobbering all over you?"
Harry looked up. Remus was surveying him amusedly over his newspaper.
"How'd you know?"
Remus rolled his eyes.
"You forget, Harry, I had to share a room with that mutt. Attacking us with drool was his way of 'cheering us up.'"
"My ears are burning…" Sirius sang as he entered the room, running a hand through his hair.
Harry moved as if to run away and Sirius grinned.
"Don't worry, you're safe," he said. "Padfoot's getting tired."
"See, told you you're getting old," Harry muttered.
Sirius growled. "Safe for now, Pronglet."
Shuddering, Harry dropped into a chair between the two men and frowned.
"Worried about the hearing?" Remus said, always perceptive.
Harry nodded.
"I wouldn't," the werewolf said. "They can't possibly expel you."
"But if they do, at least I'll have a place to stay, right Sirius?"
"We'll see, kiddo," Sirius said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. This worried Harry. He couldn't face the thought of being expelled from Hogwarts if it meant going back to the Dursley's. "But Moony is right, they won't expel you."
"We hope."
"They won't," Sirius said forcefully, placing his hand over Harry's, "And if they do, we'll figure something out."
"Okay," Harry said. "I just – I just don't want to go back to the Dursley's. Ever. I'd do anything to get away from them."
Sirius nodded, understanding.
"When I ran away from here it was the best feeling in the world," he told Harry. "I'd just had the most awful fight with my mother – she was telling me I shouldn't be friends with blood-traitors and, well, people like Remus. She was so angry with me she'd locked me in my room and refused to give me my mail. I'd just had enough, and she'd forgotten about the window. It was raining but I grabbed my broom anyway and flew to James' place. By the time I got there I thought I had hypothermia. But James' parents just totally understood. Took me in, gave me a room and that was that. They were my real family."
"I've never asked before…" Harry begun, "But how did they die?"
"Harold was very influential. He was high in the Ministry and he and Dorris were well known in the Wizarding World as supporters of Dumbledore. We all knew they were targets." Sirius paused. It was obvious to Harry that Sirius had loved his grandparents very much. "Voldemort came to the Potter Mansion about a year after we left Hogwarts."
Harry nodded. Nothing else needed to be said.
"Wait, Potter Mansion?"
"Yeah, it was in Gloucestershire. The Death Eaters destroyed it."
"I didn't know we had a mansion," Harry said, a little stupefied.
"Well, the Potters are an old bloodline, like the Blacks and Malfoys and Crouches," Remus explained. "You're the heir to a very wealthy estate, Harry."
Harry was confused.
"But… the money in Gringotts, I mean, it's a lot but it's not that much."
Sirius chuckled.
"That's just the money your parents put aside for you while you were in school. When you turn seventeen, you'll be allowed into the Potter vault," Sirius said. "If it's anything like the Black vault, there'll be more than just galleons."
"You mean there might be some of my parents' possessions?" Harry asked, catching on and sitting up straighter in his chair.
Sirius shared a look with Remus that Harry couldn't decipher.
"There might be, Harry, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until you're seventeen."
"Why? Why can't I go now?"
Sirius held out his hands.
"Because until you're of age, you have to have a guardian with you. I doubt you want your Uncle Vernon to see the Potter vault and I can't go until I'm pardoned."
Harry sunk back into the chair.
"I guess that makes sense."
"I'm sorry, Pronglet."
Harry smiled, still getting used to the nickname Sirius and Remus had assigned the other night after much deliberation, declaring that no Marauder could go unnamed. It had touched him then and it touched him now still.
"That's alright, Padfoot."
A/N: Don't forget to review, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside and fuzziness is always good for writing.