Diving Into You | Fred Weasley

36 | The Ancient House of Black

Emmaline nearly dropped her glass.

Sirius cleared his throat, "What do you want to know?"

Naia leaned back in her chair and stared at her mum and dad for a moment. How is it that these two who have known each other since they were eleven, and were clearly crazy for each other, could end up in a situation like this?

"Well, first of all...how did you guys meet? What was she like?"

Sirius smiled at the memory. "When I met her, it was less of a meet-cute and more of a rescue mission-"

"What?"

"We were on a mission to retrieve her from her home here in London under Dumbledore's orders. We had no idea why, we just knew that the dark lord was after her as well and we couldn't let them get her first."

"Did you ever find out why they were after her?"

"Apparently the death eaters didn't know either. They were under orders the same as we were." Emmaline sighed. "But for a muggle, she seemed to already know about the existence of wizards. You remember that day we brought her to headquarters, Sirius?" Emmaline asked with a quirked brow.

"She wasn't too fond of wizards," he laughed. "She cursed at me and threw a lamp over my head the first night we brought her back," he scoffed.

"Why?!"

"Just didn't trust wizards, kid," Emmaline shrugged. "Your father and I were mostly stuck on babysitting duty, which none of us were all too happy about. She hated being trapped in our apartment, but since her life was in danger, she had no choice, really. Apparently, she was the only one who knew why the dark lord wanted her besides Dumbledore."

"And she never told anyone?"

"Nope," Emmaline said.

"Eventually.... she couldn't resist my charms and advances-" Sirius smiled.

"Yeah because your father then would fuck anything with legs-"

"Including you, Vance, and I don't recall you complaining," Sirius winked. Naia cringed. "Focus please! You can eat each other's faces later!"

"Alright, alright. Eventually, she and I fell in love."

"She was a lot like you, you see," Emmaline explained, "And maybe it was because of your little Siren theory, but we don't know for sure."

"Eventually she was able to put her hatred for wizards aside and we even became friends later on..." her mother said. "But your father and her shared a er... deeper connection,"

Sirius looked at Emmaline with an expression she couldn't make out. Was it apologetic? "Fast forward a year later, we had you," he smiled. "Your mother was fierce and spirited. She was never afraid to call me out on my shit. But she was also kind and caring. We'd come home from missions and she'd be fussing all over us on our injuries. She always felt guilty for the trouble she brought."

"And although I didn't like her at first," Emmaline shot Sirius a look, "She eventually grew on me. When you're in the middle of a war, you have only so many people you could confide in. And although at that time I had a hard time accepting her and your father's relationship, she was an amazing person... unfortunately."

"To the end," Sirius held a wistful smile on his face, "The day she sacrificed herself, the last thing she said to me was that it was her turn to save us. I didn't think that would be the last time I'd speak to her then."

Emmaline held his wrist in comfort at the sad look on his face. "She was selfless. And she would be proud of you," she told Naia.

Naia smiled to herself. She was proud to be her daughter. But her mother, as selfless as she was, had secrets. Secrets she needed to unravel. "That day she sacrificed herself, could you tell me more about how it happened and what she did?"