Author's Note: You break the dam on something and the words just come rushing out. I should be doing more knitting, but instead I've been writing. This has been a long time coming. More to follow soon. Thanks to everyone who is reading and especially thank you to those to take time to review. MNF
Chapter 8:
Awake
12 November 1980
Anwen was sitting at the kitchen table with her two children when Lily came in with Harry. They were eating in the kitchen as Alfie had begun feeding himself and it was easier to clean up the tile floor of the kitchen than the carpet in the dining room, even with magic berries left a mess. She put two more small bites of egg and a very small bit of tomato on his tray. Violet was in a carrier Wilken had made which mimicked the seat of the swing the baby was so fond of. Anwen was rocking it with her foot, although a spell would have done the trick as well. Anwen found the tempo of the rocking motion helped ground her. Their lives were in chaos most of the time.
"Oh, such a big boy feeding himself," Lily said before dropping a kiss on Alfie's head. "I think I'm going to need to start Harry on baby food soon."
"But he'll be eating porridge," Anwen said with a smirk that resembled her husband's. "Which means you'll be wearing his porridge. I remember those first months feeding Alfie 'solid' foods."
"What about your little Violet, will she start eating solids soon?" Lily asked.
"No, her gag reflex is at a place where she just spits anything I put on her tongue out. It's remaining an all-liquid diet for her," Anwen said with not well disguised sigh. Just then an owl that neither of the women were familiar with flew in. "Who in the world is sending us an owl at this hour?"
"Hospital? Ministry?" Lily postulated.
"No, it's…from the Black family, specifically Arcturus, if I'm reading the seal correctly," Anwen explained. She hadn't done well in Astronomy, just getting through because Sirius had tutored her. Since the Black's didn't use initials or monograms like most people, she needed to know her constellations to recognize who was sending mail. With a deft hand, Anwen cracked the seal with her clean left hand, and continued to feed her son with the slightly gunky right one. "Good Lord, Lily can you finish feeding Alfie? I need to go wake Sirius and then get dressed."
"Anwen, what's happened?"
"They've found the body of Orion Black, he's dead. Walburga has woken up at the news." Lily looked at her friend dumbfounded.
"Go, I'll give Alfie his bottle and then make sure he's dressed. Are you taking them with you to Sirius's grandfather's place?" Lily was already shooing Anwen out of her chair and summoning the bottle of milk from the counter. Anwen lifted her daughter.
"I think we should," Anwen said in a daze. "Walburga has never formally met either of her grandchildren. Druella won't even look at Alfie. I hope Walburga will." Without a backward glance, Anwen left the kitchen.
Thirty-five minutes later, Sirius and Anwen Flooed to his grandfather's home where the old man greeted them. He looked ten years younger and hugged them both before kissing the children's heads.
"She's awake?" Sirius asked, even as Arcturus reached for little Alfie.
"She is, and other than being physically weak, she seems to be of a clear mind." Sirius stared at his grandfather gape jawed. "Close your mouth, young man, or you'll catch flies."
"Oh, right," Sirius said absentmindedly. Anwen took pity on him.
"Why don't we sit down, and you can explain everything before we go in to see her," Anwen said gently. They went through to the lounge, a playpen set up in the corner for Alfie, although Arcturus preferred to keep his great-grandson on his lap. When everyone was comfortable, Arcturus began his tale.
"I received a summons to the mortuary level of St Mungos last evening. When I arrived, I was asked to identify the remains of my son, your father, Sirius. It was indeed Orion, and I was also able to identify the remains of my cousin, Pollux. I'm not sure when they returned to the country, but they were found in a mass grave that included several purebloods and about twenty people we suspect were Muggles. The non-magical were covered in burns, and there was a burned-out collection of cottages and buildings that belonged to a mining company. The Aurors suspect the remains belong to the people who lived and worked there. The five magical – the two Blacks, Envious Nott, Reginald Selwyn and one of the Goyle brothers – all showed residue of being held under the Cruciatus Curse before they were killed with a targeted Piercing Hex to the back of their skull."
"Execution style," Anwen muttered.
"What was that dear heart?" Arcturus asked.
"Oh, there are these Muggle gangs, often called the Mob, and they shoot people with a gun in the back of the head. It's been coined as 'execution style'." Arcturus appreciated how much his granddaughter-in-law knew about the functioning of the Muggle world. He firmly believed she would one day hold one of Dumbledore's titles, if not all three.
"I see. Thank you for that bit of information. I find it interesting that this Dark Lord creature espouses blood purity but then uses such a Muggle technique of murder. The man in a contradiction if I ever heard of one," Arcturus added.
"You've no idea." Sirius said. "I can't share what the DMLE has discovered, but…if his followers knew the half of it, they might not follow him. Tell me about mother."
"After returning from the ministry I immediately went to Wally's room. Her elf, Shelly, was with her and Wally was awake, so I told her. Immediately her eyes blinked several times, and then she looked at me, not through me."
"Can she talk?" Sirius asked. "Do we know what happened that night?"
"Yes, although her voice is weak from disuse. I called your cousin, and Andromeda suggested that we not ask about the events of that night and listen when she decides to speak of them." Arcturus spoke calmly and evenly.
"You invited Andi back into the family? How did I not know?" Sirius asked.
"You've been working too hard. After the loss of your cousin, Narcissa, I decided family needed to protect one another. The Tonks family have moved to a Stargazer's Summit cottage for safety."
"I really have been working too hard," Sirius said. "Can we please go see her?" Violet chose that moment to awaken and demand a meal.
"Go, take Alfie in, and when Vi is done, I'll come through with her," Anwen said, even as she fished a blanket out of the nappy bag to cover herself with. Sirius' grandfather had the decency to look away while Anwen positioned herself and got her daughter to eating. While she wasn't a fan of Cleansing Charms, this once would be fine, especially as she could detect it was only wet.
"You're quite deft at that," Arcturus said to the young mother.
"On the job training," she quipped back.
"Motherhood suits you."
"Thank you, I'm enjoying it. Grandfatherhood suits you as well. It's generous how you always include Harry and Neville," Anwen said.
"Neville is the only one of the four to have two sets of grandparents anymore. I have much to give away, since I can't take it with me, and Sirius already sits on his own fortune. I would have fire called you, but by the time I could, it was three in the morning, and I didn't want to wake you when I know these two often awaken you already. I was surprised you were up at six when I finally sent the owl."
"The children and I were up, as was Lily with Harry, but Sirius was asleep. Today is his day off and I had every intention of letting him sleep if he desired. All day if that is what his body needed."
"You're very good for him. Walburga would have tried to marry him off, had she been in her right mind when he became close to age. We in the Black family tend to use marriage as a political tool. Sirius not only married for love, but politically he helped cement the new direction of the scraps of the Black family that remain," the man explained.
"I'm happy I could help, although it isn't like the Parker line is what it once was," Anwen said softly, her hand moving gently over her daughter's back as she drank.
"Ah, but you are still a Parker, and that is all that matters. I understand you are to be invested with a great title come your birthday this spring," Arcturus said to the young mother.
"Much like Sirius will take on his earl titles when he turns twenty-one next week, I will take on the Parker family titles, beyond being in the Baroness of Glastonbury, which I was born to. The rest are bestowed when I turn twenty-one in April. I had no idea I would be a duchess as well. I tried to have the family give one of the titles to my cousin, but since she is the granddaughter of the younger Parker sister, the titles go to me."
"And will your beautiful little Violet inherit when the time comes?"
"Yes, all the titles. I don't even know what the third one means. Lady Guardian of Stonehenge? You want to guard Stonehenge, move the silly road away from it, or limit the kinds of traffic allowed on it," Anwen said, with Arcturus nodding.
"That is one problem in the Muggle world I'm well aware of," he said. "Of course, we've been debating what to do for the last fifty years or so, and we're no closer to an answer. Thankfully magic is holding everything in place, but the vibrations from the road increase every year."
"I just…sometimes I wonder at my life. As a child I was frightened of my magic and was nothing more than a troublesome girl from a relatively backwater part of Wales. Now look at me, I'm married to an earl who is heir to his family fortune, I'm to be installed as a duchess on my birthday and I have two delightful children. Oh, and I'm a very powerful witch and a healer."
"That you are," grandfather agreed. Anwen slid Violet out without disturbing the blanket and burped her daughter before putting the now dozing child back in her carrier. She deftly put herself back together and removed the blanket.
"Were you using a sticking charm?"
"No, just used to doing that. My brother and Remus let alone Uncle Charlus do not want to see me nurse. If Lily and I are alone in the nursery, we aren't quite as careful."
"How are you adjusting to the communal home?"
"It's different than what I imagined when I dreamed about being married to Sirius, but the keep has never fallen, and I trust the wards implicitly. The house could burn, but the keep underneath is solid. Sirius and James have fitted one of the rooms as a sort of apartment with food and games for the children, cribs and beds and access to Monty's potions lab and the weapons room. Your grandson wields a sword very well."
"He should, he was trained in swordplay by me. Both my grandsons were, and oddly so was Andromeda. She was always going to be a handful, I just never realized how she'd strike out and leave the family. Narcissa was delicate and romantic, like her name and Bellatrix, well…unfortunately something is broken in that girl's head that I do not think anyone can fix. She has made her bed, and I dread how she will lie in it." Arcturus looked distraught and older than when they'd begun speaking. "Come now, I'm certain Walburga would like to meet her granddaughter."
The pair entered Walburga's room to see her sitting up, a bed thick jacket covering her torso up. She looked frail and thin, her skin somewhat sallow and just hanging off her cheekbones but her eyes were bright and recognized the young witch when she entered. Sirius was sitting on the bed next to his mother's knees, Alfie on his lap with his stuffed dragon from Arcturus keeping him occupied. The wing was shoved in his mouth where he was cutting a tooth. Anwen cringed, thinking how gross the wing would be when he was done.
"Anwen," Walburga said gently and with a raspy voice. Sirius stood, handing Alfie back to his grandfather and taking his daughter into his arms. Violet immediately reached for his hair, which was wisely tied back.
"Hello, Walburga. It's good to see you," Anwen said as she came to kneel next to the bed.
"Mother," the older woman said softly.
"Mother," Anwen confirmed with a smile. "Thank you. I'm missing mine very much."
"Me too." Anwen eyes were brimming with tears, and just nodded at Sirius's mother.
"Mother, this is our daughter, Violet Calista," Sirius said putting the little bundle into her arms. Unlike her older brother, Violet simply looked up with her startling eyes and smiled at her grandmother.
"Her eyes," the woman said.
"Yes, they are like yours. She has a lovely temperament, like you too."
"My boy," Walburga said, reaching for his face. He knelt next to the bed so she could caress his face. "So good."
"Thanks, Mum." The Parker-Black family only stayed for another twenty minutes, but promised to return every day and as soon as she could travel, Walburga was invited to their house for dinner.
Later that night, Anwen and Sirius were in bed. Sirius was bottle feeding Alfie while Anwen was feeding Violet. Both children would be going to the nursery. When Alastor Moody heard what had happened with Walburga, he insisted Sirius take the next day off. They both planned to sleep as much as possible. There were bottles prepared for Violet, so Hindsa could feed her into the morning hours tomorrow.
"I can't believe it," Sirius said. "Andi said her brain is good, not that I don't trust you to check her, but Andi is a Mind Healer and all."
"I understand. I'm going over tomorrow afternoon to talk with your mum," Anwen said gently. "Andi thinks it might be good for her."
"We can all go, or just you and I and leave the kids with whoever is around the house –"
"Sirius, Andi thinks I need to go, to talk with your mum as we share quite a bit in common," Anwen said gently as she tried to guide her husband.
"Why you and not me, or Reggie. Grandfather was going to send Ted to retrieve him. Surely, we can talk with her about everything."
"Sirius, not this you can't. Andi thinks your father might have hurt your mum the way Evan –"
"You think my father raped my mother?" Sirius said so loudly both children startled but only Violet cried. Anwen settled and then got her eating again.
"She thinks it's a possibility, and I'm both a healer and someone who survived a sexual assault. I might take Lily with me. We're all part of a wretched club," Anwen said as she started to burp her daughter.
"With my grandfather in the room?"
"Don't think about it," Anwen advised, "it will only hurt your heart."
"They're sick," Sirius said darkly.
"They're dead and your mother is awake. Let's focus on the joy of the situation, not on the ugly, please."
"You, you keep the darkness at bay," Sirius said lovingly. "You are my sunshine, always you, Anwen." He then kissed her softly as they finished feeding their children and settled down for the night.