Chapter 6
Alina was greeted by a mixture of shocked and curious stares; and a hell of a lot of silence.
Her eyes quickly traced the room; three red headed men, a red headed woman and –
'Remus!' she whispered as her eyes fell upon the familiar figure.
He looked older, his face now lined with age and the bags that had always resided under his eyes were now far more sunken into his skin, but the warmth of his smile had not changed at all.
He marched across the room and as if wary of embracing her, he reached out for her hand and squeezed it tightly.
'Alli...' he choked, the emotion thick in his voice.
His eyes flickered from her face to Sirius' and he made a movement between a nod and a shake of the head as if in disbelief.
'You never could be separated easily –' he began, smiling wryly 'are you okay?' he asked her more seriously, his eyes narrowing as if preparing for a lie.
'I –'Alina began, before pausing and taking a deep breath 'I am now' she told him firmly, meeting his gaze steadily.
A shifting movement from the other inhabitants of the room, indicating their discomfort at intruding on what appeared to be a private moment, broke up their conversation.
'We'll talk later' Remus spoke quietly 'all of us.'
Nodding silently, she felt Sirius move so that he was standing directly beside her, his arm brushing against hers as if he knew the physical connection calmed her
'Everyone this is –' Sirius began loudly.
'Alina!' a warm voice called from the centre of the kitchen and Alina looked up to see a beaming red headed woman come bustling towards her.
'Molly?' Alina questioned, taking a few hesitant steps towards the woman.
'It is indeed, oh come here dear!' Molly cried, opening her arms and pulling Alina into a tight embrace.
Unintentionally, Alina felt her entire body stiffen at the shock of such sudden contact and she inwardly cringed as Molly quickly pulled away, clearly sensing her discomfort.
If Molly had been offended then she did not show it, with her smile unwavering she led her to a chair and flicked her wand to boil the kettle.
'I couldn't believe it when they said you had arrived – it's just...well I never thought we'd see the day...'
Although she tried to listen to the woman, Alina's eyes continued to scan the room for familiar faces.
Mad-Eye was there, as was Arthur and a man that Alina could only presume was their eldest son, but it was as her eyes rested on a lone figure in the corner of the room when the whole world seemed to disappear around her.
In her delirium last night she could clearly see why she had confused him with James; he was almost a spitting image of what his father had looked like at that age, her heart flipped with sadness at the sight of the messy black hair.
At some point Molly must have realised that Alina's attention was else wear and her voice trailed off as she followed her line of gaze.
'Oh' she spoke softly 'Alina...this is Harry...'
Harry slowly took a couple of steps towards her, his face a picture of confusion as he warily inspected her. As he grew closer she could see the slight differences between him and his father, he was a skinnier build than James and his eyes were...
She wanted to speak, she even inhaled a breath to do so, but it caught in her throat and all she could do was stare straight into his eyes.
Her eyes.
She had always believed that nobody in the world could ever have eyes like Lily's. Lily's eyes that shone like emeralds and captivated anyone who looked into them.
But sitting there, looking upon Lily's son, it was as if she were looking at Lily.
And she didn't know whether to laugh or cry; so instead she sat speechless.
'Harry' Sirius spoke gruffly; as he took her trembling hand once again in his own 'This is Alina...your Godmother.'
Alina sat transfixed as she watched Harry's eyes widen with shock, and dart from face to face in the room as if waiting for someone to tell him it was a joke.
'My Godmother?' he croaked, staring directly into her eyes.
She nodded silently, her throat still unable to form words.
Harry's eyes suddenly switched to an emotion that she least expected, one that she had seen reflected in Lily's very few times; burning rage.
He looked back up at Sirius, this time his eyes accusatory, before shaking his head and marching from the room.
Once again leaving everyone in silence.
Sirius immediately jumped up just as Molly began to move towards the doorway, they paused for a split second to glare at one another, before Sirius quickly brushed past her and ran after Harry.
He followed his Godson, hearing the angry stomping lead into the living room, utterly bemused.
What could have angered him so much?
A pang of sadness washed over him and he froze for a moment in shock before recognizing the emotion as Alina's rather than his own. Clearly their connection grew stronger in proximity.
He didn't allow himself time to consider that discovery, for his main concern was Harry, and after briefly pausing at the bottom of the staircase, he shrugged, and apparated directly into the room he knew Harry resided in.
'Harry?' he spoke gently, approaching his Godson who stood with his back to him, glaring out of the window.
'Yes?' Harry replied tightly, not turning around.
'Look at me' Sirius said, his forehead creased in confusion.
Begrudgingly, Harry turned to face him and for a second Sirius almost wished he hadn't. The boys face was contorted into such a confliction of emotions it seemed as if he were in pain; sadness, confusion, anger and disbelief all rolled into one.
For a moment neither one spoke.
'How many more surprises am I going to get?' Harry spoke quietly, through clenched teeth, clearly trying to keep check on his emotions.
The pang of guilt that hit Sirius both surprised him, and as often happened when he was around Harry reminded him of James.
James; one of the few people who could reach Sirius' conscience.
'Harry –'
'No!' Harry snapped, immediately cutting him off.
'I went through ten years of my life not even knowing I was a bloody wizard! Being baby-sat by a woman I only just found out was a squib, thinking my parents died in a car crash –'
Sirius visibly flinched at that and for the millionth time he felt angry at himself for not being there for his Godsons upbringing.
'-then I find out the serial killer who's supposed to be trying to kill me is actually a Godfather nobody ever bothered to tell me anything about, that a teacher who I thought was trying to help me was actually plotting to send me to Voldemort and kill me, that after fighting Him and watching a friend die I'm not worthy of contacting...WHILST EVERYONE ELSE IS HOLED UP HERE?' his voice had gradually grown into a shout as years of frustrations had caught up with him, and Sirius felt overcome with a mixture of guilt and anger over the boy's suffering.
He opened his mouth to respond but Harry interrupted him once more, his voice calmer in what sounded like defeat.
'And now...now? I find out I also had a Godmother all this time?' he shook his head and stared at Sirius
'After everything...did nobody think I deserved to know that?'
Sirius remained silent for a moment, knowing that Harry was right; he did deserve to have been told.
'Harry –'he began 'you're right...and I'm sorry.'
Harry nodded tightly, not quite making eye contact with him.
'I find it hard to talk about her, Alina, even after all of these years' he spoke quietly, and Harry's head jerked up to look at him with interest 'I can barely stand thinking about her, let alone say her name...she was...Peter he –'
A soft knock on the door interrupted the broken explanation he was struggling to give his Godson, and he looked up to meet Harry's eyes for a second. The green eyes were filled with confusion mixed with interest, the anger and betrayal seemed to have been washed away.
'Sirius?' Alina's hesitant voice broke their eye contact and Sirius moved to open the door and allow her entrance.
She didn't pause as the door opened; instead she brushed past Sirius and moved across the room to stand directly before Harry.
'Hello Harry' she smiled softly, Sirius' trained ear only barely detecting the nerves in her voice.
'Hello' Harry replied, his eyes apparently transfixed on Alina 'I'm sorry, but who are you?'
Alina smiled sadly at Harry and Sirius could sense her regret at not having been part of Harry's life for so long.
'Fifteen years ago I would have laughed if somebody told me you wouldn't know who I was...' she shook her head and swallowed a lump in her throat.
'My name is Alina Blake, I'm your Godmother' she told him 'and your mum is my best friend'
Neither Harry nor Sirius missed the present tense in which she spoke and the hairs on Sirius' arms stood on end with a feeling he could not quite place.
'Or was' Alina mumbled, seeming to notice their reactions.
'I- I don't understand' Harry muttered 'why has no one told me about you?'
A dark look flashed in Alina's eyes, a flicker of anger at Harry's words, but it quickly disappeared and Alina just gazed sadly back at her Godson.
'I don't know, Harry' she answered 'I really don't know.'
'Where have you been all this time then?'
Alina closed her eyes at the question she had known was inevitable and paused for a second as if collecting her thoughts to decide how to respond.
Sirius watched her in silence, wanting nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and clear her head of the memories she was obviously fighting to rid herself of.
'Fourteen years ago, Death Eater's took me' she spoke quietly, her voice however, was hard as steel 'and they decided it was against their interest to ever give me back.'
'They – they kept you for all these years?' Harry asked incredulously, before clamping his mouth shut as he realised he may have come across as rude.
A brief hint of a smirk traced Alina's lips, and there was a slight twinkle in her eyes at the same time. Sirius fought a chuckle as he knew that Alina found Harry's lack of tact a reminder of his father before him.
'They had their purposes for me' she answered bitterly, her eyes clouding over slightly and her tone ending any further questioning.
There was a moment of quiet as Alina drunk Harry's face in hungrily. She knew he had many questions to ask her, ones that she would have to answer, but for now she just wanted to enjoy the moment.
Before she knew what she was doing, she had taken a step towards him, and hesitantly had raised her hand, reaching towards him.
She waited for him to flinch away, so when he didn't, with a sigh of relief, she gently brushed her hand through his hair and cupped his cheek tenderly.
'I haven't seen you since you were just a baby' she spoke in a whisper, frightened that emotion would take control otherwise.
As she gazed at him lovingly, a small voice at the back of her mind couldn't help reminding her, taunting her and torturing her all at once.
She would be coming up to Harry's age now. Her little girl.
Our little girl.
Alina had to physically fight the nausea that hit her stomach as she thought of what Sirius would say if he knew...
'You were friends with my mum?' Harry asked her, trying to disguise the keenness in his voice and causing her to break away from her thoughts.
'Yes' Alina grinned, her eyes lighting up for a moment 'she was like a sister to me...'
'I've never met anyone who was friends with my mum' Harry replied eagerly, looking at her with deep curiosity.
'Well –'Alina began, and glanced at Sirius who had proceeded to interrupt her.
'Well, we can talk about everything properly tonight' he spoke firmly.
'Alli's been through a lot, she shouldn't really be out of bed' he threw a disapproving look at her as he spoke 'so she needs to get some food, and not stress herself out...'
'Who knew Sirius Black would have turned into such a bore' Alina muttered, causing Harry to grin and Sirius to glare at her, but didn't argue and turned to leave the room.
'-So this idiot pours the whole potion on the floor and the whole room explodes in giant bubbles –'Alina grinned, indicating at Sirius as she spoke.
Harry, Ron and the twins erupted with laughter, and Hermione smiled humorously as they listened to Alina, Sirius and Remus reminisce on old times.
'Ah but did it work?' Sirius asked smirking, eyebrows raised.
'Well...yes' Alina replied grudgingly, shrugging.
'So that's what happened in the 'famous' detention' Remus chuckled, shaking his head.
'The famous detention?' Harry asked, and Alina and Sirius both turned to their friend frowning in confusion.
'Well they went in as mortal enemies' Remus smirked 'and came back soaking wet, and in somewhat of a friendship...'
'Slughorn said he'd never seen the Dungeons looking cleaner' Alina grinned proudly.
'They probably haven't been cleaned since' Fred laughed, and everyone made noises of agreement.
Dinner at the Order was often a busy event, but this evening it seemed to be even livelier than usual. With Sirius in high spirits the conversation was loud and boisterous and everyone seemed to be revelling in the all round good mood.
Eating the food, a lamb roast with giant fluffy potatoes, had been like heaven to Alina. Who had lived on nothing but scraps of stale food for the past fourteen years. It had taken all of the restraint that she possessed to stop herself from shovelling it down her throat as quickly as she could. Instead she ate small spoonfuls, at a fast pace, and found that before she had even made a dent into the heaped plate, she was painfully full up.
'I can't eat another bite' she sighed in contentment.
'You've barely touched a thing' Remus remarked 'a far cry from the way you ate at school...'
'Careful Moony, I seem to remember her blowing a fuse at you last time you mentioned that she ate like a pig –'
Alina elbowed him in the ribs and laughed.
A real, honest, carefree laugh.
And it felt wonderful.
Over the noise of the dinner party, the sound of someone apparating into the hallway could be heard, and the resounding footsteps approaching the dining room.
In her moment of joy, Alina paid little attention as her eyes flickered upwards at the figure who entered through the big oak door at the far end of the room.
The brief glance was immediately followed by a glare of horror and she sprung from her seat in alarm.
Remus was quickly by her side, his hand placed warningly on her forearm and a hurried explanation pouring from his lips.
She barely heard his words, she could catch the drift of it; do not attack.
But how could she not? How could he be here?
With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she managed to contain the unadulterated rage that reared inside her, the venom that enflamed her very core and her words were so thick with disgust she barely managed to spit them out.
'What the fuck is he doing here?'
A/N: So can anyone guess whose arrived haha? I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for all of your reviews I appreciate them so much! Please keep them coming because that makes me more keen to keep the chapters coming!
Thank you!