Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Hi! So sorry about the long wait, I've been regularly sick with sinusitis for a while now and so when I'm not sick I'm desperately catching up with uni work that I've missed. My beta reader MissBubbles has also been similarly inundated with work and so it's taken a while to get this to you. Sorry! I hope it doesn't happen again and I hope you're still reading! Just to let you know, there are only two chapters left of Complexities and then we move on to the sequel which I've already begun working on. Hope you enjoy this 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 Twenty
Come to me now
And lay your hands over me
Even if it's a lie
Say it will be alright
And I shall believe
- I Shall Believe, Sheryl Crowe
Anna stretched and yawned, awakening from her late afternoon nap – a bad habit she had yet to break. Nimue, curled beside Anna's body, purred quietly when Anna ran her fingers over the little kitten's face, although the little kitten wasn't too little anymore and seemed to be growing bigger by the day. Patting the cat, Anna noticed Nimue was holding something red between her paws.
"Oh no," Anna breathed, "What have you killed and brought to mummy today?"
But when she lifted Nimue's front legs she saw it wasn't some dead mouse but a rose petal.
"What?"
Looking round, Anna realised they were scattered everywhere. Over the bed, over the floor, in her hair, and she laughed as she stood, shaking them off of her. Over by the wardrobe, a dress was hanging on the door; one of her dresses. There was a note attached that read, 'Wear me.' Laughing again, Anna slipped into the short sleeved, knee length crimson frock and a pair of black pumps. After giving herself a once over in the mirror, she followed a trail of cerise petals to the sitting room door. Opening it and entering, Anna found that she was walking into an Italian piazza. There was a fountain in the centre and tall, Roman style apartments closed in each side. There was a cobbled stone pavement underneath her feet and Anna took care to keep her heal from getting caught between the pebbles. The Illusion Globe she had given Sirius for Christmas glowed in the corner.
He stood as she entered. He was wearing pressed black slacks and a crisp, clean white shirt.
"You look wonderful," Sirius said, kissing her in greeting. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Where are we?" she asked, as he sat her down at a table by the fountain and handed her a glass of champagne.
"The Piazza del Popolo, Rome. Here, eat."
They dined on prosciutto wrapped melon cubes, ravioli stuffed with spiced pumpkin and rich tiramisu smothered with cream as the sun set over the city, Just as they were finishing off a bottle of blood red wine, a dark man with a saxophone wondered into the piazza and began to play a slow, sensual tune.
"Would you like to dance?"
Anna grinned and nodded, accepting Sirius' hand. He pulled her closer to the saxophone player and then pulled her closer to himself, wrapping one arm around her and taking her hand in his own. Anna sighed and moved close enough to rest her head against Sirius, delighting in being so close to him. In the whirlwind that was their world at the moment – with the war, the Ministry and every other little thing – Anna felt sometimes that the romance between she and Sirius was overwhelmed with worry about everything else and it was nice to have such a moment as this, with just him and her and nothing else.
"I love you, Sirius Black."
Sirius smiled and pushed Anna's hair back from her face before kissing her on the forehead.
"I love you, too."
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Dear Lizzy,
Well, yesterday was a Hogsmeade Saturday and if I could tell you everything in a letter without fear of someone else reading it, I would. Rest assured, however, that something rather fantastic happened today and you should hear about it soon enough. Something else rather funny happened today and I thought I might regale you with the tale, if only to give you something to amuse Snuffles with. He really is a fussy beast.
Yesterday, Harry had a simply disastrous date with Cho Chang, Ravenclaw seeker and sixth year. Cho took Harry to Madame Puddifoot's (honestly, of all places! If it appears I don't like Cho very much, you'd be right on target. She's a very silly girl, from my observations, and I think Harry needs somebody with a bit more common sense) and the date spiralled downwards from there.
Harry had agreed to meet me at the Three Broomsticks at midday and I'd told him to bring Cho along and Harry, very tactlessly, mind you, told Cho what was happening and the silly thing starts telling Harry about how Roger Davies asked her out and she said no to go out with Harry and how Cedric and she had been to Madame Puddifoot's and then she gets up, makes a scene and storms out! And she accuses Harry of liking me more than he likes her!
Honestly.
Well, I hope you've been amused by the complete fiasco that was Harry's first foray into the dating world.
All the best,
Darcy.
P.S. Boys are clueless
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"Harry!"
The bespectacled teen turned to see Hermione rushing towards him. He was sitting in the warm Gryffindor Common Room, plodding through his Transfiguration homework. When his friend reached the armchair Harry was sitting in, she plonked down a stack of books on top of his homework.
"I think I've figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
She muttered a privacy charm.
"About Anna; I think I figured out what's weird about Anna."
Interested, Harry leaned forward as Hermione grabbed the first book on her pile.
"First, I looked up the family name Fair and I found this in the archives of the Daily Prophet."
There was a picture of a young girl with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. Harry read the headline: "Ministry Closes Case on Captured Girl.
"The Minister of Magic has just announced that the investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Fair, over two months ago has now been closed. The only daughter of Richard and Joanna Fair was announced missing after a weekend trip to Hogsmeade. Friends say the young Ravenclaw prefect realised she had left her purse in a shop on the way back to Hogwarts castle and went back for it alone. She was never seen again.
"After two months of relentless searching, Aurors have decided to drop the case, now that the trail has run cold. Jennifer Fair is presumed dead. Her parents, however, say they will keep searching; "Jennifer is our life," says Mr. Fair, "We know she's still alive and we hope she comes back to us." The Ministry has denied reports that a new militant group, calling themselves 'Death Eaters', are responsible for the girl's disappearance.
"You think this is Anna's mother?"
Hermione nodded; "I'm sure it is."
"So what do you think happened?"
"I think she was held prisoner," she answered, "Voldemort probably wanted her for her Empathy."
"You think he wanted to turn her?"
"That's my bet," Hermione said in response, "And I bet when she didn't agree he kept her in hopes that eventually she would change her mind."
"She must've died, though. Anna's never mentioned her mother."
"I suppose Voldemort got sick of waiting," Hermione said grimly.
"But how did Anna happen? I mean, I hardly think Voldemort let her date…"
Hermione looked at him a little bit pityingly. He supposed he was being naïve.
"Harry… Anna's mother would've been a prisoner for a long time… I doubt the Death Eaters are devout followers of the Geneva Convention."
"You mean…" Harry paled when Hermione nodded, "Anna's a child of rape." He trailed off and then sharply demanded, "Who?"
Hermione shrugged; "I don't know, Anna might not even know."
"Well, at least she doesn't look like Lucius Malfoy," Harry muttered darkly and then his face cleared, "Hermione, Snape!"
"What?"
"Anna and Snape are close and Sirius told me that she lived with him when she was growing up! He's her father!"
Hermione shook her head; "Think about that, Harry. Jennifer Fair went missing in 1971. Anna is twenty-four. Professor Snape would've been in first year."
"Oh," Harry said, disappointed that his theory hadn't come through. "But maybe he got her out? Maybe she escaped with him."
"You know what, Harry? I think you're right. And maybe Professor Snape isn't that bad after all."
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A few weeks later, Anna discovered just what Hermione's fantastic idea had been when an issue of The Quibbler, a magazine she hardly ever read, was delivered anonymously to the house. Alone in the kitchen, Anna almost choked on her pumpkin juice when she saw the front cover and hurried out of the room to find Remus and Sirius.
"Look!" she cried as she found them in the sitting room, "Look what Harry did!"
That certainly got their attention and Anna laughed as they stood up and faced her in unison. Calming slightly, she ushered Sirius and Remus over to the couch and sat between them, displaying The Quibbler on her lap. Harry was blinking a little sheepishly up at them from the cover.
HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:
THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED
AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN
The picture of Harry winked.
"He didn't," Sirius breathed.
Anna nodded; "He did. It was Hermione's idea, she told me they'd done something fantastic a couple of weeks ago but couldn't tell me what, with reason. If Umbridge had found out about this the Ministry would've suppressed the story in The Quibbler somehow."
"Can you imagine the look on Umbridge's face when she sees this?" Sirius asked, positively cackling with glee and flipping to the correct page to read the article.
"Well," Remus said when he was sure they had all finished, "You can't say the boy hasn't got guts – that's for sure."
"I do worry how Umbridge will react, though," Anna said with a sigh. "Probably more lines with the Blood Quill."
Sirius growled. When Anna had told Sirius about the scarring she had seen on Harry's hand, the Animagus was just about ready to charge into Hogwarts and tear Umbridge limb from limb. Luckily, she had managed to convince him in time that it probably wasn't the best idea.
Remus shook his head, still glancing at the interview Harry had given.
"As admirable as this may be, I fear that Harry angering Umbridge and the Ministry like this is only going to harm him – maybe all of us – in the long run."
It would seem later that these words were almost prophetic.
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"Pawn to E3."
"Knight to E6."
"Queen to E7."
A lengthy pause.
"Rook to E7. Check."
"Bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger."
Sirius smirked at Anna and tsked; "Language, language."
"Oh, sod off. King to F4."
"Aha!" Sirius exclaimed, crowing in triumph.
"What happened to your poker face?" Anna asked wryly.
He stuck his tongue out and said, "I don't need it anymore. Knight to D4 and I believe that is checkmate."
Anna groaned and dropped her head onto the chess board. The pieces (well, those that were left and not brutally maimed) jeered in protest.
"I really don't like playing chess with you," Anna said, removing her head from the table and scowling.
"Sore loser," Sirius taunted, poking his tongue out at her.
"I'm not a sore loser!" she protested. 'It's just after losing a million times to you, chess gets kind of boring."
"You just don't stand a chance against my unprecedented skill."
"Ooh, the humility."
"Play again?"
Anna shook her head; "I refuse to be beaten by you again."
"An-na," Sirius whined, "But there's nothing else to do in this house."
Anna cocked an eyebrow suggestively.
"Well," Sirius smirked, "That might not be completely true."
Sirius veritably crawled over the table in between them, scattering objecting chess players left, right and centre, and settled on top of Anna, kissing her deeply. He settled his arms around Anna's waist and drew her into him, tilting her head back and kissing a trail along her jaw. Anna giggled at the smooching noises the chess players were making. Sirius rolled his eyes and cut off her laughs with a kiss, a shiver going down his spine as she moaned into him. His ministrations were shortened, however, by a soft, "Ahem," behind them.
Slowly, they both turned to look.
"Headmaster!" they both shouted, scrambling off of each other.
Albus was standing in the middle of the room, twiddling his thumbs and gazing upwards at the ceiling as if it was the most amazing sight in the world. A small smile was playing about his mouth and Sirius didn't have to see his eyes to know they would be twinkling madly. Sirius felt like a fifth year caught in a broom closet.
"What are you doing here?" Anna asked, smoothing her hair down and obviously trying very hard not to blush (or run away).
"Oh, I just popped in."
Sirius rolled his eyes. This was the way that Albus liked to say he'd just Apparated; the old mage had always enjoyed the pun and it was almost as old as the jokes about Sirius' name.
"Why now?" Anna asked, regaining her composure, "We don't have an Order meeting until tomorrow night."
The smile on Dumbledore's face swiftly left.
"I'm afraid what we have feared has come to pass. I have been usurped by Dolores Umbridge. The Ministry is attempting to place me in Azkaban."
Anna sunk into her seat and put a hand wearily over her eyes.
"How did you get away?" Sirius asked.
Dumbledore chuckled; "I may look like an old man but it'll take a bit more to bring me down."
"Where will you go?"
"I will stay close to the school," Dumbledore responded, "I will not abandon Hogwarts so easily. I am… quite close to the proprietor of the Hog's Head. I'm sure he will put me up."
Once the Headmaster had left, Sirius turned to Anna incredulously and said, "Dumbledore knows that dodgy old man?"
Anna laughed, "He more than knows him; that 'dodgy old man' is Aberforth Dumbledore."
"You're kidding."
"Merlin as my witness."
Sirius collapsed into laughter.
"We always wondered why we always got caught drinking in there! Crafty old coot!"
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Later on, Sirius and Anna were lying in bed, legs tangled together. Anna was lying with her head on his shoulder and Sirius' fingers were brushing through her hair.
"I can't believe it's almost April."
Sirius nodded.
"Harry will be on summer holiday soon. Do you think Dumbledore will let him come here straight away?"
"We'll talk him into it," Anna assured him, "Maybe he'll have to go to Privet Drive for a week or something, just to keep the blood protection going, but hopefully he can come here soon."
They were silent for a while and Sirius was almost drifting off when Anna spoke.
"Sirius?"
"Hmmm?"
She paused for a moment and Sirius opened his eyes to look down on her face.
"Do you think we'll win?"
Anna's voice was so small and unsure that he shifted from underneath her and turned to face her properly.
"Yes."
"You're lying."
Sirius exhaled.
"I know. But I have to be sure, for me."
"What do you mean?"
"I have to be sure that we'll win because it's too terrifying to think that we won't; because for Harry, I have to have absolute faith in him, as much as that scares me. Because in all the songs and stories, good always wins over evil and I have to believe in that because I don't want to imagine the world in any other way. I have to be sure because if I'm not, I'll go crazy."
Anna sat up in a tight ball and with her elbows on her knees, hiding her face in her hands. Her muffled response came through; "But what faith and belief can we have when there is so much hate in the world? If people with hearts and minds can really believe that people like Hermione should die, should be executed… what kind of hope do we have against that?"
"Not much," he answered honestly, "But we have a choice, Anna. We can choose to do nothing, to ignore it, to let others fight; or we can choose to see this through, to fight for what we know is right, even if we face death in doing so. And that's the choice I've made." He took Anna's face and forced her gently to look at him. "And I know that's the choice you've made, too."
A/N: Review!!