"I will be watching for your enemies to let them know that they contend with me" - Give - Sleep Token.
The Burrow - 10th May 1998 14:00
"If you keep pacing like that, you're going to wear through the floor." Hermione chastised.
Ron had been on edge since they had received the Patronus from Sirius.
Rose had been supposed to be coming back yesterday, but there had been an incident, and she had been re-admitted. A combination of eagerness to know what had happened and nerves to speak to her properly since the few sentences they had shared at the lawyers office set him on edge. According to the patronus, they were on their way home, right now.
Ron stopped in front of her immediately. She was sitting in an armchair in the living room of the Burrow, a book floating in front of her, a cover over her shoulder as she fed baby Rose. "You need to calm down," She said softly.
"I can't calm down," Ron affirmed.
With a wave of her wand, Hermione set the book down before walking over to Ron. He put his arm around her shoulders and took baby Rose's hand. Her blue eyes found him from the gap in the cover, and he smiled before planting a kiss on the top of her little head. Rose smiled widely, releasing her grip on her lunch and reaching for her Dad.
Ron took her straight away. Hermione rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. She loved Rose and Ron's relationship, but Rose had developed a habit of stopping halfway through a feed to take her now permanent place in her Dad's arms. A grizzly moan began to emit from the little girl as Hermione straightened her clothes, "Well, you stopped eating monkey, you need to learn you can't have both Daddy and…" her tone hushed briefly "... Booby at the same time."
It was still so foreign to hear Hermione using slightly rude words, especially when she tried to hide them, "Did Mummy just say booby?" Ron chuckled, raising his eyebrow. Rose stilled at the word. "Booby," a smile broke over her face, "Are boobies Rosie's favourite thing?" As though in agreement, Rosie cooed and squealed. "Well, Rosie posie, Mummy's boobies are Daddy's favourite things too, yes they are." Ron began making nonsensical noises in the face of the squealing girl, but his smile was short-lived. As Rose nuzzled her head into the crook of Ron's neck, falling into an almost immediate sleep, flashes of her older self sleeping under the water came to the front of his mind.
Hermione rubbed his arm, her thumbs tracing the exposed scars that swirled over his freckles. There was power in her touch, the magic buzzed between them in a soothing lull. "Every time I close my eyes, I see her under the water or lying lifeless on the floor. I just keep thinking what if we hadn't found her…"
Hermione shushed him softly, laying her head into his chest. As he breathed in the smell of her hair deeply, he felt the panic that grew quell. "You knew something was wrong, and you didn't stop until you got to the bottom of it. Because of your intuition, she is alive." She snaked her arms around his waist, pulling him in tight to her. Ron held her tightly with his free arm, closing his eyes and resting his chin on her head.
Their moment was short-lived; the familiar whooshing of a port key echoed outside the house, announcing their arrival. Ron tensed, pulling Hermione closer to him.
His eyes still closed, he felt her moving to look up at him, the thought of her brown eyes made his stomach leap, and after a moment, he indulged himself a glance. "Come on, let's go see them."
Rose and Sirius stood together just outside the gate. She gazed almost absent-mindedly at the house. Sirius watched Rose, holding her hand and arm, gently whispering something in her ear, making her smile widely.
A shrill trill caught her attention. Rose dropped Sirius's hand, looking for the source of the sound. And as a streak of ginger darted through the slightly too long grass, Rose bent her knees and stooped to scoop Smudge into her arms.
Watching them from the window felt wrong, like they were intruding on a personal, private moment, but Ron couldn't look away. Despite the tears that tracked down her face as she tightly clutched the giant cat in her arms, Ron couldn't help but feel the glow of happiness that surrounded the moment.
Sirius laid his hand on her back, rubbing gently as she was racked with sobs. Smudge snaked his body visibly, closer to her, rubbing his face against her trilling pleas for her never to leave again. She apologised, over and over, until the moment passed, when Sirius rubbed Smudge's chin.
"He loves her, doesn't he?" said Ron.
"Who, Sirius or Smudge?" Hermione asked with a smile. "Come on, let's go say hi."
Hermione opened the front door with a creak. Smudge turned in Rose's arms, jumping from her arms on seeing Hermione and Ron approaching, and weaved himself between Rose's legs. Rose herself looked exhausted; she had pale, sunken eyes, but there was a warmth behind her tiredness. The smile on her face spread wider as she saw Ron and Hermione walking towards her.
"Mum…" Hermione threw her arms around Rose; she didn't leave room for fear of refusal. It was a long, much-needed hug; they both cried and whispered to each other.
Ron and Sirius both gave each other the awkward nod of greeting. Hermione placed her hands on either side of Rose's face, and they continued their private conversations in hushed sobs.
Ron asked Sirius. "How's she been?"
"She slept," Sirius said quietly. "It's a start."
Hermione pulled away, squeezing Rose's arms and moving out of the way, wiping her tears from her face. There was a silence as Rose stared up at Ron, Hermione stepped forward, taking baby Rose to free his arms. Ron, unlike Hermione, hesitated. Rose, unlike Ron, didn't hesitate. She threw her arms around his neck.
As the day had worn on, the initial hype of Rose's return had died down, Sirius found himself supping a butterbeer, sitting in the garden of the Burrow with Harry, Ron and Arthur.
The sun shone brightly overhead, and Sirius felt the warming glow lift his spirits.
"Does Remus know you are here, Sirius?" Arthur asked softly. Closing the paper he had been reading, and set it down to take a drink of his coffee.
Sirius shook his head and gave a small smile, "No, I don't imagine he does, in fact, I don't know if Kingsley would have told him I'm alive."
"It took him a week to tell me, and you are my family," Harry said with a huff.
"He has been a very busy man these last few days." Arthur tried to pacify the room, but Sirius had the feeling that he was just as angry as the rest with Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Becoming minister has its issues, but he's having to rebuild the ministry from the ground up while trying to weed out the death eater loyalists and the spies still working there."
"There are still deatheaters?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.
Arthur hummed an indifferent hum, "Death eaters is the wrong name for them, most of them were sensible enough to be quietly loyal to You Know Who, not plaster the proof all over their arms. But the sentiment is still there…"
There was a crash from inside the house. The smell of fire and the cry of a baby. With a shared look of concern, all four men jumped from the table and raced to the source of the chaos.
A haze of soot, and a groan from the floor as a pink-haired bundle of limbs untangled herself from the upturned sofa.
"Wotcher Sirius…" Tonks laughed a pained laugh, reaching out a hand to Sirius, who took it and pulled her to her feet. She looked him over before tears sprang to her eyes, "You look good for a corpse." She threw her arms around him, and he returned the hug with his own fierce embrace.
"You look good for a mother, Nymphadora," He retorted before receiving a finger stabbed into his ribs. "You decided to make an honest man of old Moony, did you, cousin?"
"I would have expected less of the old from someone who has just returned from the crypt," A familiar voice came from the fireplace, the crying now quieting. As the smoke cleared enough, Remus stepped forward, a small head of blue hair strapped to his chest in a grey carrier.
"Remus." Sirius' eyes filled as he raced forward, placing his hand around Remus' shoulders, careful to avoid the little body on his chest. "You're looking well, my friend"
Granny had insisted on giving me and Mum a tour of the tree house, which was now lovingly referred to as the Guest House. She had seemingly forgotten that I was the one to design and install the layout as she walked around beaming with pride. Extra touches had been added here and there, and it had become a wonderful little home with a fully functioning kitchenette, bathroom and two bedrooms. There was a full set of stairs that disappeared when charmed away that were now permanently attached to the form of the tree, making it easier and safer to access than it had ever been previously.
It was lovely. Lovely. But trees hold memories, apparently over multiple timelines. I know this now as the very spot that they had taken their last breaths was marked with a knot that I know it never was before. It currently sits underneath an ornate rocking chair in the 'living area'.
Mum notices something is wrong, she touches my back and I snap out of the trance I have found myself in.. I lie, say I'm fine… It's just so nice. I tell them I feel so lucky, and I do, but I also don't know how I will 'live' here, not without seeing their lifeless faces burned into my eyelids.
Mum places my version of her bag on top of the dresser in the bedroom and I nod to acknowledge I know where it is.
"You might need a few more bookshelves if half the stuff I packed is still in there." She says softly giving the bag a little absent minded pat. "I've been meaning to unpack mine properly but it seems like such a big task at the moment.
"Dad always encouraged me to keep it the way you left it," I say without thinking. "It was like a part of you was there with us. You were always so organised, Dad not so much." I watch the light reflecting on the remaining beads, I feel a chuckle building "We were exploring part by part, reading everything we could, every margin, every note, before putting it back exactly how you had left it. We were barely halfway done five years in."
She clutches Mini Me a little closer, kissing her forehead. Before we recognise we have done it, we have taken a silent, absent-minded walk and stopped just outside the gate to the garden.
"Ahh", there's a scream from across the way. I look up just in time to see someone throwing themselves at me, almost toppling me backwards.
"For goodness' sake, will you be careful, Dora!" Granny chastises as she catches me from behind. "You are so much clumsier since having Teddy."
"Tonks", I wrap my arms around her, carefully avoiding her skin. "It's been so long."
"I know," she straightens up, letting me go and wiping tears from her eyes.
"Are you crying?" I laugh, feeling the burn in my throat.
"Mate, your hair looks like a bird's nest, it's enough to make anyone cry. I pity your daug…" With a hitch in her voice, she stops and watches my face. During my time in Grimmauld Place we spent a lot of evenings together with our respective not-quite partners. We grew close and I would consider her to be my first outside of my family and Sirius friend. She pulls me back into our hug. Squeezing me in a way that soothes a part of my soul. "I've missed you." When it ends, she grips my sleeve. "Come meet your godson…"
It was a quiet dinner, by Weasley standards. Just nine people sat around the old wooden table on their mismatched chairs. Sharing laughter, life and love around a feast of roasted beef, mountains of vegetables and potatoes. There was a truly unspoken bliss that filled the room, the events of the past momentarily forgotten, the fear for the future extinguished, and conversation flowed with ease. The questions that needed to be avoided were avoided by the whole group in a silent understanding that only came from real family.
The distinct lack of verbal racketeering between Sirius and Molly made the air feel lighter, the conversation flow smoother, and the world better—a silent truce in their previous war of words.
However, while Molly had resigned herself to being pleasant to Sirius, the Weasley matriarch had not changed too much. She quickly turned to her favourite hobby in her less-than-discreet match-making again.
The conversation had been centred on Arthur's recent experiences within the ministry since the battle. Molly had been clearing plates from the table with a mischievous look in her eye.
As a ripple of laughter across the table conveniently came to an end, the mischievous side of Molly Weasley burst from her with no warning. "You know you need to get married before the baby is born… you've only got two weeks at most"
Rose, who had previously had a bright, happy smile, wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow. Staring at her grandmother as though she had two heads, she whispered, "Where did that come from?"
"For fuck sake mum," Ginny groaned. "Leave the poor woman alone."
"Ginevra…" Molly chastised.
"Sirius has only been back from the dead for a couple of days, and you are already starting this bull. Give them a break" She took a swig of the sweet elderflower wine that had been served with dinner, gripping it tightly as though someone was going to take it from her.
"I think you have had enough of that young lady." Molly pointed a serving spoon at her daughter.
"Ginny's right, mum, you don't need to be married to be happy and have a baby together," Ron spoke, quickly quieting again as his mother's eyebrows raised. Hermione elbowed him not so slyly in the ribs as the attention now turned to them.
Ginny flipped her mother a middle finger, grabbed the bottle from the middle of the table and poured another half glass. The redhead caught Sirius' eye and winked with a smile. She reminded Sirius of Lily. So full of personality, spirited and funny. Watching Harry sitting blissfully happy with his arm around the back of her chair, it was as though he was looking at two of his best friends again.
"Don't think I've forgotten about you two. When are we setting a date…" As Molly began berating Ron, Sirius thought something that he would never say out loud. Molly Weasley was right, and a visit to Grimmauld Place was very necessary.
Sirius had known he had wanted to marry Rose for a long time. He had been on the cusp of committing her when he fell through the veil. He had wanted back then to protect her, to make their two broken halves whole, but now there was more to it. He remembered when James had told him that he was planning to propose to Lily, Sirius had thought it was insane, and while he had been happy for his friends, he had wondered what the point could have been. Why would anyone choose to bind themselves together for the rest of eternity? But watching Rose laughing with her family, trying to defuse her grandmother and subconsciously rubbing her hands over the bump that held Pup, he understood. He wanted to be bound to her for life, to create a family.
Time was not on Sirius's side. He took her hand under the table. Rose stopped her conversation in its tracks, looking at him immediately, filled with concern. Her body tensed. Sirius smiled at her, lacing their fingers together.
"I need to go to Grimmauld Place later tonight, I'll only be there for half an hour or so. Is that ok?"
She nodded, her shoulders relaxing "Of course it is, I would offer to come with you but…" She showed the bands on her wrists and clinked them together. "I'm a bit trapped"
It had been a wonderful night overall, and as the mull of dinner conversation lulled to a happy babble, a pop of apparition could be heard from the garden.
"Kingsley is here with… oh bloody hell" Arthur stood from his chair and went to open the door.
"Good evening," Kingsley greeted him before looking around the room. "Not interrupting, are we?"
"No, no, come in, we were just about to serve pudding." Sirius watched as Arthur welcomed Kingsley in.
He was joined by two women who could not be less alike. The first reminded Sirius strongly of Professor McGonagall, with her stern face and pursed lips. She wore a tweed green pantsuit, so sharp it could have cut the meat on the table.
The second girl would not have been out of place in the Weasley family. Her red hair was tied messily in a bun on top of her head. In her arms, she carried more folders of parchment than should be possible for such a small frame.
The woman greeted Arthur quietly with a friendly smile and a firm handshake. "Arthur, my good man, wonderful to see you. Wonderful work this afternoon with the Jones case"
Kingsley consulted silently with his red-headed companion, who tilted her head and looked towards Molly. "Is that your homemade pudding?" She asked with a hopeful smile.
"Of course. There's sticky toffee pudding, treacle tart, and strawberry cheesecake, if you would like some?" Molly answered brightly before flicking her wand, clearing the leftovers and used plates from the table. She moved the plethora of giant puddings to the centre of the table.
Arthur conjured up three more seats. Kingsley took a seat in front of Sirius, the unknown woman to his right. She was not someone he had ever seen before, but her presence set Sirius's nerves on edge.
"How many people are you feeding, Mum?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow to the size of the puddings.
"I would never dream of passing up an opportunity to try your famous puddings, Mrs Weasley. Kingsley won't stop talking about your Treacle tarts." As if by magic, a slice of treacle tart appeared on the plate in front of her.
Molly offered the unknown woman a dessert, "A very small piece of cheesecake for me. Thank you. Arthur has been very complimentary of your baking skills, Molly." She took the smallest forkful and consumed it. "With good reason, this is sublime."
"You are very kind, Vera, but it isn't hard to make."
Kingsley cleared his throat. "Some of you will not be familiar with my colleague Vera Newhall. She is the newly appointed head of the International Confederation of Magic"
"What does that job entail?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
Vera smiled, "I oversee the global network of Wizarding Ministries and ensure that our world is safe and protected" Her voice reminded him of his mother, each letter and sound pronounced with clarity and purpose.
"That must be a very tough job," Sirius said quietly.
"It has been made easier by the recent death of Tom Riddle." Vera commanded the authority of the room.
"And this is Willow, I have it on good authority that she is going to be the next Tabitha Critchley…"
"Except not a corrupt lying b…" Vera raised her eyebrows, Willow coughed to cover her last word, before making a beeline for the chair opposite Rose.
Rose smiled. "I like you already." Sirius's hand tightened on her shoulder, even the coincidental layout of their seating choices had Sirius questioning why they were here. The woman leaned over the table, smiling brightly and holding out her hand. "Willow Lockhart, delighted to finally meet you properly. I'm a BIG fan of your work."
Rose pulled on her most authentic forced smile, one Sirius had seen countless times before. "Lockhart? As in Gilderoy?"
"Oh, Merlin, no. No relation…" Her hand still hovers in front of Rose, and Sirius felt his pulse racing.
"Sorry, I don't shake hands…" I feel Sirius's hand on my back, squeezing harder, then giving a small rub of support. "...anymore" I place my hands under the table to stop the temptation to take hers as I watch her face drop.
"Oh, ok… Sorry, I can be a bit full-on. I'm just so excited to meet you"
I shift uncomfortably on the chair. "No, it's me, I can't… anyway, it's lovely to meet you really…what work of mine are you a fan of?" Sirius takes my hand as a sharp pain twinges on my finger. I look down and see his hand splattered with a small amount of blood.
Willow looked around the room. "I'm just going to come out and say it, you need a lawyer, and I want to represent you. For free, of course. I want to be the one to help you tell your story…" She lowered her tone, "to tell all of their stories."
As I opened my mouth to speak, Sirius asked. "All of whose stories?"
I feel my hands jittering. The anxiety, building in my chest. I find the cool metal of the cuffs on my wrists, and I begin to explore the markings on them. I close my eyes for a moment, feeling the circular basket of the weighing scale, the fierce and imposing M that spreads over the two sides. Balancing. Grounding. My eyes snap open, and I stare at the metal band. It can't be…
"There is more to Rose's story than just Rose…" Willow responds, pulling me from my thoughts, and turning her attention to me again. "Have you had a look at your charges? Properly, I mean ?" Willow passed a folder of parchment to me, it's huge, heavy and smells of old books. There are tabs and coloured notes throughout the pack, and it reminds me of my meticulous organisation of Dumbledore's play book and the Memories.
I shake my head, "I got the gist of it, 45 years in Azkaban, never seeing my daughter grow up, etc., etc., why?" flipping through the pages, I try to calm my mind. I read the words without absorbing a single word of information. I'm trying to remember, to be 100% certain my mind isn't playing tricks on me.
"It's longer than 45 years now," Willow says, taking a bite of her dessert. Her eyes roll back in her head, and her eyelids flutter. "Oh Godric, that's good."
Sirius growls. "How long?"
I remember the swoop of the basket, the sharp line of the M.
"Triple that…" I laugh as realisation hits me, it's like a train. M isn't for Malfoy. There is a gasp that echoes through the room. "... and a few extra years. Don't worry, though, it changes every couple of hours, but I have been reviewing your case, and I think there is something you need to be aware of."
"What that I'm royally fucked and it's a good thing Sirius isn't dead so my daughter isn't being taken by lunatics," I say the words in a stream of consciousness, I don't think I wanted to really say.
"Third page," Willow said, she was almost dancing in her seat now. "Second from the bottom."
I turned to page three, there's a long list of charges that made me feel sick. I haven't read it yet, the list that could tear me from my family. But before my eyes I watch charges being added and being removed.
-Altering time (proposed punishment - 35 years imprisonment)
-Endangering the health and well-being of the magical world. (proposed punishment - 32 years imprisonment)
- Breaking the statute of secrecy by performing magic in front of Muggles (A list of over 400 names of those Muggles follows, including Dudley and Petunia Dursley, each indicating a proposed prison term of 30 days)
- Murder - the list of names makes me roll my eyes—death eaters, paedophiles, murderers, torturers, and then there at the bottom in black and white - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. (Proposed punishment - 110 years imprisonment)
-Unlawful castration of a pureblooded male (name redacted - proposed punishment - 7 years imprisonment)
- Unlawful castration of a halfblooded male (proposed punishment - 3 weeks imprisonment)
- Unlawful castration of werewolf (proposed punishment 3 days in prisonment)
-Falsification of rape allegations - (proposed punishment 11 years imprisonment)
-Slander - (written in red ink are the words 'We aren't in America, this isn't a charge that can be brought about)
- Deatheater activities (proposed punishment - 1 year imprisonment)
-Assisting and aiding in the Genocidial Murder of Muggleborns and Muggles.
- Genocide of minor attracted persons - Next to this in red ink the words what the fuck. I laugh again.
As I scan the page, I feel my blood boiling. Everything I have done. Every good thing tainted, manipulated. My entire redemption redacted from the world in a list of charges that span a lifetime of pain.
"You've missed it" Willow says.
"What" I ask scanning the page again
Willow leans over the table and points. I follow her finger and my heart flutters.
-Murder - Lucius Abraxas Malfoy.
Lucius isn't dead. Not in this timeline. I meet her eyes.
"What…" Dad asks from my right side. Sirius is watching me intensely, I can almost hear the warning. But I can't calm down. I feel as though someone had just given me the Holy Grail.
"This has been approved by the Wizngamot" I ask after a few moments. "They know they have done this and it's done through?"
"Approved via international decree" Vera adds.
I search her face for any form of emotion and find only the tiniest flicker of something I don't know if I can trust.
"Confused?" Willow asks.
I can't hide the smile on my face, as I turn back to Willow "Very"
"What is it?" Mum asks.
"How can you be charged for the murder of a man who is alive right?" Willow is beaming. I can't tell why but her fire mirrors mine and that's some level of hell fire.
The silence at the table is broken by a rousing chatter.
"Who?" Dad asks
"Lucius Malfoy." I say with more confidence than I have felt in years.
"But he's not dead?" Dad exclaims loudly. "You didn't kill him"
"Not in this time I didn't." I say not removing my eyes from Willow. Sirius is squeezing my shoulder now. But I don't look at him.
Willow smiled at Dad. "Look at the date."
"1st March 2015?"
I feel like every birthday has come all at once.
"That hasn't happened yet, how can they know you are going to kill him?" Ginny leans in to try to read the paper work and I offer her the folder. Everyone's eyes are on me now.
I look at Kingsley "Did he want this?"
"Lucius insisted the charge was put in himself." Kingsley smiles a smug smile. "Obviously prompted by Critchley however, it's the most short sighted thing either of them has ever done."
Willow squeals. "He's given us an in to bend him over and fuck him with a hot poker." Willow grinned clenching her fists excitedly in front of her face
"Oh my goodness," Granny gasps as a trickle of horrified laughter filtered around the room.
I laugh and clap my hands together. I feel an energy building inside me, the last time I felt this excited, I successfully castrated the motherfucker. My leg tapping on the floor and suddenly hope fills me. "That's thousands of counter charges he's just opened himself to…"
"Oh honey, that's just the ones you could bring. Just imagine everyone else you could bring down along with him"
I see his face in my mind like a flash. His dragon tattoo flexes, the smell of him. My jaw twitches. Nausea.
"What were your interactions with Richard Themis in the previous timeline, Rose?" Vera asks the question as though I spoke my visions out loud.
I am rendered mute. My voice, stolen.
"Not ones you talk about over the dinner table." Sirius answers for me. "From what I have heard, perversions of his rival the devil himself."
I have never told him the details.
"I spent a lot of time talking to your Dad Rose…"
Now I feel truly sick.
"You need sugar, petal." Granny says with a nod.
Granny has placed a portion of sticky toffee pudding and custard in front of me big enough to feed 3 people. I would say it was Sirius's fault after he told her that I was underweight but she was like this before. I pick up my spoon and eat because she will be disappointed if I don't.
"Are those ministry approved shackles?" Vera asks with indignation.
"They are," Sirius answered again for me.
"Did you know about this?" The question was directed at Kingsley. Who nodded, "She is pregnant for the love of Merlin man get a grip of yourself." Vera stands, walks around the table and motions for me to give her my wrists.
With a turn, they click. Open and fall onto my lap.
The relief is immediate. I close my eyes and feel the ball in my chest exploding. I feel a small sprinkle of rain above my head, before an almighty rushing sounds outside.
Despite the blazing heat of earlier an unseasonal rainstorm batters the roof and windows. It's me, rain seems to be my go to accidental magic. It's so refreshing. It seeps from my pores, leaving me soaked to my skin. My hair is now damp and limp. But my entire body feels relief, I can only liken it to the most intense orgasm you can experience.
My skin buzzes, and as I open my eyes I realise everyone is staring at me. The rain outside stops, with a final thunderous crack the red shadow of sunset returns to the sky.
"Well I'm grateful you made that happen outside. Mrs" Granny gives a nervous chuckle as she waves her wand and dries both me and the area around me. Sirius's hands are shaking as he's rubbing me through my still slightly damp clothes.
"Was that you?" Mum asks in awe.
My mouth is so dry, I reach out and summon a glass of water, it comes to me and I let out a small sob. I drink deeply with shaky hands.
"Do you have the first idea what preventing a witch from using magic in pregnancy can do, Kingsley?" Vera says sharply.
"I have been petitioning for further powers to be given over prisoner care, Vera. Themis has that department behind so much legislation we have been scrambling for better for Rose since the Battle of Hogwarts" Kingsley responds solemnly I catch his eye and see frustration.
"Well, Themis could have created an Obscurus, or god forbid it, an obscurial. I will send Themis an owl letting him know mine and the Confederations decision immediately, the trace will more than suffice to ensure her bail conditions are met."
Suddenly it becomes clear that Vera was who Jenny was referencing when she said I had friends in high places.
Kingsley and Vera argue briefly, I don't hear a word. Sirius leans into me, taking my wrists in his hands he rubs gently, the bands have left a red mark that stings. It looks like a burn, and would explain why they hurt and itch so much.
I hear mini me fussing, Mum and Dad talking, Ginny and Harry whisper to each other, Grandpa chastises Kingsley along with Vera. Willow sits and stares at me.
Granny bustles over with a pot of something and hands it to Sirius who applies a liberal amount, it soothes immediately spreading cool over the area.
Granny places one hand on my shoulder and one hand on Sirius's. "Does that feel better petal?" I nod because I will cry again if I speak and I've caused enough of a down pour. "Have some more pudding, sugar will help." I laugh as I meet Sirius's eyes as she moves from us.
The sweet taste of toffee makes me feel sleepy.
The noise all around is not getting quieter, everyone is talking. Willow continues to watch me.
"Why would you do this? Why would you want to help me?" I ask her quietly. It silences the room.
It's now I see that her eyes are brimming with tears, "He took my sister."
My heart skips and I feel my mouth dry again.
"Five years ago." her nostrils flared "She was 11 years old, so excited to go to Hogwarts with Harry Bloody Potter." Her eyes flicked to Harry at the opposite end of the table. "Sorry but she never shut up about you, the last thing she said to me was 'Do you think we will see him today?" and she then disappeared from Diagon Alley. Malfoy was the last person seen talking to her." She shook her head. "She was 11 fucking years old… She disappeared without a trace and nobody gave a shit." My heart drops further, I remember Willow, "It wasn't in the Prophet, it wasn't spoken about after he was questioned. All hushed up, Themis threatened my father to keep quiet and was furious when my mother went to Fudge directly, but that's what mothers do, right, they look for their children. Fudge claimed Dove ran away and the person who saw Malfoy talking to her disappeared, like she didn't exist, just like my little sister didn't exist anymore." Her fire matches mine because they have taken the things she loved the most too. "Then my mother supposedly killed herself and my Dad was left on his own. I don't believe she killed herself, not for a second. My mum was a strong person; she didn't believe in taking the coward's way out."
"Hey," Sirius snaps.
Willow jumps, she looks at me horrified "Sorry I didn't mean it like that, I didn't mean to offend." I shake my head reassuring her she didn't offend me. "Anyway, a few years ago my sister's body turned up and they framed my father for her murder and is now serving time in Azkaban. I had no idea until the final day of term, after Cedric Diggory's remembrance service, Dumbledore called me into his office…"
I remember her screams, pleading for it not to be true. I remember comforting her, I remember the memorial piece in the Prophet. I recognised the face, Dove, had been the one to give me the scar on my eyebrow all those years ago in the main halls.
I had fought so hard to try and help Willow, "She is not dead, and we cannot interfere with time…" was all I was told by Albus Dumbledore. "I should have done more for you." I say apologetically
Willow shook her head, holding back tears. "I knew you were someone special back then, before you were there for me after my mum's death, I used to see you wandering around, you were always there when Dumbledore clicked his fingers. You had that same haunted look. And when they tried to pass you off as a Weasley sibling in the paper earlier this year." She smirked, "I was in the year below Percy and above Fred and George, they all talked about their brothers and sister, you weren't one of them."
"What has this got to do with Rose?" Sirius asks his tone defensive. "I'm very sorry about your family but why is an up and coming lawyer, the minister for magic and the head of the International Confederation sitting in the kitchen of her family home telling her this story."
Vera cleared her throat. "The corruption runs deep Mr Black. So deep, that the ministry fell at the loss of two frankly insignificant members of staff. But it is nothing compared to the corruption and vile evil that pollutes the globe."
Sirius pulls my chair closer to him, "Rose and her family have already overthrown one evil overlord this month…" his arm is fully round me now.
"I'm not talking about overlords Mr Black. Voldemort…" Vera hisses,
Dad, Granny, Ginny and Grandpa flinch while a chorus of "Don't say his name" echoed in the room.
"Voldemort…" Vera repeats with no consideration. "... Looks like a pussy cat compared to the people we are talking about. This evil goes back generations, centuries of systematic abuse and has become engrained in our society as a right of passage for all Pure blooded males…"
Grandpa folds his arms, he does that when he has found the last of his patience, she's ok though, he's still got his glasses on. "All purebloodied males, Vera?" He asks. "I can think of multiple Pureblood families who would disagree."
"Apologies Arthur, you are right." I watch the way she speaks to Grandpa and it surprises me how much respect she holds for him. "...but you will also aware from your late father of how that fight has slowly been lost since we lost the fierce spirit of Euphemia Potter. We owe it to the lost to continue their legacy"
Grandpa lifts his glasses pushes his fingers into the bridge of his nose and lets out a small sigh. "If it has been around for centuries, I fail to see why the immediate need to act now and why you need the help of my granddaughter …" When he releases his grip on his nose, letting his glasses fall back on to his face he meets my eyes and smiles weakly "Why should the burden fall on her shoulders, when there are people all over the world trained to deal with these creatures."
Vera throws a folder over the table, it lands in front of me next to the list of charges. As I grip the sturdy cover it flies from my hand but I'm sure I just read Project Darkling on the cover. It flies across the table landing in front of Grandpa
"We are on borrowed time Arthur, it only takes a few turns of heads for us to be right back there and you know better than any of us Rose that the future is not something we can let happen." Kingsley said exasperated.
Willow stood, leaned over the table and placed her finger on the highlighted charge.
"That tiny dick, big ego charge right there…" she slammed her finger into the parchment and I look up at her. "...is your key to toppling everything, he and his fucked up family have built. By the Wizenmot allowing this charge to go through, you open the floodgates. Everything he has done to you… to all of them ever… every single death in your timeline is now open for grabs. And your memories, from what Kingsley has said about the memories you have given to him of the compound, if they are half as thorough, you could be getting justice for every one of them, or at least they will be public knowledge."
"There's always a 'but' in these conversations." Granny says cuttingly.
There is a sudden, silence as Kingsley nods. "But … we need to find the compound first. Without undeniable proof that it exists, proof they cannot sweep under the carpet, we have nothing but your word…"
"But I gave you the location, all the memories, that is proof that it exists." It shouldn't be this hard. It bubbles in my chest, the anger and exhaustion turn to frustration. The rain Patters on the window gently.
"And we have been to the location, there is no entrance. We know it exists because we sent in an auror undercover, and he has yet to return." Kingsley looks at me with expectation. I've had enough expectation.
With a frustrated growl, Rose slammed her fist onto the table making half the watching crowd jump, "I told you not to fucking do that…"
Sirius felt his heart rate increasing, she was getting elevated. "Calm down,"
Rose didn't listen, "I told you they wouldn't come back; whoever they are is likely going through the worst hell you can ever imagine right now… or if they are lucky, dead."
Kingsley continued, "We believe that an old dark magic protects the location and as the only person we know who has gotten in and out…"
"People get in and out every single day…" Rose laughs, "How do you think it's making money. They aren't going to have an fucking lit up entrance, are they? It's a secret underground people trafficking empire, protected by Merlin knows what. Seriously, Kingsley, do you want a visitor's entrance where they hand out free wrist bands or loyalty stamps, fuck five kids, get an assfuck for free?"
There is a shocked ripple across the table. Baby Rose lets out a splitting cry, and Hermione jumps up from the table excusing herself and leaving the room with her. Vera and Kingsley both continued their joint rehearsed speeches. Peppered with manipulation techniques Sirius had heard a million times in childhood. Willow on the other hand makes a whispered plea, Sirius only hears half of.
"You have to help them. They deserve justice too."
Rose nods, takes a small sharp breath. Sirius could almost not believe his eyes, after everything that happened with the Longbottoms. After every warning from the healers she's still taking on more than she can handle. It's the small blob of red under her nose that finalizes his response.
"Thats enough." Rose jumped as Sirius spoke. His face stern and grey. She looks at him with confusion.
"Sirius…"
"No, Rose has been through enough, we've all been through enough, I'm sorry about your sister, I really am but Rose needs to focus on getting stronger, on having the baby safely, no stress… this…" he waved his hand to circle over the parchment and avoided my gaze. Anger rises in me, I open my mouth to defend myself, but he puts a hand up "... Pup's due in less than two weeks, this can wait, your case isn't scheduled until end of June. "
"But…" Willow begins.
"Mr Black…" Vera interrupts
"No!" Sirius slams his fist onto the table causing everyone to jump."No…" His chest tightened as he reached for a napkin, "My family has been through enough." Sirius dabbed the cloth to Rose's face. Her eyes spoke of anger and fury. Let her be angry, her health was nonnegotiable. "We are happy to help you with anything else after my daughter arrives… but not now"
Willow sits back down on her chair, crestfallen. Sirius felt for her, briefly. But as she went against his wishes, pleading with Rose silently right in front of him the sympathy evaporated.
However, it wasn't the blatant manipulation that truly angered Sirius. What truly found the end of his shortened temper was the tiniest raise of fair red eyebrows. A silent acceptance of the task at hand. He turned the chair next to him, forcing Rose to face him. "Are you crazy?" She visibly flinched, softening the anger he felt. He placed his hands on her face and whispered that he was sorry "The war ended 6 days ago, I'm sorry I want to take that bastard down as much as you do but now isn't the right time."
"And what about the people who are left in there?" She snapped at him, "You don't know what they have to deal with every single day."
Sirius pressed the napkin to her face again, before removing it and showing her that it was almost saturated in blood. "I'm not trying to control you, I just know you want to save everyone at your own detriment."
As more came, Sirius took her hand, handed her a fresh napkin and made her hold it. "What happened yesterday scared the shit out of me… if something happens to you I won't cope, Rosie."
"What happened yesterday?" Ron asked sharply.
"I couldn't leave them as they were, Sirius, you saw them, they were haunted."
"Who?" Ron asked.
"Frank and Alice Longbottom. Miss Save the World here managed to bring them round from their madness…"
"Would it be better if I leave them as they were for the rest of their lives. Why wouldn't I help them?"
"You heard what the healer said." Sirius
An angry aristocratic twang appeared in Rose's tone, "And that's no one's business except mine."
"Really! It's no one's business? No one should know that every time you merge your timeline and ours, it's the same as stabbing a knife into your brain?" Sirius could feel his anger rising. "It's nobody else's business that they should probably stop touching you… accidentally or not. Rose, I'm begging you to listen to me."
"What, like you listened to me?" Rose snipped back.
"I have to agree with Sirius, Rose." Molly, who had been standing close by, walked behind her, placing her hands on her shoulders. "I think that's enough for tonight, Kingsley."
The Tree House, Ottery St Catchpole. 10th May 2024 9:45 pm
The setting sun bathes the little bedroom in a warm orange glow as I watch the little town of Ottery St Catchpole in the distance. Pigwideon flutters past my window, giving a happy hoot as he goes, flying back towards the attic bedroom of the crooked house in front of me. I love the sunset, it was never one of my favourite times of day, evils come out at night, but as I wrap my soft white robe around me closer, I remind myself that the night has more to fear of me now.
My hair, still damp from my shower, drips onto my shoulders, the pattering of the droplets on my robe reminds me this is real. I breathe in the cool night air, grounding myself.
The light in the attic room shows they are still awake. Mum appears holding Mini Me, pointing to the little owl who pecks at the window to be allowed entry. As she opens the window a little and waits until Pig hops in, closing it again and giving Pig's head a little ruffle. I know it sounds strange, but I love watching her. When my Dad would tell me stories about her, I used to imagine the person she would have been. I would pretend she was alive in my mind, and she had been able to be my Mum. She's better than I imagined. She's kind and happy, friendly and loyal, and she's the best mum.
She notices me and waves. I feel my neck growing red, and I pretend to fiddle with the curtains before waving back at her.
The silvery form of her patronus runs across the yard, the playful otter runs happily around my feet before saying, "Good night, Rose. Sleep well."
I wave back and close the floral curtains behind me. I wait a couple of minutes as my heart stops pounding before peeking out again. The curtains on the attic room are shut now, so I open mine again. I hate having the curtains closed. It doesn't feel safe not to be able to see outside, and the darkness inside sets my teeth on edge.
Most of the curtains are drawn in the little crooked house opposite but several of the rooms are lit up by the occupants whom I know by their shadows. I watch granny bustling around in her bedroom, Grandpa is tinkering still in his shed opposite, Ginny sits at the curtained window reading a book and Dad walks slowly back and forth, he's bouncing with each step… he must be trying to get mini me to sleep. It's healing. The safety they find in closing out the world.
The shower shuts off in the bathroom behind me with a soft thunk and I jump at the noise. I remember that Sirius is alive, and I'm still annoyed at him.
I know why he was doing it, of course, he wants to protect me from diving feet first, but I can't help feeling controlled. As Willow had left, all I wanted to do was run after her. I caught her eye, and we shared unspoken reassurances that I would help her. I have to I owe it to all the people still suffering.
I feel the pressure building in my chest as the door clicks open. Turning, I see Sirius standing behind me, he has a towel wrapped around his waist, and one in his hand, drying his hair. "Well, that was the best shower I think I may ever have had." As he removes the towel from his hair, he looks up to see me and stops. His bright smile fades.
Sirius Black, glistening wet, freshly showered and covered only by a white towel, is a glorious sight to see. His tattoos stand out dark and black on his lightened skin. His hair is longer than I remember, and has a slight curl in its dampened state. The slight stubble he had been growing has now been shaved, he's smooth and clean, each tiny movement of muscle makes them flex and stretch… all the way… down. I feel myself flush with heat, and all I want to do is touch. But his stare is intense, and I can't move.
He inspects me, inch by inch. It feels as though it lasts both seconds and an eternity, but just as I think I would like to be able to read his mind, he begins to move towards me. My stomach turns to knots, and I take a small step back, impeded by the window behind me.
He stops inches in front of me, cupping my face gently in his hands and whispers, "Marry me?"
I want to giggle, but as I see it in his eyes, he is serious. I tense, "What?"
"Before Pup is born. Marry me, Rose." his lips are inches from mine as his damp towel falls to the floor. I try to hide the laugh that builds behind my now bitten lip, and I watch his face, suppressing a chuckle that matches mine. I feel something moving the hem of my robe.
I know what it is as it jumps and pokes, but I can't look at it, I can't leave his eyes, or I will laugh in his face. No one wants to be laughed at when they are proposing… even when it is just out of perceived male duty.
We stand in a silence that is peppered with our shared struggle not to laugh. "He says, please." He whispers what we are both thinking. Sirius's face is red, and he has comedic tears in his eyes. It's the final straw. I snort the most unattractive snort and burst into side-splitting laughter. He bursts too and drops his hands from my face. "Ahh fuck," his laughter is musical. It fills the room with such beautiful energy, it cleanses my soul.
The silence that follows the laughter burns my chest. He stands with the ghost of a smile on his face as he waits for the answer and I want to say yes. To be so pure and free from the past that yes is the only answer that will suffice because I have never loved anyone the way I love Sirius Black. But…
Still smiling, I shake my head, "I'm not someone you marry, Sirius…" I expect him to break at this point, but his smile grows, "I'm broken and dirty and used, dirty, used women don't get married."
He nods, takes two steps towards me with his smile growing slightly with each step.
"No. You are right about one of those things, you aren't someone you just marry, Rose…" I laugh as I feel the knife in my chest, it hurts a little to hear it out loud, but I'm glad he realises too. I bury my face into his shoulder, feeling the warmth of his skin on my face. My arms wrap around his waist, breathing in the scent of clean. It is only a moment before he moves away from me and tilts my chin. Looking into his eyes, takes my breath, they are the most beautiful grey, speckled with galaxies with stars of brown and black and for now, they are mine.
"You walked into my life on my worst day. When I saw James lying dead I wanted to die, I would have happily dropped dead because he was the closest thing to a brother I had. But there you were, holding my godson, protecting him, even though you didn't know him, you owed him nothing you stood in my way to keep him safe. And as scary as it is to admit, I wanted to kill you when I thought you were going to hurt him. But you stood firm, because you are a good, kind person. You told me not to go after Pettigrew… and I didn't listen… Through 12 long-lifeless years in Azkaban, I closed my eyes and in the darkness, I would see your face, I would remember the smell of your perfume, the feel of your arms around me and my stomach would leap. I would see the light just beyond my reach." His lips hover over mine, his eyes mapping my face, and I don't know whether to watch his magnetic lips or the abyss of his eyes. "All those years, it was you that kept me going. Like the stars in the sky, I watched, wondered, waited."
His lips meet my cheek, and I feel sudden grief that they did not claim mine. "I had no idea what that feeling was." He punctuates each sentence by trailing his kisses along my cheek, then along my chin. "Those weeks we spent together, in Greece," his fingers graze my neck, trailing down until he finds the belt I have just tightened. "... When you arrived in my bed wrapped in a little bow…" the belt loosened and I felt my breath staggering "... When you came back to me…" His big hands slide into my robe, "... were the best weeks of my life." His lips peck at my ear, his breath on my neck sending paralysis down my spine. "... it was ineffable exaltation. I don't know what I did to deserve it" He turns my legs to jelly with his words and he has barely touched me yet, his hands trailing down my waist, my robe opens slightly and he slides his fingers over my hips. He carefully avoids the evidence of our previous illicit interactions. He pulls me closer opening the robe so I'm bare to him, sliding it from my shoulders. My stomach knots as he inspects me.
His hands trail back along the soft flesh of my sides, resting just under my ribs, I don't think I've ever focused enough to recognise the size of his hands.
His voice in my ear sends goosebumps over my skin. "You're right, you aren't someone you just marry Rose… you are a deity…" he kisses my jaw, "to worship, on bended knee." He presses his skin to mine and it's like being set alight. "I want to be lucky enough to worship at your altar for the rest of my days."
I know at this moment the last thing I should be thinking about is them, but as Sirius's touch lights me ablaze, I remember the way my body recoiled at their contact. If Sirius moves a single inch away from me I might die.
Sirius's eyes train on my lips, there is silence, neither of us breath but the air buzzes, it feels like an eternity. We stand together not daring to blink, finally, I watch his Adam's apple bob and I swallow in union with him.
He locks eyes with me.
My heart leaps.
He moves in slow motion, at least that's how it feels. His mouth reaches mine, and places a gentle peck on me, as though he fears, I might shatter into a million pieces. It takes a moment for my brain register that he is touching me. I kiss him with such desperation I fear he might run away. But, I've never wanted anything as much as I want him at this moment. It's been so long since he last touched me it, it's not surprising he wants it so badly. But that is what sets him apart from them. From the monsters, whose faces I see carved into the darkness. Sirius would never act on it. I just feel the subtle energy of the world prickling. He's holding back and it frustrates me, enthrals me and entices me all at once.
He slows my pace, I know, he's fighting himself. I've felt that energy before. Where someone wants to rip your clothes from your body, and fuck you until you are raw. It's primal, it's expected. I have counted the seconds until I would be able to touch him again but, never thought it would be in this lifetime.
His hands wander up my neck and tangle in my hair before kissing me again. Every cell in my body stands to his attention, pleading to be touched and caressed by him.
He smiles as the tension peaks, he leaves my lips long enough for me to miss him. My hands cup his face feeling the slight stubble growing on his chin. He flashes his brilliant white teeth at me and I remember why I love his smile so much.
Sirius walks me backwards towards the freshly made bed and I sit as though commanded. He kneels before me. "You don't have to do that…"
I watch him taking in the new scars and stretch marks that litter every inch of my body. I was broken before, but now my body is truly disgusting. He, however, observes every inch of flesh with awe and wonder.
His fingers trace my body, painting a picture and as the runes light my skin briefly at his touch I know that he is mine as I am his. He reaches my stomach, and I am reminded of her existence. He touches it now, his hands spreading over my stomach, shielding her from the big bad world.
How can he love her so much, and I forget her existence on an hourly basis? He turns his attention back to me. Looking up at me with docile eyes, his pupils wide as though he has taken some wonderful drug. "I have never seen anyone so beautiful."
His movements are so fluid that I don't have time to register what is happening before I'm staring at the ceiling with my legs propped open on the bed. His arms anchor around my legs, his hands angle me and his kisses trail the inside of my legs.
Sirius's mouth feels like it is cleansing me, with each flick of a movement I feel him drawing the toxicity from my body. With each sensitive suck, I am one step closer to being whole again. Maybe that is his plan. He saw it all after all, every… encounter, maybe this is his way of burning sage inside me, bringing me back to him
If that is his plan… or even if it isn't. It's working. I grip the sheets tightly as it builds inside me. It's that feeling I've craved since the last time he touched me. Merlin's fucking beard it's working. I push my feet down the side of the mattress, anchoring myself on the bed frame. I want to ride his face, to take my pleasure without chains or shame.
My body remembers the sensation so beautifully that my hips move in time with his tongue.
It's building, and I both never want it to end and need the healing catalyst immediately. He changes the tempo, ramping up the pressure suddenly making me grab his hair to stablise myself. It's longer than it used to be. I hear him growl as he laps and the vibration shudders through my body.
This is real love, not the trained convulsions used for humiliation, but instead real euphoria that my body now screams that she deserves.
It crashes over me like a wave, blinding me, rendering me deaf and taking my conscious voice with a loud triumphant moan. I swim in it, watching fireworks behind closed eyes. He came back from the dead to give me this. And I nearly missed it … I shake away the negative nagging voice, and I hear the springs squeak as he climbs onto the bed, his still damp skin pressing against me as he straddles me, pushing me effortlessly up the mattress, allowing my legs to flop open.
"Fuck, I love you." He plants kisses on my lips, and before I can respond in kind, he buries himself inside me so fully it takes my breath away. My eyes fly open and I watch his face as he completes me. He hisses, whispers profanities to himself, and I know he feels the same as I do. When he is inside me, I feel complete, like he is the missing piece of my puzzle. He is still, for a moment, barely controlling himself. Lost in the madness of lust and love and desperation.
His forehead pressed to mine I watch as he unravels, every cell stands on edge. I feel the goosebumps over my flesh, captivated by our now shared bliss the light of the world overwhelms me. He moves and I squeeze my eyes shut, wanting to live in the bliss.
"Stay with me, beautiful…" He grunts as he thrusts gently. His hand caresses my face as he removes his forehead from mine. "Please Rose, I've missed those eyes too much for you to close them to me." He's begging and it sets me on edge. I open my eyes and feel him twitch to attention. He smiles immediately "There she is… my wife." The relief in his tone swells in my heart. I wrap my arms around him, pulling us upward, he swivels so he is underneath me now, still joined to him. I love being on top and I feel he knows that. Between kisses he smiles at me, his pupils so wide I can almost only see the black. My hands on his face staring into his eyes, I feel so powerful.
His hands move to my thighs, and he pushes himself into a seated position. His hand on the base of my spine and the other in my hair holding me to him.
He grunts as he thrusts gently inside me and I move my hips in time with him. I can barely breathe but I have never felt so alive. He kisses me, whispering prayers to an unseen god. I feel his thrusts stagger, he's holding back, clinging to the edge of oblivion.
I know I could tell him to do anything right now and he would do it, a whispered "stop", and he would whip himself from my body faster than I can blink. I could tell him to leap from the window and he would do it to please me but right now I know what I want. I pull his face into my shoulder. He's so trusting, so loving, he doesn't remotely question my motives.
I've thought the phrase millions of times over the years. when I have wanted it to end quickly. But this is different, this is a primal urge washing over me, I don't want this to end ever, I want Sirius to stay anchored inside me forever, filling me so full I drown in his love. But I also want to feel clean, to have his mark replace the ones left so deep inside that they feel part of my being now. I want him to erase all the faces from behind my closed eyes and feel the power my words can have on him.
"Cum…" I breathe in his ear. Biting his earlobe.
"Fuck baby, soon. I need more time, you feel too good." Sirius kisses me once more but I can't help feel him rutting faster. I'll allow him a second or two. Afterall he know's he doesn't have a choice, I allow my magic to buzz in my fingers, trailing them gently along his shoulders. Sirius knows he isn't the one in charge here. I've spent too long being controlled.
I move my hips slightly widening my stance, allowing his penetration to deepen. I run my fingers down his spine as I place my lips on his ear. "I said…. cum…" I kiss his neck quickly before digging my finger nails into his skin. It was immediate, as though I had imperio'd him. With a single grunt, his body tenses and he slams into me. His hands grip my shoulders, spearing me downwards. and I watch as he comes undone beneath me. He squirms and squeals before he slumps backwards on the bed.
I roll from him, rest my head on his shoulder and lay next to him watching as he returns from his high. He laughs, turning his head to kiss the side of my face. "You are a cheeky witch you know that right?"
Suddenly I feel shy, there's a beautiful silence filled with his panting, I break it with a whisper of "I love you"
Sirius stops laughing, I hear his heart rate increasing in his chest as he speaks. "You know you never actually answered my question earlier?"
"What question was that?" My eyes begin to lull from sudden desperate need to sleep.
He props himself up on his elbows before standing in front of me. I continue lying down observing the light peachy fuzz of his bum. "Is it because I didn't ask properly?"
I know what he's meaning of course, but part of me hoped he would forget about it. I'll see how far he will go with it. I nod. "Do I not deserve the fairytale?"
Sirius sighs loudly. "Sit up…" He commands. I raise my eyebrows, and spread my arms over the bed feighing sleep. He laughs breathily. "Come on sleeping beauty wakey wakey." He pulls me up forcefully. I sit up on the edge of the bed as commanded and he drops to one knee.
"I didn't expect to be doing this completely in the skud… but here we go…" It's quite funny to see him like this. Kneeling on one knee, hair ruffled from sex, balls hanging, he looks almost vulnerable "... hey my eyes are up here, Miss"
I laugh. "Can't help it, he's looking at me."
He's stood to attention again already, Sirius covers himself with his knee "Can you blame him, look at you, anyway..." He grabs my hands "This is serious."
"You're Sirius." I lean forward to kiss his nose.
He closes his eyes, breathing deeply moving closer so his chest is flush with mine. "I made a promise that if I wasn't an escaped convict, and most importantly, if you had brought custard I would ask for your hand in marriage." The memory makes me blush, it feels like so long ago. "You brought me custard," he kisses me, "and as of 48 hours ago, I am a free man." I can't help but squee at the thought. He smiles, kisses me gently and says, "So…" He reaches under the mattress pulling a small box out. "Rose Weasley, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
He opens the box, revealing a delicate silver ring, a clear gem at the centre shaped like a Rose. The ring band is decorated with the smallest thorns. Sirius watches me waiting for my answer.
"Where did you…"
"I made it, with a little bit of magic" he looks at me sadly before continuing "a few days before I fell through the veil. I was going to ask you the night I died, but as usual, I ended up being stupid and I never got round to it. When I nipped to get some fresh clothes from Grimmauld Place I was looking for this. After what Molly said, it felt like the right time. Thankfully Mundugus didn't find it."
I stare at it. It's beautiful. But it represents more than just a ring, or a wedding. It's forever, eternal devotion. I'm not sure it's what I deserve.
"Well… will you?" I look at his face and for once he's deadly serious.
"Yes" I find myself answering. My brain barely engages with what is happening before he shouts triumphantly, pulling me up and spinning me around. Sirius kisses me wildly. Whispering thank you over and over.
My heart soars. I had wondered what this could feel like. In moments of disassociation, I would imagine being so in love that this would happen but now this was real there was so much more than love and excitement.
He slows, dizzy now, he laughs into our deepening kisses. Throwing me gently on the bed. I feel him pulsing against my leg again.
"Before Romi arrives…" he questions with wild excited eyes.
I nod. Unsure of how we would pull that off. 2 weeks maximum. To plan a wedding… I feel myself spiralling.
It's a short-lived panic, I crash back to sanity as I feel him fill me again, followed by desperate, greedy kisses, and all my fears disappear. Married or not, none of it matters. As long as he is here. As long as he is mine I can take on anything. It was such a short time ago, I grieved for this man. thought he was dead. I tried to die to be with him but now here we are, we have a second chance and I'm not messing that up again. I would have died for Sirius Black, but now I know with undying certainity that I will spend the rest of my life living for him instead.
Dyke Road, Brighton. 10th May 2024
Andromeda Tonks watched as the the dying embers of the fire clung to life. The nights were always the worst, when the grief set in hardest. For a while Andromeda had thought she had gone through the whole cycle, however in the two weeks since, Remus and Nymphadora had returned to their flat with Teddy it was clear that she had merely been distracted by happiness.
The fire had always been Ted's chore, keeping it lit at night, clearing the mess that came after it had been extinguished, every part of that routine now fell to her, and she had no desire to par take in any of it. He should be here to deal with it.
While Andromeda had always been a practical person, grief was something that was not practical, it hit in the most inopportune moments. Her Ted was gone, forever.
A loud bell echoed through the silence of the hollow little home and she jumped. She was not expecting visitors. Glancing at the clock, it was gone 11pm, not even Mrs Finch, the nosey neighbour from Number 7, would dream of calling at this time of the night.
Andromeda white knuckle gripped her wand, hiding it behind her back as she approached the front door, peeking through the peep hole Andromeda felt her heart stop briefly.
Her pulse increased and a vile combination of anger and grief took hold of her mind. Throwing open the door she forced her wand under the chin of the very much unwanted visitor who stood before her. Not caring to remember she lived in a muggle neighbourhood filled with curtain twitchers, Andromeda hissed "What do you want?"
"I apologise for the late intrusion, Andromedia, but I had no one else to turn to." There was the same entitled assumption in Narcissa's voice that had always been. It only served to enflame the anger building in Andromeda's chest further.
"You have no one else to turn to?" Andromeda laughs viciously. "And you think I care?"
Narcissa's brow furrowed, her once perfect skin now littered with wrinkles and imperfections. "I am your sister," there was a loud swallow, "we are family."
"You lost that title when you disowned me for marrying my husband, you remember the one your little friends murdered." Andromeda hissed, her voice cracked at the acknowledgement of his loss.
"They are not my friends, they are people that my husband brought into my home, and I had no choice but to disown you, Father…"
Andromeda felt venom growing in her veins, "Our father was a beast, you knew that as well as I did. You had the same choice as I did to leave, to support the only sister who protected you from his advances..."
"Please Dee, I need your help."
The curtain of the house opposite twitched in the darkness, and Andromedia quickly pocketed her wand. "Come in if you must, I don't want a spectacle on my doorstep." She stood aside, allowing Narcissa entry.
The blonde's eyes inspected every inch of the hallway she walked down. They turned into the living room and Narcissa gave the smallest raise of an eyebrow as she inspected the decor.
"You have made a lovely home, Dee." Andromeda watched as Narcissa slowly inspected the photographs on the mantel, mostly Muggle-made images of herself, Ted and Nymphadora stared happily from the pictures. She stopped in front of a newer one. Picking it up to see it closer, Nymphadora in her bed, exhausted but so happy, Remus at her side, beaming widely, little blue haired Teddy held between them.
Andromeda raced forward, grabbing the frame from her hands and placing it face down. With a wave of her wand, she turned the rest around, hiding the precious memories from the view of unwanted guests. "Don't call me Dee, and don't comment on my home, we are not sisters, you made that very clear. Now I will say it one last time before I throw you out, what do you want?"
"I am leaving Lucius," Narcissa said, cuttingly.
It took Andromeda by surprise. She took a moment to watch Narcissa's face, there were no tells that she was lying. "I'm not surprised, he is and always was a cretin." Andromeda spat. "But enlighten me, what was the final straw?"
"He is infecting my son with his evil ways." Narcissa hissed back.
"From what I have heard and read, your son is his own kind of evil." Andromeda laughed.
"Draco was always a good boy," Narcissa hissed, "he was perfect, and then he was corrupted by the influences of his father and his friends."
"Why are you telling me any of this?" Andromeda asked, "Why do you think I care about your family dramas? I'm sure you will get a nice settlement in the divorce and…"
"I need your help." Narcissa interrupted.
"Of course you do." Andromedia laughed, "How long has it been? Twenty-five years? Since Father Crucio'd me and threw me out in the middle of the night because you showed him my diary."
"He would have found out anyway…" Narcissa cut in.
Andromeda felt the anger reach a boiling point. "I would have been miles from him and safe when he found out, instead you threw me under the proverbial Knight Bus."
Narcissa appeared not to register the comment, "I need to speak to the Weasley girl."
It took a moment to register who she was talking about but when it did Andromeda felt her heckles rise as the mothering instinct rose. "You are not to go within 100 feet of Rose."
"First name terms with the little whore, are you?" Narcissa spat hatefully, her fingers rubbing her temples.
"She is my daughter's best friend, and besides, Molly told me what your son did to that girl. She told me what you and that beast of a lawyer, you have threatened her with. Is it true that you knew her baby wasn't Draco's but still threatened to use your blood status to take her anyway"
"I had to protect my family." Narcissa justified. Just like father.
"I'll take that as a yes." Andromeda felt her skin goosebump, "you really have turned out just like Father."
"What else would you propose I have done?" For the first time there was sincerity in the question.
"Not try to steal a child from its mother. Especially not when she is at her lowest point. For the love of Merlin, Narcissa, I didn't think even you were that twisted." Andromeda walked towards the window, twitching the curtain to make sure that they were not being watched or joined.
"No one knows I am here, and I didn't plan to steal her. I would never have truly taken the little beast. I just wanted Rose not to drag Draco down. I was protecting my family." Narcissa took a seat in front of the now empty harth.
"Beast? That 'beast' is a child," Andromeda spat "and I don't believe I offered you a seat."
Narcissa stayed seated "It's a half breed… our cousins half breed bastard for that matter."
Andromeda sat in the chair opposite her sister, re lighting the fire with her wand as the chill of the night reappeared. "My daughter is a half breed in your eyes, my grandson a half breed. And yes I am aware that Sirius is the child's father, Dora told me. She also told me that you knew Sirius was alive and told no one."
"Again, I was protecting my family." Narcissa sighed.
"Protecting your family is not leaving your husband, so tell me why the change of heart?"
"I want to offer Rose my help, but she will never take it from me directly. And as you have already stated, I am forbidden from speaking to her for fear of arrest."
"You're right, she will never take it, you have done enough damage to that poor girl in both timelines."
"She will want to take my help." Narcissa said solemnly.
"Why?"
"Because there are very powerful men who regularly use my husband's project. They are planning to silence her one way or another. Her child will not be safe for a moment while it is still hidden from public view. I can help her." There was a pause. "I want to help her."
Despite the fire, Andromeda felt a cold chill run down her spine. "And what is in this for you?"
"My son's safety," Narcissa said quietly. "He is just a boy who deserves a second chance to change new found values."
After a few moments of shared silence Andromeda summoned a tea pot and two tea cups, setting them gently on the coffee table in front of them. "Do you still take two sugars?"
I wake up much later in the night. I have no idea what time it is, but the sky is pitch black and I feel entirely sleep-deprived.
The bed is warm, but suddenly feels different. I reach out my hand and find Sirius's side of the bed empty, my mind races, but as I hear the flush, I know it's ok. I close my eyes, pretending to sleep. I don't want him to feel guilty for waking me. He returned quietly, creeping across the room slowly before gently pulling back the covers and getting comfortable.
He watches me in the darkness, I can feel his eyes burning into me. He shuffles closer to me, his freezing hand finding my stomach and spreading his fingers over my skin.
Sirius waits patiently, gently squeezing the muscles of his hand until Romi stirs under my skin. With a breathy chuckle, he slid down under the cover. His face rests near my stomach. "Hi, Pup. How you doing?" He kisses my stomach.
I almost cry. He speaks to her with such tenderness, it feels like a dream. It's so adorable, but I manage to hold it in with a burning in my throat. "You sleepy pup?" She wiggles in response, and I feel my silent tears begin to fall. "I've missed our late-night chats, you know." An elbow makes an appearance.
"Glad you feel the same. It's the only thing I miss about being in that room… seeing your beautiful little face every day." He quietens, waiting for a response that doesn't come. "But it won't be long, then you'll be here and me and mummy will get to see you every day." My eyes are streaming. "I love you, pudding." His voice hitches, and he kisses where her last kick came from, and he receives another blow directly to the face. He chuckles, rubbing his chin, "What a hook you have there, you might end up being a keeper like Grandad." He pauses for a second. "Romi, can I ask you a favour, please?" My ears prick up. "I know you are probably excited to come out, but can you stay put until I marry your mummy?" My heart skips a beat. "I'm not a fan of tradition, and I know that you will be perfect whatever way you are brought into the world, but I want to do what I feel is right by your mummy."
I can't breathe now, my tears are suffocating me. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I don't deserve this.
Sirius sighs sadly, "Your mummy deserves to be treated like a queen…" he stops suddenly, popping his head from the covers and looking straight at me in the darkness. I let out the sob I've been holding, and I'm grateful to be able to wipe my eyes and my face.
"Do you mind, ma'am, this is a private conversation?" He says sternly. Before flashing a smile so bright I can see his teeth in the darkness.
I laugh loudly, he tuts, before returning to his conversation. "Apologies for that very rude interruption." Both his hands rub my stomach now, cradling pup between them. "What was I saying? Oh yeah, stay put and Mummy deserves the best… that's why she's got me." He whispers as I smack his arm playfully.
Sirius blows a raspberry on my stomach, Romi startles comedically, and I drag him up the bed. "You're cute," I nestle myself into the crook of his shoulder, and he summons the cover, returning us to the warmth of our little nest. It is impossible to be closer, but he pulls me into a tight hug, kissing my forehead. My ear to his chest, I can hear his heart beating. Soft and slow. He soothes me. My safety, my star. Home.