Chapter II

Al' Fard

It had been easy to control the water left on the rocks to make them explode, easy to pull Sirius into the sea, easy to swim dragging the boy as she did so...but never would she have thought that walking would be this awful.

She always knew that mermaid could gain legs after their bond with a wizard but she never had the occasion to actually test some. When she fell for the fifth time, the man completely stopped and looked at her as she took support on the trees to stand. He already gave her the dirty rags that covered his chest so she wouldn't be naked. And even know, with his state imprisonnement and malnutrition obvious, even with the dark bags under his eyes and the dirt only half washed by the sea he still have the beauty of an insolent prince.

"It would be more simple if you would just allow me to carry you."

"I don't want to. I want to learn."

"Then please at least take me as your support." he insisted, looking at her with vibrant grey eyes.

Lumena looked at the arm that was presented to her for a moment before accepting to put her hand on it. Contact with another living was...weird. His skin was as cold as hers but it felt remarquably alive and there was no doubt that this arm was strong before the imprisonnement.

She never quite had the occasion to make contact before. If her sisters always came to her help would she call, and hunted with her on more occasion than one, affection was something that was seldom practised in the depths. In the water everything was dulled wether it was the sounds, the sensations or any other contacts. And now it seemed that she was drowning in new sensations, ever since her feet made contact with the earth, everything came to life.

They had apparated in a forest and crossing it was a trial but also a magnificient experience. All theses colors, theses birds, the humidity of the earth under her feet...She never had in all her life the occasion to be so close to it, to actually be able to touch it.

"Where are we going ?" She finished by asking.

"To someone that will help." he simply said.

§§§

Alphard Black was a proud man.

He took pride of his name, handsome apparence, good situation but above all of his remarcably clear and reasonnable mind, something that was seldom found in the Black House.

And his clear mind was probably one of the main reason of his life in solitude, far away from most of the member of his family. For even the pride he took of his ancestor's name and the love he had for his blood couldn't make him go against his most basics survival instincts. So if he didn't cut ties with them, let's just say that he didn't run after them either.

Like every Black he had his own fortune and vaults in addition to the family one, and his reasonnable nature made him choose to live quietly in one of his residence. Silence and solitude were always what corresponded to him the most and even now he felt like the seasonals socials gatherings of the Blacks were a pain without whom he could have lived perfectly well.

And if Alphard Black was quite a bit reasonnable, he was even more practical like any good Slytherins.

He never did a reckless move nor did he accomplish an act that could have brought him any kind of hassle. He saw problems come from far and learned to recognise and escape from them before they could destroy his precious and hard earned peace.

So this day, when he saw his favorite and normaly imprisonned nephew at his door with an half naked woman he didn't need to think about the situation more than a few seconds before he qualified it of the hated word : problematic.

His ever handsome and rebellious nephew looked like a shadow in comparison to his former self with his sunken cheeks, dirt covered body and unkept hair. Never would he have dreamed of seeing the son of Walburga Black looking like this.

"Uncle " said the young man in a broken voice.

"No." Alphard cutted. "Inside. Now."

Alphard looked at the couple who ushered tiredly inside the manor, and he let his eyes fall on the young lady that followed Sirius closely. He remarked in a distracted way that she was remarcably well made before she raised her eyes from the ground and he lost himself in the most inhuman blue. Immediatly it seemed like the breath was cutted from his lungs.

A mermaid.

Now, the situation was proving itself to be very problematic.

§§§

Lumena touched the edges of the bath with a curious finger.

The bath of the Blue bathroom in Alphard's manor was the biggest one, with a round form and antiques vases sculpted on the wall above it, distributing water. The water of the bath was strange with its sweet smell, she decided, but not unpleasant. She didn't have much occasions to swim into clear water as they were often the most frequented and the change was welcome.

She looked at her tail. It would appear after a time of submersion in water and disappear as soon as her body would dry. She knew that the gift of this alone time in the bathroom did not come from benevolent motives, and that the man named Alphard wanted to speak with Sirius without her being within hearing distance.

It was well thought, she thought with a smile, a very nice way to dismiss a unwanted guest. But her specie had more than one secret, and like most of them this one was buried in water. She let her body sink into the water until she was totally immerged and immediately the sound of every actions around her became clear.

House elves were preparing dinner in the kitchen, the wind was blowing from a window in the room neighbor to her's and in one of the numerous living room a discussion between two men was taking place.

She closed her eyes and concentrated only on the sound of their voices :

"What did you do, this time ?"asked the older man.

"This is the problem" she heard Sirius say in an angry and tired voice. "I didn't do anything, all this time, and this is what conducted me into this hellish place. Or at least this is what she thinks..."

"She ? The mermaid ?"

"Yes, the mermaid.""he answered tightly.

Aphard sighed and she heard the sound of a body sitting on a couch and another one of a liquid reemplishing two glass of crystal :

"What did you gave her in order to get out of here ?"

"A means to cut her boredom, I think" Sirius answered, posing a minute to drink a little. "I promised that I would let her kill me if I proved not to be Black enough for her."

"That's it ?"

"What ? Does my possible death does not seem to be enough for you ?"

"No, not like this. A creature like her would not take the risk of walking into this world only to have the occasion to kill a Black."

An intelligent man, she thought with a smile.

"Why would she accept then ?" Sirius demanded curiously.

"I don't know yet...But the promise to kill a man won't be enough to keep her here, he said in a thoughtful voice. And you already have enough problems without a predator set on killing you. You are a wanted man and if your name isn't cleared soon, they will send the dementors after you."said the older man toughtfully.

"This is why I am coming to you, uncle Alphard. I need to at least have a trial."

There was a moment a silence before the voice of Alphard cut it again :

"I won't be able to do it alone."

"I know."

"I am not the Black House Patriarch."continued Alphard.

"I know."Sirius repeated.

"And with your situation and your past...allegiances your return in the Black family would be ...well, let's say that you wouldn't be very welcome. You didn't bring anything but trouble to the Black family and today, the family is in a difficult position and the male line is fading out...You would have to prove that your heart lay entirely with the family and that you could be the heir you were meant to be. You would need to bring a miracle for..."

The dry sound of a crystal glass put on one of the numerous table of the living room made itself heard before Alphard continued his tone becoming incredule :

"Crazy boy...The mermaid...you want to bring her with you, right ?"

"Well" answered Sirius in a calm tone "she did say that she would follow me around for a while."

"And here I thought Gryffindor had stole all your thinking ability...Your idea is brilliant, I have to recognise it and no doubt that a lot would bow in front of a bound with a creature that we weren't associated with since the times of Merlin himself. But, this is also an incredibly foolish thing to think that you can manipulate a mermaid."warned Alphard.

"Oh but I don't think I can...What I know is that she is curious and wants to play and feel, and another thing that I know is that I was never one to back done from a game, or one to loose it. She said she wanted me to proove her that I was a real Black, and this is precisely what I will do."

Alphard sighed :

"When do you want to go ? The news of your escape will already be printed everywhere by tomorrow morning."

"Soon. But first we need to establish a plan and...and I have to go somewhere."

"Where do you...? Oh, Sirius you will be the death of me."

She could almost hear the wounded lips crack into a boyish smile :

"I always was your favorite."

Another silence followed this statement before Alphard responded softly :

"You always were."

§§§

Lumena sat on the bed of one of the guest room, quietly drying her legs as she took in the luscious decoration around her. The Blacks were true royalty. Even centuries after their glory they were still living like princes.

She had heard about silk sheets and had steal some from a mechant's boat but they were ruined soon after entering too deeply into the waters. To feel their softeness against her skin was truly pleasant. The silk sheets, the covers in pure egyptian cotton, the walls and floors covered with marbles and onyx...Maybe she would stay in this world for a while, for it seemed the life it could offer was far more agreeable than the cold darkness of the depths.

She heard the sound of feets approaching but didn't made a movement to cover her body when a man opened the door. She gave a look at the intruder from the corner of her eyes and raised an eyebrow in front of the new appearance of Sirius Black. He was cleaned from all the prison's dirt, shaved, his hair was combed backward and still wet and his clothes were one of a young lord.

She was right. This man was surely the most handsome human that she ever saw in all her life, as if he was the living incarnation of the term of Black heir, and even the strange glint in his eyes, the hallow cheeks and the starved body couldn't hinder that.

She looked at the dress that he carried on his right arm before looking back at her legs and continuing to meticulously dry her body. She saw him tighten his fists and advert his eyes in front her naked form and hide her smile. He said, closing his eyes :

"You could have said you weren't presentable."

"But I am always presentable" she answered in a light tone. "What is this ?"

"A dress. You need to wear it."

She looked at him for a moment without saying anything before standing up, crossing the room until she was right in front of him. She then spread her arms and raised an eyebrow at him :

"Then put it on me."

Sirius narrowed his eyes as if waiting for a trap and her smile became bigger.

"Why are you looking at me in that way ? It's not as if I knew how to put it on myself."

The young man evalutated her again before setting on putting the tissue on her. It was almost a pity to cover her body as it would be to do so with a marble statue in a museum, he thought in a distract way. Nothing looked vulgar nor lewd on her, not even nakedness, as if she was beyond theses basic notions. But he had to admit that the simple and white dress was a perfect compliment of her albaster skin and seemed to make her hair even more black and her eyes shine even more.

He quickly attached it in the back before crouching before her, putting silently a pair of silver colored escarpin on the floor in front of her delicate feets.

She grimaced a bit before sliding her feets into the shoes. Their heels weren't high and looked like they were made of glass and the front was sightly pointy ornated with what seemed to be gems of pale color, blue and transparent, shining with elegance before her eyes.

Lumena looked the shoes with attention and was tempted to discretly crack the heel and snach the gems before hiding them in a box under her bed. When she raised her head she saw the amused gaze of Sirius who seemed to have guessed her intentions :

"You don't have to look at them like this. They won't disappear, they are yours now. But if you want to, you can still hide them in a dark place when we come back."

"Come back ? Do we have to go somewhere ?" She asked in a indifferent tone.

"Yes."

"Where ?"

"To see someone very precious."

What was a precious person ? She asked herself quietly as she put her hand on the arm of Sirius taking him as a support as she walked out of the bedroom. She looked at the regal profile of the man before declaring in a very calm voice :

"I heard everything you said to that man. There wasn't even a moment where you were an innocent man, was there ?"

Sirius didn't look very surprised with her statement and neither was he with her question. He stayed silent before smiling softly and saying just as calmly :

"No, I suppose there wasn't."

§§§

What was a precious person ?

Lumena couldn't bring an image that could explain it well enough for her as Alphard had made them apparate in an alley boredered by houses which were almost identical to one another, with the same white façade and green back garden.

She didn't really like apparating, it wasn't pleasant and her stomach didn't agree with it but after walking for hours she was thankful for any means that prevented her from using her legs. Sirius walked to a house where was written 4 privet drive close to the door. She walked uneasily to stand close to him and Alphard joined them quickly.

Sirius took a deep breath before knocking at the door. What was a precious person ? Well if it was precious, then it had to be pretty. And if it was pretty...She looked at her shoes thoughtfully. If it was pretty, she could always steal it.

§§§

Harry Potter was no one important, no one precious.

He wasn't particularly pleasant physically, he was too small, too scrawny, had eyes and clothes that were too big...No he wasn't a child that could make the head turns and the ladies coo, or that you could immediately forgive just looking in his big and beautiful eyes.

Maybe this was why nobody forgave him when he did the wrong things. And maybe he didn't deserved forgiveness since in his uncle point of view he did nothing but the wrong things. As a consequence he learned quickly to ask for forgiveness but to never demand it for himself.

He also learned to keep his eyes down since they weren't pleasant either, too deep, too adult, too desperate to belong to a seven year old child. Invisibility became like a second nature for him and the darkness were the only one that didn't reject him.

In his cupboard in privet drive he grew accustumated to the darkness and its creatures. The spiders didn't make him afraid anymore, nor did the night or the monsters that founded refugee in it. But secretly he dreamed of a world where Harry Potter wouldn't exist, and where he would be someone precious. Where his hard work and efforts would be rewarded and where there would be someone to tell him that he was loved and that he could be proud and keep his head up.

He dreamed of a world of beauty and that would smell like home.

On the days where they could go the library with the school, he devored books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charles Dickens'ones. And he too dreamed of having a golden ticket that could take him away, to have someone that could come to save him from this world. He too dreamed of becoming someone with a family and a name that you could wear with a smile.

But Harry Potter was no one, he had no family, and inside this proper house of Privet Drive, weither it was from the slaps of his uncle's meaty hands, always there to correct his numerous mistakes, from the kitchen where there was always work for him or from the differents chores that rythmed his day, there were no escape. Even at school, his demons seemed to follow him and the adults that should have protected him became the strict guards of his prison.

The only escape that he founded was in his dreams and prayers. So he always waited for the night, who was his ever present savior from the labor of the day. She offered him confort, peace, and a place to dream. When he closed his eyes, his ratty covers could be silk and the dirt that sometimes fell from the pressure of the stairs a rain of gold.

But that night, the quiet of the dark was cutted by a loud knock on the door, and the Dursley family were waken from their peaceful slumber. Harry heard the groans of his uncle as he descend loudly the stairs and the piercing voice of his aunt that asked herself who could come visit at this hour of the night.

Vernon grumbled something about beggars and sending them off and opened the door, apparently ready to send whoever it was on his way. In his cupboard, Harry was also intrigued by the identity of the people who had interrupted his dreams, and was surprised when he didn't heard his uncle raise his voice as soon as the door was open.

"Ho my...To what do I how the pleasure...I mean I don't think that we were presented."

"Are you Vernon Dursley ?" Asked a man.

The voice of the man who had asked the question was deep, and there was something warm in it, like a hot chocolate in winter, but also something that commanded respect and more imperceptively something hollow and broken.

"Ho yes that would be me, Mr...?" asked Vernon.

"Could we enter ?" intervened another male voice.

"Yes, of course, please, enter into my humble house."

Vernon Dursley let people enter his house at almost midnight on a week day ? There was only one explication : these people must be very rich. Harry was curious now so he silently opened the door of his cupboard and pressed himself against it.

First he only saw shoes and clothed legs : there were two men and one woman and from what he saw they effectively looked very rich. He didn't know in what were made the pants of the men, but it looked better than even the most exprensive costume of his uncle. And the shoes of this lady...were there gems on it ? He stood as tall as he could and raised his eyes to the faces of the guests, his eyes opening wide as he did.

The first man looked too thin, had dark circles and a strange almost mad glint in his eyes but he had an undoubtly handsome face, maybe the most handsome he had ever see. Never had he thought such a vibrant shade of silver would exist in the eyes of someone. The other man stood close to him and had the same eyes but less savage, more disciplined and older. He shared the same handsome features but didn't quite equal the first in term of beauty and Harry doubted that such a thing would ever be possible for anybody. And the woman...Harry would never have thought that this kind of beauty existed in the human and plain world. Theses were the kind of faces that could only exist in his dreams, beauty like that didn't exist in the ugly reality of privet drivet.

The first man looked around a bit before saying in a calm voice :

"We came here to see your nephew, he is a young boy of seven years old, he is called Harry Potter."

They came for him ? Harry asked himself, wide eyed before what was happening in front of him. The smile on Vernon Dursley's face crumbled and his eyes became darker :

"I have no idea who Harry Potter is, but there is no one under this name that live under this roof. I think you went to the wrong house."

"And I don't think so" snarled the man. "I don't have the time to play with you, so you will tell me where he is right now."

The silver eyes sent thunder and the other man was standing very straight, as if ready to intervene at any moment, only the lady seemed to be calm and didn't actually look at Vernon at all, no, her eyes seemed on the opposite to be fixed on... a white cupboard's door under the stairs.

"Yes, I thought that much" murmured Vernon, his porcin eyes narrowed. "I knew that there was something fishy with you pounding at my door at this hour of the night, something that no proper man would do...I should have immediately knew that you were one of them, he almost spitted. You came for nothing, because I won't tell anything about the boy !"

"You..."started the silver eyed man, almost shaking with anger.

"Sirius" intervened the lady, putting an elegant hand on his arm.

"The man" apparentely Sirius, turned around and stopped his eyes on the cupboard that the blue eyed woman was staring at.

"I saw two green gems shining...they must be hiding something precious" she said slowly, her eyes never leaving the cupboard.

Behind the slight opening of the door Harry started to shake. No...he had been founded, now he would be punished. Without waiting for any of the men to move, the lady walked on shaky legs until she was in front of the door of the cupboard. Harry backed down quickly until he fell on the ratty mattress that served as bed as the door opened.

She looked him, fascinated, and he felt his eyes become wider as she was even more magnificient seen up close. She looked surprised before his appearance and and murmred :

"A child..."

As soon as he heard the word, Sirius crossed the room almost running until he was in front of the cupboard with her. Alphard got his wand out and quickly bounded the muggles and putting a silencio on them before joining Sirius.

The man only took in the appearance of Harry from his too big pajamas, to his wounded lips, awfully thin and small body and to the mattress he was sitted on and the broken toys around him to understand.

If Harry was frightened when his uncle was angry, it was nothing compared to this man. The way his whole face darkened, his lips pressing against another and storm playing in his eyes...It was like he saw the face of anger itself.

He tightened his fists and the whole house shook as the lights started to explode. He then took a deep breath and turned to face Vernon before saying in a very calm voice :

"I'll kill you."

"No, Sirius !" Intervened the other man. "No ! This isn't the time for this kind of things. You must think, there is something bigger behind this..."

"Bigger than this ? Bigger than this ?! What can be bigger than learning that my godson has been treated like an house elf, living in a cupboard and starved by muggles ?! What ?! And how could Dumbledor...?!" raged Sirius, almost pulling on his hair.

The face of Sirius paled as a glint of understanding appeared in his eyes. Of course. Dumbledor had betrayed him, left him rot in Azkaban, but there was something bigger behind it. He knew that Regulus would join the death eaters and most surely die or be imprisoned because of a mission and Sirius...Sirius was also put into jail, as were the pureblood heirs of the most important families, the most influential ones.

He passed his hand in his hair, his breath labored as he looked at his godson once more. He looked exactly like James but he had the eyes of Lily and his scar was perfectly visible on his little forehead. Sirius knew the prophecy Dumbledor had told them so that they could protect themselves and Harry against the Dark Lord, so he knew that Harry was the only one with the power to destroy Voldemort.

Harry was precious...So why was he treated like this ? He thought hard and then it hit him so bad that he took a step backward. Of course...How he, Sirius Black, had been thankful of Dumbledor to have participated to his emancipation and to have "saved" him from his household. So thankful that he started to work for him, becoming one of the most powerful auror of the century, powerful enough to worry Dumbledor and be quickly put on the side. But he had accepted, he would have accepted anything from the man he considered as his grandfather.

And Harry, how grateful he would have been to be saved from this hellish place by Dumbledor. So grateful, so thankful that he would do anything for this man that was easily respected and from whom affection was seen as an honor. He would have done anything, even becoming a perfect soldier, a sheep for slaughter in Dumbledor's war.

"He wanted Harry to be easy to manipulate" murmured Sirius in a hollow voice. "He did this to me, the savior stuff. He was going to do this to him too, so Harry could be his perfect soldier for the war..."

Alphard put a thoughtful hand on his chin :

"If you are right, then this house must be under surveillance. And then, it would be impossible for Harry to go anywhere without Dumbledor knowing it, or even to live without him controlling everything and..."

Alphard stopped as he took in Lumena who disappeared from the entrance, being now sitted on the minuscule mattress with the little boy close to her, examining every part of his body with great fascination. Of course...Why hadn't he tought of it ? If there was something that drew the fascination of a mermaid more than gold and gems, then it would be children. Most of them had never seen one, but stories of their innocence and purity charmed them more than the whitest pearl.

If they gave her a child, no doubt that the mermaid would stay and love him as a tresor. And if...Alphard looked Sirius from the corner of his eyes. This rituel was complicated and impossible to be done between two wizards but with the blood of a mermaid...The blood of a mermaid was as pure as the blood of a unicorn and cleaned all the impurity that it encontered. If this boy was drained from his blood and received the one of a Black and a mermaid, he would be...the most powerful wizard that came across the earth since the times of knights and Merlin.

A smile appeared on his lips. A mermaid and an heir with the purest blood ever seen would enter the Black family, a new ere would start, and for theses new additions Sirius would immediately have his position as heir back. And he, Alphard Black...

His smile grew and he put a calming hand on the shoulder of his nephew :

"Calm down Sirius, I have a solution. I have a solution to all our problems. Everything will go well, very well..."

I hope you liked it !

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