Author's Note: Wow Thank you for all your reviews, faves, and follows. I appreciate all your comments and your support in this story. It genuinely pushes me to write more.
~Of Silver and Gold~
Chapter 52: Surprise Visit
If Angel had ever imagined what Sirius' house would look like, this was not necessarily it. The first thing she noticed was that the house was really dark. It was definitely saying something if she, coming from a dark home, thought this place was dreary. The windows were shut, the curtains black, the walls black…everything just screamed black. Fitting she supposed, had it not been for the layer of dust just lingering on almost every inch of the house. Entering into the household she had imagined some warning bells, some sort of greeting but instead she got nothing. She took a tentative step outwards from the chimney and placed her things down. Her cat immediately took off. Looking around she was looking for some sign of life. Nothing.
She bit her lip in worry. 'Maybe he's not even here and I'm in this house by myself for Christmas' she thought. She should head back to Hogwarts, which was the only option. Nodding at her thoughts she bent down to pick up her suitcases only for them to disappear from her sight. She looked around in surprise and annoyance at the prank; yet no sign of life. She wondered if Sirius was playing a joke on her; that would be very rude of him if she were honest.
"Kreacher asks who are you?"
Jumping a foot in the air she turned around in surprise to find an old house elf staring at her and blocking her way from the chimney entrance. The elf had a bulbous, almost snout-like nose; his eyes were bloodshot and she wondered why he looked so sad. His ears were almost as big as his head and they flopped down his sides and had tufts of white signaling his old age.
"My name is Angel. Good to meet you Kreacher" she answered nervously. "Did you take my things?"
"Kreacher took them because Kreacher wants to know whom steps foot in Mistress' home. If Mistress finds out Kreacher let people in, Mistress will be very displeased." he shuffled his hands over one another nervously.
"Mistress?" she repeated curiously, "You're Mistress lives here too? With Sirius?"
Kreacher made a face of disgust and stepped forward to look at the young girl. Her doe-like eyes spoke much volume of her demeanor and her heart-shaped face was not angular like he was used to. 'Who is this lady? Is she friends of the mudbloods and blood traitors?' he thought frantically.
"Mistress is in the portrait, my Mistress remains. Lady speaks of Sirius Black? Is Lady looking for him?"
She nodded. Bending down, she tilted her head and smiled shyly like she usually did with her house elves. Her house elves were sweet and had helped raise her throughout her childhood. She always had a soft spot for a loyal elf.
"Kreacher, can you please tell Sirius I am here? Tell him…Angel Malfoy is here?"
At the mention of Malfoy, Kreacher's ears perked and he looked in surprise. A lady such as her was looking for a blood traitor of a master?! He moved forward and grabbed her hand tentatively.
"Kreacher apologizes for house being dirty Lady Malfoy. Kreacher will go tell Mistress of lady's arrival and bring lady to Mistress"
As he rushed off, Angel was left once more alone; her cat was gone, and worst of all Kreacher had taken her luggage and 'put it away'. Sighing, she wondered if she should just make herself at home in this place.
Looking around she walked over to the portraits taking in the family trees that had the history of what would be her family. She tilted her head as she noticed the names. Bellatrix Black – Rodolphus Lestrange, Andromeda Black – Ted Tonks, Narcissa Black – Lucius Malfoy. Her eyes landed on the next branch over that truly made her stop. She caressed the family tree lightly as she noticed the names: Sirius Black – Amorette Holmes. Her eyes were drawn to the woman beside Sirius and she knew that was her mother.
Bending down, she caressed the name over and over of the woman that had given birth to her. Her eyes were big and brown, and her smile, the slight turned up smile made Angel grin slightly. She was born from this union and she only wished she had met her. The burn marks on the tarp were enough for her to know that she was born from an outcast member.
"Kreacher comes to tell Lady that Mistress wants to see Lady Malfoy. Come."
Turning around she had no choice but to follow the house elf. Walking down the hall she saw the empty dining room, again dark, and dusty. Next she walked down to a long walkway, the walls lined with portraits that looked down at her with some disdain. It was the opening to a larger room where she found the portrait that Kreacher was so keen on showing her.
The portrait of the woman was large and intimidating. Her skin was pale and her stance was very regal. Her hair was blonde, and styled in a very intricate style of classic witches. The thing that stuck out more than anything was the fact that her eyes were large and black. The darkness held no warmth especially as they stared down at her.
"What brings you to my home? Are you dirty blooded?"
The bluntness of the statement surprised Angel who took a step back in surprise. She was insulted at the insinuation, yet even more disgusted in realizing that this woman was once her grandmother. While she was never too fond of muggleborns and half-bloods it was mostly ignorance in her part; she hadn't realized it till later in her life. Still, all her friends were pureblooded…except Harry.
"I'm a pureblood Mrs. Black" she replied nervously, "I thought this house was Sirius's not…"
"This house will always be mine!" The portrait screamed.
The shrill tone made Angel cover her ears immediately. She wasn't expecting the tempter to rise so quickly and she knew this was a bad idea. She shouldn't have shown up, especially when Sirius wasn't there. This was a sign, one that meant she needed to get out.
"Oh shut up you annoying woman!" A voice cried out through the screams.
Immediately Angel knew it was Sirius and she found herself excited and nervous. Her stomach twisted as he came in and threw a tarp over the portrait. Kreacher hissed and muttered reproaches under his breath, but Sirius paid no mind. It was only when he turned around that he noticed her standing there.
….
Sirius Black never realized how alone his house truly was until he had returned to it. In all his talk during Azkaban his thoughts went back to being free and living like a normal human being. Yet as he was set free, and forced himself to return to his old home, he found himself realizing how dreary his house was. He realized his real home was the Potter's old home but he could never return; the pain was too much. Thus this makeshift home would be his and he would make it work.
While his mother's portrait was annoying a tarp would do the trick. He would try and find a way to take the portrait down even if it meant burning it. The moment he had entered his home and the screeching began, he knew that Kreacher had removed the tarp. That old house elf had annoyed him more than enough times already.
What he wasn't expecting anyone there; the sight of Angel took his breath away. He didn't understand what she was doing in his home so late at night. Looking at the clock he saw it was one am and yet there she was looking sheepishly at him. He realized it was now Christmas Eve and the girl, his daughter, was here. While he wasn't quite sure what to say, but as he opened his arms, he was given the best gift: her rushing over to hug him.
The hug was a tight one and as Angel buried her head against his shoulder she realized how things had changed. This was her father; the man that had not raised her, not of his choice, but rather for paying for a crime he never committed. He was good; he was a good man who was blamed for bad things. He wasn't like Lucius who did bad things but was never punished. She dug her nails harder into the coat at the thought and held him close. She had never noticed how tall he was, even as she was growing her father would always be taller than ever. She smiled realizing she had called him father in her mind.
"You're here" he murmured softly before pulling back.
His hands went to her face and rubbed her cheeks. He noticed that despite her growing older, her face could not hide those childish features and her heart shaped face still held the chubby cheeks.
"No one should be alone at Christmas" she said softly and grabbed his hands.
"Have you eaten?" he blurted out nervously.
He realized now he was parenting. His daughter was here, his home was a mess, and he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do. Was he even asking the right questions? At her laughing softly he figured he wasn't.
"Kind of, but it's one in the morning " she murmured.
He looked sheepish and grinned embarrassedly to the amused girl. She took it all in stride and instead looked around the home.
"It's really…dark in here." She said softly.
"It is…it's always been like this." He trailed off frowning.
He could only imagine how she figured he lived; the thin hallways that had very little lighting, to the bedrooms that were old. The old home creaked and the fact that it had been deadly silent for over a decade was clear.
"Let's get food"
Before she could protest he lifted his hand.
"Who cares if it's late? You're hungry? We eat, simple as that."
She grinned as he grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen. Sirius was very glad that he had allowed Remus to clean up in his last stay. The old coot had fought him tooth and nail over cleaning some areas, especially as the Order was not using it as their headquarters. As Angel took a seat on the chair, she looked perplexed at something.
"What is that?" she asked suddenly.
Sirius looked confused as well, that is until he realized she was pointing at the refrigerator. He laughed softly and realized how limited his daughter was in the knowledge of muggle technology. He couldn't imagine her having seen one at the Malfoy residence.
"It's a refrigerator" he explained, "It helps keep food cool and fine for a long time. It's a muggle thing"
"Oh" she said softly tilting her head and looking at the light coming from it and the cool air that came out. This was all very odd for her. As he took out some food she noticed that he was a bit nervous. Was she making him nervous?
"Are you alright?"
"Are you allergic to anything?"
The question confused her and she nodded.
"Fish" she replied.
He chuckled. "Just like Amore" he murmured. When she heard it she found herself smiling softly. She wanted to know more about her, but the way Narcissa had spoken about her had been very vague, and nothing on Sirius. So as he got to cook she couldn't help but ask.
"Can you tell me more about her? About mum?"
This was the first time she had ever said those words to another person that wasn't Narcissa. The betrayal on Malfoy's part had really shaken what she knew and whom she trusted. But she knew that this felt right, whatever it was. It had seemed to affect Sirius as well when he was putting an egg on the skillet it nearly missed in surprise.
"Your mum.." he breathed out, "she was beautiful. The moment I saw her I knew she was it. She was a transfer you see and just with her looks she had become popular in our school. I wanted her to like me because of pride" he laughed softly remembering those times, "but she always rejected me. You old man was a proud Gryffindor you see, and she was a Slytherin thus forbidden. But she liked the attention; every time she sent a cheeky grin my way I knew she was the one. It took me so long to have her with me but when we finally did become a couple….I've never known a love like that"
He lowered his gaze as he stirred the eggs in the skillet ignoring the looks from his daughter. Angel in her part had her eyes water a bit at the talk of her mother. The romance between the two sounded like a real one, one she wanted for herself. But seeing him look like that by just mentioning their love made her sad, maybe she should apologize.
"Let me tell you about her though" he continued finding some sort of cheeriness inside him. "She had a bad temper, a real hothead. Whenever someone got her mad she would never scream, she would give you a glare that could burn you to bits if she could" he grinned. "And when she was amused and didn't want to show it, she would bite her lip and wrinkle her nose." He chuckled. "She was funny too, I loved her humor. It was always dark and sarcastic yet it held some lightness to it that even her more morbid comments were hilarious. This house was once filled with laughter." He sighed, "I loved her very much"
"She sounds wonderful" Angel breathed out.
As he plated the food he looked up at her and smiled. "She was." Both grew a bit silent after that, but it was a comfortable one. Once he finished plating he passed her the plate of scrambled eggs with sausage with fruit on the side. It was a bit burnt but that was mostly all he could do. He looked a bit embarrassed as she looked down at it. She was used to the finer things in life he could tell from the way she stared at it curiously.
"I'm so-"
He stopped short as he saw her shovel a piece of toast in her mouth and began to eat. It was obvious she was trying to be polite and he realized how little he actually knew about her. Did she like jam? Did he even have jam to offer her? Did she like sports?
"Would you mind…telling me about you? Your friends? Anything you want to share?" He knew it was a bit desperate but he wanted them to talk, to bring some life into the household. It wasn't like this with Harry, but that was because he was so similar to James, it was as if they were friends not parent and child.
"Me?" she repeated surprised. Pouring juice in their glasses she took a sip before continuing. "Well, I don't really know what you know about me" she shrugged, "You know I have my friends, Draco, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini-"
"Slytherin only?" he asked interrupted her.
She shrugged.
"Not really. Well, Pansy is one of my closest friends but she's dating Draco and ever since I started disagreeing with certain things, we haven't talked. " She looked down at her plate and sighed. "It's not fun losing our friendship but it's for the best." Shrugging she continued "Luna Lovegood, is a good friend though. She's designated herself as my new best friend" she laughed softly to herself and Sirius grinned. " She's odd, but she's a Ravenclaw"
"What happened with your Slytherin friends?"
She soon began to explain what was going on. From Pansy finding out about Harry and helping her, to soon telling her the dangers of blood mixing and the lying. Slowly Sirius realized just how complicated it was to be in his daughter's place. He would have never cared what his parents said. In fact he was only a year older than his daughter when he had moved out of his parent's home. It wasn't wise for him to say it was it? But the prospect of her moving with him won over the good he could have done.
"I understand it can be hard. I mean, I moved out of my parent's home at sixteen and moved in with the Potters" he said shrugging, "They didn't understand I never cared for blood purity and I didn't care what they said about it. I knew who I was and I stood by my beliefs. Speaking of, why are you here? Shouldn't you be spending your Christmas vacation with your family?"
"I am aren't I?" she asked sincerely.
That hit his chest like a ton of bricks. She considered him family and he knew that his love for her had grown exponentially over time. Yet if she was anything like her mother she was using sentiment to avoid the real issue.
"Angel…" his voice trailed off.
She sighed and knew she was caught. While she did mean what she said, it was true; she wanted to avoid the topic as best she could. But as she looked up at the man who was her real father, she knew could tell him. Despite knowing him for only three years the man was trustworthy in her eyes. She didn't know when it had started but she did care for him greatly.
"I'm stupid," she blurted out. " I never knew that my parents" she stopped herself and took a deep breath, "that Narcissa and Lucius believed in what the Dark Lord had said. I didn't know that they had tortured muggles and attacked villages and did all those bad things. Harry had said he had seen my father with Lord V-Voldemort but I never believed it till…" she trailed off.
Did she dare say anything so soon about Bellatrix? It was potentially dangerous. The thought of her saying it and them being imprisoned scared her. She decided going quiet was the best option. Instead she went for another route that was honest, but not the biggest worry.
"I heard them talking" she wasn't going to make it clear who it was. "I heard them talking about it, about my origins about how I was…I was weak and a burden sometimes. I know they love me but…but I'm not theirs" she bit back tears of frustration and shame. "Narcissa apologized profusely and she was ashamed. But I left the home this morning, I went to Hogwarts and Headmaster Dumbledore told me to come here. And I'm really glad I'm here" she looked up at him through her tear soaked lashes.
Sirius was surprised to find himself feeling bad for Lucius and Narcissa. Their past had always put them at odds but he was thankful for them raising his daughter in spite of their differences. Yet he knew it must have been hard for them to have the truth come out. The darker part of him was glad the truth was out and they believed that now she knew the truth. Now he could be there and comfort her and be her father. He wanted to show his daughter he deserved her love and he could raise her on his own. Walking over to the other side of the counter he merely pulled her into a hug and she let him. Her arms wrapped around him and he kissed the top of her head. He knew she had had a long night and she needed sleep.
"Come on, you can stay in Harry's room tonight and I'll fix you a bedroom tomorrow. You're staying till New Year's right?"
At her nod he knew he had her for a while and he was relieved. He would take this time to show her that he was capable of being a father and that she could find his home to be a safe haven if she should need it.
Grabbing her hand he simply walked her up the stairs to the bedrooms and told her mindless information about the things around them. Some he would nonchalantly lie about earning a grin or two, but as they reached Harry's bedroom he lead her in and helped her make herself at home. Kreacher had finally done something good and put her bags there. Her cat was already asleep much to their amusement.
"You can sleep here tonight and later today we can fix up another bedroom."
"It's okay, I can stay here" she said looking around at the bit of a mess Harry had left.
"No, you deserve your own room. You had your own room actually…but I doubt you'll need a crib now"
She cracked a grin and looked at him curiously.
"Can I see it tomorrow? The nursery?"
He nodded and hugged her, much to her surprise.
"Go to sleep, it's late and in the morning we can see what we can do. Goodnight"
As he closed the door behind him he heard her greet him goodnight in return.
"Goodnight…dad" she added in a whisper.
He knew that these few days he could possibly win over a spot in his daughter's heart. As he walked to his own bedroom he thought about how she had gone to find him. That meant something didn't it? He hoped so.
…..
The noise from the window was enough to wake Sirius up in confusion. There stood a patronus of a phoenix; he immediately froze: Harry. He opened the window only for the message to be loud and clear, they were arriving. He immediately grabbed his bathrobe and began to get the home ready. This wasn't good, after all Harry was supposed to spend Christmas Eve with the Weasley's and Christmas day he would have gone over. If Dumbledore had sent a message he could only find himself worrying.
It was four in the morning, he had only slept a few hours and yet he found himself unable to even fathom going to bed. Immediately he began to get the rooms ready knowing that if the Weasley children were also coming it would be a full house. He briefly thought about waking up his daughter, but he immediately shut it down. He wasn't sure if she was ready to tell others the truth. More importantly, he was worried she would rush off at the mention of guests and he was selfish enough to not give her that option.
Hearing the pop of the Portkey, he rushed downstairs not able to hide his anxiousness. There were the Weasley children looking confused and scared, yet his eyes went to Harry. The boy looked tired and covered in sweat; Sirius swore that the boy was trembling a bit. He pulled Harry into a hug, to which the boy immediately reciprocated.
"What happened?" Sirius asked not letting go of his boy. "I was told that Arthur was injured and you were arriving?"
"Ask Harry" said Fred.
"Yeah, I want to hear this for myself" George chimed in.
All the eyes went to Harry who felt like they were staring him down. He didn't know why the vision had come to him, but it was clear that it was a bad omen. So he told the story of what he saw. He omitted the whole perspective of the vision and lied. He couldn't bear the thought of them thinking that he was the snake in the vision; if they looked at him with such suspicion now, it could only be worse. When he finished it was clear that they were defensive and gave him accusatory glances.
"Is Mum here?" Fred turned to Sirius.
"She probably doesn't know what happened yet" Sirius replied rubbing Harry's shoulder in a sort of comfort.
"The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore is letting Molly know now."
"We got to go to St. Mungo's" Ginny jumped in. She looked around at her brothers; they all looked disheveled. "Sirius can you lend us cloaks or anything-?"
"Hang on" Sirius said seriously, ""You can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's"
"Course we can go if we want." Fred said angrily, "He's our dad!"
"And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?"
"What does it matter!" George yelled.
"It matters because we don't want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having vision of things that are happening hundreds of miles away!" Sirius replied angrily, "Have you any idea what the Ministry would make of that information?"
Fred and George no longer cared to keep their voices down and the arguments commenced. It seemed that in their heated debate, Sirius had forgotten he had a guest over.
….
"He's our dad!"
Those words stirred Angel slightly. She shuffled around in the bed, and ignored the noise. Yet as she began to doze off once more it only grew in volume. Her eyes fluttered open and she let out a yawn. Was she imagining voices? As she got a good look of her surroundings she found herself to be very disoriented. Where was she? The walls were covered in lions, Chudley Canons, and other things she wasn't quite sure what they were. Sitting up she rubbed her head as it began to pound from the noise coming downstairs? What was going on? It was then that she remembered that she wasn't in her manor but rather Sirius' home.
She removed her covers and slipped her slippers on before wrapping her sink robe over her nightdress. She slowly opened the door, and found herself face to face with Kreacher who looked like he was curious about what was happening too. Looking up at her he seemed to have forgotten she was there. He immediately turned to face her and put his wrinkly hands up as if to stop her.
"Lady should go back to bed, Kreacher will protect Missy from the blood traitors"
He was trying to push her back into the bedroom but she as not going to budge. Frowning she placed her hands over Kreacher's and kept them in place.
"Kreacher please" she murmured, "I need to know what's going on. Don't you need to help the house guests?"
"Not blood traitors" he hissed, "If Mistress knew that Kreacher was serving them…Mistress would be very disappointed with Kreacher."
"Good house elves serve guests Kreacher, and aren't you a good house elf?" She asked.
Kreacher looked torn between saying no and having to serve blood traitors. But after a few minutes he nodded and disappeared towards the kitchen, much to Angel's relief. She had no clue what was wrong with that house elf but there was obviously his mind wasn't all there. She descended the stairs are quiet as possible, but even if she had made noise she would have been surprised if they had even noticed.
"Like who?" she heard Sirius' voice sounding very impatient, "Listen your dad's been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it happened. You could seriously damage the Order's-"
"We don't care about the dumb Order!" Fred…or was it George shouted.
Angel flinched at the volume rising. She had no clue that the Order was bigger than just the club they had done at school. She leaned against the doorframe and popped her head out slightly to take more information. If the Weasley's were here and their father was attacked, it meant that Sirius was part of the Order as were the Weasley's parents. She felt guilt beginning to rise; what if her father was there? Was that the reason that he wasn't home that night she ran off? Her grip on the doorframe tightened.
"We're talking about your dad here!"
"Your father knew what he was getting into, and he won't thank you for messing things up for the order!" her father replied angrily, "This is how it is-this is why you're not in the Order – you don't understand there are things worth dying for!"
"It's easy for you to say stuck here!" one of the twins yelled, "I don't see you risking your neck!"
The tension rose to the surprise of Angel. The little color on Sirius' face drained immediately by the comment; the look of fury rose in his face and looked like he wanted to hit Fred. Taking a deep breath he found his center, Angel noticed how he held Harry tightly.
"I know it's hard but we've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. We've got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?"
This is the predicament that Angel found herself in. If the Weasley's would remain in the household, would that mean she was trapped in the room until they left? She wasn't quite sure she would be happy about that. Before she could make a run for it Kreacher apparated into the sitting room with pitchers filled with butterbeer.
"Kreacher?" Sirius asked surprised.
"Kreacher has brought drinks for guests." He began "no matter how traitorous or dirty they are" he muttered to seemingly himself. "Lady Malfoy said it was only polite for Kreacher to be good to guests."
Angel winced and closed her eyes tightly. Kreacher had managed to blow her cover before she even managed to hide out and decide on a plan. All the eyes immediately hit the doorframe and she found herself being very vulnerable. She was never a fan of the spotlight, and this time it was only worse. She didn't have her usual looks to fall back on, her hair was down her back and slightly disheveled from sleeping. Her uniform or expensive clothing was replaced by a nightgown that while expensive, brought nothing of protection. And worse of all she had slipped on her glasses having no time to put the glamour spell on herself. She only hugged her robe over herself and looked nervously as the Weasley kids stared at her.
"What is she doing here?" Ginny said angrily.
Sirius said nothing instead let go of Harry and walked over to Angel. He saw how confused and embarrassed she was to be caught in this situation. He found himself not caring what others thought and pulled her into him. Angel in her moment of surprise allowed this to happen and hid herself against him.
"Dumbledore brought her here earlier today for a different reason" Sirius said hoping for it to be enough.
But no one was buying it. Harry looked surprised yet relieved to find her there. While she looked like she had had no intention of being found there, it was clear she was there for only Sirius. Looking up at Sirius, Harry saw that Angel was slowly feeling genuine kinship with Sirius.
"It's okay…" she murmured to Sirius. "I can't say it…I'm not allowed to"
Sirius looked confused but Harry knew exactly what she meant. She had made that vow in hopes of getting Sirius out of jail and it had been successful. If she couldn't say it, so long as the people knew it could be shared. He remembered how proud she was at the loophole, but not quite sure if she was ready to say anything.
"It's not the right time to explain everything" Angel said softly speaking at the Weasleys. "I heard enough to know that you are going through a tough moment and it's not the moment to really get into these details. Kreacher brought butterbeer because he's a good house elf" her voice shook slightly and ignored Kreacher's almost pleased look. "And once your father gets better we can touch on this subject. For now perhaps we should drink"
It seemed that everyone was too tired to even fight it and they slowly began to drink the butterbeer. Slowly the Weasley children somehow gave up the tension and anger and all got lost in their thoughts. Slowly she sat on one of the lounge chairs and wondered if it was just better if she went upstairs. But slowly they began to doze off; first it was Ginny, who looked like she was struggling. Next the twins fell asleep leaning against one another. Ron stretched out and soon knocked out and Harry went into an uncomfortable slumber. Sirius sat with Angel and slowly they too dozed off, with her head against his shoulder.
…
It was ten past six when the kitchen door swung open and slammed against the door waking everyone up. Everyone looked a bit disoriented, especially Angel; it seemed she was the only one that had a blanket around her. She wondered who had brought it, but figured it was probably Sirius. She looked up to see Mrs. Weasley looking tired but relieved; she could tell from the smile that it was a forced one. As she began to explain that Mr. Weasley was okay, she found herself sinking deeper into the couch. She felt like such an intruder, and to think she had gone to visit Sirius to spend some time with her father. Now she was stuck in the middle of the tragedy.
"Breakfast!" Sirius said loudly as he got up. He looked joyful and Angel noticed that he too looked relieved. "Where is that accursed house elf?!"
Angel shook her head and muttered Kreacher's name. Immediately the house elf popped up much to the surprise of everyone. It seemed that for some odd reason he found some respect for Angel. It was then that Mrs. Weasley even noticed her, her eyes hardened and she wanted to sink deeper into the couch.
"Kreacher can breakfast be served please?"
Sirius looked confused as the crazy house elf muttered multiple curses before agreeing and popping away towards the kitchens. He never understood that house elf and why Regulus even liked the him. But as the smells of toast and eggs began to rise they all moved to the kitchen. All but Angel of course; turning back he noticed her grabbing her things and hugging them to her chest. She looked ready to bolt and he felt fear rising in him. He didn't mean to be selfish in wishing that they would leave and allow them to bond.
"You're going?" he asked yet his tone sounded sad.
Angel froze and turned to look at him. She didn't want to do this, but she figured it was safe to spend Christmas at Hogwarts and away from becoming an intruder in the home.
"I have to" she said softly, "After everything? Mrs. Weasley doesn't like me, and the feeling is mutual I suppose" she shrugged. "Her children don't like me and they're here aren't they? I don't want to be an interloper, especially now."
"I thought you wanted to spend Christmas with your old man?" Sirius said attempting to lighten the mood.
"I want to but…I can't say why I'm here" she muttered.
"Can't? Or you don't want to?" Sirius asked slowly.
"I can't, if I do…contracts are broken" The vagueness in her tone was enough for him to know.
He bent down on the couch and placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly. He didn't want to force her to be in a place that she was unwanted, but he wanted her here.
"Just so you know, if you give me permission I will proudly tell them who you are, and why you deserve to be here" he grabbed one of her curls and tugged playfully, "You're not an interloper if I want you here you know. And more than that, this place was meant for you…so please stay. Say yes?"
She closed her eyes and knew that she was stuck. Sirius Black was trying so hard to make her feel wanted and made her want him to be her dad so badly. She knew he wanted to step up and be there for her now that she needed him and she appreciated it. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him. This was all that needed to be said. As Sirius kissed the top of her head he smiled.
"Come on let's go have breakfast."
"Wait" she tugged him back, "I can't say anything until it's out but…but say something only if they ask. Their dad almost died because of…I can only imagine." She shuddered, "I don't want to remove from them and the situation. And it seems Harry really needs you know."
"You're so much like your mother" he said softly before tugging her towards the kitchen.
It seemed that Kreacher had only done one plate of food: hers. No one seemed to care, especially as Mrs. Weasley and Harry were cooking. Angel found herself sitting the farthest from everyone and avoided all looks going her way. She could tell that they were uncomfortable with her being there. And as soon as she had had enough she found herself ready to bolt again, had it not been for Sirius taking his plate and sitting beside her. On her right sat Harry who acted unfazed over all of it.
The silence during breakfast was a daunting one. Silence was rare event at her own family's dinner table, so this was very much out of her comfort zone. She could only imagine how they found her as an interloper and a spy. She didn't want to be here, had it not been for a hand grabbing hers under the table: Harry. Despite his own dilemma he wanted to be there for her. She squeezed tightly and looked down at her meal.
"Okay this has to be enough silence" Sirius suddenly said, "Anything you want to say you can say it freely in front of Angel."
"Sirius are you sure she's…."Mrs. Weasley trailed off.
"She's as trustworthy as I am, even more!" He said loudly sitting up.
"It's okay." she said softly, almost pleading for this to end.
"You can't be serious" Mrs. Weasley said shaking her head, "she's a Malfoy"
"She's not a Malfoy, she's mine and Amorette's and if you dare say anything bad about her, I would hate to start a fight here and in a moment like this"
Forks were drops, drinks were spilled and Angel's face burned red. She felt the walls beginning to close around her and she tried to calm down her breathing. This was not supposed to happen during this time. She hoped she could have at least won them over before the truth being told. She hoped for them to not see her as the intruder or a spy, snooping for someone. The fear of them knowing, of it spreading made her see spots in her last thing she saw was Harry mouthing her name. Was he yelling? She wasn't sure; but as her plate went flying and the stool she sat on fell with her, she knew she was no longer okay. The cold floor hit her back and soon she blacked out.