The Daughter of Sirius Black

Chapter 27

The end of the school year had been horrifying.

Ginny had been the one to open the chamber and summon the Basilisk but not of her own volition. She was being controlled by Lord Voldemort, by a memory of him rather, preserved in a diary and no one really had a clue how she got her hands on.

Well, no one other than Harry, Dobby the house-elf and Lucius Malfoy.

The Weasley's had been wrought with fear and worry since they'd discovered that Ginny was the one taken into the Chamber.

Leona and Molly hadn't let Ginny out of their sight ever since Harry and Ron managed to rescue her from the Chamber, Leona pressing kisses to both their cheeks in thanks.

Not to mention that Hermione and everyone else who was petrified were ok again thanks to the Mandrake draught made by Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey.

But they all seemed to forget about it when the good news came.

Arthur had won a lottery at the Ministry and used the winnings to take the entire family on a trip to Egypt. They were even in the Daily Prophet.

Leona hated the newspaper.

Hated them because of what had happened the day before they left for Egypt.

She'd been in the backyard, helping the twins teach Ginny how to fly because she wanted to try out for Quidditch in a few years when her parents allowed her, and that was when Cornelius Fudge himself appeared, along with a reporter from the Prophet, a short old man with a long goatee and scraggly hair.

"Miss Black?" He called up to her. "Might I have a word?"

Leona looked from Fudge to Fred.

"Go get mum," she whispered before landing on the floor in front of the Minister. "What can I do for you, Minister?"

"I'm afraid I've to ask you a few questions."

"Regarding?" Leona asked, the man scribbling furiously on the notepad he held.

"Your father."

She tensed as her hands began to sweat.

'Where are you, Fred?' she thought as her hands itched to hold his.

"What about him?" she asked as she tried to keep her voice even.

"He's escaped from Azkaban as of yesterday."

Her jaw dropped as her knees threatened to buckle.

He was free.

He was out.

"What is going on out here? Minister? To what do we owe the pleasure?" Molly Weasley asked as she rushed outside, Fred on her heels as he placed an arm around Leona's waist, the girl looking as if she was about to pass out.

"My dad...my dad...he's free," she muttered, but it was loud enough for Molly and Fred to hear.

"Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban?" Molly questioned.

"Yes. And I came to personally ask Miss Black if she's been in contact with her father since the breakout?"

All eyes looked to Leona who was still slightly shocked.

"I, uh, I haven't seen nor spoken to him in over 12 years. Not since he left me in the care of the Weasley's."

"Are you sure? Lying about a matter as severe as this will have serious consequences," Fudge warned.

"With all due respect Minister, I'm offended you'd even insinuate that. I am telling the truth when I say I haven't seen nor spoke to my father in 12 years," she repeated, grip still iron tight on Fred, him being the only thing keeping her from breaking down and collapsing right now.

"That may be, but still, I must insist that your house be searched as a precaution."

"That's not a precaution, that's an invasion of privacy," Fred defended.

"No Freddy," Leona spoke, fighting back tears as she fixed an icy gaze on the minister. "Let him. We have nothing to hide. I want to watch him prove himself wrong."

Molly then gave Leona an affectionate squeeze of her hand before facing Fudge again.

"Well then, please, come this way," she said as she led them into the house and Leona couldn't take it anymore as her knees buckled.

"Lena! Lena! Are you ok?" Fred asked worriedly as George landed, rushing to Leona's other side as Ginny sat by her feet.

"I'm ok! I'm ok! Just a small panic attack," she said as she squeezed Fred and George's hands tightly, palms sweaty as she heaved.

"Wait! If Fudge is going to search our house, isn't he going to find the letter your dad left for you?" George asked worriedly, and Leona just gave him a look as she tried to slow her racing heart.

"You really think I'd be that stupid that I'd leave it just lying around the house?" she asked him incredulously.

"Well, no, but -"

"Where is it?" Fred interrupted and Leona let go of George's hand to pull out the necklace from under her shirt, the one the twins had gifted her for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Opening it, she revealed a shrunk folded piece of paper inside, hiding the picture of Fred and Leona.

"Your father wrote you a letter?" Ginny asked in surprise and Leona sighed as she sat forward, taking her sister's hands.

"Gin, what I'm about to tell you, you have to swear to me that you will never tell another soul, not even mum and Arthur. Understand?"

"I promise," Ginny nodded and Leona inhaled deeply, Fred rubbing her back in support as she tried to stop the corners of her lips from turning upwards.

"When I turned 11 and got my letter to Hogwarts, Molly gave me an envelope. She told me that when my father left me here with your family, he left that envelope and instructed that I wasn't allowed to open it until I'd been accepted into Hogwarts. Ginny, I know you might not believe me, but my father isn't a murderer. He's innocent."

"What?! But how? Everyone said he killed Peter Pettigrew and your mother after he sold out Harry's parents to You-Know-Who."

"Peter Pettigrew was the one who sold out the Potter's. And he framed my father for it. Whether he's really dead or not I don't know, but my father is innocent. He's not a murderer."

"That's a lot. I mean, my entire life people told me otherwise, but Lena, I believe you," Ginny said and Leona hugged her sister.

"Thank you, Gin."