Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Not mine. Cover art? Not mine.
Pairing: Sirius/fem!Harry
Warnings: I don't have a beta reader. Remember to remember that, 'kay?
Dedication: This chapter is for mega-reviewer CrystallineX, who made my day nine times over. Thanks, love. :)
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THREADS OF TIME
Interlude
It is winter, and yet, a bead of sweat rolls down his face as he sits there, hunched behind some bushes.
"I can't believe that we have to transport all this manually!" cries the black-haired witch, pausing in walking backwards as she carries one end of a wooden crib. She's wearing those tight trousers that Muggles wear, which is shameful. No proper lady should be caught dead wearing that.
Her stopping forces the brat who's carrying the other end of the crib to stop too.
"You should have given the delivery address as this place," protests the brat, scowling the way he has always scowled, and it's obvious that he hasn't changed a whit since moving out of Grimmauld Place.
The pair starts moving again, as the Halfblood witch protests, "And you never told me the furniture was unmagickable! Maybe -"
"Merlin, woman, I gave you one task, just one, and that was to fill up the billing details, and you messed it up! I -"
"Well, if you'd let me pay for all of this, you could have given the correct address!" retorts the witch, mirroring the brat's scowl.
"Can you both stop bickering and start bringing the furniture faster? And Bella, Helen wants me to tell you that she's keeping a mock test in Charms and Tranfiguration tomorrow," yells the werewolf from somewhere inside the manor, as the witch groans audibly.
Ah, what he wouldn't do to get his hands on such a manor to keep clean! The amount of dusting and waxing and polishing it would require! But no, it's not right of him to fantasise this way when he's here on a mission.
It is imperative that he follows Mistress' words properly.
The still squabbling pair now comes out of the house, having given the crib to a couple of house-elves to take further inside. He is mildly insulted that the brat did not consider him for the job.
Why does the brat hate him so much?
He shakes his head when he realises that he's missed a part of their conversation because of his inner musings. He can't afford to lose focus, not when he's on a terribly important mission.
"I'm the one who rented the van! I'm the one who did all that work, so don't you dare tell me I haven't done anything," the witch says, her eyes narrowed, as she pulls out a high chair from the Muggle contraption. The chair obviously belongs to the snivelling Halfbood baby.
"I was the one who drove all the way! You just slept! And don't even get me started about the radio selection!"
"It's not my fault that the music of this period sucks, okay? The music from the nineties is much better. And also, you call that driving? We almost died!" she shrieks, keeping the chair down on the cobbled pathway to turn and glare at the brat.
He makes note of what the witch has just said. There are two things of what she has said that matters to him - one, that she speaks of the next decade familiarly, and two, that the brat had driven the Muggle veeakle.
He decides to let Mistress know only of the second thing. The first, he plans to use for his own purposes. Maybe the strange Halfblooded witch is a Seer!
"Move out of my way, Isobel! I'm carrying a much heavier toy box, unlike you, carrying something so light that it can be carried with your little finger," he says, sneering.
Ah! It looks like the brat is allowed to call the witch by her first name! Won't Mistress be thrilled to hear that!
"Sod off, Sirius," says the witch, spinning around, her robes flaring.
She proceeds to trip over her robes and fall spectacularly on the icy ground.
"Fuck!" she cries, sitting up and bringing her left leg closer, even as the brat shakes his head, keeps the box down, and hurries to help her up.
"I think my ankle's broken," she whimpers, as the brat squats down next to her, admonishing her in a low voice as he removes her left boot and sock.
Even from this distance, he can see her ankle swelling rapidly, though he can't make out what the brat is telling her.
The pathetic witch gives him a weak smile, her face still flushed from pain.
"Thanks, Siri," she says, and her voice is so soft he has to strain to hear it.
In a move that surprises him, the brat gets up, leans down, and picks the witch up, bridal style. He notes how the Halfblood witch seems comfortable with the brat's intimate touch.
"You're such a klutz, Isobel," says the brat with a gentleness he never expected to see in the brat, before carrying her into the house.
He hears the excited yelping of one of the manor's junior elves, about whether a healer should be called, just as the brat yells out to the werewolf.
"Moony! Isobel's hurt her foot! What spell will fix it?"
The brat's voice grows fainter as the duo moves further inside the house.
He looks at the large watch on his hand before looking at the furniture gleaming in the yard absently.
Mistress had only ordered him to report all that happened between the brat and the wh - No! He can't call the witch a whore anymore. The possibility of her being a Seer did not come under that category.
Furthermore, Mistress had not instructed him to come straight home.
He decides to sneak into one of the lesser used Black properties, before returning to Grimmauld Place.
Because he would rather accept clothes than give up on his secret. He'll keep up his promise to Madam Auriga till his last breath, he swears to himself, as he has done a thousand times before.
With a subdued crack, he Disapparates from his hiding spot.
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AN:
Sooo, how was the interlude? Can you guess whose POV it is in? ;) Did you expect it? *smirks* When I said that it was from one of my favourite character's POV, I did not mislead you, haha. Anyways, what do you think of this 'super important mission' that he believes he is on?
Here's a HUGE thanks to saku hyuuga, Espied7, chibi-Clar, Skendo, tnle, Aile d'Argent, XxbooblesxX, Fae0306, RegdirbArze EzraBridger, Nataly SkyPot, ptl4ever419, GreenOnBlack, Vi38, Jaz Luna Potter, noneofmyshipssail, uzumaki mimi, Happy. Death. Executioner, DLM4, paulaa90, VampWolf Girl 4Ever, 11lokilove, GiuliaZe, two guest users and the lovely CrystallineX for reading and reviewing. :) You're the best. :) I'll reply to the reviews within the next couple of days.
If you haven't seen the announcement on my profile page, what it says is that I'll be taking a break from FFN this month. I'll be writing and reading, just not posting anything. So I'll see you in June, mmkay?
I'm so bloody excited for the eleventh chapter, and I think it's my most favourite yet, plot-wise. :D ;) :D So please do read and review, it keeps me motivated and helps me write faster.
Also, if Drarry (with fem!Harry) is a ship you sail, I've started posting a story I started writing a while back. There's a teeny chance you may like it.
Have a wonderful May!
~ Rox
P.S. Dearest CharlotteBlackwood, this is how things are supposed to be.