A/N: Hello! Another update for you all. Thanks so much to everyone who is reviewing, I really appreciate it and it's always really lovely to know that people are reading and enjoying the fic. Just to clarify some comments made in reviews, this fic is going to follow the basic pattern of the original Complexities which means (SPOILERS AHEAD!!) Sirius isn't going to die. Thanks as always to my beta MissBubbles, who does a fantastic job. Enjoy!
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 Fifteen
He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today.
Tryon Edwards
"Sirius, have you written back to Harry yet?" Remus asked, swallowing the last of his sandwich.
"Harry wrote?"
Sirius nodded to Anna; "Yeah, told me about his first week."
"How was it?" she asked, an eyebrow risen in inquiry.
Sirius grimaced, replying, "Terrible. Umbridge, the old cow, gave him detention."
"That's Dolores Umbridge, yeah?" Anna asked, "The one the Ministry placed at Hogwarts?"
Sirius nodded and smirked.
"Harry says she's just about as nice as my mum," he told Anna, laughing when her eyebrows rose.
"As if we didn't already know that," Remus interrupted, "Stupid, prejudiced old hag."
Anna's eyebrows rose further as Sirius laughed aloud.
"Well, that was slightly out of character," the canine Animagus commented dryly. "But justifiable when considering the horrid old toad."
Anna was confused.
"Um, what did this woman do to us anyway?"
"She drafted a piece of legislation that makes it pretty much impossible for me to get a job. Anywhere."
"Ah," Anna mused, catching on, "Bastard!"
Sirius nodded gravely.
"I'm glad you understand, my young padawan."
Anna laughed and rolled her eyes. Before Hermione had left for Hogwarts, she'd written down a list of classic Muggle films for them to watch on the television they'd bought for Pride and Prejudice. Remus made periodical trips to the 'video store' to 'rent out' movies, or so Hermione said, and a few nights ago they had watched the Star Wars trilogy. Sirius had taken a particular liking to it, believing himself akin to the dashing Han Solo.
"Well, in any case you need to be careful writing back to Harry," Remus said, "It could be intercepted by Umbridge."
"Maybe I'll Floo him."
Anna's eyebrows rose, predictably, Sirius thought.
"Isn't that a tad dangerous?"
Sirius shook his head.
"I don't think so," he replied, "How would Umbridge even suspect that I was there?"
"I guess," Remus said, "Just be careful."
"Will do."
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"I would, I just don't want you to get chucked in Azkaban!" Harry retorted heatedly from the Gryffindor Common Room later that night.
"You're less like your father than I thought," Sirius said coolly. "The risk would've made it fun for James."
"Look – "
"I better get going," Sirius said, cutting over his godson, "I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs." It was a blatant lie and Harry knew it. "I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then? If you can stand to risk it?"
Not waiting for an answer, Sirius pulled his head from the frames and turned to find a very angry Remus Lupin staring at him, arms crossed. Anna was sitting by the table behind him, hands clenched in her lap.
"What on earth were you thinking, saying that to Harry?" Remus snapped, "Or were you not thinking at all?"
Sirius found he didn't really have an excuse. He had been impulsive, he never should've said that to Harry and he knew it. He still had to answer Remus, though.
"I dunno," Sirius said, shrugging, "I just thought he would like to meet up, that he would take the risk – "
"He's not James, Sirius!" Remus interrupted loudly. "Harry is not James! And you need to realise that now, before you make another stupid mistake like that!"
Remus stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Sirius alone with Anna, who was still sitting, her face turned down.
"Well?" Sirius snapped at her, causing her to look at him sharply, "Let me have it!"
"You know what you said was wrong, Sirius," Anna said calmly, "You don't need me to chastise you."
Her calm words seemed to make him feel even guiltier than he had when Remus had been yelling. He slumped into a seat at the table, resting his head in his hands.
"I just… I didn't – I wasn't able to grieve, in Azkaban. And seeing Harry – he just looks so much like James – it's like he never went away, never died."
Anna rose from her seat and dropped to her knees in front of Sirius, brushing her hand against his jaw.
"I don't really know what to say to comfort you," she told him earnestly.
Sirius leant forward, resting his forehead against hers and telling her, "This is enough." She smiled against him, her hands whispering into his hair. "So what do you think I should do about Harry?"
"It's not really my place," she began but Sirius cut her off.
"Yes it is – "
"No, really, it's okay – "
"I love you," he blurted, effectively shutting her up.
"You do?"
Sirius smiled.
"Didn't you already know that?"
She shook her head; "Not like – not like when you tell me."
His smile widened and he kissed her gently.
"Well, I do. And it makes my business your business, including Harry."
Anna heaved a sigh.
"Just do what you've already been doing – minus what happened tonight," she added with a wry quirk of her lips. "Harry needs to know he's not alone, that he has people supporting and loving him. With the Daily Prophet slandering him and the reaction I imagine he's going to get from kids at school, Harry needs to know that he's not standing alone."
"We're all behind him, but," Sirius remarked, "He must know that."
Anna laughed; "I think you've forgotten what it's like being a 15-year old boy."
Sirius nodded gravely and said, "Yeah, you're probably right."
Anna stood up and stretched. She reached down with a hand to caress his cheek.
"I love you to, you know?"
"I know."
"I'm going to bed, you coming?"
"Yeah, in a moment," Sirius said, listening to the sounds of Anna walking to the door and closing it behind her. In a minute though, she'd marched back in, plonked herself on his lap and met his lips in a hot, hungry kiss that he wouldn't be forgetting in a while.
With that, she flounced out of the room.
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Three weeks later and they had settled into a routine, only occasionally interrupted by Order business. Sirius, Remus and Anna would continue cleaning Grimmauld Place in the morning, in the afternoon they would laze about, reading, playing chess, or meditating (in Anna's case), and after the dinner that Anna cooked or Remus picked up from local take-out, they watched the television – the great Muggle contraption that Hermione had introduced them to over the summer.
This routine was interrupted, however, on a Saturday night, by a bang and a loud curse, followed closely by the screams of Mrs. Black's portrait.
"Shit!" came Mundungus Fletcher's voice as he struggled to close the curtains. Apparently he was successful as moments later he appeared in the basement kitchen, swearing rapidly under his breath.
"Dung! You're here early!" Sirius said in greeting, referring to the Order meeting that was to take place that night. "Er… why are you wearing a dress?"
"Oh, this?" Dung said, looking down at his witch's get up and pushing his veil out of his eyes. Sirius heard Anna giggle behind him. "I was trailing yer godson."
"Harry? You've seen Harry? How is he?"
"Calm down, the boy's fine. Well, 'part from the fact the first thing he does is organise a secret Defense 'gainst the Dark Arts club. And in the Hogs Head, to boot!"
Sirius shook his head ruefully; "Sometimes Harry is just like his father." To Mundungus, he gestured downstairs. "Come on down to the kitchen, people should start arriving soon."
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"Absolutely not!" exploded Molly Weasley at the meeting that night. "How could they – so stupid – under no account whatsoever!"
"Molly, is it really that much of a bad thing?" Remus questioned neutrally.
"That much of a bad thing!" she burst out angrily. "Honestly, Remus, I would have thought that you of all people would have some sense. They'll be expelled!"
"Molly, I think it is for the best," Dumbledore said calmly, "The situation with Dolores Umbridge and the Ministry is not going to improve; with the way things are going now I doubt even Miss Granger will perform well on her Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. And I'm sure that Harry, Hermione and Ron will exercise the utmost caution, Molly."
"I agree." Anna spoke tentatively. "Wouldn't it be better for them to be expelled and know how to defend themselves than be utterly defenceless at Hogwarts?"
"Yes – but –they're too young to be worrying about that now. They don't need to worry about that kind of thing."
"But they do," Anna replied quietly. "Lord Voldemort isn't going to care that they're only fifteen."
"Cedric Diggory was only a child," Remus interposed.
"Look, Molly," Sirius said, "Merlin knows that Harry has to learn to defend himself. When it comes down to it, in the end it's going to be between Harry and Voldemort, no matter how much we don't like it. Voldemort will go to no ends to get what he wants, and who knows? Being so close to Harry, Ron and Hermione will most likely get drawn into this along with him. It's something that we can't stop. And if they're going to go about learning how to defend themselves on their own, I'm not going to try and stop them."
"Well, you are all entitled to your own opinion," Molly retorted bluntly. "And so am I! And seeing as I have duty at the Ministry tomorrow night, I would like you to tell Ron for me that under no account whatsoever is he allowed to take part in that group. He'll be expelled for sure and his future will be ruined. Tell him that there will be plenty of time to learn how to defend himself out of school and that he needn't be worrying about that now anyway. And please ask Hermione and Harry to consider my advice, as I have their best interests at heart."
Sirius nodded; "Okay, I'll pass the message on. But I won't say that I agree with you."
"You don't have to."
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Sirius grinned to himself at the scene before him; it was like flipping a Time Turner back to the 70s. Hermione's brow was furrowed in concentration as her quill sped across the parchment and every now and then she would look up to glare at the two boys with her, just like Remus used to do. Harry was James; his hand buried in his hair, messing it up even more than usual, as he slowly plodded through his homework, and Ron was just like Sirius, dozing without a care in the world.
His counterpart suddenly gave a muffled grunt, awoke, and looked into the fire.
"Sirius!"
Two other heads whipped around to look at him.
"Hi."
"Hi," they chorused back, arranging themselves in front of him.
"How're things," he began seriously, staring intently at Harry who seemed pale with fatigue, his scar prominent on his forehead.
"Not that good," the boy said with a grimace, "The Ministry's forced through another decree, which means we're not allowed to have Quidditch teams – "
"Or secret Defence Against the Dark Arts groups?"
Sirius almost laughed at the look of shock mingled with mild embarrassment on Harry's face.
"How did you know about that?"
"You want to choose your meeting places more carefully," Sirius told them, grinning, "The Hog's Head, I ask you."
"Well, it was better than the Three Broomsticks! That's always packed with people," Hermione burst defensively, but Sirius interrupted.
"Which means you would've been harder to overhear." Sirius felt someone – no doubt Anna – whack him sharply on the leg and so he stopped censuring Hermione.
"Who overheard us?" Harry wanted to know.
"Mundungus, of course, he was the witch under the veil."
"That was Mundungus?" Harry asked, "What was he doing in the Hog's Head?"
"Keeping an eye on you, of course," Sirius said, "And just as well, isn't it, if the first thing you're doing on your weekend off is organising an illegal defence group." Sirius paused thoughtfully. "I'm proud of you, Harry. And not because it's something your father would have done, but because it's the right thing to do."
"Thanks, Sirius," Harry said awkwardly and Sirius felt someone – again, Anna – pat him on the back from the kitchen in Grimmauld Place.
Sirius rushed to cover the moment; "While I think of it, Ron, I've got a message from your mother." He quickly relayed the message and assured each of them that he, Remus, Anna and even Dumbledore thought it was a good idea to learn how to defend themselves, as long as they took the necessary precautions. He went on to question them about where they planned to hold the meetings.
"I'm sure you'll come up with somewhere," he assured them. "There used to be a pretty roomy secret passageway behind that big mirror on the fourth floor – "
"Fred and George told me it's blocked."
"Oh," Sirius said, "Well, I'll have to think and get back to – "
Sirius tensed as he heard the whooshing sound of a fireplace being activated, somewhere to his side. Alarmed and without time to tell Harry he drew back into Grimmauld Place, stumbling backwards and knocking right into Anna, who had been standing behind him. She fell to the ground with a thump.
"Ouch."
"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, lifting her back to her feet. She nodded and went to speak but a soft curse from Remus stopped them.
"Look!" he said.
Anna and Sirius turned to the fireplace, where a stubby hand covered in gaudy rings was grasping at the flames, right where Sirius' head had just been.
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A/N: Well, another chapter shouldn't be far off. Is anyone else amazed at how quickly the release dates for the book and the movie are coming up? I can't quite believe it. Please review!