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.
Preview: More Black family. As promised at the end of last chapter: Arcturus in front of Mirzam's TV which I hope is going to be as hilarious as I felt that it was when I wrote it. Mirzam uses Azkaban's Pass and vists Sirius. Sirius general reaction to the news. Some... okay I'll let You read it by Yourselves.
AN: Chapter not beta read - because I still didn't found anyone. Anyone willing to take this job?
Read, enjoy and review (it makes me happy).
Chapter four: The Auror, the Prisoner and the Azkaban.
Walburga glanced at the watch. It read ten minutes after six o'clock. Mirzam was supposed to show up at six o'clock. If it happened at any other day Walburga won't be worried very much, ten minutes was ten minutes, she was probably running late, had to come back to the Ministry because she forgot something, typical stuff which happens to anyone. But today Walburga really wanted her to come punctually.
"She is running late," stated her father grimly.
"Your wife committed a suicide," her aunt muttered with a huff.
"Polly! Cassie!" her father-in-law said warningly.
"Sorry Archie," Cassiopeia gave him small smile. "I thought that we are playing 'State a Random Fact'," then she turned to Walburga and asked, "She told you that she will come at six o'clock?"
Walburga nodded and from the corner of her eye she saw her sister-in-law feeding Homam with cookies and she sighed, "Dinner first, desert later."
"Oh, come on, Wally," Lucretia groaned. "He is just a kid."
"He is just a kid and at his age picking bad habits is very easy," Walburga huffed.
"As if one cookie will hurt," her mother-in-law added.
"Generally when you tell someone to be at six o'clock it means that you are supposed to be at six o'clock," her father huffed.
"Mirzam, unlike some people here, works, very hard on that," Cassiopeia pointed out lividly. "You chauvinistic, whiny, little b..."
"Cassie!" Walburga snapped.
"Baboon," Cassiopeia finished calmly.
"What's a baboon?" asked Homam curiously.
"Great-grandpa Polly," answered Cassiopeia at the same time as Lucretia answered, "A kind of a monkey."
Homam stared at Walburga, as if he was asking for clarification. She was really tempted to agree with Cassiopeia but nevertheless said, "A kind of monkey, Hommy."
"When mummy will come back?" Homam asked timidly.
"Anytime now," replied Walburga with a small smile.
Teaching Homam to call Mirzam mum took them five long days. He seemed to remember to call her mum but sometimes called her Mi (since poor kid had a problem with saying Mirzam). Homam seemed to be fine with it because mum was mum but Mirzam sometimes gave Walburga impression like she was scared of being called mum. She seemed to take it best when the rest of the family was around because she had to live up to the story they concocted.
Suddenly there was a crack of apparation upstairs and five seconds later Mirzam appeared in the doorway. She threw quick, "Hello everybody!" on her way to the sink she bend over Homam and kissed his cheek, then went to Walburga and gave her small one-armed hug as she said, "Hello mum," and she went to wash her hands.
"How was your day my dear?" Walburga asked when Mirzam dried her hands, her acting like overly cheerful mother-in-law threw her father off.
"Fantastic," Mirzam said happily as she sat at chair between Homam and Lucretia then she bend and kissed Homam's cheek once more before she turned to face the rest and announced, "I'm going to Azkaban."
"I fall to see what is so funny in going to Azkaban," Pollux pointed out grimly.
"I have no idea but if you want me I will ask Sirius. From what I heard he laughed all the way to Azkaban," Mirzam replied quickly, and Walburga couldn't help but admire how well Mirzam held herself against her father.
"You got Azkaban's Pass?" asked Lucretia, her voice sounded relieved.
"Better," Mirzam beamed at her. "I got three months worth Azkaban's Pass with No Dementors Request. I can visit Sirius twice in a week."
"Did you Confunded Madam Bones?" Ignatius asked curiously.
"Nope," Mirzam shook her head and then as Kreacher put a plate in front of her she added, "Thank you Kreacher."
"Then how did you persuaded her into three months worth Azkaban's Pass?" Lucretia asked curiously.
"Simply," Mirzam said as she leaned against the back of her chair. "I told her the truth. I can look for filthy little rat during my free time."
"Is she arranging the trial for Sirius?" asked Ignatius briskly and Walburga couldn't help a small chuckle escaping her lips at Iggy's eagerness.
"Not yet," Mirzam shook her head. "We both know that if the trial took place now, without Pettigrew we won't succeed. That's why I need to work extra hard to find this slimy, little rat before Azkaban's Pass runs out. It's a wonder that I got this one."
"But Amelia Bones believes in your story and for now that's what really matters," said Cassiopeia firmly.
"So when are you going to Azkaban?" asked Ignatius.
"Tomorrow, after breakfast. Around ten o'clock in the morning I think. I need to pick a spare change of clothes for Sirius from my flat so I can smuggle it to Azkaban," Mirzam replied quickly.
"You have that telefishion thing there?" asked Arcturus suddenly.
Mirzam nodded.
"Would you mind if I came around and checked it?" asked Arcturus curiously.
"No problem at all," Mirzam shook her head.
"Why you want to check it?" asked Pollux grimly.
"I'm curious how it works and I want to see what's different in it from the radio. You can come with me if you want, Polly. Mirzam wouldn't mind you, would you Mirzam?" he turned to her.
"Not at all," Mirzam replied.
"We will see," Pollux muttered.
Mirzam finished reading the story about 'Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump' and saw that the kid fell asleep against her. She couldn't help a small smile which made its way on her face as she closed the book and put it at the small table next to the armchair.
Since Mrs Black found out that Cassiopeia let the proverbial Kneazel out of the bag she made Mirzam spent almost every night at Grimmauld and made her a part of Homam's life. Together they spent five days at teaching Homam to call her mom and while they succeed Mirzam couldn't help but be scared every time she heard him call her mom.
It wasn't like she didn't wanted to be a mother. She really wanted to have a child, or two, but in her plans being a mother was so distant future that she really paid no attention to it. Then Homam came and she concocted that little scheme and now she had to live up to it.
She smiled at the memory of the first dinner with the Black family. It was really entertaining memory even in the moment when Mr Black asked her why Homam has green eyes when she had violet and Sirius had grey. The answer she gave him was that her mother's eyes were green and Homam probably picked it up from his grandmother.
"Thank Merlin, they are gone," she heard Mrs Black whisper from the doorway. "Is he asleep?"
Mirzam nodded.
"What about Madam Bones?" asked Mrs Black curiously.
"She knows the truth. Full truth," Mirzam replied and looked into older woman's eyes. "I had to tell her. I have suspicions that she is a Legilimens. She is okay with it. Told me to send her love to you Madam."
"Oh, will you stop it Mirzam," Mrs Black sighed. "You don't have problems with calling me mum in front of the family but once they are gone you switch back to formalities."
"Habit," Mirzam gave her a sheepish smile.
"Get rid of it because someday one of them will come with a surprise visit and will hear you calling me Madam. I told you that I was fine with mum," Mrs Black stated in a firm whisper.
"Okay," Mirzam said and when Mrs Black gave her a mean glare she added, "Mum."
"What send him to sleep this time?" Mrs Black asked curiously.
"Babbitty Rabbitty," Mirzam replied as she picked up sleeping child and stood up.
"So you have her blessing with using Harry Potter as a cover," Mrs Black said then added curiously, "You aren't leaving for the night, are you?"
"I'm not," Mirzam shook her head as she walked to Homam's crib. "If I'm going to Azkaban tomorrow I need to be coherent unless I want to fell out from the boat," she added as she bend over the crib and put sleeping child inside it.
"How are you going to smuggle clothes for Sirius to Azkaban?" asked Mrs Black.
"I will Dissilussion them. Thankfully Sirius and I were the same high and I kept some jeans, sweaters and some underwear of his even after he was imprisoned," Mirzam replied with a gentle smile.
"Why you didn't threw it out?" Mrs Black asked as she put her arm around Mirzam's waist, because she was too small to put it around her shoulders.
"I'm organised when it comes to my job but outside it I'm a total slob," Mirzam replied truthfully. "Plus I was too tired to throw them out and it's a good thing that I didn't."
"Gave him my love my dear," Mrs Black said warmly and then added firmly, "To the bed with you young lady, we don't want you to fell overboard."
Pollux examined Verascez's flat curiously. It wasn't spectacular, it had two bedrooms, living-room, bathroom and a kitchen. Furniture was mostly wooden and in white colour even if the set of colours in the flat was a bit too lively for him. Red tiled kitchen, green painted living-room, blue painted bigger bedroom and lavender nursery (or at least the room which was supposed to be a nursery because except an old closet there was nothing inside it). Typically Muggle neighbourhood.
Arcturus already settled himself on small couch in the living-room and watched as Verascez turned that telething on. Something appeared on the front of the box.
"That would be it," she said as she backed away from the front of the box and sat down on the couch next to Arcturus and added, "This," she pointed at red coloured button at the end of something which looked like a very weird wand, "turns it off and on. The rest with the numbers switches the programs. These two turns the sound louder or quieter, I advise not turning it on the max level of loudness if you don't want my neighbourhood to come here. These two switches the programs."
"And this one," Arcturus pointed at one of the buttons.
"This one switches the sound off. Press it once and the television will go mute, press it another and the sound will come back," she explained. "Anything else?"
"That would be it," Arcturus said.
"I have some tea and coffee in the upper cupboard closest to the front door. Mugs are in the one next to it. Sugar on the table and I think that I have some biscuits in the cookie jar if you want something to drink and eat," she said thoughtfully.
"You have these sciento books you mentioned other day?" asked Pollux curiously.
"Second shelf to the top," Verascez said as she pointed at the bookshelf which was standing between the couch and the window. "The book entitled 'Biology'. Now excuse me I need to pick something."
"Go ahead," Arcturus replied.
Sirius felt restless and worried, in fact he felt like that for the last month, since Mirzam had visited and suggested that his mother could kidnap Harry. It wasn't very comforting thought so two Dementors guarding his door couldn't take it.
He was lying on his cot after spending full night at walking around his cell. He was a bit sleepy and very hungry since the excuse of food he got for breakfast didn't filled his stomach very much. He craved for a huge, raw steak, with French fries and spinach. His mind craved for food as well, only a food of different kind; a book, a huge book which could take him days to read.
'She will find him,' he reassured himself for what filled like thousand time. 'She will find him and then everything will come back to normal.'
He listened to the sounds outside the cell. It became a habit since Mirzam visited him, he yearned to hear her footsteps on the corridor outside, to hear her voice, to see her beautiful violet eyes, to feel the warmth of her embrace, the warmth she had and he no longer possessed. He felt cold, empty, trapped inside his own mind with his worst memories and fears as companions.
He remembered how frustrated he felt every time he asked her out before Hogsmead weekends and she said no. When he was at Hogwarts it was a habit of his, to ask her out in front of the rest of the girls, made a fool of himself and get no. He dated so many girls that he couldn't even remember names of half of them, but Mirzam always said no. To tell the truth, it was what really drawn him to her from the beginning, she laughed at his antics but she had never agreed to go out with him. He was fascinated by her, by her ability to resist his charm and he nearly walked into a wall when he saw her walking down the corridor at the Auror Training Centre.
He quickly discovered that she wanted to be the best trainee and in the exact moment he found out that tradition required to put first and second best trainees as partners he started pushing himself to his limits. He wanted to be her partner because it was the only way to get to know her. He expected that it was going to be really hard but then the Massacre had happened and he had saved her life and they fell into comfortable routine and gradually became friends.
Until Dumbledore suggested that they may try to find new members for the Order of the Phoenix when he realised how deep his feelings for her were. For once he didn't wanted her to be a member of the Order of the Phoenix, being an Auror was enough of a risk for her and he felt unyielding need to protect her with everything he had.
'Fool,' he thought to himself.
Footsteps outside the corridor, long, sure strides he came to associate as Mirzam's during the years of their partnership. They stopped in front of his cell and his heart leapt in his chest. She was here, she came to talk with him.
Dementors made unhappy sound and he cringed.
"How it went?" he heard her voice. "Expelo, explore, expero, expecto?"
The coldness suddenly started leaving him and he realised that the Dementors left. The lock in his door clicked and his heart leapt for the second time. The door opened wide enough for her to slid in and he saw her.
Her long, curly, jet-black hair were falling around her face. Her violet eyes glowed with mirth. Her checks were pink, as if she was running all the way down to his cell. In this moment she looked otherworldly, like higher being, like an angel from the sky which came down to earth to save him. She looked beautiful.
She run down three stairs to the bottom of the cell and said briskly, "Take off that rag they gave you for a robe."
He was dumbstruck. Sure it was nice, almost like in some of his late night fantasies which made him rather die than ever admit them to her, but this was real, this was now and this was Mirzam.
"Take it off," she repeated and she put the bag on the floor and only then he realised that she had a bag with her.
She took of her Auror uniform, dropped it on the floor and appeared to be taking off something, except she wasn't because her sweater was still on. Then she made a move like she was taking off her jeans, except she wasn't because they were still on her. When she finished she glanced at him curiously before she shook her head and made a move like she was grabbing something from the floor and she threw it in his direction.
Something hit him in the chest and it was then when he realised that it was something warm and invisible.
"Your clothes," she said with a small smile as she sat down on the floor and started taking of her boots. "Dissilussioned, so no one can see that you are wearing them. Give me a moment and I will give you your socks."
She took her boots of and rolled down invisible socks before she threw them at him and smiled at him, "Change and I will give you a treat."
She put her boots on, picked up her bag and wandered to the small table in the corner. She put the bag on the table and it was only then when he dared to take off the filthy rag. He quickly found the sweater and realised that under it was a shirt. He put it on in a matter of a second and sniffed the apples and old parchment, Mirzam. Then he picked up the trousers and almost got a heart attack when he realised that she even brought him clean boxers.
"What I'm supposed to do with the dirty pair?" he finally found his voice.
"Hide it under the mattress, I can't Dissilusion them because the guards are screening the spells," she replied without turning back.
He nodded and with a glance at her direction, which made him realise that she really wasn't looking, he took the offending garment off and put on the clean one. The same he did to his socks and he felt relieved when he put the dirty underwear under the mattress before he put on his Azkaban's robe.
"What's inside of the bag?" he asked curiously as he wandered to the table.
"Early lunch," she replied cheerfully. "I thought that you could be much more talkative after decent food and the guards agreed with me. Your favourite: almost alive steak, French fries and spinach. Pity that I couldn't smuggle some Firewhiskey, so pumpkin juice will have to do," she replied as she took the take-away container from her bag and set it on the table.
"Mirzam," he whispered in awe.
"Eat, we will talk after you are feed," she said firmly.
He sat down at the only one chair obediently and opened the container. Inside it were two raw steaks and something which looked like four handfuls of French fries and one handful of spinach. He inhaled and heard his stomach grumbling loudly, the breakfast was so yesterday.
He picked up the steak with his hands and glanced at her.
"Sorry for no fork or knife. They thought that I may stab you," she said with a sheepish smile.
"Reminds me of Donovan's murder," he smiled back at her before he took a bite.
It was delicious. He swallowed and looked at her expectantly, prompting her to talk.
"Talk and I will eat," he grinned at her.
"I don't want you to choke," she said quickly.
"I promise that I won't choke. Marauder's honour," he said seriously.
"I found him," she said in a whisper. "But officially I'm still looking and I will probably get grey hair before I stop. He is safe and taken care of."
"Who has him?" he asked as he reached fries.
"Your mother," she replied and his hand froze in the air.
"My mother, my godson, safe and taken care of doesn't belong to the same sentence, Mirzam," he said grimly.
"They do," she shook her head. "I saw him this morning, in fact I saw him almost every day since I left you last time. When I say that he is safe and taken care of I mean that he is safe and taken care of."
"I found it hard to believe. It's my mother we are talking about," he muttered.
"Really charming old lady," she shrugged. "Temperamental just like me, you should have seen the glare she gave her father when he suggested that Narcissa Malfoy should come to the family dinner. Almost hit him with salad bowl but your aunt Cassiopeia got him first and smacked him with an empty goblet. Hommy thought that it was very entertaining."
"Hommy?" he whispered.
"Our son," she said briskly.
"Our?" he mumbled in shock.
"Cassiopeia got into the Archives and found out that the only mother of your son could be me, since we were freezing our bums in North Finland around the time Hommy was supposed to be conceived. Good thing that I was around when she went after your mum," she replied briskly.
"And my mother is fine with it?" he asked not really believing what he was hearing.
"Fine?" she snorted. "She berated me yesterday for not calling her mum when the rest of the family wasn't around. Told me that one day one of them will come and will hear me calling her madam and there will be a lot of unnecessary explanations," she explained.
"She wanted you to call her mum?" he asked in shock.
She nodded.
"Did you confunded her or it was the other way around?" he asked curiously.
"Eat," she hissed at him. "Nope. No Confundus. If someone got confunded it was your grandfather Polly since your other grandfather dragged him to my flat this morning to test my TV set. I left them there and I'm wondering what I'm going to find once I came back."
"You still leave under the same address?" he asked nervously.
"Officially yes," she confirmed. "Unofficially your mother made me move into her house since the family thinks that I'm Homam's mother and it would be suspicious if mommy was living in other house than her kid. Plus most of the family is aware of your innocence."
"And?"
"It seems that most of them took wrongfully imprisoning one of them as a personal offence. Your uncle and aunts certainly did. Your paternal grandfather and his wife keep berating your other grandfather whenever he starts grumbling what he thinks about his only living grandson having a bastard child with a Muggle-born."
"Are you really sure that you meet my family?"
"One hundred percent. They have yours and your mother's eyes."
He stared at her in shock. He really didn't expected it.
"New Head of DMLE, Amelia Bones is aware of your innocence and the little concoction your mother and I arranged. I have her blessing to look for the rat when I'm supposed to look for Harry. As soon as I find him you are getting a trial and you are out of here."
"How did you did it?"
"I got a nervous breakdown at the private meeting with her. Said that my tears were enough of confirmation of the truth. You are going to love her. She gave me three months worth Azkaban's Pass with ND. I can visit you two times in a week. Speaking about is there anything you want me to smuggle for you?" she asked eagerly.
He smiled as he thought what he wanted to have and said, "Photos. Especially the one with my grandfathers in front of your TV. And my mother with our kid because I can't really believe that she had changed."
She nodded and gave him small smile, "She really did. Started pestering me to hook television to Grimmauld."
"Do I want to really know why?" he asked nervously.
"When I sent her to hide in Paris last week she stayed in a Muggle hotel and had TV in her room," she explained.
"Why you sent her to hide in Paris?" he asked curiously.
She grimaced before she replied, "You beloved cousin Bella kidnapped Homam from Grimmauld and hid him at the Malfoys. Your mother was going spare until I came back with him."
"Malfoy Manor?" he whispered.
"That's a story for different time. Now eat your lunch before it freezes," she said pointedly.
"How did you got him back?" he asked as he reached for fries.
"Same way he got there, I kidnapped him," she shrugged. "I told you that this is the story for different time."
He obeyed her and for next ten minutes he was eating while she was examining his cell with disgust evident on her face. When he finished the lunch she finally looked at him.
"Do you have any ideas where Pettigrew might be hiding?" she asked grimly.
"He grew up in Devon and I think that if there was any place he should be feeling safe right now it would be Devon," he said thoughtfully.
"That helps," she sighed.
"Sorry," he shrugged.
"No," she shook her head and added, "It really helps. Is far better than examining ever rat in Great Britain."
"You were examining every wizarding family in alphabetical order?" he asked even if he knew that she was, he knew he well enough to assume it.
She nodded sheepishly and mumbled, "Ravenclaw."
"So when I'm supposed to expect you?" he asked playfully.
"Friday, in the afternoon when guards are changing. Then at Monday if I can make it," she replied. "Give me that box."
He handed her the empty box and she hid it in the bag. He stood up and approached her. Their eyes meet.
"It was good to see you Mirzam, you are the ray of sunshine in this place," he whispered and hugged her tightly.
She hugged him back and for a moment they were standing like that. It seemed that an eternity had passed before Sirius finally let her go and smiled at her.
"I will see you at Friday," she whispered as a light blush made its way on her face.
He let her go and saw her picking up her bag from the table and retreating back as she climbed up the stairs and opened the door. Her hand froze on the wooden surface as she turned around and gave him small smile.
The door clicked shut after her but it didn't suppressed the supernova which burst in his chest. She came to him and risked her career to smuggle him fresh clothes. She was looking for Pettigrew and offered to be a mother of his child. She cared about him. In that exact moment he realised how much he loved her.
While Arcturus busied himself with switching programs on the telefishion thing Pollux wandered to Verascez's bookshelf. It looked very old but the paint on it seemed fresh. The variety of the books it held amazed him. There was complete collection of Shakespeare, a lot of books by author L.M. Montgomery, children stories; both wizarding and Muggle, cook books, some plans of few European capitals, complete collection of Moliere (in French), history books; wizarding and Muggle one, few books about something called biology. But what really captured Pollux's eye was an old, photo album covered in leather.
He picked it up carefully, dimly aware of the noise in the background and opened it on the first page. There was an old photo of a small black-haired toddler with pig tails, the girl was sitting on the grass and behind her was a bush of white roses. It wasn't moving and under it was signed, 'Mirzam's first visit in the garden at new home'. He flipped the page and saw another unmoving photograph, this time the girl from the first photo was older, about five years old and was bending over the basket inside which was sleeping a newborn, it was signed, 'Mirzam sees Gemma for the first time'. Next photos showed little Mirzam either accompanied by her parents or her little sister. It seemed that at each photograph Mirzam was little older than at the last. The last photograph showed twelve years old Mirzam (Pollux realised it when he saw Hogwarts letter for second years in her hand), she was smiling widely.
He flipped the page and was surprised to see nothing, he flipped another and still found nothing. He flipped next three and still didn't found anything. He decided to flip another one before returning the album to its place. There was a photograph of Hogwart's graduate, it wasn't signed but Pollux recognised the robes. He flipped the page and saw his older grandson standing next to Mirzam, Sirius had his arm draped around Mirzam's shoulders and was smiling widely while Mirzam looked like it was the last place she wanted to be. Next photos held a variety of both Muggle and magical photographs on which appeared both Mirzam and Sirius. The last photo of them, made in a park was signed as 13th October 1981.
He closed the album and put it back on the shelf. This five empty pages in the middle of the album made him uneasy. Like about five years had been missing from the album. Like there wasn't anyone to put the photographs in the album after the one with Hogwarts' letter.
He shrugged and reached for a book entitled 'Biology' when he heard Arcturus calling him.
"Look at it Polly," he called and Pollux turned around.
The box with moving pictures showed around twenty people running on the grass and chasing white ball with black spots.
"Ask her what it is after she comes back from Azkaban," Pollux sighed heavily.
"I will," Arcturus nodded. "I'm waiting for these in red shirts to win. It seems pretty interesting game."
Great, that was what Pollux needed the last. Arcturus hooked on some Muggle sport. He decided to prevent new fixation and the best way of whacking it out from his cousin was finding the faults in it so he wandered to the couch and sat down next to him and began to watch the game intently.
Mirzam opened the front door of her flat as quietly as she could she peeked inside expecting the worst. The hall looked exactly like it looked when she left. She made two steps and peeked into the kitchen, except for two plates with crumbs on them it looked normal. She smiled and tiptoed through the kitchen to the upper cupboard on the right side of the window and opened it. Magical camera which she got from her fellow trainees for her eighteenth birthday was still inside. She picked it up and quietly closed the door of the cupboard.
She tiptoed back to the hall and then to the living-room. The sound of the TV was on and it sounded suspiciously like the football match was on. As she got closer to the living-room she heard voices of two older men.
"Red ones, I'm telling you Polly," Arcturus grumbled.
"You wish Archie," Pollux sneered. "The blue ones will win."
"Red!"
"Blue!"
"Red!"
"Blue!"
She peeked inside the living-room and almost burst in laugh when she saw both Blacks sitting at the couch and starting at the TV where the football match between Manchester United and Chelsea F.C was showing. She turned the camera on silently and pressed the emancipator as she captured the way between the TV and the couch and their occupants. The lamp went on and in that exact moment both men jumped in shock.
"Merlin Mirzam!" Arcturus exclaimed. "Warn us next time. We are not young anymore and in our age heart attack is very popular cause of death."
"I promise," she chuckled. "Sorry I couldn't help it. Sirius is so getting this one because he will never believe me if I told him that I caught you quarrelling which football team is better."
Pollux rolled his eyes at that and huffed, "I'm trying to prevent unhealthy fascination."
"He was watching it intently," Arcturus muttered.
"I did not!"
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
"Which one is better?" Arcturus asked her curiously.
"Sirius would tell you that Manchester United," she snickered.
"The red one?"
"Yep," she nodded. "But I prefer Chelsea F.C."
"Good choice," Pollux agreed. "Want to watch it?"
"Nope," she shook her head. "I already watched it two days ago, it's a repeat."
"Repeat?" Arcturus asked curiously.
"Repeat," she confirmed. "I'm going to take a shower."
She left them in the living-room and went to the bathroom but she didn't went to the shower straight. She stood in front the mirror and examined her face. She looked terribly. The dark circles under her eyes which appeared shortly after New Year were still there. Her cheekbones got even more pronounced and a light line on her forehead got even more visible. If someone had asked her about her age now she wouldn't replied that she was going to turn twenty-two at Saturday but thirty-two at least, maybe even thirty-five.
"After all this mess ends I'm going to sleep for three days," she told herself.
She glanced at the shower, she really could use one now but part of her didn't wanted it. She was still enveloped in the scent of a wet dog and autumn leaves, the one she always associated with Sirius. She shook her head, turned around and left the bathroom.
Walburga was waiting in the library for Mirzam's return from Azkaban like a cat which was waiting for the mouse to come out from its hiding. Homam was sitting on the floor and was playing with his toys seemingly unaware from the fact that his grandmother was going spare.
Suddenly she heard a crack of familiar apparation in the hall and she nearly fell from the armchair from the excitement. Two seconds later Mirzam entered the library and she fell promptly on the couch.
"Next time someone talks me into explaining the history of football in England to him I swear on my parents bones that I'm going to strangle him," she sighed heavily.
"What had happened?" Walburga asked curiously.
"I left your father and father-in-law in front of TV before I left to see Sirius. When I came back they were watching a football match and were quarrelling like two five years old about which one was better. Then after it ended they talked me into explaining the history of football in England," she explained tiredly. "I feel in my bones that in a matter of a week they will try to talk me into getting them a TV."
"How is Sirius?" Walburga asked straightforwardly.
"Good," she sighed. "Good enough considering where he is. He couldn't really believe in what I told him. I will need some pictures of Homam and you."
Wednesday and Thursday passed for Sirius like a blur but since he woke up at Friday's morning each minute seemed as an hour and by the time lunch arrived he managed to count for the hundred time the cracks on the ceiling and moved his attention to the wall.
By the time he heard familiar footsteps on the corridor outside the cell and heard unhappy Dementors leaving their post at his door he managed to count all cracks on the wall opposite to his cot and the one with barred window. The door opened, Mirzam slipped inside and walked down the stairs to the bottom of the cell.
She was dressed in her Auror uniform, her hair were pulled into a lousy braid with few strands falling around her face. Her violet eyes seemed to be dimmed a bit and he felt an urge to strangle the man who upset her.
"Hey," she said softly. "I have your pictures. You are going to love them."
"Hey," he replied in equally soft voice. "What had happened?"
"Dumbledore," she sighed. "He cornered me after I left the Ministry. Reminded me to look for Harry, after all it's our saviour. I told him that if he knows better how I'm supposed to do my job then he should join Aurors himself. Old codger."
"How is your search?" he asked and tried his best to appear not worried about it.
"Shitty, as in not good at all. You have no idea how many wizarding families lives in Devon," she sighed as she reached to her pocket and pulled out three pictures from it.
She held them in her hand and he reached to take them. Their fingers brushed lightly against each other and Sirius couldn't help a shudder which ran down his spine.
He glanced at the first photograph and almost laughed. His grandfathers were sitting in front of TV watching the football match and appeared to be quarrelling about something. On the other one was his mother with little kid on her knees. She was reading a book which looked suspiciously like a copy of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'. She was smiling down at the kid and the kid seemed to be enchanted by it. The next photo made his heart flutter in his chest. On the last one was sleeping Mirzam lying on the couch with the little boy sprawled on her stomach.
"Your mother made this one. She threatened that she won't let me out from the house if I don't take it," Mirzam said sheepishly.
"It's beautiful," he whispered without tearing his eyes from the photograph.
"It's just a photo," she whispered.
"Of people I care about the most in the world," he whispered as he raised his eyes and looked straight into hers. "It means a world to me Mirzam. You two mean the world to me," he added as he felt himself reaching to push the lousy strand behind her ear.
He felt rather than heard her taking a shaky breath. It was then when he realised that they got closer to each other and the blush which made its way on Mirzam's face was so very cute. Suddenly he felt like he found himself under the effects of Imperius Curse, the world around him stopped mattering except for the woman in front of him. He felt himself leaning in and pressing his dry lips against hers soft one. For a moment everything froze and then her right hand wounded itself into his long hair and he felt her pulling his head closer. The emotion which filled his heart made him feel lightheaded and so powerful that if he wanted he could bring down the walls of Azkaban around them. He felt complete.
"She. Won't. Stop. Moving," Walburga announced as she walked into the kitchen at Saturday's morning.
Her mother and sister-in-law and her aunt were sitting at the table. Homam was currently sitting on Lucretia's knees and was playing with his toys.
"When it had started?" asked Cassiopeia curiously as she eyed Homam.
"Yesterday, just after she came back from Azkaban. When I asked her about she muttered that he is fine and that she is going to visit him at Monday. That's what I managed to pester from her before she left the house," Walburga sighed in annoyance. "She came back at six o'clock and since then she is running around like a Kneazel in heat. You should have seen her face when I wished her happy birthday, like she just forgot that it's today."
"Maybe ..." started Lucretia but in that exact moment Mirzam entered the kitchen and approached Walburga.
"Can I take Homam for a walk to the park?" she asked nervously.
Walburga nodded, maybe fresh air and Homam's presence could help her because till now nothing worked.
"I'll come back in about a hour or two," Mirzam said quickly.
"Just don't end under the bus," Walburga said with a sigh.
Mirzam picked Homam up from Lucretia's knees and with quick 'Goodbye' she left the kitchen. Thirty seconds later the front door slammed shut.
"Told you so. Won't. Stop. Moving," she sighed heavily.
"I'm an idiot, Homam," Mirzam announced to Homam as she sat down on the bench while Homam remained in his pram.
"Why?" Homam asked curiously.
"Because I did something incredible stupid. The only one more stupid thing is wearing a bull's eye at the range," Mirzam sighed as she leaned against the back of the bench.
"What you did mommy?" Homam asked as he extended his hands, signalling that he wanted to be picked up.
She picked him up and sat him on her knees in a way which allowed him to see her face. For a longer moment she said nothing just watched his smile.
"I kissed your dad," she finally confessed. "And then I ran away like a horde of Hippogriffs was chasing after me. Merlin what he had to thought about me," she groaned. "The guards weren't better too, the look on their faces when I came back barely after five minutes worth visit, but I don't really care for them."
"Why you kissed daddy?" Homam asked her curiously with the sincerity only little kids possess.
That was good question. Why she let him kiss her? Why she didn't said something? Why she didn't tried to stop him? Why she kept visiting him while she was supposed to look for Pettigrew? Why she got herself into this mess? Why she went to this stupid convention in the first place? If she was here she could press Crouch to give Sirius a trial he deserved. Sirius wouldn't end in Azkaban if she was here. Why she wanted to help him so badly?
'Because you love him, you idiot. Because since the moment you found out what had happened to him you were of the rocker. Admit that the attention he gave you when you were at Hogwarts flattered you. Admit to yourself that you enjoyed these nearly ten weeks with him in Finland, that you enjoyed every moment you spent together,' said the little voice which sounded suspiciously like the voice of her deceased mother from the back of her mind.
"Because I love him," she whispered.
"Why you ran away?" Homam asked curiously.
"Because ..." she started and nearly laughed at the irony. "Because I'm an idiot."
"Take me to swings," Homam said suddenly as if he lost interest of his parents love life.
'Idiot. Imbecile. Cretin. Fool. Mindless piece of shit. What the hell you had done?! Couldn't you control yourself even for a moment. Congratulations, fucker, in a matter of a minute you destroyed nearly four years worth friendship. What the hell you have been thinking?' the little voice in the back of his mind kept berating him since the door shut behind Mirzam.
'I wasn't thinking at all,' he answered mentally. 'I wasn't thinking and if I ever see her again we would never manage to come back to what we had.'
'Fucker,' the voice replied.
'Well aware of that. Now go to hell,' he snorted mentally.
'You wish.'
'I said, go to hell.'
'Nope. I'm going to stay and torture you until you lost your mind.'
'I can't hear you!'
'Keep telling yourself that and eventually you may believe it.'
'Fuck off!'
'You wish.'
'I said, fuck off!'
'She kissed you back.'
'But she ran away.'
'Then she is as fucked up like you are. Quite a pair you are.'
'Bugger off!'
'Sirius and Mirzam sitting on a tree...'
'Leave me alone!'
'If you really want to I can leave you to ponder upon your fucked up love life...'
'That's what I want! Go! To! Hell!'
Dealing with dog's instinct as Padfoot was horrible. Especially when dog's instinct seemed to voice his doubts and fears better than his human coincidence did. During the years dog's instinct acquired a mind on its own and gained the knowledge about his other, human half. Normally the dog's side of his brain in his animagi form kept its mutt shut but sometimes when he felt unease Padfoot couldn't shut up. Bloody dog.
He crawled out from the darkest corner of his cell and transformed back into his human form. He was tired. He was hurt. He wanted nothing more than crawl into his bed and fall asleep and never wake up again.
"Fucker," he muttered to himself.
"I know you are here," Walburga said with a heavy sigh as she leaned against the doorframe of Mirzam's bedroom.
No sound came from the inside of the room but Walburga knew that Mirzam was here.
"Stop sulking and tell me what had happened," Walburga said firmly and she closed the door behind herself.
Still nothing.
"Okay, you may remain under the bed for the rest of your life if you want. Still I think that my father coming to your birthday's party is very amusing sight which you shouldn't miss. He even brought you a gift," she said in a bored voice.
Finally there was a sound of animal paws scrapping on the floor and the head of golden-furred dog peeked out from under the bed.
"You know that you can tell me what had happened and before you tell me that nothing had happened I have to tell you that I know that something had to happen because since you came back from Azkaban you were acting strange," Walburga said as she walked to Mirzam's bed and sat down on it.
The dog hung its head but nevertheless got out from under the bed and jumped on the top.
"Did Sirius told you something?" she asked calmly.
The dog shook its head.
"Did he did something to you?" she continued prodding.
The dog nodded slowly.
"Did he hurt you?"
A shake.
"Did he ..." she started and contemplated what her oldest son could do to make younger woman so unstable. There was the only one possibility besides the ones she mentioned before and she asked carefully, "Did he kissed you?"
The dog nodded and small whimper escaped its mutt.
"Did you wanted him to kiss you?" Walburga sighed.
Another whimper escaped dog's throat.
"Then what's the problem?" Walburga asked curiously.
Finally the dog transformed back into Mirzam. She looked terrible, she was pale and her eyes were red.
"I don't know why," she admitted timidly.
"Why he kissed you?" Walburga asked gently.
Mirzam nodded slowly.
Walburga had to suppress a chuckle at that before she said with a small smile, "If I really know something about my oldest son is that he never does something if he doesn't mean it. If he kissed you then he meant it."
"But why he kissed me?" Mirzam whimpered softly.
"Maybe because he feels something for you. Ask him next time you see him," Walburga advised. "What had happened after he kissed you?"
"I ran away," Mirzam admitted. "I ran away like a horde of Hippogriffs was chasing after me. Merlin what he must think about me," she groaned and fell on her back.
'Children,' Walburga thought and she shook her head in defeat. 'Let them deal with it on their own.'
Cassiopeia couldn't help but be amused by bits and pieces of conversation between her brother and cousin which happened to reach her. Two old codgers were quarrelling like a bunch of first years about something which was called football teams.
"They are at it since they came back from Mirzam's flat," Melania said with a heavy sigh as she plopped on the chair next to Cassiopeia. "Manchester United and Chelsea. All the time."
"He brought Mirzam a gift," Cassiopeia said curiously. "Do you have any idea what's inside of this box?" she pointed at Pollux's gift for Mirzam.
"A book," Melania replied. "Called 'History of Chelsea Football Club'. I have no idea why he bought it."
"I have no idea why he came here in the first place," Cassiopeia admitted. "He was the most hostile person in the family to Mirzam even after she brought him to your house. Wonder what changed."
"He didn't said anything," Melania replied. "But maybe you know something what he could find at her flat which would make him change his mind about her, even for a little bit."
Cassiopeia concentred and tried to recall Mirzam's file. What could Pollux find at her flat which would make him change his attitude to her. There was only one thing. He had to discover that she was orphaned at the age of twelve.
"Wally is coming down," called Lucretia from the other side of the kitchen. "With Mirzam."
"Thank Merlin," sighed Melania in relief. "I thought that she will remain in her room for the rest of the day.
The party was fantastic even if she found the presence of all most all members of Black family a bit overwhelming. They were noisy and nosy bunch but nevertheless entertaining. After most of them moved to the library for a glass of Firewhiskey Mirzam escaped to the drawing-room because she needed few minutes of silence.
She sat down on the floor in front of family tree. It was huge and intimidating and made her feel small. She recalled another family tree she saw years ago and she snorted.
"Impressing, isn't it?" asked the voice from above her head.
She raised her head and saw Pollux standing behind her.
"Intimidating," she admitted. "Makes me think about my grandmother's family tree. It wasn't as big as this one," she pointed at the wall. "But it was far more intimidating and disturbing."
"Sirius isn't here," said Pollux carefully as he sat down next to her on the floor. "Wally blasted him out from the tree after he ran away when he was sixteen."
"My sweet old grandmother blasted me out from our family tree when I was five," Mirzam snorted grimly. "She was obsessively religious and a witch for granddaughter was a personal insult for her."
"Oh," Pollux sighed. "When did she died?"
"She is still alive," Mirzam replied grimly.
"Then why you are using past tense to talk about her?" he asked curiously.
"Because the last time I saw her was at my parents' and sister's funeral. I was twelve," Mirzam replied quietly and lied her head on her knees.
"Oh. Who took you in after they died?" Pollux asked quietly.
"Orphanage. My grandparents were my only living relatives and they refused to take the disgrace like me," she answered.
"That's why you have no photos from the age of twelve till your graduation," he said with realisation.
She nodded and said quietly, "I learned to take care of my own. That the only person on whom I could fully depend was me. I learned to not expect anything from anyone. What pains me the most that beside the photo album I don't have any heirloom from my parents. She even sold their old house and took everything which was inside."
Pollux said nothing.
"Maybe it was better that I didn't had anything. Everything I got came with hard work, sweat and ache in the back. It taught to respect the work and money. I had to work to have money for my books and clothes. The only thing I got was a flat after one of my mother's friends, she was childless and shortly before she died she found out that I was living in a orphanage," she sighed. "It was obscure and very dirty but it was a place which I could call my own."
"I'm not an attorney but even I know that you have the right to your parents inheritance," he said suddenly.
"It doesn't matter. It's past and I have more important things to worry about now than my grandmother," she shrugged. "What had happened to Sirius's brother?" she changed the subject.
"Regulus?" Pollux sighed. "No one really knows. All we ever found out was that he got a cold-feet and tried to back off from Death Eaters. Few days later he vanished and the tree showed that he was dead. His body had never been found. Walburga never really came back to herself after his death," he explained.
"That's why she dotes on Homam and Sirius so much now," she whispered and glanced at older man.
Pollux nodded slowly and added, "In the family like ours the heir is important. Wally had two sons. She used to rub it into her brother's face because he had three daughters. And suddenly both boys were gone. One died and the other didn't wanted to have anything in common with the family and with Orion's sudden, premature death which happened about a month after Regulus's she was left on her own. This tree shows so many stories, nuisances that a lifetime won't be enough to hear them out."
"It's the past and nothing really good come from dwelling on the past. I know this much," she whispered.
"The past is what shaped this family," said Pollux quietly. "Past is constant. It doesn't changes. Doesn't hurts like present."
"Present becomes past. Life is not worth dwelling on something which can't change. Plus past can hurt just as much as present but we can change present."
"Ravenclaw?"
"Ravenclaw."
He paid no attention to his surroundings. In fact, since he crawled out from that bloody corner he didn't moved from his cot even for an inch. The food came five times and five times it was taken back to the Azkaban's kitchen untouched. His breakfast was resting on the top of the stairs.
He wasn't aware that someone entered his cell until he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He tore his eyes from the ceiling and meet a pair of gentle violet ones. Mirzam. She came back.
"You have to eat Sirius," she said gently. "We can't have you dying from hunger before we get you out from here."
"Why you came?" he whispered and he couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice.
"Because I love you and I will sooner die before I will let you rot in here for the rest of your life," she whispered and bend over him. She pressed her lips to his gently and whispered, "I will get you out."
So how much I suck at writing?
Aww. I was going to make them suffer a longer while but after I wrote the scene between Homam and Mirzam I gave up. Sirius needs something to cling to for next ... one chapter for sure, probably two, in worst case three since we are getting closer to finding Pettigrew. Besides emotionally unstable Mirzam is what I need right now, seriously she needs to get through nervous breakdown before Sirius gets out - lets be frank, for last few months she was pushing herself to her limits and no one is that strong.
Next chapter: Mirzam gets help (now seriously, it's already written). Snape and Lupin got themselves into a total mess. Walburga meets Mirzam's grandmother. Andromeda, Ted and Dora are making an appearence while Mirzam finds herself as a victim of a potion gone wrong. All of this and more, not exactly in given here order.