Chapter 5
Sirius’s POV
I woke with a groan, my bones popping as I stretched. Rolling over, I froze at the sound of breathing next to me.
Last night came rushing back. Visiting Remus, bring Harry to Grimmauld Place, the women, and falling asleep in my old bed at some point.I groaned again and sat up, glancing over at the sleeping werewolf next to me.
He looked peaceful, arm dangling over the mattress and a little drool on his pillow.
Never thought I'd see this again I thought before crawling out of bed. With one last fond glance towards Moony, I crept out of the bedroom.
I could hear chatter in the kitchen, perhaps the sound of bacon sizzling. My stomach growled at the smell. When was the last time I had a real meal?
I walked into the kitchen, smiling as I saw Harry. He was standing on stool and talking, Sabine turning bacon next to him.
"Morning!" Sabine called cheerful, setting aside the cooked bacon. I smiled as best I could, coming to stand near Harry. "Thank you for watching him."
"No trouble at all! We've been having nothing but fun all morning, right Harry?" She replied, ruffling his hair. The little boy smiled shyly, latching onto my arm.
"Having fun without me? I'm wounded!" I swooned dramatically, picking prongslet up and spinning him around.
"Uncle Sirius! Uncle Sirius!" Harry shrieked happily. As soon as the animagus set him down, Harry scrabbled back onto his stool, still laughing.
"Shush! You'll wake up your uncle." She cooed gentle, handing the five-year-old a piece of bacon.
Harry stopped laughing, staring down at the food in wonder. His reaction broke my heart, guilt starting to sink in. He's with you now, you can fix it.
Sabine seemed to take it in stride, helping Harry off the stool and to the table. I narrowed my eyes, she'd set five plates.
My breath quickened and my eyes flitted between my godson and this women. She'd told someone, she had to have.
How could you be this stupid! I chided myself, slowly drawing closer to Harry.
Sabine seemed to notice something was wrong because she turned to look at me, a little confused. She followed my gaze and put the pieces together.
"We told you not to tell anyone." I ground out as calmly as I could. Harry seemed to notice it too, shifting closer to me.
"Had to, she lives here as well." Sabine replied, continuing to set the table. Another person? Okay then, but how did we know we could trust them.
I looked back at Sabine, she didn't look ready for an ambush. Black curly bobbed hair messy from sleep, dressed in a faded No Doubt shirt and shorts, no wand in sight. She sort of reminded me of Tonks, gosh, it'd been a while, she'd be 15 by now.
Putting the thought out of my mind, i spoke again. "So where is your friend? Shouldn't we get to meet her?"
She turned to us, a small smile on her face. "Of course! She'll love you Harry, she-"
"'Bine!" Called a small voice.
We all looked up to see a young girl standing at the top of the stairs. She scurried down, plush blanket trailing behind her like a cape.
Coming into the light, she looked about 8 I’d say. She also looked remarkably like Sabine.
Same dark hair (her’s ended mid-back) same tan bronze skin. She had thick eyebrows, slightly crooked teeth, and bright brown eyes.
"Who are all these people?" She asked, pulling herself into the chair next to Harry. My godson seemed to have the same reaction as I did, unable to stop staring at the child.
"These are the people that own this house, we're all gonna be living here together." Sabine replied cheerfully, handing her a plate. She nodded amicably, spreading jam on her toast as if this was all very normal.
Sabine looked up at me," This is Athena Sirius, like I said, she'll be no trouble."
I sighed in relief. Okay sure, this wasn't ideal, but it was better than her turning us in.
Oh Remus is going to have a heart attack I mused, breaking into a smile.
"Now that we've got that outa the way, let's eat!" She hummed, making both kids cheer.
Digging in, the food wasn't half bad, so basically a billion times better the the "food" at Azkaban. I wolfed it down, reminding myself to breath. Sabine only laughed, helping her little girl with her eggs and talking.
"Are you Athena's mum?" Harry asked cutting through the chatter.
The table grew quiet, all eyes on Sabine. Harry stared at his feet in embarrassment before she spoke.
"No Harry, theny’s my little sister." Sabine answered, taking another bite of toast. She'd pointedly avoided looking at the little boy I noticed.
"Where are you mummy and daddy, why aren't you with them?" Harry probed.
Sabine blinked and Athena became suddenly interested in the table. I shook my head at Harry, but Sabine stoped me.
"It's alright Sirius. Harry, you asked a very valid question." She was turned now, facing Harry with a sad look on her face.
"We don't live with our parents because of me, they don't like magic." She said calmly. That clearly wasn't the whole story, but at the look Sabine shot me, I held my tongue.
Harry looked down in thought, something I'd noticed he did quite a lot. When he did look up again, he looked serious. "I used to live with muggles that didn't like people like magic too.”
Athena looked up at him, eyes wide as Harry continued. "And I was very sad, but then uncle Padfoot saved me, and we saved Remus! So maybe we all can be saved together!" The lightning scared boy finished.
I grinned. Yes, we had sort of saved Remus. Hopefully, if Harry spent more time with moony, they'd grow closer. Children logic was the best.
Sabine looked touched, a warm smile on her face as she looked down at him. "I think your absolutely right." She cooed softly. The little girl kept staring at Harry in wonder, then grabbed him by the had.
"That means we can play all the time! I've been so bored lately... now I have you!" Athena babbled happily. I smiled, she was a cute kid, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea.
The door swung open just then, revealing a still groggy Remus in the door way. He surveyed us, locking onto Athena.
He must not have had his coffee yet, because all he said was "Their multiplying Sirius"
I chuckled in surprise, looking between Moony and the little girl. At my expression Remus scoffed, "I already knew she was here.".
Now I was even more surprised, "How!?" I asked, bewildered.
He gave a fond smile, definitely didn't make me blush. "There are children's drawings all over the bedroom." Remus explained simply, digging into the plate Sabine handed him.
I rolled my eyes good-naturedly, " Harry?-" I turned to my godson, putting on by best “serious” voice. "Did you know about this." The little boy stopped, face screwed up in concentration.
Remus, bless his soul, seemed to sense Harry's inner turmoil and quickly went to comfort him."His only joking, your uncle Sirius is famous for awful jokes."
I pretended to look offended, mock gasping and making little Athena laugh. We kept talking to a minimum after that, interrupted by the occasional clink of silverware.
Sabine broke the silence while clearing plates. "Harry, why don't you go play with theny for a little bit while the adults talk."
Harry and Athena shared a look. "Do we have to?" The asked in unison.
Sabine stood firm "Yes, we'll be done soon." Harry pouted and Athena rolled her eyes before trudging up the stairs.
Sabine turned back to us, back straightening before she spoke, "Suppose you lot have questions then?"
"So, what you wanna know?" Sabine asked, coming to sit across from us. I eyed her, then Remus, trying to gauge them.
"How did you find this house?" He finally asked, fingers interlocked on the table. Sabine raised her eyebrows, looking between the two of us.
"Guess I'd have to start from the beginning to answer that one." She hummed, leaning back in her chair.
"About 9 years ago, my family was on holiday here in England. During that trip, my sister and I were taken."
"Taken by who?" Remus asked, leaning forward a bit in his chair.
"Death eaters, murdered the whole hotel staff." She replied sadly, keeping her face stern. I was confused.
"Why would you go vacationing during a war?!" I asked incredulously, earning an elbow from Remus. Her expression turned stony.
"I'm from American, we didn't even know about your war at the time." Sabine muttered bitterly.
" The whole thing was a raid, looking for magical artifacts or rebels. I’m not sure. They killed all the muggles, going from room to room. We were the last door in the hall.”
Sabine paused to take a sip of the tea Remus had summoned for her before continuing.
”They stormed in, killed my mum and dad. Then they came for me." The hands gripping her teacup tightened.
"I was holding theny, she was just a baby then. We were hiding behind a chair. One of them accioed my wand and raised his wand , I thought it was all over." Her eyes darkened as she spoke.
"That's when my gift kicked in."
"What gift?" I asked cautiously, sharing a glance with Remus. She took a deep breath before speaking again. “It's better if I just show you."
Leaning over, she placed her hands palm up, gesturing for Remus give her his hand. He did, and her whole body when taught.
Sabine's eyes turned grey and white, slowly swirling. Then, she jilted sharply and Remus pulled his hand back.
He looked uneasy and confused, I made a note to ask him about it later. Sabine blinked rapidly and when she spoke again, her breath a little labored.
“When Harry was still a very small baby, by babysat for his parents. You got Harry to sleep by reciting passages from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe and rocking him in an old checkered rocking chair."
Sabine stared at him as she spoke, holding the werewolf there. Remus was breathing sharply, had come to grip the set cushion tightly. Abandoning all sense together, I unwrapped his fingers from their death grip. He didn't pull away.
“That was the first time I ever got him to sleep.” Remus breathed. “How did you…”
"They called me a sibyls. It’s like a seer, only I don’t give Prophecies.”Sabine continued softly.
"It turns out that Voldemort had been looking for someone like me for quite some time. His death eaters took me and my sister, experimented on us up until the war ended."
"How did you escape?” Remus probed, pulling his hand away. I tried not to feel hurt.
“I didn’t. I woke up in the middle of a forest somewhere. Middle for fucking November, we almost froze to death!”She spat, glaring down at the worn wooden table. Remus nodded in understanding.
"We we're alone for, a really long time. Then, I had a vision of this place. It was perfect and we've been here ever since." Sabine finished, looking relieved.
My mind was still swimming at her words. Had they really done that to her? She was only a kid, she would have been about 8 when she was taken if my math was correct. That realization stung a bit. Poor kid.
"We are... so sorry for you loss." Moony put in, giving me a pointed glance. I hastily nodded in agreement. She looked between us, one eyebrow raised.
I also couldn't help but notice (yes I could) that Remus seemed to blush under her gaze.
Scowling, I shifted a bit closer to the werewolf.
Sabine (ever good at picking up cues) changed the topic. "Now, anything I should know about you two?" She asked briskly.
Remus and I looked at each other.
There were several things she should know about. That I was a convicted Murder. That Remus was a werewolf. That now both of us were probably being hunted down as we speak.
i glanced over at moony. Almost imperceptible, he shook his head. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Agreeing instantaneously, we turned back to the black haired seer.
"Nothing at all."