Savior Complex || Sirius Black

(seven.)

 Dalia did not read her cards. They called to her, and the magic tickled and itched at the nape of her neck, but she stubbornly ignored them. Instead, she considered calling Uncle Moody. Maybe she should write him a letter? She sat down heavily in her desk chair, tapping the pads of her fingers against the table. Not a magical tapping- no, she was steadily ignoring the tugging of that. The owlery was far from the Divination classroom, and surely someone would notice if she made such a trek.

So no letter. Alright. She looked helplessly at her muggle phone. Surely Alastor didn't have one yet. She reached out anyway, holding the receiver to her ear and calling out for his name- but only the dull dial tone responded. Okay, no phone and no letter. Dalia heaved herself up, and considered for a moment to call out to Badbey. But then the fire in her hearth crackled, and she realized that Evander had set up the floo network. To his place, yes, but also to Grimmauld. 'Just in case', he'd told her. Moody was usually at one of the locations with him, he'd told her. So Dalia dropped to her knees, and grabbed a fistful of floo powder.

She wasn't super experienced in floo calling, and so she coughed and sputtered before calling out the address to Evander's flat on Diagon Alley. She shook her head and blinked several times before his living room came into focus. It seemed dark and empty.

"Evander?" She called out, but there was no response. No movement. It was the middle of the day, after all. He was probably off doing something important, as most aurors had the tendency to be doing. She sighed, and then pulled herself out of the fire. It sputtered as she left it, flickering slightly as the ghost of her face imprint remained in the flames for a moment. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, and then- despite the sudden rush of knowledge that this was going to have a future altering outcome- Dalia placed her face in the fire once more, and called out for Grimmauld place.

At first, it seemed as though the place was just as empty as Evander's flat. She paused for a moment when she spotted a house elf meandering in the hallway, but it ignored her, and so she made to pull back after calling out a final 'hello'. Dalia paused, however, when she heard heavy footsteps crashing down the staircase and a man came into view.

It was the man from the Order meetings- the sexy one, she thought nervously as he became more focused and clear. He beamed down at her, dropping to his hands and knees, squinting into the flames.

"Hello littlest Raycroft! To what do I owe this pleasure?" He sounded a little slurred, as if he might be intoxicated. At two in the afternoon? Dalia mused. But she bit her cheek to keep from saying anything rude. She grappled helplessly for his name, but could only remember that he was the owner of the house. That he was from the House of Black. She faltered, and then chose to be as polite as possible to make up for not remembering his name.

"Hello Mister Black. Is Evander or Moody there?"

"Oh, Merlin's beard, please never refer to me as 'mister black' again." The man said, before slumping a little. "It's never me anybody wants to talk to, is it."

"Is there nobody else there?" Dalia asked before she could stop herself, glad the fire hid her embarrassed blush. And the man simply shook his head.

"Everyone went to buy school supplies. And- well. They're all going back to school, it appears." He sounded sad. And drunk. Dalia's heart went out to the man, and it was a weird, very strong feeling. This was someone who felt just as lost and alone as she does, Dalia realized.

"I needed to talk with Evander or Moody." She said instead of saying anything else. She wasn't really sure if there was anything else she could say. That was all she had called for- she couldn't even remember the man's name, and knew nothing about him beyond that he had quite briefly known her parents, and that Evander seemed fond of him. And that he was rather rambunctious at Order meetings.