Time Astral | Sirius Black

43||The Family

January 5th, 1996

"Hello?"

"Hello, is someone in there?"

Knock

Knock

Knock

The door flew open. Alasia burst into tears. 

Magnolia Farrington came running down the porch and into her sister's arms in moments. "Oh, god, oh god —"

"Maggie." Alasia mumbled, kissing her forehead and holding her closer, hugging her tighter. "You're okay - you're okay."

"I'm fine, are you okay?" She pulled away, tears welled up in her soft eyes. "Altair told me what happened. There wasn't any indication to where you'd been when the article came in the Daily Prophet, and we wondered if it was Polyjuice for a few days but then Altair found out when he went to the Ministry. It was the forgetting spell, you were Obliviated."

"I know you're probably mad at me —"

"No, no." Magnolia shook her head, pressing her forehead to Alasia's. "Lay, I'm not mad at you. No one is. We mourned you, our brother most of all. We just lost. . .we lost dad, too. . ." Her voice broke and Alasia hated it. "We lost dad and you weren't here. I think, Altair thinks so too but dad might've been sick because he missed you so much."

"He had you." Alasia muttered. 

"He did." Smiled Magnolia. "He had me, Altair, Josephine, Augustus and Flora. But god, 'Lasia, he didn't have you. You were his favourite child, you know that? When you died - or we thought you died, he broke down. Wouldn't eat, wouldn't come out of his room, my mum divorced him and left. He didn't care. Oh, Alasia, my dad loved my mum regardless of all he or I said, that's why he married her. But he didn't even try to stop her! That's how grieved he was. When he died, Altair said he was happy, that he was put out of his misery."

Alasia was full-fledged sobbing now. "I'm so sorry —"

"Don't apologise." Magnolia reprimanded firmly. "My sister's memories were taken away and despite everything, the thing I want the most right now is revenge from Albus Dumbledore."

Magnolia sounded so much like herself for a moment that Alasia had to finally look up and take her in. She was grown up. 

Fifteen years, she'd been gone. Her family was dead, she said to everyone. But was it? She still had Maggie and Altair and oh lord, her niece and nephew. 

"How old are you?"

Magnolia laughed, the sound a broken rasp. "Thirty, Alasia."

It was her heart's undoing. The last time she saw her half-sister, before the time turner's mess, she'd been in her fifth year. 

She was fifteen, nearing her sixteenth birthday which Alasia was supposed to go to. Now, her sister was thirty years old with a ring on her left hand. 

"Are you married?" she managed to ask. 

Magnolia nodded. "I've been married for three years now."

"Don't tell me you've got babies, too." Alasia groaned. 

"I've got one." Magnolia laughed. "She's a year old."

"You've got a daughter." Alasia cried. 

"Stop crying, dear god, or one might think I just murdered your entire family."

Alasia cried harder. "I missed it, Maggie. I missed all of it, I should've been here at your wedding, when you were pregnant, when you gave birth, I should've held your hand through it all."