A/N: Sorry for the longish wait, I like to wait until my beta MissBubbles has sent me at least the next chapter in the story before I post one, for security's sake. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!
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. Sirius/OC.
The Complexities of the Heart
By katemary77
Chapter Fourteen
Hold my head inside your hands
I need someone who understands
I need someone, someone who hears
For you I've waited all these years
For you I'd wait til' kingdom come
Until my day, my day is done
And say you'll come and set me free
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me
- Coldplay, 'Til Kingdom Come'
A few days before Harry and the other kids were due to return to Hogwarts, Sirius found himself in the gloomy basement kitchen sitting, bored stiff, through an Order meeting. His saving grace was Anna, whose hand he held in his lap, fingers tracing an unknown pattern on her skin. Since they'd spent the night together a week ago, Sirius found he could barely keep his hands off her. He'd come up with many silly excuses just to touch her and had invented some ridiculous and downright brilliant ideas on why they had to disappear up into his room for a couple of hours at all times of the day. Luckily enough, Anna seemed to feel the exact same way; brushing against him for no reason, pulling him into her bed with just as much eagerness, kissing him with a hunger and heat he had never felt from a woman.
Tonight, though, Anna was agitated and detached; she barely seemed to register his fingers on her hand. As he watched, she brought her hand to run anxiously through her dark hair.
"Is something wrong?" he leant in to whisper.
She shook her head and frowned.
"I don't know, maybe. Something's off…"
Sirius directed his attention to the meeting which was now coming to a close with the confirmation of Sturgis Podmore undertaking guard duty at the Ministry that evening. As the members dispersed, Anna's eyes seemed to trail Sturgis' form as he left the room before she shook her head again and stood, turning to Sirius.
"You sure you're okay?"
Anna shrugged.
"Just feeling a bit off."
Sirius stood and drew Anna's hips to his, whispering seductively in her ear, "I'm sure I can think of something to bring you back down to earth."
She laughed and pushed him away but her hand encircled his.
"Come on, Molly's getting dinner ready."
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"Shit!"
Sirius reached for his wand on the bedside table and muttered, "Lumos!" Anna was sitting upright in bed, her body tense. "What's wrong?"
"Shit," she repeated, before jumping out of bed and turning to Sirius. "Quick, get up, we need to wake Remus."
Seeing the grave look on Anna's face, Sirius realised that this was no joke and quickly pulled some trousers on, grabbing Anna's dressing gown and draping it over her shoulders as they left the room. They quickly moved toward the werewolf's door, on which Anna knocked briefly before barging in.
"Remus! Remus, wake up!"
Somehow, Remus managed to completely wake up in what seemed to be only a second.
"What's the matter?"
"I need you to perform the Imperious Curse on Sirius," Anna explained quickly. "There's no time for questions," she added, seeing their inquisitive expressions, "Just do it."
"What do you want me to make him do?" Remus asked, getting out of bed.
"Anything, doesn't matter. Sirius, don't fight it."
"Imperio!"
Sirius immediately felt as if he were floating… dreaming… away from all earthly problems. Suddenly there was a voice, from the back of his mind. Turn around… hop on one leg… hop to the left…
He complied and turned to the left, where he saw Anna, her eyes closed and her brow furrowed in thought.
Stop hopping… Touch your toes…
Sirius was abruptly ripped from his dreamlike state. Remus was standing to his right, confusion apparent in his features while Anna was leaning against the wall, her face grave.
"We have to get Dumbledore, now. Sturgis Podmore is under the Imperious Curse and he has Ministry duty tonight."
There was a stunned silence followed by a flurry of movement as Remus rushed downstairs. Anna, however, slumped wearily against the wall and Sirius elected to remain with her.
"I'm such an idiot," she moaned, drawing her hands across her face. "I knew something was wrong. Why didn't I say anything?"
"Now isn't the time," Sirius said, wincing at the sharpness of his words. "You have to explain this to Dumbledore."
Anna looked at Sirius and for a second it seemed as if she might cry, but she buried it inside and nodded, turning away. He followed her downstairs where Professor Dumbledore was stepping regally out of the fireplace, followed by Snape. The two professors crossed quickly to Anna.
"What happened?"
Anna sighed.
"Sturgis Podmore. He's under the Imperious Curse, by Malfoy; I recognised his magic."
Sirius tried not to think about how familiar Anna must be with Lucius Malfoy to recognise his magical aura.
"We cannot risk going into the Ministry ourselves," Dumbledore reasoned, "We'll have to warn them somehow. Remus, can you Floo Tonks?"
"Of course."
In a moment, a disgruntled Tonks was stepping out of the flames in a bright purple dressing gown.
"What do you want me to do, Professor?"
"Nymphadora," Dumbledore began, as he was the only person who could get away with calling her this, "I want you to assume the looks of somebody who works in the Ministry, someone who nobody would be suspicious about. You need to sneak past the watch-wizard and double back, claiming that you'd been working late, fallen asleep and you've just heard strange noises coming from the Department of Mysteries. Urge him to go and look. We need the Ministry to catch Sturgis before he gets inside the Department; that would be disastrous."
Tonks nodded for a moment before screwing up her face in concentration. Soon, a young, timid witch with blonde hair and baby blue eyes stood in front of them.
"Remus?" she said, holding her arms wide. The werewolf nodded and brandished his wand, turning her sleepwear into nondescript work clothes. "I'll be off then," she said grimly and stepped into the fire. "Ministry of Magic, Atrium!"
"Now," said Dumbledore, sitting down tiredly at the dinner table, "We must wait."
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"He's going to get Azkaban," Anna said quietly hours later, once Tonks had returned to report Sturgis had been caught and was now being questioned by the Ministry. The sun was rising and Anna and Sirius lay on his bed, curled together in the morning light that filtered in the open window.
"Don't think about that, Annie, there's nothing you can do about it now."
"I know, I know," she mumbled, "I just wish I had realised sooner. I knew something was wrong and I should have said something to Albus."
Sirius turned to look at her, realisation dawning; "You think it was your fault, don't you."
Anna turned away, her eyes downcast.
"Yes. I can't help it. If I had trusted my instincts, Sturgis wouldn't be facing a sentence in Azkaban."
Sirius roughly took her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him.
"I don't want to hear you speak like that again," he said. "The only person to blame here is Lucius Malfoy. If you hadn't reacted as quickly as you did, Sturgis Podmore could be facing a lot more than a sentence in Azkaban."
She sighed and turned onto her side, looping Sirius' arm around her so her back was pressed into his chest.
Burrowing deeper into his warmth, she whispered, "Thanks."
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In no time at all, trunks had been packed, belongings had been retrieved from where they were littered about the house, pets were caged, and the children were ready to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Anna stood in the entrance hall with Hermione.
"I got a letter from Severus last night," she was telling the young Gryffindor, "He said that you should come to the Potions lab every Wednesday night at 7.30 to help him with the experimental potions he's doing."
"Okay," Hermione said with a nod; she had not forgotten Professor Snape's promise.
"Don't let him be horrible to you," Anna said with a laugh, "And make sure you go down there as, er, invisibly as you can, yeah?"
Hermione laughed and nodded, moving in to give the older woman a goodbye hug.
"Make sure you write, though be careful what you say." She paused for a moment. "Probably best if you didn't call me Anna in letters, either. And don't let those boys drive you insane!"
Hermione grinned and stepped back from Anna's embrace, her brown eyes flicking over to Sirius.
"Same goes for you."
As the Hogwarts-bound kids and their escorts trudged out of Grimmauld Place, Sirius came and tightened an arm around Anna.
"I'll be back soon," he said, "I just want to see Harry off."
Anna nodded, understanding. She was just as sick of this house as Sirius. The man in question had now transformed into a great black dog and was standing on its hind legs. Padfoot gave Anna a long, wet lick on the cheek before bounding out the doorway, her indignant cry of, "Sirius!" lost to his ears.
Anna sighed merrily and turned into the now empty house; it would be only she, Sirius and Remus living at Headquarters now, with the children back to Hogwarts and the Weasleys to the Burrow. She would certainly miss their boisterous company; but still, Anna reflected, a little bit of quiet never hurt anyone. With this in mind, she retrieved the copy of North & South from her room and trudged to the sitting room, where she lost herself in the world of Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton.
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"I suppose I should start cooking dinner, then," Anna sighed, hours later.
Remus and Sirius both looked up from the chess game they were playing and grinned.
"I haven't cooked in so long," she continued. "Molly's been doing everything. I don't think I even know where everything is in our kitchen."
"Do you want a hand?" Remus asked.
Anna narrowed her eyes and said, "And what are you like in a kitchen?"
"I sight better than him, I imagine," he replied, gesturing to Sirius, who put his hands up in surrender.
Anna laughed and walked over to ruffle Sirius' hair.
"He's a menace!" she exclaimed. "Anyone would be better than him!"
Sirius caught her hand and pressed his lips to it.
"My lady doth wound me!" he said, standing with a dramatic flourish. "I am stricken by the cruelty of thy words! Wilt thou not kiss me and be a solace for the wounds that thou hath inflicted?"
Anna hid her smile; she loved to see Sirius acting like such a kid, it took away the darkness that sometimes haunted his eyes. She dropped into a curtsey.
"Sir Black, I am aggrieved! I knew not that my words would so penetrate thy tough exterior! Perhaps in amends you may accompany me to our noble cookery?"
He bowed.
"Such a mighty gift you bestow, my lady."
As he took her arm and began leading her to the door, Anna looked over her shoulder.
"Sir Lupin? I hath one more arm…" she said, waving the appendage temptingly.
Taking his cue, Remus jumped to his feet with a laugh in his eyes and bowed.
"Of course, my lady."
He took up her other arm and together, they marched from the room.
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A few days later, Sirius was greeted in the kitchen for breakfast with a stern glare.
"Merlin, Moony, what have I done?"
"You were seen!" the werewolf hissed, tossing a copy of the Daily Prophet onto the bench in front of Sirius.
Looking down, Sirius glance over the article Remus was obviously upset over.
"The Ministry of Magic has received a tip-off from a reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass-murderer… etc... etc… is currently hiding in London," Sirius read. Done, he chucked the paper down on the table and shrugged nonchalantly. "So what? They're always guessing where I am, Moony."
Remus sighed, saying, "I thought you might say that. Listen, I really think you need to be more careful. Wormtail will have told Voldemort and the Death Eaters about your Animagus form; I wouldn't be surprised if it was Lucius Malfoy himself who tipped the Ministry off after seeing you on Platform 9 and ¾!"
Sirius sighed and leaned his head on his open palm.
"I know, I know," he relented. "I just hate being stuck here. And I had to see Harry off, that boy needs to know that people care about him."
The stiffness of Remus' shoulders seemed to deflate at this.
"Hopefully, it won't be for much longer. If the Ministry ever wakes up – "
Remus was cut off by a soft hoot and a flap of snow white wings as Harry's owl swooped into the room.
"Hedwig!" Sirius exclaimed, reaching up to catch the letter she dropped.
He tore it open quickly and read it aloud to Remus.
"Dear Snuffles
Hope you're okay, the first week back here's been terrible. I'm really glad it's the weekend.
We've got a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She's nearly as nice as your mum. I'm writing because that thing I wrote to you about last summer happened again last night when I was doing a detention with Umbridge.
We're all missing our biggest friend, we hope he'll be back soon.
Please write back quickly. And say hi to Moony and A for me.
Best,
Harry.
"Did you get all of that?" Sirius asked Remus
"Yeah, I think so," came the reply. "He did a pretty good job. What did Harry write to you about last summer?"
"His scar," Sirius murmured. "His scar hurt him."
Remus looked visibly relieved and Sirius quirked a brow in a silent question.
"Well," he began, gesturing awkwardly, "Think about it, Sirius. Fifteen year old boy… writing to his male guardian about something happening over summer and again in the presence of a female teacher…"
Sirius gaped. He couldn't believe the words that had just escaped his friend's mouth.
And about Dolores Umbridge!
"Remus Lupin, you have the sickest mind I have ever encountered."
Remus just laughed.
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Where was Anna? Sirius' brow furrowed. He'd checked everywhere, really; the kitchen, his room, her room, the sitting room, the balcony he knew she liked to go to. She was nowhere, though, and Sirius let a little bit of concern creep into his features. It was hard to disappear in Grimmauld Place.
Deciding to check the sitting room one last time, Sirius was doing a thorough once-over of the room from the doorway when he noticed a pale, long-fingered hand dangling over the arm of the lounge. Moving forward, he found Anna sleeping soundly, her long chestnut hair in disarray around her, a book discarded on the floor.
He didn't really want to wake her up.
Instead, her hooked an arm around her back and an arm under her knees, lifted her to him and carefully made his way through Grimmauld Place to his own room.
"Sirius?" she murmured as he set her down on his bed.
"Shh, Annie, go to sleep."
She moved to sit up, her eyes opening blearily.
"I need to get my nightie from my room," she explained, swinging her feet to the floor, swaying slightly from getting up too fast.
Sitting beside her, Sirius put a steadying hand on her shoulder and asked her something he'd been meaning to for a while; "Anna… why don't you keep your pyjamas in here? Why don't you keep all your things in here?"
Anna blinked.
"But then all my things would be in your room."
Sirius laughed and nudged her.
"Yeah, that's kind of the point."
Shaking her head to clear it, Anna stared at him with a more lucid stare. A smirk was beginning to curl her lips.
"Sirius, are you asking me to move in with you?"
"As much as I can, in this situation," he told her seriously, his eyes not breaking from hers. It was a strange thought, he mused, asking someone to move in with you when they already lived in your house, but he was doing it anyway.
But she hadn't answered yet.
Anna was now smiling fully and she leant forward, brushing her lips with his in a warm kiss.
"Let's go and get my things, then."
He pushed back, giving her a deeper, hotter kiss.
"Okay."
A/N: Remember to review! Reviews are like crack.