Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.
I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed with so enthusiastic response. This story in a matter of two chapter got on more alerts than my other one. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing last chapter.
To the story: Walburga and Mirzam are going to continue the conversation they started in last chapter. Cassiopeia is going to be too curious for her own good. We will see a point of view from someone new. And we are going to see Snape, since I couldn't stop myself from adding him to this and next chapter.
Chapter two: Caught.
It took Walburga a minute to get over initial shock of being found at straightforwardly lying to an Auror. More precisely, an Auror who happened to be a former partner of her imprisoned son. Why in the name of Merlin, of all Aurors in the DMLE, about seventy of them, they had to make Mirzam Verascez the one in charge of Harry Potter's case?
Frustrated about not getting laid since December of 1978. Trust Sirius to be blunt when talking to a woman. Talking to a woman. Verascez talked to him in Azkaban. That made Walburga rush in the direction of the kitchen on full speed.
She nearly fell from the kitchen stairs and almost smashed into Kreacher who was holding on the doorframe as he was watching Verascez moving around the kitchen. Walburga put an arm on elf's shoulder and when Kreacher looked up at her, silently asking if he could throw Verascez out of the kitchen she shook her head.
Verascez in the meantime, while holding Homam on her right hip and extracting colourful bubbles from the end of her wand, managed to find two mugs and the bag with teabags and put the kettle with water on the stove. Homam seemed enchanted by the bubbles and didn't even tried to get away from Verascez.
Hadn't Walburga knew otherwise she could tell that the picture in front of her was a young mother with her child while doing the necessary things around the house.
"Are you a witch or not?" she asked curiously from the doorway.
"I'm a witch," Verascez said as she wandered to the pantry and pulled out a jug with milk.
"So why you boil water on the stove?" Walburga asked as she motioned at Kreacher to leave them and approached the table.
"Muggle-born. Old habits die hard," Verascez answered simply.
"I guess that settles the argument with my mother," Walburga sighed.
"About me?" Verascez turned around to face her, a jug with milk still in her free hand.
"She tried to convince me that you are a descent of Spanish family of Veracious but got your name changed somewhere on the way," Walburga explained while Verascez put the jug on the table and wandered in search of teaspoons.
"Never been in Spain," Verascez denied. "Plus I distinctly remember living in a boring suburban house with my parents and younger sister."
"How are they?" she asked curiously. The woman didn't hauled her to the Ministry of Magic yet and she probably had a reason to do so.
"No idea," Verascez said as she found two teaspoons. "Probably skinny and not very much talkative. Where are you keeping the sugar Mrs Black?"
"Upper cupboard closest to the pantry. You might want to take out the apple pie from the pantry too. How come?" she said.
"Skeletons generally aren't very talkative and are rather skinny," Verascez said as she opened the upper cupboard and picked up the sugar bowl.
"Oh," Walburga sighed. "What had happened to them?"
Verascez picked the apple pie from the pantry before she answered, "Car crash, I was twelve. Day after I came back to Hogwarts. Later found out that had I been with them in the car I wouldn't survive it too."
"I'm sorry," Walburga said and she meant it.
"Doesn't matter now," Verascez mumbled as she put both the pie and sugar bowl at the table. "There is no use of crying over spilt milk anyway."
"Where do you lived after their deaths?" Walburga asked tentatively.
"Orphanage. My grandparents from my mother's side didn't wanted to take me in. Called me abomination and a freak. Actually my grandmother after finding that I was a witch hauled me all the way to the," she stopped as picked up the kettle and poured the water into the mugs, "church and ordered me to confess my sins to the priest and told me that if I was good it would go away. By it she meant magic."
"Doesn't sound like a very nice person," Walburga muttered. "Or a very wise one."
"I didn't get to the best part, yet," Verascez snorted. "After my parents had died and I came back for the funeral she had the audacity to accuse me in front of friends of my parents that it was my fault that they died. If I wasn't the little freak they would live. Kept muttering that it was better for me to not be born. B ..." she stopped at the beginning of the word but Walburga had pretty good idea what Verascez wanted to say. "Sticks and stone anyway," Verascez sighed after a moment.
"Grief talking?" Walburga asked.
"Rather stupidity," Verascez snorted as she picked up the mugs and carried them to the table. "I couldn't help but be amazed how funny she looked when Accidental Magic Reversal Squad tried to take her down from the church's tower."
"How did you got her there?" Walburga asked in surprise when Verascez sat down on the chair next to her at the end of the table with Homam on her knees.
"I blew her up. Merlin, the look of pure horror on her face was definitely worth the warning in my file," Verascez smiled impishly.
"And here I was thinking that Sirius was the only one handful kid," Walburga snickered.
"Was it his cousin or his aunt he blew up?" asked Verascez curiously.
"Narcissa, his cousin," Walburga snickered at that thought. It wasn't funny back then but for sure it was funny now. "He was six and Cissy was eleven, going to Hogwarts in the fall and proud as a peacock about it. She kept taunting him about it and he finally told her that if she said it once again he will blow her up and give her a good kick so she would fly."
"Which he did," Verascez snickered. "He told me."
"How is he?" Walburga asked seriously.
Verascez sighed heavily and took a sip of her tea before she actually answered, "Mentally, sane, which is good thing considering the fact that two Dementors are standing at the doorway of his cell twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Physically, he is worse. He never was a particularly bulky but now he is painfully thin and I suspect that he has a lingering cold even if he doesn't mentions it. He seemed a lot calmer, relieved when I left him."
"How long you have been with him?" Walburga asked.
"For about a hour. I came to Azkaban hoping for some information about Harry and I got far more than I bargained for," Verascez sighed heavily before she took another sip from her mug. "He is innocent of all the charges against him. At least he wants me to believe it and I ..."
"You believe him," Walburga finished for her.
"Everything he told me is pretty logical. I'm a Ravenclaw, I think practically," Verascez said with a shrug. "But unless I find the real traitor and murderer I can't do anything to help him. It's frustrating as h ... hippo."
"Did you just censored your language?" Walburga snickered.
"Little ears," Verascez pointed her left hand at Homam's head. "I'm an Auror. I curse a lot. I got used to a lot of curses while I was in the training where three quarters of trainees were male with quite colourful language. To be frank the most colourful curses I know I learned from your son. I never saw, or heard, anyone who could in a matter of thirty seconds insult the opponent and his family to the tenth generation back and still managed to hex opponent's ... Quidditch equipment to fall off spurt little fluffy wings and let it fly away. I was so amazed by it that I managed to get hexed myself."
"When it had happened?" Walburga asked curiously with a small snicker.
"St. Ives Massacre," Verascez muttered. "Sirius and I were the only people from original team which went there and survived, relatively unscratched ... Strike that, came back in relative one piece."
Walburga remembered hearing about the massacre in June of 1979 and distinctly remembered hearing that Sirius got very hurt then but back then she didn't cared.
"That means that they sent ..." she started but she couldn't finish.
"A bunch of greenhorns," Verascez muttered grimly. "Ten Aurors, straight after the training. I nearly lost an arm and received a nasty curse which made me pretty immobile. Sirius nearly lost a leg but he carried me away from the line of fire and came back to help the reinforcement. A typical Gryffindor for the lack of better word," she sighed heavily and then added with a grim snort, "That's why they send us to North Finland in October. One Death Eater in hiding and two idiots who lived the infamous massacre to catch him. We both caught nasty pneumonia after we came back."
"What you are going to do about Homam?" asked Walburga suddenly, she needed to know for sure because uncertainty was killing her.
"What I told Sirius that I will," Verascez shrugged. "As long as he is taken care of properly I will do nothing to reveal his current place of staying. Frankly, had I found him anywhere else I would adopt him myself. As for the case, I'm going to search for him high and low and trying my best to not find him while I will try to appear that I'm trying my best to find him."
"You are putting your career in line," Walburga whispered.
"For a good cause," Verascez sighed. "If the worse comes to worse I can always work as a waiter. If they don't send me to Azkaban. Crouch is very fond of doing it, especially if the kink is no trial," she snorted.
"As ... paragus," Walburga muttered.
Verascez snickered at that, "What kind of an insult in the name of Merlin's lousy underwear is asparagus?"
"Feminine one," Walburga snorted.
"I have one request," said Verascez suddenly. "I want to meet Homam, if it is possible."
"You can meet him whenever you want," Walburga said sincerely. "I will be forever in your debt Mirzam. But what you are going to do with the time assigned to searching for Harry?"
"I'm going to search the man who got your son into prison. That's the one thing I can do for Sirius now," Verascez said grimly.
Suddenly there were footsteps on the corridor outside and both women glanced at each other quickly.
"Hide!" Walburga hissed nervously at Verascez.
With a swish of the wand Verascez and Homam vanished. Walburga tried her best to arrange her features into calm facade before a pissed off Cassiopeia Black entered the kitchen.
Something was bothering Cassiopeia since she found out about Homam but she couldn't put a finger on it. She knew that she was missing something important, something vital, something essential.
She knew that 28th December was her day off work but she went to the Ministry nevertheless. Although she didn't planed to work today, today in the afternoon she planned to get into Ministry's archives.
The infamous archives of Ministry of Magic was on the level hidden to the eyes of any normal Ministry of Magic employee, level eleven, which was situated below the courtrooms. Only the Heads of the Departments, Minister of Magic and the secretaries of all important Departments and Offices could get inside them without all necessary paperwork through which everyone else had to suffer.
Cassiopeia belonged to the lucky kind. She was the Secretary of Magical Office of Law, a job which Orion offered her ages ago when he was the Head of the Office and the family started to mutter about her becoming an old maid and a pain in the ass a bit too loudly for her to like it – of course no one told her straightforwardly that she was pain in the ass but she knew better than to expect that they won't mutter behind her back.
She tried to slip down to the level nine unnoticed by too many people and quickly made her way through the level ten. When she made past the doorway, hidden to other eyes, she entered the stairs which lead to the level eleven.
"Cassiopeia Black, haven't seen you in Merlin knows when," exclaimed the old bald wizard who had been sitting at the desk of the Archives Office since Cassiopeia remembered.
"Three years," Cassiopeia reminded him. "Would you mind if I had a go at Archives of DMLE?"
"No, you were always a good girl, go ahead," the wizard waved at the second door to the left, DMLE Archive.
Cassiopeia gave him a small smile before she walked inside it the archive and the door closed shut behind her.
Since she remembered she was always impressed by the size of DMLE archive. It was the biggest archive of all archives and since the idiot who created it decided that the part closest to the door was supposed to be the part where all documents concerning the earliest files in Ministry of Magic should been held, all up to date files concerning DMLE were at the very end of the room which pissed Cassiopeia to no end every single time she had to take something concerning present matters.
But today she wasn't pissed off. Today she was a woman with a mission to uncover the missing piece of a puzzle named Homam Black.
It took her ten minutes to get to the shelf labelled as 1970-1990, the shelf which held all files of all employees of DMLE. She immediately went after the file she was looking and levitated the huge case with engraved B to the table nearby.
She opened the case and got through compartments Ba, Be, Bi. There it is Bl. Blaan. Blabbler. Blabbler. Blabbler. Blach. What in the name of Merlin's lousy underwear means Blach? Blaciano. Black!
Here it is. Black, Sirius Orion. The file she was looking for, she pulled it out from the case and left it on the table while she levitated the case to the floor.
She sat down at the table, put on her reading glasses and started reading.
Black, Sirius Orion.
Born: 23rd November 1959.
Place of birth: 12 Grimmauld Place, London, England.
Mother's name: Walburga Callidora Black: 1925 -
Father's name: Orion Sirius Black: 1929 - 1979
Siblings: Regulus Arcturus Black: 1961 - 1979
Blood status: Pure-blood, muggle friendly views.
High: 6 feet.
Eye colour: grey.
Hair colour: jet-black, tends to grow it when something is bothering him.
Position in Department: Auror, Aurors Headquarters.
Hogwarts: 1971-78.
Important Positions at Hogwarts: Beater of Gryffindor Quidditch Team 1972-78.
OWL results: see the parchment at the end of the file.
NEWTs results: same as above.
Type of the Training: Accelerated One Year Worth Auror Training since 27th June 1978 to 26th June 1979.
Career:
27th June 1979 – assigned a partner, Mirzam Verascez – see Verascez, Mirzam Mira.
28th June 1979 – sent with ten other greenhorns to St. Ives, Cornwall where they were ambushed in something which got the name of St. Ives Massacre. From original team only he and Verascez survived. Status: injured – severe injury of left tight, various bruises and gashes, brain concussion.
13th July 1979 – duel with Campbell, Anne – Death Eater. Place: Diagon Alley. Outcome: Campbell killed by the ricocheted Black's stunner which hit the flowerpot above Campbell's head, hit her and killed her immediately.
14th July 1979 – disciplinary hearing concerning the death of Campbell, Anne. Outcome: suspension – week worth.
22nd July 1979 – successful capture of Patterson, Edward – Death Eater. Both Verascez and Black came out unscratched.
23rd July 1979 – Black and Verascez were witnesses of bank robbery in Brighton. Black assaulted the robber with a chair while Verascez smashed the flowerpot against his head. Status: injured – bullet pierced left biceps.
26th July 1979 – assigned the case of Donovan's murder.
20th September 1979 – Donovan's murder solved. No injuries. Suspect Kirkpatric, Frederick lived.
21st September 1979 – disciplinary hearing concerning physical assault on Kirkpatrick, Frederick. Outcome – week worth suspension.
28th September 1979 – Black and Verascez got assigned the case of Garbageworthy, Paul.
29th September 1979 – Finland's Ministry of Magic request the presence of British Aurors in case of Garbageworthy, Paul.
30th September 1979 – Black and Verascez left the country. Anyone interested should get a contact with them through Finland's Ministry of Magic.
1st October 1979 – 7th December 1979 – search of Garbageworthy. North Finland. Outcome: Garbageworthy had been caught alive. Status: severe pneumonia, both Aurors.
This was it, she realised. According to Walburga Homam was born at 1st August 1980. Take away nine months which means that he should be conceived in late October or beginning of November. When Sirius was supposed to be in North Finland, with Verascez. Unless ...
Cassiopeia stood up and nearly walked into the B case. She approached the shelf which held V case and levitated it to the table.
She opened it and started checking compartments. Va. Ve. Veber. Vecner. Vegener. Vegner. Vellay. Vemme. Venier. Vequille. Verad. Verale. Verand. Verasaint. Verascez!
Here it was. Verascez, Mirzam Mira. She pulled out the file and set the case on the floor before she flipped the file open and started to read.
Name: Verascez, Mirzam Mira.
Born: 13 February 1960.
Place of birth: Lambeth Hospital, London, England.
Mother's name: Elizabeth Sophia Roberts: 1939 – 2nd September 1972
Father's name: Hubert Francis Verascez: 1937 – 2nd September 1972
Siblings: Gemma Francesca Verascez: 1965 – 2nd September 1972
Blood status: Muggle-born, at the age of twelve sent to orphanage upon refusal of her maternal grandparents of taking her in.
High: generally 6 feet.
Eye colour: mostly violet, sometimes indigo blue (claims to know nothing about it)
Hair colour: generally jet-black, sometimes auburn (once again knows nothing why)
Position in Department: Auror, Aurors Headquarters.
Hogwarts: 1971-1978.
Important Positions at Hogwarts: Seeker in Ravenclaw Quidditch Team 1973-1978. Ravenclaw's Prefect 1975-1978.
OWL results: see the parchment at the end of the file.
NEWTs results: same as above.
Type of the Training: Accelerated One Year Worth Auror Training since 27th June 1978 to 26th June 1979.
Career:
27th June 1979 – assigned a partner, Sirius Black – see Black, Sirius Orion. Filled a complaint requesting a new partner. Request denied.
Boring. Boring. Pretty much same as Sirius. There it was:
28th September 1979 – Black and Verascez got assigned the case of Garbageworthy, Paul.
29th September 1979 – Finland's Ministry of Magic request the presence of British Aurors in charge of case of Garbageworthy, Paul.
30th September 1979 – Black and Verascez left the country. Supposed to get a contact with them through Finland's Ministry of Magic.
1st October 1979 – 7th December 1979 – search of Garbageworthy. North Finland. Outcome: Garbageworthy had been caught alive. Status: severe pneumonia, both Aurors.
Cassiopeia turned few pieces of parchment and found what she was looking for. It stood there black on ... proverbial white.
15th July 1980 – 21st August 1980 – on requested vacation with no ways of reaching her.
It fit, like a glove. All dates matched in a freakishly disturbing way.
Homam's mother wasn't a typical muggle like Walburga claimed. Homam's mother most certainly was the only woman around whom Sirius could be in October and November of 1979, Mirzam fucking Verascez!
That meant only one thing, Walburga was lying. Through gritted teeth. The kid wasn't motherless. But what if Walburga wasn't lying? What if Verascez left the kid with some woman? She seemed to react violently every time Sirius was mentioned and seemed surprised upon hearing that Walburga had Homam. Then again she could have faked surprise upon hearing about Homam quite well. Or maybe she was genuinely surprised and worried. Her child had gone missing and its father was rooting in Azkaban.
Cassiopeia felt like hitting her head against the wall. Merlin it was so fucking complicated. She needed to find Wally and corner her about it. Then Verascez. The best would be both of them at once but it was too good to happen.
She tried her best to calm herself before using duplicating charm on the files. She put the copies in her cloak, returned the originals to their respective cases and set them back on their shelves.
It took her ten minutes to get there but the return took her only five minutes. She stopped in front of the door, took off her glasses and hid them in the pocket before she knocked on the door three times.
The door opened and she left the archive.
"Found what you were looking for Cassie?" asked the wizard at the desk.
She gave him a small nod before she left the level eleven. It took her five minutes to get to apparation point and she apparated out of the Ministry of Magic.
She apparated in the hall of 12 Grimmauld Place.
The house looked suspiciously quiet. But Cassiopeia knew better, Walburga wasn't very loud and neither was Homam. She contemplated where her niece and her grandson should be now and decided to check the kitchen first.
Mirzam reacted purely by instinct which made her cast Disillusionment Charm on herself and Homam. After Dissillusion was in place she silenced both herself and the kid. Whomever was about to brag in shouldn't hear or see her here.
She was a bit surprised to see furious Cassiopeia Black descending down the kitchen stairs. The woman didn't seemed to be one of this kind.
"You filthy, little liar!" Cassiopeia growled and pointed her wand at Mrs Black.
"What do you mean?" asked Mrs Black in shock.
"I knew that there was something about the kid but for the last few days I couldn't remember what was wrong," Cassiopeia snarled.
"Nothing is wrong with Homam, Cassie," Mrs Black said quickly.
"Sure it isn't. He is properly taken care of except one single thing. His mother," Cassiopeia growled.
"She is dead. I already told you," Mrs Black said defiantly.
"No, she is not fucking dead, Wally!" Cassiopeia screamed.
"What you mean?" asked Mrs Black.
"Your master plan was great except one very important thing," Cassiopeia huffed angrily. "I'm one of the few who have ultimate access to ministry's archives!"
"Your point?" asked Mrs Black as Mirzam felt herself palling.
Cassiopeia snorted angrily before she said quickly, "Between 1st October and 7th December 1979 Sirius was in North Finland with Verascez on a mission. Just the two of them. As far as my memory serves me right Homam was born at 1st August 1980 which makes Verascez the only woman with whom your son could conceive a child and there is a vacation notification in Verascez's file claiming that between 15th July and 21st August 1980 she was unable to be reached by anyone."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fucking. Fuckety. Fuck.
"What is your point?" asked Mrs Black defiantly.
"My point is that your grandson isn't exactly parentless. His mother is very much alive and either you took the kid away from the place he was staying with or without his mother's permission," Cassiopeia said lividly.
'Mirzam Verascez you have three seconds to come up with something,' Mirzam thought frantically.
One. Mrs Black opened her mouth.
Two. Mirzam took off the Dissilussion and Silencing Charms.
Three. Cassiopeia saw her and Homam.
"I gave her my permission to take him," Mirzam said quickly. "Homam's nanny had died at 21st December, car crash. Then I got Harry Potter's case and I needed to find someone who could keep an eye on him when I was at work."
"And you agreed?" Cassiopeia turned to face Mrs Black.
Mrs Black nodded slowly, as if she wasn't trusting her words.
"I couldn't enrol him into ministry's nursery without giving the name of the father Mrs Black. And if I did," she blinked furiously and tried to make it look like she was holding back the tears, "If I gave his name I would lose my job. With Sirius in Azkaban, with the way it had happened," she felt a lone tear escaping her eyes, "I would be accused of helping him out, which I didn't. I swear that I got tricked like the rest of the world," hers voice started breaking, "But Crouch would not see it. At the worst possibility I would be sent to Azkaban and at the best I would lose my job ... I couldn't afford it. I can't lose the only source of money I have for bringing up my son..." she turned Homam in her arms so she could hid her face in kid's hair.
Walburga couldn't help but be amazed by Verascez tearful confession. In fact hadn't she knew better she would fell for it, just like Cassiopeia was falling now. She could see it clearly by the look on her aunt's face. Coming to the realisation that this was the situation of the proverbial 'In for a Knut, in for a Galleon' she went to Verascez who was hiding her face in Homam's hair and hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry, my dear," she said loudly, for Cassiopeia to hear. "You know that I will help you as much as I can. Cassie won't destroy your life because she knows how bad being unemployed and ridiculed for it is. Won't you, aunt Cassiopeia?" she glared at her aunt above Homam's head.
"Of course, my poor dear," Cassiopeia exhaled loudly. "But why you didn't said a word?"
"I didn't wanted to be imposing or look like I was going after the money," Mirzam said tearfully. "I don't care about money as long as I can pay the bills by myself. I was desperate when I came here. I really needed someone to look after my son."
"Perhaps it would be better if we kept this conversation to ourselves, aunt Cassiopeia," said Walburga as she was massaging Mirzam's back in comforting manner. "You know Druella. Once she knows ..." she hung her voice for a better message.
"I won't say anything," Cassiopeia said sincerely. "My poor dear, how hard the world had been for you."
Mirzam chocked out a sob.
"I think you should leave now aunt Cassie," Walburga said quickly. "Poor dear, has a very hard case and you bringing up bad memories isn't going to help her much. Come my dear, let's put you in your bed. You will take a short nap and then everything will be less overwhelming," Walburga started steering Mirzam out of the kitchen.
"Thank you mum," Mirzam said tearfully. "I don't know what I would have done without your help."
"I will get going," said Cassiopeia quickly. "I will drop by tomorrow in the evening. Take care of yourself and be careful my child," she said warmly before she disapparated.
A minute of uninterrupted silence had passed before Mirzam lowered Homam so she wasn't hiding her face in his hair anymore. Walburga glanced at her and Mirzam glanced back.
Neither could stop bursting in maniacal laugh.
They were sitting in the library where they moved after they calmed down a bit. Mrs Black in the armchair with a glass full of red wine in her hand. Mirzam was half-sitting, half-lying on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand and Homam on her knees. They still couldn't help but giggle maniacally from time to time.
"Did you ever considered being professional actress?" asked Mrs Black between giggles. "If I didn't knew better you could convince me just like you convinced Cassie."
"I got an offer once," Mirzam snickered. "But I refused it. It would collide with my schedule. Besides Sirius would never let me live that one. I'm sorry though."
"For what? Calling me mum?" Mrs Black asked with a smile. "I haven't been called mum since ages. Besides it was convincing."
"I didn't called anyone mum for ages so I guess that we are square," Mirzam giggled.
"But if we want it to look even more convincing you will have to move here. Unofficially at least," Mrs Black said thoughtfully. "There is enough rooms in this house for you to arrange it to your taste."
"That would be imposing," Mirzam shook her head.
"That would be convincing," Mrs Black shook her head. "Some books and clothes lying around and Cassie would never doubt in you. Plus this way you can stay for the night whenever you want."
"I don't want to cause troubles," Mirzam mumbled.
"Phew, no trouble at all," Mrs Black sighed. "Out of pure curiosity what you were doing during this vacation, the one Cassie mentioned?"
"I was lying in hospital in coma. A bus didn't agreed with me. Got a solemn promise that if I ever do it again I will be strangled," Mirzam said remembering the look on Sirius's face when she woke up from the coma.
"Territorial?" asked Mrs Black.
"You have no idea Mrs Black. He always made good impression of a sheepdog herding the sheep. Typical 'you can stay here and play but if you move too far I'm going to bite your leg' attitude," she snickered.
"Sounds like Sirius," Mrs Black said quietly. "I wish ... I wish that I wasn't so hard on him. I wish that I could turn back time."
"We all do," Mirzam whispered.
"You are staying for the dinner, aren't you?" Mrs Black asked.
"I don't want to ..." Mirzam started but Mrs Black cut her off.
"Yes or no, Mirzam," she said quickly.
Mirzam glanced at the kid who was sitting on her knees and playing with a little puffy dog.
"Yes," she said finally with a small smile.
Ignatius Prewett possessed unusual ability for a member of pure-blood family, he could go anywhere and would blend with the background in a matter of seconds. This quality would make him a successful Auror or a very vicious Death Eater. He, however, wasn't an Auror or a Death Eater.
Since he was little boy he was always fascinated with the laws, the way trials worked. He loved coming up with scenarios for trials and spent a lot of his free time at trying to find a way to defend or accuse someone. Of course not for real. His childhood fascination lead him to the job he had now. He was very successful attorney and between the trials he was working in Animagi Register.
Married at the age of twenty-five to Lucretia Black, older sister of his childhood friend, he built a stable home for his wife and himself.
Unlike most of arranged marriages, Ignatius's marriage was also a marriage of love and the only thing he and his wife couldn't have were kids. It wasn't like Ignatius and Lucretia didn't wanted to have kids, oh they wanted to have them very much, preferably a trio: two boys and a little girl to spoil rotten. But fate was cruel and took away the only chance for Ignatius and Lucretia to have a child. Shortly after Orion's younger son was born Lucretia announced the family that she was expecting a child, a boy to be more precise. Six months after the announcement Lucretia went into the labour ... after long and painful seventeen hours the cries filled the room, but it wasn't a childish cry. Lucretia delivered a stillborn.
It throw off anyone in the family. It took Lucretia seven long and painful years to come back to mental stability from before that night. Ignatius himself while mourned his little son who hadn't a chance to grow up had more important things on his mind than having a nervous breakdown. He had been standing by Lucretia's side all the time and slowly helped her in coming with terms with the fact that they could never have another child.
That's why both of them were so drawn to every kid in the family. Orion's sons were spoiled rotten by the time they went to Hogwarts. So when Arcturus told them to check upon Walburga and her grandson they went there happily.
As far as pure-blood philosophy was concerned Lucretia and Ignatius didn't particularly cared, much anyway. It didn't mattered to them that Homam was half-blood, he could be a pure-blood or even a squib for all they cared and they would still went to Walburga to see the kid. A kid was a kid, end of story.
Right now Ignatius felt bored. Today he was on duty in Animagi Register. Like always the small office was empty, save him. Last time he saw anyone registering was twenty years ago. But duty was a duty and he was sitting at his desk staring at the shelves on the other side of the room.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and he almost fell from his chair.
"Come in," he called happily, finally he had some work.
The door opened and slowly a head peaked inside.
"Can I talk with you for a moment, sir?" asked the woman.
The woman looked young. From his position Ignatius saw curly, jet-black hair. But what really caught his eye were her eyes, definitely violet.
"Of course you can, Auror Verascez," he said, guessing that the woman was the one Cassiopeia described.
"How do you know my name?" the woman asked as entered the room and closed the door.
"Not every day a young woman with violet eyes berates Hogwarts's Headmaster in my in-law's presence," Ignatius chuckled. "Cassiopeia described you quite well."
Verascez sighed heavily as she sat on the other chair.
"So what brings you here?" Ignatius asked.
"I hoped that you can tell me more about Animagus Transformation. More than I found in books," Verascez said pensively.
"You want details of the process or just one particular?" he asked thoughtfully.
"Details. What do I need to become one?" she asked.
Ignatius scratched his head as he asked, "You want to become one?"
"I thought about it lately," Verascez confirmed.
"You need a potion called Animagi Concoction. It's very difficult to prepare and if something goes wrong during the brewing the results would be drastic. But there is an easier way around it. In Apothecary you can find Animal Taming Potion, it has the base of Animagi Concotion, then you need to add Morpheus Potion and start mixing both of them carefully. Remember, one spoon of Morpheus and ten stirs, clockwise. After you have all Morpheus mixed with Animal Taming you leave it to cool off, a day of cooling would do. Then you need to add your hairs, remember, not a single hair, not two but at least enough to fill a tablespoon. After you add the hair you need to boil it on a very small fire for at least a day, I advise two for safety measure. Then you let it to cool off again, but no longer than three to four hours," he said thoughtfully.
"And then?" Verascez asked curiously.
"After these three, four hours you need to drink it. From there the harder part starts," Ignatius said slowly. "From the moment you drunk it you have to calm yourself down, completely, you can't let anything disturb you. That's when most of Transformations go wrong. I don't know exact details concerning what happens now but I will tell you what I know. If you calm down, you will fall in some kind of lethargy and in this lethargic state you will need to find your animal. That's the practical stage of Animagi Transformation. Now legal side."
"I know that I would need a permission from my boss and after mastering I will have to register immediately," Verascez said quickly. "First part is already taken care of."
"Crouch let you?" Ignatius asked curiously.
"He wasn't very happy about it but he grudgingly admitted that I had a point and the search of Harry Potter is more important than his sense of job ethic," Verascez explained.
"You play dirty," Ignatius snickered.
"Someone taught me how to play poker. I make good use of this knowledge, sir," Verascez gave him a small smile.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"I know that I will have to come to you to register. Transform so you can write detailed description of my other self. I guess that's all," Verascez said with a sigh.
"You made your homework well," he admitted.
"I'm a Ravenclaw," she smiled as she stood up.
"Good to meet a fellow Raven," he shook her hand. "Have a good day Auror Verascez."
The alarm of the clock went precisely at six o'clock. The noise woke up Mirzam who threw the offending device on the floor. The fall didn't shut it up so she had to get out from the bed and turn it off.
She spent the night at looking for Pettigrew in Glasgow. She assumed that Pettigrew after escaping decided to have at least a connection to wizarding world and found himself a magical family. She had no idea which family could it be so she started examining all rats in wizarding families in Britain, alphabetically. In so far she learned that the Averys, the Aboots, the Bones, the Burkes and the Browns didn't had rats at all and the Campbells in Glasgow really needed a bloody rodent exterminator.
She knew that she couldn't visit the families directly so every time she was hidden safely while she tried to summon the rats. But after yesterday's disaster she thought that perhaps summoning wasn't very good idea. She really needed to master the animagi, quickly.
Animagi Transformation was another problem. In so far she had to prepare the potion three times in a matter of last month and every single time it didn't worked. Suddenly she remembered why she set the alarm at six o'clock in the morning on her day off.
"Bloody Animagi Concoction," she muttered as she rushed in the direction of the kitchen. "At least I will knock myself out for at least six hours."
She poured the Concoction into the goblet and carried it to her room. She sat down on the bed and covered herself with the blanket before she brought the goblet to her lips and muttered to herself, "Cheers."
She downed the goblet quickly and immediately fell asleep.
Unlike other three times this time she realised that she was seeing something. It looked like a clearing in the spring. Suddenly there was a noise not very far away and she inwardly cheered. It sounded like a cat. She was a cat, how bloody fitting.
'Wait Pettigrew I will get you in no time,' she thought triumphantly as she started approaching the noise.
About forty feet away from her on the ground was lying a big, shaggy cat with thick brown fur. Upon seeing her the cat opened its eyes and stared at her. She realised that something was wrong. The animal posses some features of the human form. She had jet-black hair and cat's fur was brown. She had violet eyes and the cat's eyes weren't violet, they were green.
Suddenly she heard a noise from behind, it sounded like a bark. She turned around and saw a dog. If asked to specify the bred of the dog she would say that it was a golden retriever, with indigo blue eyes. On the top of dog's head was sitting a raven with its head crooked a bit, it was staring at her curiously. That's when she saw its eyes. They were violet.
"Oh shit," she mumbled.
Suddenly she saw, and felt that all three jumped at her.
She jolted awake, panting like she just ran a mile at hers top speed.
"Oh bugger," she mumbled.
For Walburga last month had passed pretty quickly. Between taking care of Homam, meeting with annoying but well-meaning (for themselves) relatives and occasional visits of both, Snape and Mirzam (separately) she really had no time to worry about anything. But not today.
She woke up feeling that something bad was about to happen. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't shake it off. For her own sanity she put on her dressing-gown and went to check up on Homam.
She nearly had a heart attack when she realised that his crib was empty. With a hand on her heart she called Kreacher and asked him if he knew where Homam was. Kreacher didn't knew but immediately started searching the house for Homam.
After five minutes which for Walburga seemed like ages he came back and told her what she dreaded the most. Homam was kidnapped.
Lucretia Prewett was on her way to Improper Use of Magic Office where she was working. She passed the guard, gave him small nod and went to the hall with the lifts. In front of one she saw young woman in Auror uniform who was leaning against the wall.
"Hard duty?" she asked the woman.
"Bad night," Auror explained. "I couldn't sleep and when I actually fell asleep I had a hell of a nightmare."
"Happens to everybody," Lucretia said compassionately.
The grille slid off and both women entered the lift.
"Level two I presume?" Lucretia asked.
The Auror nodded. Lucretia pressed the number two. The grille was about to shut when she heard someone calling to hold the lift.
She caught the grille to prevent it from closing and was very surprised upon seeing her sister-in-law.
"Wally?" she whispered in shock.
"Lucy?" Walburga breathed out and then her eyes fell on the Auror. "Mirzam Verascez. I need your help."
"What had happened?" the Auror asked quickly.
"Homam had been kidnapped," Walburga breathed out.
The words hit her like a lightning bolt. Homam had been kidnapped. Harry Potter had been kidnapped. Of, fucking shit.
"Not here," Mirzam said. "Around the corner is a restaurant. We will go there and then you will tell me everything you know."
The guard seemed surprised when he saw three women who just barely came into the Ministry of Magic running out like the hell itself was chasing after them.
Mirzam sat both woman at the table in the corner and immediately ordered three glasses of water.
"Now, tell me what had happened," she told Mrs Black.
"I woke up this morning with a feeling that something bad was about to happen. I went to his room and found his crib empty. Kreacher checked the house but he didn't found him," Mrs Black said quickly.
"You didn't heard any noise during the night?" Mirzam asked.
"Nothing," Mrs Black said, her voice sounded hysterical.
"I'd like to talk to Kreacher," Mirzam said pensively.
Talking with Kreacher didn't gave her any clue. Just proved the obvious. Someone broke into the house and took Homam away.
"Were there any people who didn't liked the idea of you taking him in?" Mirzam asked after she sent Kreacher off.
"Pollux and Irma, her parents," Lucretia Prewett answered for Mrs Black. "Also her younger brother and his wife. They could pass the news to her daughters who probably weren't happy either."
"I want their detailed addresses," Mirzam said quickly. "I'm going to check their houses. Hopefully in one of them I will find him, hopefully alive. If I do I want you to pack few weeks worth of clothes and leave the country, immediately. It happened once and it could happen again and until I will find a proper hook for the kidnapper to hang I don't want you to stay in England."
Lucretia gave Mirzam detailed addresses since Mrs Black started crying hysterically and before any woman could say anything she disapparated.
She apparated directly next to the gates to Malfoy Manor. She stared at the gates with disgust. They looked locked and heavily cursed. She almost got a heart attack when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
"Mirzam Verascez, Auror Mirzam Verascez," asked hoarse voice.
"Who are you?" she asked as she reached for her wand and turned around to face the stranger.
In front of her stood Severus Snape, lately Hogwarts' Potion Master, and formerly a suspected Death Eater, one of the few who got away.
"Homam Black had been kidnapped," Snape whispered. "I'm here to see the Malfoys."
"So it was them," Mirzam muttered grimly.
"No. Bellatrix Lestrange kidnapped him. The Malfoys agreed to keep him for few days. Listen Verascez, some people are planning something drastic to happen. I don't know exact details but it's going to be catastrophic if they succeed," Snape pulled her down so both of them were kneeling.
"Do you know if Homam is alive?" she asked quickly.
"As far as I know, yes he is. They plan to finish him off later. I guess that he is held in the basement, one of the few cells, you will know when you see it," Snape answered. "If you plan on getting both inside and outside you aren't going to do it without me. There is an Anti-Appration ward on the house. Can you make yourself invisible?" he asked hastily.
"I have a cloak, but I'm going to need it on my way out. I'm going to cast Disillusion and then transform," Mirzam said quickly.
"Hide under my cloak till we get inside. Then, first corridor on the left, first stairs down. If he isn't in the first basement then check the second. As soon as you have him came back to the front door and wait for me," Snape said briskly.
She nodded, quickly cast Disillusion on herself and transformed into a cat. When she hid under Snape's long cloak he slowly approached the gates.
"Severus Snape to see Lucius Malfoy," he said blankly.
The gates swung open.
They marched through the garden quickly and all too soon the front door swung open revealing Lucius Malfoy. Mirzam seized the opportunity and slid inside through the small space between man's legs and the door barely holding back the urge to bite the wanker.
As quickly as her small legs allowed her she ran through the hallway into first corridor which seemed to be an endless tube. She paid no attention to anything which wasn't the stairs and soon she saw a narrow staircase leading below the ground level. She ran down and when she reached the landing transformed back. She quickly checked if Disillusion was still in place before she saw the only door on the level.
She tried to turn the knob and nearly almost cursed when she found it locked. But she was always prepared for opportunities like this one. From her right pocket she pulled out the knife which Sirius gave her for her nineteenth birthday. The knife was amazing and saved her life more than once. Now it was time to use it again.
As carefully as she could she slipped the blade between the doorframe and the door on the level of the lock. She moved it gently to the left and breathed out in relief when the door clicked silently. She opened it wide enough so she could slid inside.
On the other side of the door was a long corridor which lead to another door. On both sides were bared cells. It made her blood boil and if she hadn't more important things on her mind she would blow them up. But now her priority number one was finding Homam.
She walked past twelve cells on both sides, checking if they were empty. Finally in the thirteenth on the left she found small bundle on the floor. Through the bars she cast silencing charm and started toying with the lock. It gave quickly and she entered the cell slowly, fearing that the worst had happened.
She approached the bundle and breathed out in relief when she saw small chest raising and falling slowly. He was asleep. She knelt next to him and checked for visible injuries but found none.
Satisfied with his state she pulled out invisibility cloak from her pocket and covered herself before she gently picked up sleeping boy.
When she left the cell, she closed it shut as silently as she could and went in the direction of the door. After the door to the basement had been closed shut too, she started slowly taking step after step. She had to be very careful so the invisibility cloak didn't slid off. Once she found herself on the corridor on ground floor she once again checked if both of them were covered by the cloak.
The way to the hallway felt like endless and it seemed to Mirzam that she will never leave this damned Mansion. Finally she reached the hallway and went to stand close to the front door. Now all she could do was waiting for Snape to come back and pray that he will come back soon.
Her prayers seemed to be answered because just two minutes later Snape appeared. He looked seriously pissed off. He went immediately to the front door. When he put his hand on the doorknob he looked like he contemplated something.
She reached out, touched his wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze. At that he let out a small sigh and opened the door wide enough for her to slid through. He walked out of the Mansion few steps after her but he quickly caught up with her and they reached the gates together.
The gates swung open and both walked on the main road. When the gates closed behind them Snape reached for her hand and pulled her in the direction of the village.
For two minutes they walked silently until the manor had vanished from the view.
"Take it off," Snape whispered.
She did as he asked her too and quietly took off the Disillusion.
Upon seeing both of them Snape breathed out in relief, deep.
"Thank Merlin. I will Side-Along-Apparate you to London," he said as he hooked his arm around her shoulders and they disappareted.
Walburga was going spare. She was worried sick about Homam and Mirzam. She nearly strangled Lucretia when she realised that her sister-in-law sent young woman on her own to Malfoy Manor. Lucretia told her that Mirzam was going to be fine, after all if she supposedly was Sirius partner she had to have something in her which prevented both Aurors from strangling each other. That wasn't very comforting thought.
"I packed you clothes for you and Homam for at least two months. Your bags are in the hall, with a lightening charm in place. You will leave as soon as Verascez comes back," Lucretia announced as she walked into the library.
"If she comes back," whispered Walburga. "You sent her to the Malfoys on her own. You didn't even went with her to act as a decoy!"
"She won't need one. She is an Auror and a Ravenclaw. She will find a way, Wally," Lucretia said comfortingly.
Suddenly there was a loud crack in the hall. Walburga rushed in its direction on the top speed.
In the middle of the hall were standing Mirzam Verascez with Severus Snape's arm draped around her shoulders and in Mirzam's arms was sleeping Homam.
"One Homam Black safely returned into his grandmother's arms and one Mirzam Verascez who was brave enough to kidnap him from Malfoy Manor, check," Snape said triumphantly.
"Not to mention one Severus Snape who had the best timing I ever knew," added Mirzam happily.
"Thank Merlin, you are safe," Walburga exhaled loudly and rushed to hug all three.
"Grandma where we are going?" Homam asked tentatively as Walburga pulled him closer to her. They were at Waterloo station and were trying to get to platform four.
"Abroad Homam. We are going to France for few weeks," she pulled him even closer and lead him down the stairs to the platform four where the express to Paris was already waiting. She mentally thanked Lucy for charming their luggage to fit in a small bag which she was clutching with her other hand.
They entered their compartment and she put their bag in the luggage rack. After she checked if it was secure she sat down next to Homam and she pulled him on her knees to sit.
"Why France?" Homam asked curiously.
"I like France Hommy and I'm sure that you would like it too. Besides it would be better if we spend few weeks outside the London," she smiled at him.
"Why?" Homam continued asking.
"Grandma had a row with the family and it will help them to cool off if they wouldn't see us for a while, longer while," she hugged him.
Homam nodded and snuggled closer to her. He put his head on her chest and in a moment the train started moving he was sleeping soundly.
Walburga smoothed his jet-black hair and smiled down at him. Homam was such a cute kid. She remembered how he was acting shortly after she took him home, he was so scared. Spending few weeks with this awful Muggles leave a mark on the kid and few weeks had to pass before Walburga could tell that the kid was in good state again. It was hard to imagine that someone would put an innocent child, a toddler in a cupboard under the stairs. Poor Lily Potter if her parents treated her as hers sister treated Lily's son. What Dumbledore had in mind when he left the kid with the Dursley's because certainly it wasn't kids well-being.
She smiled grimly at the thought of how Dumbledore was suffering for last few weeks. From Cassiopeia she found out that Dumbledore was getting at least ten Howlers daily and had troubles with DMLE. Walburga almost pitied Hogwarts' Headmaster for that. But truth was told who in the right mind leaves Saviour of Wizarding World under the care of most awful pair Muggles Wizarding World ever knew... so Dumbledore brought it all on himself on his own wish.
Walburga heard footsteps outside their compartment and she glanced in that direction. On the corridor stood a pair of young people. The woman had a toddler in her arms, judging by the hair-cut the kid was a girl. She had the most wonderful shade of brown hair Walburga ever saw on a kid's head, thought it was very bushy, but still the colour was beautiful.
Less than a minute later young man opened the door to the compartment and asked politely, "Would you mind if we joined you in this compartment?"
Walburga shook her head, she wouldn't mind at all. It was probably better and safer for her to travel with Muggles. She tried her best to dress like old Muggle woman for the journey so travelling with Muggles wouldn't be a problem.
The man turned to his wife and took their bag. He put it on luggage rack as his wife sat down on the seat opposite to Walburga, the girl on her knees. The child beamed at Walburga and Walburga felt that the corners of her lips twitched. The girl was picture of innocence, shoulder-length, brown hair pulled in two pigtails and a pair of curious brown eyes.
"You have such a sweet daughter," Walburga said with small smile. "What's your name dear?" she asked the girl.
"Her-my-onee," the girl said cheerfully and Walburga saw that the girl was wearing some kind of weird artefact. She remembered seeing something similar in Regulus's Muggle Studies book once, it was called braces or something similar and was supposed to fix crooked teeth if a Muggle happened to have them. Wizards never had problems like that, few well applied charms and the teeth were white, straight and square.
"Hermione," the woman corrected the girl.
"Good, strong name," Walburga admitted. "Very melodic."
"What's your name?" the girl asked curiously.
"Hermione," her mother breathed out.
"Miss," the girl added politely.
"Walburga," Walburga said with a smile.
"And what's his name?" Hermione pointed at Homam.
"Homam," Walburga said.
"What kind of name is that?" the girl asked and she cocked her head to her right
"Comes from Arabian, it's a name of a star in Pegasus constellation and means lucky star of a hero," Walburga explained.
"Very original name," said girl's mother.
"Typical for my family. The more original, the more weirder the name is then it's more appreciated in my family. I married Orion and had sons named Sirius and Regulus," Walburga admitted.
"At last you didn't had problems with calling them at family meetings. I'm fourth John in my family and I'm only counting three generations, mine included," sighed girl's father.
"Actually Sirius had been named after paternal great-grandfather while Regulus was named after his paternal uncle. My husband loved both of them dearly, mostly because both of them spoiled him rotten when he was a child," Walburga said with a small smile.
"Was he an only child?" asked the woman.
"No, he had older sister but he was the only boy in the family," Walburga explained then she turned to the woman. "And what's your name dear? I know your husband's and your daughter's name but I don't know yours."
"Jane. Jane Granger," the woman introduced herself as she extended her hand in a greeting.
"Nice to meet you. All of you," Walburga smiled. "So where are you heading?"
After they left their train at Gare du Nord the Grangers went to their hotel which was situated somewhere on Rue la Fayette while Walburga and Homam went to Hotel de Ville where they were supposed to spend next few weeks.
Walburga had to promise distraught Homam that he will meet Hermione in next few days and to made sure that she and the Grangers could separate the kids for this few days they decided to meet under the Eiffel tower day after next which allowed each family to go to their respective hotels.
To tell the truth Walburga couldn't blame Homam for clinging dearly to a kid around his age who treated him like normal companion. Walburga knew better than to tell Homam, especially now, that this may be the only time when he and Hermione could spend some time with each other. The girl was a Muggle while Homam was a wizard and no matter if he wanted it to change it was the thing which couldn't be changed. Besides the Grangers were coming back to London next week while Walburga will be staying in Paris for at least a month if not two.
Next day after successful kidnapping of Homam Black from Malfoy Manor and Mrs Black leaving England to Mirzam arrived small black owl with a note. It read:
Wanna go out for a drink? My threat. Today, nine o'clock, at Roberts. I will meet you inside.
Mirzam smiled recognising the author, reached for the quill and wrote one word:
Sure.
Care to share your opinion?
Cassiopeia, dear Cassiopeia. I loved messing with her mind in this chapter. As for Mirzam, right now she cares about Homam purely out of sense of decency, duty, respect to a friend ... insert anything which isn't uncondicional love of a mother. Right now it's too soon for her to act like a mother, not to mention chasing after Pettigrew, which at this moment is her top priority. If, and I shall repeat, if Mirzam will ever decide to mother Homam it will take a long time to get there.
Next chapter: Walburga in Paris. Mirzam's meeting with the author of this little note at the end of the chapter. Lucretia describes Homam's rescue at the dinner with Arcturus, Melania, Ignatius and Cassiopeia. A little chaos ensues, Mirzam tries to take advantage from it and wants get another permision to visit our dearest prisoner who needs to be update on important matters.