*pops up*
Heyyy, how ya doin. So I managed to finish my BA papers which is the reason why I went MIA for a bit, but now I have some time and room for relaxation (Guess who is catching up on three years of Doctor Who) I can finally start writing again. The next two chapters will follow The Goblet of Fire and then we will get into OOTP. The story will end during the Christmas of OOTP with a small Epilogue, so in total I give this story seven more chapters.
Song of the Day: Butchered Tongues by Hozier
Sirius read the letter from Harry, his heart filling itself with content knowing that he was alright. His relatives, the Dursleys, weren't mistreating him, and it seemed as though Harry would get to watch the Quidditch World Cup this coming weekend with the Dursleys. He was having a relatively normal summer, and that was all Sirius could hope for.
The first week in Alexandria he was allowed to gather his strengths before moving on. He'd wake up every once in a while panicking because he was too rested and often found himself tensing at simple sounds, but when he realized that it was only the winds cracking or the trees swaying in the wind. But, the peace didn't last long. The moment people realized that Eliza was in the country, they came looking for her. Then, he fled to Mauritius.
It felt a little bit like island hopping, which excited Sirius. Sure, he had to make sure that no one recognized Buckbeak when they hid in the forests or jungles, and each time he had to re-acquaint himself with the fauna and flora, but being on the run was nothing more than travelling now.
He moved every week, and Eliza would follow as best as she could.
The first few days were awkward. He had no idea where they stood as people. Not only as friends. She allowed him to sleep in her room when he was having a hard time sleeping. She'd tell him all about the changes in the world – he had been livid to find out they stopped producing episodes of Doctor Who – and that the world he knew did not exist anymore.
"This internet thing," Sirius asked one day curiously. "What can it really do?"
"It's only two months old," Eliza explained. "My dad has a computer at work and he says he can look up a things. A wee bit slow for now but I think it will work."
"Imagine if it had every single magical book out there and we could just look it up," Muggles truly were genius in their inventions. "But I doubt it will replace people, really. Machines break too, right?"
She nodded and continued reading up on monkshood. He wanted to ask her more. Not only about the world but also about her. Though Eliza talked with him, she was still hesitant about the past twelve years. He knew that she worked in the muggle world, and lived as a muggle as well until he escaped. But that was it. It was as abridged as that. His glimpse of Remus and Eliza did not tell him much. Those two had a hard time talking unless you coaxed the information out of them.
"So your dad's alright and well then?" he asked. "That's good to hear. All limbs attached?"
Eliza peeked out from behind her book. "Yeah, he's fine. I last saw him during Christmas. He's not happy with you, if you wanted to know."
"So you told him about me?"
His heart beat against his chest faster. Mr. Luna did not agree much with him, but that was more Sirius' doing than anything. The last they met was at James and Lily's wedding, and there he had been in a particularly bad mood. Either way, he had looked at Sirius disapprovingly before that because of his life choices.
"He knows of something, but not everything," Eliza answered finally. "I've been a bit busy."
"What do you even do when you leave?" he dug deeper. "You're not working, are you?"
Eliza raised an eyebrow, "I go to Remus."
"I have been thinking," he started. Time to get out with it. "It's been twelve years. Did anything happen in that time?"
He noticed her hand twitch a little bit, the pursed lip. So the answer was yes, there was someone. Of course, there was. It wasn't like Eliza was not an attractive person.
"Remus told me not to tell you.
Remus. Of course. He thought of the day by the lake. That would explain it all, really. He knew she went back for the full moon to take care of him, just as she used to do but –
"And then there was the roadman."
"The roadman?" Sirius asked credulously. "What does that even mean?"
"Uh, to be fair, the dating pool in London sucks."
He made a mental note to ask Remus about this when they saw each other.
"Can we get back to the part about Remus?"
"What about Remus? I see him naked once a month but that's because of werewolves," Eliza had an amused look on her face. "Sirius, I'm not with him."
"Why not?" Sirius, though jumping at the seams, thought that Remus wasn't a bad shot. After himself, of course. "Not a fan of furrys?"
"I'd rather not date through your entire family and friend group," Eliza rolled her eyes. "And honestly, life doesn't revolve around romance. I've had my fill, thanks."
Sirius frowned. He stood up from where he was sitting and carefully approached Eliza. Her arms were crossed, and she backed up a little bit when he approached. He stopped.
"Listen, uh…" How could he even begin? He wanted it all back. He'd dream of it, even. But it just wasn't the right time. "When my name gets cleared, I want to try again. Properly. If you want to, that is. I know it's been ages and you might not feel that way about it anymore, but I'd rather give it a go before we leave it at that."
Gingerly, he held out for her hand. She didn't move back when he laced his fingers into hers.
"Please?"
He couldn't place the look on her face. He spent twelve years in Azkaban wondering about the what-ifs and knowing that the one truth of absolute reality was that he was innocent of the murders of his friends. Slowly, the world was coming to realize that too. So now, he could wish for more and more of his life back. He wanted freedom, he wanted to provide a home for Harry, and he wanted love.
She pressed her lips to the back of his hands, their fingers intertwined with each other.
"I need time," she said.
He expected that. And he also expected hesitation every time he came near her. It stung at times that she was ready to believe that he was a murderer – for James and Lily of all people too – and there was much the two of them had to talk about. But he could give her time, he would give her twelve more if needed.
Like clockwork the week before the first moon, a knock sounded at Remus' door. He wasn't expecting anyone, but he had an inkling as to who could be on the other side of the door. Dinner was cold, only the leftovers from yesterday that should not be heated. He had tried the soup before. It had tasted plain weird, so he left it the way it was stored at room temperature. For the past few weeks, he had been alone and licking his wounds of having endangered the students of Hogwarts. Going from a bustling castle in the Highlands to a lonely shack in Yorkshire took a lot of getting used to, knowing that he wouldn't have the food of Hogwarts waiting for him in the morning.
Beats him to think that he could… have a normal life. It worked fine, but if he stepped out of line once, well – everyone knew what happened. Now, he was scrambling for a new job, but to no avail. Now that the secret was out, Remus was getting rejection after rejection. He made some money from odd muggle jobs, and he was happy that he had inherited the little shack he lived in, but he was living off the grid to save some money.
Remus peeped through the peephole on the door, recognizing the shrouded figure immediately. He should have thought that it wasn't a one-off comment. Eliza kept her promises.
She carried a basket full of plants that Remus knew were poisonous to humans alike, and small little containers of power that were labelled in a language he couldn't read. Her skin had taken on a rich golden tone and her skin was freckled. Of course, she must have spent her time in the sun, unlike Remus who was stuck up in Yorkshire.
"Hello," Remus did his best to not sound too surprised, but his face betrayed him.
"Did you think I wouldn't come here?" she smiled as she gave him a peck on the cheek. Blood rushed to his face. "Where can I lay this out?"
"Uh, over there but – are you actually going to brew the potion for me?" he asked bewildered.
"Yes, and I've already started a batch at home and started a garden with what we need. They're not that expensive in the muggle world you know."
Remus felt aghast. That was Eliza being Eliza, a little bit too altruistic for his taste.
"I can't expect you to take so much time of your life just to tend to me," he argued. "Eliza, I can't repay you."
"You can, in a cup of tea," Eliza smiled. "I've got lots to tell you, c'mon."
She moved in the kitchen as though she had already been there, finding the cauldron and filling it with water. From her pocket, she produced a timer and then left the cauldron on a simmer before adding the first plants from her little basket. Remus waved his wand around. The kettle filled itself with water and got itself to a perfect boil before pouring itself into a cup. It appeared before the two of them and landed with a little thud. He grimaced.
"Household magic is not my strong suit."
"Beats me, I've been doing everything without magic," she laughed. From the inside of her pocket, she produced a flask. "This one is for you."
It tasted terrible. But it was worth it.
"So, how has your summer been?" Remus asked. He had received her owl after he arrived back home. She had been in Egypt, he knew that much. But she told him it was best they write when she was back in the country.
"I had a small ruffle with the Curse-breaking department," she sighed and drifted her eyes to the potion brewing in the back. "They were getting far too close to the family grave for our liking, so the aunties of the community complained to me because I could talk with them. I felt far too young to be scolding Bill Weasley, if you ask me."
Remus nodded. The Curse-breaking department, though known for doing its titular job, sometimes had a dubious background in places where they shouldn't be. He didn't know why Gringott wanted to break into the ancient Egyptian tombs, much less those of dead private families.
"It's the 'treasures'," Eliza put air quotes. "Good thing I was already in Alexandria. Gave Sirius and I quite the fright when one of my relatives showed up at the door."
"So, he was with you the whole time?"
Eliza shook her head. She took a while before she answered, but it wasn't from hesitation. He could hear the weight on her voice.
"He left afterwards. I did say he'd have a few days at least. He's headed to places that don't have an arrest order on him."
"Where is he now?"
"Now? Haiti," she answered.
"Ditching me over Sirius? That's a first," Remus could imagine Sirius getting annoyed over that, but quickly realized it was an old version of Sirius. It wasn't the older version that he didn't get a chance to know.
"He took it quite well, actually," Eliza frowned. She stayed silent, contemplating what she was about to say. "He… actually wanted me to come back here. To keep an eye on Harry, of course."
"They're writing?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "They are. Not often, of course. But he sent an owl before leaving."
"And… how about you two?"
It was the topic they never talked about, but after what happened last school year it was well over-due. They'd dabbled in it time and time again, but what were they supposed to do?
"I…" she trailed on. "What would you do, Remus?"
Remus lingered on that thought. For one, Sirius was on the run. What they needed to do was talk about the past once and for all, about the hours that lead to the Potters death and the mistrust. All can be forgiven, yes, but they were all so ready to accept that he was a murderer when the truth contradicted otherwise.
"I think the first step is for him to know himself a little bit better, and then he us," Remus answered. "We're not twenty-two anymore, are we? You and I had a quite start again, but it worked out quite fine."
A soft smile befell her face, "That's what I told him."
"You might want to hide the bits about your dating life though, it might boost his ego a little bit too much," Remus added, remembering the stories she told during Halloween night suddenly. Eliza crossed her arm.
"I won't say anything if you won't say anything."
She stayed the week, and it was the happiest week of Remus' life. She slept on the couch, not because Remus didn't offer that he slept there, but because he needed all the rest he could get. The night after the full moon, he woke up to a new registration that had been passed.
"That Dolores Umbridge," she grumbled while grinding moonstone powder for her next visit. "I will show her what dolor means."
"There's no use," this was great. Just great. He eventually mucked up everyone else's chance.
"Oh, like we don't live in an unjust world," she grumbled. "Honestly, maybe I should enter the ministry. If Ludo Bagman can do it, maybe I can. I'm jobless anyway."
Remus frowned. He was feeling a little be weary, but just alright. "You're not working?"
"No," she packed up her things. "I'm thinking of what I should do next. Can't work at Hogwarts now that Charity is back and with Sirius on the run I want to make sure he's okay."
"No."
"What?"
"You're not throwing your life away just because he's out now," Remus insisted. "Listen, I am glad you can take care of me but really, you should take care of yourself for once. Not other people. You."
"And what about you?" she shot back. "You're doing your best, but could you at least forget your ego and maybe think about what I offered?"
Remus racked his brain. It had been ages ago.
"Surely, you don't want a werewolf in Little Whinging."
She blinked.
"Okay, then how about here," Eliza offered. She gestured to the little shack they were in. "It's a little bit off the grid, butno one will wonder. I can take care of you and me, and I can find a job somewhere. My apparition skills aren't that bad. And we can floo powder."
Remus, though flabbergasted at the sudden but also not-so-sudden suggestion, had no choice but not to protest. He had no other option, either way. But he also didn't want to not say no.
