Silene III
The years pass by startling fast once Silene has Hadrian happily settled and the warmth in the house only grows as Hadrian does, it fills Silene with both great joy and overwhelming sorrow. Her nephew so much like Lily and his two fathers that it grieves her to know that Hadrian will never know his parents outside of pictures and stories. Two lost to death and the other to the corrupted law of their world.
It’s when little Hadrian is five years of age and turning her prematurely grey with all the random Apparition, he seems capable of doing, that Silene receives Silverwing once more in the morning before she gets to have her morning coffee. Her magic stutters beneath her heart at the sight of the Great-Northern.
She starts the brewing for her coffee and gives Silverwing some scratches on his head, “What do you have for me now little friend?”
Silverwing eyes her curiously as he holds out his foot, Silene unties Ragnok’s missive free from his leg and watches as Silverwing flutters over to the Owl perch Silene got for Mirage, the Snowy Owl she had bought from Carmine Alley when it became apparent, she would need one.
She sets the alarmingly thick roll of parchment on the table while she pulls down a cup for her coffee, it would not do to deal with anything Ragnok sends her without any caffeine. The cup she pulls down is misshapen and riddled with little fingerprints. The first, and only, mug Hadrian made for her under hawk-like supervision, Silene wouldn’t admit it to anyone she works with, but it was her favorite cup now.
She sits down at the table and breaks the seal as she lets her coffee cool, as she unrolls the parchment a paper clipping slips free from the mass of parchment it is mixed with. Silene looks down at it with unease, noticing it’s not just a paper clipping but a clipping from the Daily Prophet, the main page if Silene would wager given she never had any care for the gossip rag playing a reporting.
She flattens Ragnok’s letter and sets the Vault statements aside to peruse later and focuses on the clipping her favorite goblin felt fit to send. She stares at the faces that greet her first, the manic smiles of Sirius and Bellatrix made even worse by the Daily’s editing, her lips thin as she picks up her coffee.
Azkaban Escapable
Good evening wizarding Britain, today we bring you horrifying news, news confirmed by the head of the DMLE; Amelia Bones.
Earlier this morning one of the Azkaban guards was doing their rounds of the prisoners only to find that somehow during the night guard shift that two of the more high-profile prisoners had escaped.
Yes, you have read that correctly. Both Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange have escaped that which was thought to be inescapable.
The DMLE has opened all lines for the community to report anything they see regarding the two and would like to remind people that these are two very dangerous criminals. Please do not engage with them, should you see them run and hide.
Stay safe, may the Goddess’ protect.
-Sue Wickers.
For more information on the DMLE investigation please visit page 6.
For more information regarding the criminals please visit page 10 and 11.
Silene sighs and sets the week-old clipping down Sirius she was not so worried about; Bellatrix however was a canon shot short of any semblance of sanity. She sets down her half empty cup of coffee and looks over at Silverwing, “Does Ragnok want a response?”
Silverwing hoos at her and bobs his head, Silene sighs and runs her hands down her pajama bottoms to dry the sweat that built up there. She puts her cup next to the coffee pot once she stands pausing to breathe before she turns to make her way down the hallway. She stops next to Hadrian’s door and loses against the urge to check on him, she cracks the door open to peer in.
Silene feels her heart stop as she meets eyes with the giant Grim sitting at the foot of Hadrian's bed, the Grim's ears being played with by an equally giant leopard. Silene sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose as her heartbeat settles back down. She opens the door wider and motions for them to come out, “Alright you two, come out and have some coffee with me.”
Padfoot whines softly and looks back at Hadrian, Silene sighs once more. “Let him sleep Sirius, you can see him when he wakes up now come.”
Bellatrix slinks off the bed and out the door with ease as Sirius pouts at Silene, Silene just points towards the kitchen. “Coffee, Sirius.”
Sirius huffs and pads his way out of Hadrian’s room, Silene glances at Hadrian’s bedroom window before she closes the door. “At least you had the decency to close the window behind you.” She mutters as she leads the Animagi to her kitchen.
Sirius makes a pitiful huffing noise as they walk, Silverwing gives a startled hoo at the sight of the two lager Animagi and Silene sighs, “Sit,” she points at the dining table. “Human forms and don’t touch anything.”
Silene pulls down two more cups and fills them all with coffee as she listens to the sound of chairs being pulled out, she turns around all three cups in hand and stares at the dirty Blacks sitting at her table both staring at the clipping sitting on the table.
Bellatrix looks up first as Silene sits down with them, “So.” Bellatrix starts, staring at the cup in front of her. “What do you plan to do with us.”
Sirius looks up at Silene over the rim of his cup, clearly also wanting to know the answer. Silene hums as she looks at the two, both left forearms bare of any damning mark, “Simple.” Silene says setting her coffee on the clipping. “I hide you here.”
Sirius perks up. “Really?” he asks. “You wouldn’t turn us over?”
“He is your son Sirius,” Silene frowns at him as she speaks, “Keeping you from him over a false accusation would be cruel.”
Sirius looks very much like he wants to cry and Silene looks over at Bellatrix to give him a moment to compose himself, “And given that Sirius hasn’t yet gutted you Bella, I’m going to assume it’s safe to say you are on our side.”
Bella nods solemnly, “I’m not completely sane Silene, the Family Magic could only do so much for me especially after what Rabastan did to me.” Bella looks up at her, “But I can promise you I would never dare to harm my family.”
“Good.” Silene nods as she slides the Black family Vault statement over to her, “You’re better at financial dealings then Sirius so you can look over these for me and help me build it up for Hadrian.”
Bellatrix sits up and sets her coffee to the side where it won’t spill onto the statements should she knock it over. “Granted,” Silene says over the rim of her cup, “Everything will still have to go through me, but you want to stay this is what you can do to help me.”
Silene eyes Sirius and the Moriger statements, “And maybe,” she hums. “Help me find a bigger place for us to live and teach Hadrian safely.”
“Perseus,” Sirius speaks up.
Silene’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “What?” She asks.
Sirius looks up at her his mouth set in a grim line, “If we are to ensure his safety from both Dumbledore and Voldemort, he’ll need to go by Perseus.”
Silene sits up straighter, “Voldemort isn’t dead?”
“No,” Bellatrix says as she flips through the papers in front of her. “He is not, he is still alive if only extremely weak.” She glances at her bare forearm, “At least weak enough for me to break the bond from my end.”
“That’s,” Silene frowns. “That’s soul magic.”
Sirius hums, “Bella and I think he made Horcruxes. How many precisely we’re not sure.”
Bella nods, “I know I have one, he gave me Helga Hufflepuff’s chalice to keep safe.” Bella looks up, “It’s in my personal Black Vault.”
Sirius frowns, “Then we should keep it there, that way we know where at least one is. Knowing what I know about him and his infatuation with numbers he either made three or seven.” Sirius downs his now luke-warm coffee, “I’m leaning towards the seven.”
Silene shivers, Horcruxes, she gives Sirius a nod. “Perseus then.”
Her empty cup mocks her when she goes to take another drink Silene sighs as she puts the cup down. “Right, let's get you two cleaned up and put in new clothes. We’ll go shopping in Carmine later for things that will be yours.”
Silene stands and watches as Hadrian, no, Perseus sleepily walks out of his room, his little stag stuffy clutched in one hand. “But first. Introductions.”