Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Not mine. Cover art? Not mine. The concept of Elementals belongs to Raul Fictitious. I've used it with permission. If you love AU stories, you should give their story Harry Potter And The Elemental's Power a chance. It's brill, I swear.
Pairing: Sirius/fem!Harry
Warnings: I don't have a beta reader. Please bear that in mind.
Dedication: This chapter is for paulaa90, for being such a sweetheart and for offering to help me with my Computer Networks paper. :*
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THREADS OF TIME
Chapter 9
"If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete."
~ Jack Kornfield ~
OoOoO
"... X. Y. Z," Bella finishes singing to a highly amused Harry, who's banging the empty utensils she's kept in front of him.
"Are you teaching my godson the alphabet?" comes a voice.
Bella turns around and smiles at the source of the voice carefully. Sirius looks miserable, though he seems to be making a valiant effort to seem cheerful.
"No, I couldn't think of anything else to sing," she admits, biting her lower lip. She likes the way his eyes focus on that tiny action of hers.
"I'll have to give you a musical education, then. Haven't you ever heard of The Beatles?"
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you... How is it you own a Beatles t-shirt? They're a Muggle band."
"Haven't you actually met me? I'm Sirius Black, Heir of the House of Black, proponent of all things Muggle," he says sarcastically.
She doesn't reply to that, but goes back to feeding Harry.
"What's your favourite Beatles song?" she asks quietly, as Sirius sits down on the chair next to her and leans forward, dropping his head onto his hands.
"Hey Jude," he says in a scratchy voice, after a moment of silence. Bella nods her head and goes back to feeding Harry.
Finally, when the silence gets too awkward, Bella keeps the bowl and the spoon on the table and asks the question that she already knows the answer to. "How are you?"
Sirius opens his eyes, and they're so full of pain that Bella just wants to hug him and never let go.
"I've been better," he says weakly.
She places her right hand on his left one, and says in what she hopes is a soothing voice, "This too shall pass, you know?"
He nods his head slowly, but doesn't shake off her hand. She takes that as a sign of him not feeling antagonistic towards her.
They sit there in relative silence for a while, till Harry drops one of the empty goblets he was playing with, the loud crash startling both Bella and Sirius. It's funny how her hand has automatically reached for her wand.
Leaning forward to place a kiss on Harry's nose, she takes the empty bowl to the sink to wash, patting Sirius' head as she passes his chair. She doesn't want to leave Sirius alone when he's in this state, but she has no choice, seeing as Helen made it very clear.
Bella decides to send Remus a quick note, asking him to check on his best mate a few hours after she has left. After all, isn't that what friends are for?
OoOoO
"Right, so if there's an emergency, you know where to Floo me, right? Or send me a Patronus message, that'll be faster. If Har-"
"Just leave already," grumbles Sirius from the doorway. He's leaning against the doorframe, holding Harry, who's waving out brightly.
"It's just that I - "
"You forget, Isobel, that I used to babysit Harry when he was just a few months old. Stop worrying," he says, physically pushing her out.
"Fine, let me just say bye to Harry," counters Bella, bending to press kisses onto the toddler's face, smiling as he grabs a lock of her hair in his chubby fist.
"You know you've left him and gone out before, don't you? Why the sudden separation anxiety?"
"Umm - Nothing. It's just - It's nothing. Leave it," she says, not wanting to tell Sirius about the promise she made to Harry just yesterday. It's something personal; something between just her and Harry, though it's highly unlikely that Harry understood anything of what she said.
She gently unclenches Harry's hand and takes out the lock of her hair, kissing his tiny hand when she sees his befuddled expression.
"Take care of yourself, okay?" she tells Sirius, watching the way he's looking at her, the way he's staring right into her eyes. Bella leans up, standing on her tiptoes, and plants a kiss on Sirius' cheek.
"Bye," she mutters, before hurrying to the staircase.
She doesn't turn around, not wanting to see Sirius' expression. Or reaction.
OoOoO
"Isobel!" comes a pleasant voice from behind, and Bella turns around to see Helen come towards her with her arms outstretched. She hugs Bella briefly, before kissing both her cheeks.
"How are you today? Any tiredness?"
Bella finds this affection and concern overwhelming. It reminds her of Molly Weasley, and thinking about her original thread is not something that she wants to do right now. She doesn't want to think of the past, ever. She wants to live in the now.
"I'm all right. I slept like a log, to be honest," she says, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
"That's to be expected, of course. Powerful spells require a higher level of energy to be spent on them," she says, guiding Bella into the restaurant.
The maître d' greets Helen like he's already acquainted with her. Bella watches silently, as Helen asks him to show them to the private room she's booked.
He offers to help take Bella's cloak off, and she allows him to, so that she's dressed only in her midnight black robes.
The maître d' seats them in a private dining room, helping them onto their chairs, before wishing them a good day and retreating from the room, closing the door on the way out. The second the door shuts completely, Helen springs out of her chair and starts casting wards wandlessly.
"Why are you casting wards?" Bella asks, leaning back lazily into the seat. She should buy furniture like this.
"For privacy, duckie. We don't want nosy eavesdroppers to go sell your story to anyone who might be interested, do you?"
"You'll only have to undo the wards every time a waiter brings us something," Bella points out.
"The speciality of The Inn is that their private rooms do not require waiters. I'm afraid we'll have to serve ourselves, though," she says, sitting back down on her chair opposite Bella, grinning slightly. "So, duckie, what do you want to eat?"
"I have no idea," says Bella, feeling a little out of depth.
"You only have to will what you want to eat, and that'll appear right in front of you."
"But doesn't that violate Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration?"
"You're not conjuring food. You're simply summoning food what the house-elves have made."
"Do you mean to say anything and everything that can be willed is already made, waiting in the kitchens?" she asks her godmother, a little sceptically.
"Precisely."
When Bella continues looking at the other woman in the hope of a better explanation, she clears her throat and answers, "Have you heard of time-pockets?"
"Er, no?"
"A time-pocket is a region of space that creates an independent timeline, of sorts. Space and time are compressed into a pocket because of the anomalous gravitational field that is experienced by certain regions in the universe. In these regions, time runs at a different speed compared to the areas surrounding the pocket.
"So essentially, when you enter a pocket, say it is 11 am here. You spend an hour in the pocket, reading a book, or performing any other activity. When you step out of the pocket, it'll only be 11:01 am here. So essentially, you have lived for an hour in the external time frame of a second.
"Does that make sense?"
Bella doesn't know when exactly her mouth fell open, but now that she realises that she probably looks like a troll trying to learn Charms, she shuts her mouth.
"So you mean to say time goes faster in a pocket?" she asks uncertainly.
"Not necessarily faster. It depends on the relative difference in the gravitational fields."
"So the kitchen of The Inn has a time-pocket?" asks Bella incredulously.
"Why do you think this place is so expensive, duckie?" she asks, her tawny eyes glimmering with what Bella thinks could be amusement.
"Then why did we come here? There are so many other cheaper places to eat in," protests Bella, not sure if Helen is pointing out the expensiveness of this restaurant on purpose. Bella hates people who show off their wealth, even though she is pretty wealthy herself. It reminds her of Draco Malfoy.
"I thought we'd launch straight away into educating you. And a time-pocket is a concept that you need to understand, so that we can proceed with your proper education."
Bella looks at the blonde pixie-like woman a little blankly, before changing the topic abruptly, "Could you show me how exactly to order the food?"
Helen smiles at her, as though she knows that Bella changed the topic on purpose.
OoOoO
The topic of Bella's 'education' is brought up again as she finishes her cold pea soup.
"What are you proficient in?" asks Helen.
"Sorry?" says Bella, wiping her mouth on the napkin.
"What subjects have you studied so far? And what are you best at?"
Bella thinks for a moment, before answering, "I wrote my OWLs in Charms, Tranfiguration, Herbology, Astronomy, History of Magic, Divination, Potions and DADA. I failed History of Magic. I'm really good at DADA, though. I was first in class."
"What is this DADA?" asks Helen, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts," says Bella sheepishly, realising how it must sound to a Dark witch.
"That is absolutely discriminatory!" cries Helen, as expected.
"Then what is its equivalent called here?" asks Bella, truly curious.
"Defence. Just plain ol' Defence."
"Huh," says Bella wondering if she should wait for Helen to finish before ordering the next course. She's so hungry, she could eat a horse.
"But you failing in History of Magic is ironic," says Helen, a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Hmmm?" says Bella, perking up.
"It was your mother's favourite. After Charms, but nevertheless, your mother loved History of Magic. Your father used to tease her saying you and Harry are both going to fail History of Magic just to make him proud."
Bella smiles at the faraway look in the other witch's eyes.
"How long did you know my parents?" she asks, feeling like a stranger who's been allowed a privileged look into the life of people she's always wanted to know, but never had the chance to.
"I met them a week before their wedding. They were lovely people. Now, want to order your main course?"
Bella smiles at the woman, recognising the fact that she's changing the subject on purpose. Maybe birds of a feather do flock together.
OoOoO
They've both just finished having their dessert. They'd both ordered strawberries and cream.
As Bella rests back into her seat, her stomach truly full after a long time, she asks, "This 'education' that you keep talking about... What does it comprise?"
"Every witch or wizard needs to apprentice themselves to another proficient witch or wizard of the same affinity. Your affinity, as you already know, is necromancy. Lucky for us, I'm an Elemental. A Soul Elemental, to be exact. And that means your art comes under my direct jurisdiction. So I can offer to be your mentor."
"And what would I learn from you?"
"I'll teach you the basics and the essentials, enough for you to gain a mastery in the subject. It is similar to the Muggle concept of graduate studies. The thing is, you'll have to stay with me continuously for a period of around three years, as I teach you everything you need to know."
"Stay with you as in stay in your house?" asks Bella, feeling slightly apprehensive at the prospect. What about Harry?
"Yes, duckie. That means you'll have to stay under the same roof as me. And don't worry about Harry, you can bring him too."
"Sirius won't allow Harry to just stay with me," says Bella, thinking back to the fuss he'd thrown nearly two weeks back.
"Why don't you ask him to move with you as well? And while you're at it, ask Lupin to move in as well. Harry will need a support system as he grows more."
"You've just asked literal strangers to move into your house with you. And you do realise that you've not yet asked me to be your apprentice, right?" asks Bella, deflecting the question.
"Fine, duckie," she huffs, before saying in an exaggerated manner, "Will you do me the honour of being my lovely apprentice?"
"I'd love that," she says, smiling, though inside, she's panicking about how best to convince the dog animagus to move in. Remus will most probably say no, due to his condition. She has no idea what to do.
"Lovely, duckie. Now, in case Black refuses to cooperate, you can strong arm him into doing so. Threaten to take Harry and walk out."
"What?" asks Bella in horror. She'll never stoop so low as to do that for Sirius, not when Harry is the only thing he has left of James.
"Don't be naïve, duckie. Sometimes, you'll have to do unpleasant things in order to get things done. You're here on a mission, remember. It's your duty to do what you've promised to do. The only thing that matters is that you keep your word," she says.
Bella isn't too sure if she likes Helen.
OoOoO
A while later, they're walking out the front door, when Bella catches sight of a slim blonde female, giving instructions to a shorter, plump woman. As she walks past them, she hears a snippet of the instructions.
"- which is why I want Draco to look resplendent this Yule. The robes must be the best in the whole of Britain. I think sapphire blue would be perfect. I want it to match the chiffon dress you made me for Samhain. Your- "
Bella almost smiles to herself, at the thought of Draco dressed in chiffon robes. The thought is so funny. Merlin knows he made her school life hell. The best way to get back now would be to make Harry better dressed than him. It's a very childish thought, but she can't help it. It's almost as if she's promoting competition between Malfoy and Harry, even though they're just babies.
She can't stop the smirk that forms on her face, even as Helen tells her that they'll start the apprentice this Yule and that she'll have to take up her OWLs by then.
OoOoO
When Bella enters the apartment, it's deadly quiet.
It's a reflex, the way her hand immediately goes to her holly wand. There's no sign of a struggle, so that's a good thing. Not being able to hear Harry is worrying, though.
Feeling like one of those stupid females in a horror movie who gets killed right in the beginning, she calls out, "Sirius? Harry?"
There's a vague sense of déjà vu, as she checks the empty kitchen. Harry's bedroom is empty as well, though she notes that Harry's stuffed dragon isn't there in the crib.
It's with a mild sense of apprehension that she next enters Sirius' room. The partial shadow coming in from the window genuinely calms her down.
She drops the parcels she's been clutching in her left arm on the bed, before taking a moment to study the person sitting outside.
She goes to the window and hoists herself through the narrow frame, to crawl onto the tiny balcony attached to the building. It's a bit cramped, but Sirius shifts a little to the left to make space for her.
Bella copies his pose and sits cross-legged next to him, her knee touching his.
"Hi," she greets quietly, her heart-rate not quite back to normal.
Sirius briefly turns to look at her, not saying anything, before turning back to stare at the empty road.
Undaunted, she asks, "Where's Harry?"
"With Remus," comes his curt answer.
"Gave me quite a scare, the house being empty like that," she confesses, deciding that it's best to get the small talk out of the way before she starts more serious topics.
"Harry'll always be safe with me," he says, though it sounds more like a promise than a statement to Bella.
"And with Remus too," she gently adds.
"Yeah, him too."
The conversation degenerates into silence, and Bella takes it as a chance to study Sirius' side profile in the late afternoon sun.
He looks tired, and yet, more alive than she's seen him. It's a beautiful juxtaposition. From this angle, she can see how unfairly long his eyelashes are. When he blinks, his eyelashes almost touch his face, and Bella finds herself watching how often he blinks closely.
He closes his eyes and rests his head back on the brick wall behind him. His cheekbones are high and alluring and Bella wants to brush her thumb across it. How would they feel? Her eyes are drawn to his chin, his pointed aristocratic chin. There's a light trace of a stubble on it, and Bella can't help but wonder whether it would tickle if he were to rub his chin down her neck as he kissed it, and then continue down, further down, down her -
Bella can feel her face flushing and shakes her head to clear it of obviously inappropriate thoughts. Sirius Black was her godfather in her thread. Sirius Black, in both the threads, was her father's best friend.
Too late, she realises that Sirius has opened one eye. And that eye is focussed on her, coolly regarding her probably still blushing face.
"You all right, love?" he asks and she exhales deeply, before tilting her head to one side.
"Aren't you going to ask me how my lunch went?"
Now two blue-grey eyes are focussed on her.
"No."
"Okaaaay," she says, stretching out the word, uncertain on how to proceed. "That was not at all rude."
When he doesn't say anything, she continues, "Helen -"
"Offered you an apprenticeship and asked you to move in with her," he interrupts.
"H-How did you know?" Bella asks, trying not to gape. Gaping once a day is more than enough, and she's already used up her daily quota.
"You're going to ask me if I'd be fine with you moving in with Flamel along with Harry. And then you're going to ask me to move with you as well, because you know I'm not letting him go, ever."
Bella gulps visibly, before drawing on her Gryffindor courage. "So will you?"
"Will I what?"
"Will you be willing to live in a stranger's house, for Harry's sake?"
"Isn't that what you're doing right now?" he says, a ghost of a smile on his face.
Bella finds herself smiling back at him, first a little hesitantly, and then brilliantly.
"So how did you know?"
"It's traditional for an apprenticeship offer to be made at a meal. James and Lily said you were a necromancer. Helen Flamel is a Soul Elemental, just as her parents are Water and Fire Elementals. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."
"And that's all? You figured all this from an invitation to lunch?"
"You made it abundantly clear that Flamel wanted to see only you. Not Harry, not me, just you. Apprenticeship offers are usually made in the presence of the person's guardian. And well, she's yours. Or was, at least."
"It could have just been an invitation to lunch, you know? Then your guess would have been wrong," she says, not willing to admit that she's impressed.
"If it had been an ordinary invitation to lunch, you wouldn't have been so anxious to talk to me, setting aside your initial tension at finding the house empty."
Bella leans back onto the wall, the frame of the window cutting into her back a little below her shoulder blades. She stretches her legs, poking her legs through the gap between the parallel iron grills to fit comfortably.
"You're a genius, Black," she says, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I know," he says, and though she can't see his face, she's pretty sure he's smiling.
OoOoO
"Remus! Would you stay for dinner? Sirius and I made roast chicken," says Bella, smiling.
Remus is a bit surprised to find out that Sirius has done something apart from sit and stare listlessly into space.
"I can't stay for long, my shift's at eight," he says, watching how Harry seems genuinely happy to be held by his sister. Remus supposes that it's not just because of the Imprint.
Soon, he finds himself at the table, being served extra portions by the black haired female. It doesn't escape his notice that the food on her plate is hardly touched.
She's all the more focussed on feeding Harry his dinner, even though the toddler seems more interested in what she has on her plate.
It's a very awkward affair, and there's an unnatural silence at the table, though the food actually tastes good, delicious, even.
Sirius makes to refill his own wine glass for probably the fifth time, when Bella places her hand on Sirius' and subtly shakes her head. He scowls at her, but leaves the bottle alone.
Remus thinks it's almost funny, how Sirius has been domesticated.
As soon as dinner is over, Sirius announces that he'll do the dishes. And that surprises Remus, as much as it surprises Bella. Sirius Black willingly doing chores?
He goes out into the living room, carrying Harry out of his chair, Bella's concerned look at Sirius making him feeling like a third person in the room. As he settles on the sofa, he can hear her say something to his mate. It's too low for him to catch it, even with his werewolf hearing.
Harry wriggles out of his arms and makes his way, tottering, into his room. Remus turns to watch the toddler's progress.
"How was the food?" asks Bella a little too cheerily, plopping herself next to him.
"Lovely, thanks for inviting me."
"Oh, nonsense, you're always welcome here, you know that, right?"
When he simply smiles at her, she shakes her head and sighs in exasperation.
"Before I forget!" she exclaims, jumping off the sofa. "Wait right here, okay?"
She runs into Sirius' bedroom, he notes with amusement. She's out in a matter of seconds, holding a velvet box.
"This is for you. Helen - that's the woman you met yesterday, she's my godmother - she told me that I'm supposed to give the person who teaches me the ritual of Grace a gift as a token of thanks and appreciation. So I got this for you," she says excitedly, bouncing a little in her seat.
Her mannerisms remind him of Lily.
"You didn't have to -"
"Open it!"
"Fine," he mutters, opening the clasp on the box. It's a large silver watch, with moons, stars and the sun around the dial instead of numbers. It's a wizard's watch.
"Thanks," he says, his voice cracking. His father had been too poor to buy him one for his seventeenth birthday, and had sold his when Remus was thirteen to pay for the St Mungo's bill.
"Go on, wear it," she cries, smiling, showing all her teeth,
Remus decides to humour her, and puts it on after removing his ordinary Muggle watch. The metal feels cool against his skin, as Bella takes his wrist to inspect it closer.
"It's perfect," she breathes out, smiling broadly. And she looks like a child, all that glee and pleasure in her eyes.
"Thank you, Isobel," says Remus gravely, realising that a lot of this teen's joy depends on the joy of the people around her. And that's just like Sirius, he thinks, internally smirking. Is he a bad friend for wanting to focus on his living friend's future instead of his dead friends' pasts?
"And it's not just that, the dial's face will turn blue every month when it's time to take the potion, so you'll never forget. You tap the watch with your wand once you drink the potion, and it'll remind you again the next full moon. Helen helped me with the runes and the spell," she says proudly, leaning back.
"Potion?" he asks, confused. The once a month thing she's referring to is obviously his 'furry little problem'. But potion?
"The Wolfsbane?" she almost asks, faltering on the last word.
He continues looking at her blankly, hoping she'll elaborate further, but then her eyes turn wide, and she sits up in her seat.
"Of course! I'm such a dolt! It hasn't been invented yet! I thought it was invented in 1958, but obviously, it has to be 1985! Oh my God, Remus!" she exclaims, throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly before moving away.
"Thank you so much, Moony. I didn't realise. This is fucking brilliant!" she cries, half laughing.
Remus is puzzled and wants to ask more, but Sirius, whom he never noticed entering, says, "Doesn't your shift start in ten minutes?"
"Shite!" he exclaims, standing up. "I really have to go now Bella. But you have tell me what this potion is the next time we meet."
"I'll tell you all about it. And I also have something to ask you. So drop by tomorrow for lunch. Or dinner. Just get a bottle of wine," she says in a rush, standing up to hug him tightly.
He returns the hug hesitantly, and over her shoulder, watches the most fleeting of scowls pass over Sirius' face.
Now, isn't that amusing.
He grins at his mate, and relishes in how annoyed he looks.
It looks like one of the Marauders has gone and gotten himself a bird to fancy, and Remus, being the most faithful friend ever, can't wait to take the mickey out of Sirius.
OoOoO
Sirius is resting against the headboard of his bed, reading a book, or rather, trying to, when there's a gentle knock on his partly open door. Before he can reply, she's inside, in those short shorts of hers. He doesn't know how she got her hands on those. And he has a vague feeling that such articles of clothing should be made illegal.
"Hey," she says, sitting on the bed next to his legs.
"What brings you here?" he asks, trying to sound as nice as possible. He has to keep reminding himself that he's taking to James' and Lily's daughter. They wouldn't have wanted him to be nasty to her.
"So, I got you this," she says, throwing a parcel to him. He catches it reflexively, and realises it's a brown paper package, tied up daintily with strings.
"What for?" he asks, as she turns around and swings her legs onto the bed. And that draws his attention to her pale, milky legs. They're not particularly long, but when she draws them up and rests her chin on her knees, all he wants to do is sit and stare at her. Endlessly.
"Your birthday. I missed it."
That's when Sirius realises that he too had forgotten all about it.
"Haha," he laughs humourlessly. "Happy twenty-second, huh?"
"Yes, even if it's eleven days late."
"Really, happy twenty-second?" he asks again, thinking of how it would have had to have been one of his worst birthdays, so far.
"It could have been worse, you know? You could have been in Azkaban. Pettigrew would have been honoured with an Order of Merlin. Remus would have sunk into poverty and depression. And I'd have - I mean, Harry would have been left with the Dursleys. Aren't you happy that none of that has happened?"
"I want to kill him. I really do," he tells her, in a moment of surprising honesty.
And then there's that expression on her face, almost as if her heart is breaking. She gives him a shaky smile, her green eyes filled with some nameless emotion.
"We'll get our revenge, I promise," she whispers softly.
It takes everything Sirius has to not crawl over to her and let her comfort him.
"Revenge sounds lovely," he says, almost as if it's just some food item he's ordering in a restaurant.
After a moment where there's a silent agreement that passes between the two of them, she brightens up, though it looks like it takes effort.
"Now, are you going to open my gift?"
Sirius shakes his head in amusement and smiles at her, feeling slightly better for the first time that day.
OoOoO
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AN:
And we're done with the first arc!
Thanks XxbooblesxX, saku hyuuga, RegdirbArze EzraBridger, Aile d'Argent, DLM4, Skendo, Padfootette, harryislife, Concrete63, SoccerChick2112, jgood27, chibi-Clar, noneofmyshipssail, SelenaKat, paulaa90, ptl4ever419, myafroatemydog, grayceg and two guest users for taking the time to review the previous chapter. :*
Just a reminder, those of you who review all the chapters from 8 to 14 will get a spoiler/excerpt.
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens, anyone? ;)
Next up: An interlude from one of my favourite character's point of view.
Reviews are love. :)