A murderer for a father: Jean L. Black ||Sirius Blacks daughter

Slytherins locket

It has been a few weeks since they had arrived at Grimmauld place. They had since infiltrated the ministry of magic, stolen Slytherins locket back, which led them to flee from Grimmauldplace and having to camp in the forest of Dean. During their escape attempt, Ron managed to break his arm pretty bad, leaving the four of them stuck in the forest. Jean thought about Kreacher. He had become much nicer since the first encounter and he even stooped calling them ‘filthy-’, ‘halfbloods’, ‘mudblood’ ‘blood traitor’ and so on. Jean was the one who talked to him most, because she was a Black and the one that Kreacher wouldn’t completely despise. She thought about how he would be waiting with food at Grimmauldplace and she felt awful for not being able to let him know that they wouldn’t come.
,,So, how the bloody hell do we open this? Hex it? Curse it? Jinx it? Or should we wait a little longer?”, Harry asked. Jean was sitting on a stump, Hermione and Ron on the forest floor. Ron’s arm was better thanks to Hermione’s dittany essence, but he was still not well enough to apparate. He also looked kind of bitter but tried not to let it show too much. ,,I think you should try Incendio first. Maybe it will work,” Jean suggested. Harry nodded. ,,Incendio,” he yelled just seconds later, but the locket remained unopened. ,,Depulso,” he yelled a little more aggressively. The locket flew through the air and landed a few meters away from them, still unharmed. Harry was visibly distressed now. He randomly shot spells at the locket, but it remained closed and unharmed. Suddenly he picked up the locket and pulled it over his head. Jean stood up abruptly and called out: ,,Hey, hey, what are you doing?” ,,Keeping it safe for now. We can’t leave it lying around, can we?”, he explained. Jean didn’t say anything after that and just turned around, before she vanished into the tent. Ron followed her as he has had enough for today and wanted to listen to the radio. Harry followed them, along with Hermione. It had been a long day.
The next day
Jean was sitting at the table, sipping her coffee wearily. Ron had been listening to the radio all night and she couldn’t sleep. She had never been so homesick in her life, she wished she could be home with Remus and Tonks so that she could see her godson. She looked into her cup and thought about her father, realising how much she actually missed him. So many memories came flooding back of her arguing with him over her stupid jealousy. She knew her father loved her more than anything in this world and now he was gone, her whole world as she had known it suddenly collapsed. Here they were, in the middle of nowhere and with little food. She thought about Harry, about how he must be feeling. He had the Horcrux all night, even though Jean had begged him to give it to her so he could sleep. Ron was still listening to the radio while Hermione sat across from her, her head on the table and asleep. She hadn’t slept either and she was so exhausted that she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Jean felt similarly, but her mind just couldn’t find peace. She put her head in her hands, closing her eyes for just a minute. The first moment was a great relief until her mind forced her to see images in her head that she didn’t want to see. Although her mind was spinning with the deliberation, her exhaustion was too strong. She fell asleep next to her half-finished coffee, into a dreamless sleep.

,,Jean? Jean, wake up”, Jean heard a voice and someone shaking her. ,,Leave me alone, I’m tired”, she murmured with her eyes closed, her head still in her arms. ,,No seriously, Hermione found something you should see”, said someone, who turned out to be Harry. ,,Okay, since you’re not leaving me alone anyway,” she sighed, opening her eyes. She rubbed her aching head and tried to adjust to the light. ,,What time is it?”, she asked. Harry looked at his watch, which he had gotten for his 17th birthday, and informed: ,,It’s half past one. Don’t worry, I slept until one too.” She smiled and slowly became more awake. Hermione stormed into the dining area, before she slammed her book down onto the table. ,,Here, this symbol, it seems to appear everywhere”, she explained, pointing to a symbol shaped like a triangle with a circle and a straight line in it. ,,Wait Harry, haven’t we seen this before?” she pondered, turning to face him. He seemed to think for a moment and then remembered: ,,Yea, it was at Bill and Fleur’s wedding. Luna’s dad had a necklace with this symbol.” ,,Another place where it shows up. It doesn’t look like a rune, but I could be wrong there-”, Hermione sighed, but suddenly the lights turned off. The three of them looked at each other in confusion, then turned to the lamp from which the light had gone from. *click* and the light came back on, revealing Ron, who stood there, looking a little bitter. ,,I thought I did let you know I’m here too. What did the three of you find? I want to know,” he said, his expression quite jealous. ,,What’s the problem?” Jean asked, turning to Ron. ,,Nothing. It’s just funny how you three seem to forget me so easily “ he explained wryly. ,,We found this symbol in Hermione’s book of Beedle the bard. Jean and I just remembered that it also appeared at your brother’s wedding. Take a look, have you seen it elsewhere?” , Harry explained, trying to defuse the tension that built up. Ron just glared at him, then shook his head. After that he turned and left before they heard him turn the radio back on. ,,Anyone else find that incredibly annoying?” Harry whispered, sounding quite aggressive. ,,It kind of calms him down,” Hermione explained. ,,When is he well enough to Apparate? I really don’t want to stay in one place for too long,” he asked, sounding annoyed. Jean looked at Hermione and she looked at her ,,I-I, Jean and I are doing our best,” she explained. ,,Well, it’s not good enough then,” he complained. Jean got up and stood in front of Harry with a stern expression. ,,Take it off. The locket, take it off, go on,” she demanded, holding out her hand. Harry looked at her confused, but took the locket off and gave it to Jean quite forcefully. ,,Better?” she asked. He nodded, she put the locket over her head and stuffed it into her shirt. ,,We’ll share it, okay. I’ll take it for now,” she suggested. Both Hermione and Harry nodded, although Harry was quite reluctant to do so. ,,Also, I suggest we walk until Ron is well enough to apparate. I agree with Harry that we shouldn’t stay in one place for too long or they can find us easier,” Jean added. ,,Then let’s go tomorrow. I’ll make sure we have enough water for a few days until we get to a village or somewhere, where we can get food and water.” Hermione offered. ,,I’ll pack our things then. Hermione, where’s your bag ?” said Harry. ,,It’s over there. However, please be careful. I put everything in specific places”, Hermione pointed out. ,,Will do” Harry laughed as he got up and made his way to the small beaded purse. “‘Mione, can you tell Ron we’re leaving tomorrow? I don’t want to talk to him right now, he seems pretty bitter,” Jean asked and Hermione nodded.
A few weeks later
The four have been traveling a lot in the past few weeks. Ron had gotten well enough to Apparate in the past week, and now they were in a forest once again. They still haven’t managed to destroy the Horcrux, but they took turns carrying it now so it wouldn’t have such an impact on them. Ron though, carried it many times without any of the other three noticing.
Jean was outside making sure they weren’t attacked in the middle of the night while Ron was listening to the radio as usual. Hermione was busy cutting Harry’s hair. Jean looked at her own curly dark brown hair, which she had inherited from her father. She had had it cut by Hermione a week ago and it was now at the length of her collarbone. A smile formed on her face at the thought of her father. He always made fun of how much she actually looked like him and how much he wished they had more time together. It was that time that she wished he was still here, to be with her, to tell her what to do, to hug her. She realized that she missed her dad very much and regretted being jealous of Harry when he got to spend time with her dad. Not only did she miss him, she missed Remus and Tonks, Ginny, Fred and George, the DA, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and especially Jacob. She also felt something else. She missed her mother. She had thought of her often, but she never really missed her as much as she did now. The thought of never seeing her again made her incredibly sad, but for the first time she wanted revenge. So many people she loved had died because of Voldemort and she loathed him more than ever. What he did was cruel. He tore families apart, ended friendships and relationships, and killed anyone who wasn’t on his side. She rested her head on her knees, when she felt a tear run down her face. She gazed up at the clear, starry night sky. Her eyes searched for the brightest star, Sirius. When she found it, she smiled weakly. It was the star after which her father was named. It looked like it was trying to comfort Jean, who was wiping tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. The star reminded her of her father’s eyes, which always sparkled mischievously. She pulled her hood tighter and sank deeper into the blanket around her. She felt protected by the stars and confident that they would make it. That they could defeat Voldemort.
Peering into the tent, she saw Hermione getting up hastily and Harry looking scared, clutching the back of his head, probably to feel if his hair was still there. Jean got up and went into the tent as well, accompanying Hermione who was now poring over a book of magical artefacts. Harry also came to check and he asked: ,,What’s going on? Did you find something?” ,,Yes, I think so. Goblin-made things only absorb what strengthens them”, Hermione read aloud and Jean asked: ,,So?” ,,So, the sword of Gryffindor is made by goblins. Harry, remember when you defeated that basilisk in second year? You used the sword of Gryffindor for that, didn’t you?”, she explained and Harry nodded. ,,That’s when the sword was drenched with basilisk venom, which is able to destroy horcruxes”, she continued. Jean opened her mouth to speak, but before she could the lights went out and back on. Ron, more bitter than he had been before was standing there with his fists clenched. ,,What’s so important now? Have you guys forgotten I exist, too?”, he asked accusingly. ,,What’s your problem?”, Harry asked, turning to Ron looking around and looking curious: ,,My problem is that the three of you are always together and whisper about things, or that you and Hermione were somewhere together. Yea, I saw you guys the other day when you came back from something and Jean slept at the table”, he shouted. Hermione immediately got up and walked towards him, whispering: ,,Ron, there’s nothing there. We were just-” ,,Oh, save it. I know exactly what’s going on”, he interrupted her. ,,What exactly does not meet your expectations. Did you think we’d stay in five star hotels and drink butterbeer? Did you think you’d be home with mummy by Christmas? You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into when I said I was going Horcrux hunting”, Harry interrupted, now annoyed. Jean grabbed his arm to stop him from doing something he would regret. Ron pursed his lips angrily, before yelling: ,,You don’t know why I listen to the radio every bloody day, do you? Because I’m scared I’ll hear Mum’s name or Dad’s or Fred’s or George’s or Ginny’s. I’m scared they’ll be killed, tortured, or Merlin knows what.” ,,Don’t you think I’m listening too? Don’t you think I’m scared of hearing their names too?”, Harry replied, his voice raised. ,,No, BECAUSE YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD YOU HAVE NO FAMILY”, Ron raged on. Hermione, who had started to cry, stood next to him, begging: ,,Ron please take off that locket, you wouldn’t be talking like that if you hadn’t been wearing it all day.” Harry was now on his feet. Jean let herself be dragged along with him. He clenched his fists and Jean had to hold his arm to keep him from striking Ron. Ron and Harry faced each other and Ron grabbed his backpack. ,,Ron, please take off the Horcrux. I’m begging you”, Hermione pleaded. Ron just gave Harry a bitter look and spat: ,,I’ll be fine on my own. I’m out of here.” Hermione continued to cry, but gave up trying to remove the Horcrux from his neck and stood next to Harry. ,,And you lot, are you coming or what?” he asked, looking first at Hermione and then at Jean. Jean shook her head, a pleading expression on her face, but her hands clutching Harry’s fist. Hermione looked at Ron sadly, but also shook her head. Ron understood and threw the locket to the ground before angrily exiting the tent and stomping away.
Hermione ran after him, desperately trying to get him to stop walking. ,,He disapparated”, she announced when she came back a dew minutes later, her voice breaking. Then she stormed past Harry and Jean and back to where the beds where. Jean looked at him reproachfully  as she snapped: ,,Was that really necessary? You could’ve just talked about it like adults and not like little kids just screaming at each other.” ,,Oh really, he was the one blowing up on me. I was just trying to understand why Dumbledore passed down the sword to me”, he defended himself. ,,He wasn’t behaving right either but you should’ve just let him be. I’ll go take Hermione’s shift. You lot go to sleep”, Jean explained and walked out of the tent.
She was now back under her blanket, this time with hot tea in a thermos and looking at the stars once again. Her dim wand light was only illuminating her photo book which she had in front of her. The brightest star on the night sky was sparkling down at her protectively as she took her eyes off of the sky. She was looking at a photo, in which a blonde woman with warm blue eyes was holding a small dark-haired baby with the same warm blue eyes. Next to her stood a young, good-looking man with the same dark hair as the baby but grey eyes. Both the parents beamed at the camera and the man was pointing at it while the baby was just looking curiously at it. Jean smiled and a tear dropped onto the picture which was taken 15 and a half years ago. The baby was her and the two people were her parents. It was the only family photo of the three of them that she had. She wiped the tear off of the picture and her gaze met another picture underneath it. It was her, approximately 13 months old, her untidy curls being in a little ponytail and waving at the camera in her dad’s lap, while he smiled weakly. She looked at the date that the picture had been taken and it was 2 weeks after her mum was murdered. looking closer at her dad, she noticed that he looked weak and like he hadn’t eaten or slept in days. She felt sorry for him and awful for treating him like she wasn’t important to him. Jean let her finger slide over the little moving picture and smiled sadly. Flipping the page, she looked at the picture on the next page. It was her again, this time she was around 3 and it was a picture of her and Harry laying next to each other in Remus’s garden and pointing at the clouds. She found this incredibly sweet and was happy that their friendship had been this strong even back then. Next picture was a tired looking Remus and a 4 year old Jean who was napping on his chest. Jean smiled as she thought about how much she missed her godfather. She was hoping sincerely that he and Tonks and Teddy were well and in hiding. She turned a few pages forward and stopped at her 11 year old self waving from the Hogwarts express with a Gryffindor scarf blowing in the wind. It must’ve been Remus’s old one, since she wasn’t sorted back then. When she looked at the one beneath it, there was a family photo of her and Remus and beside it a picture with her, Remus and Harry. She dimly remembered that Harry had rather spent his summer at her house than his aunt and uncles. On the last day of summer, they had taken this picture while he was over. Next picture seemed to have been sent by owl, because there where bits of paper around it like it had been ripped from a letter. She remembered taking this picture when she, Ron and Harry had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas. And that she had sent Remus this picture along with a Christmas letter in first year.
A few pages forwards were pictures from 3rd year. The first one was Harry, Hermione, Ron and her beaming at the camera brightly and joking around. Then there was one with her and Harry sleeping on a sofa in the common room with the huge scarlet red blanket with the Gryffindor lion covering them.
Later on there was the picture that Jean had been hoping for. It was her and her dad, him holding her tightly and crying happy tears. Jean smiled but sobbed because she remembered being so happy that her dad was finally back. Remus had never said anything bad about her dad but she was concerned when she found out that he supposedly was a mass murder. She remembered being told by Remus that her dad was innocent, once he had figured it out. That was back in her third year. Remus also told the story with Peter Pettigrew and how he framed her dad for the murder of the 12 muggles and the betrayal of James and Lily. Jean remembered that her dad told her everything and that he would go into hiding for now. She remembered how heartbroken she was, that her dad was ripped from her once more.
Next picture was her at the yule ball, dancing with Harry and having fun and another one with her and Fred slow dancing at the yule ball. She remembered her beautiful red dress and golden shoes. Both Hermione and Jean had tamed their hair that day and Jean’s hair laid in neat curls unusual to the normally more wild curls. She remembered being asked by Fred to go to the yule ball with him when they were on their date in Hogsmeade, before she smiled. Those were the best times, but she slightly cringed at the sight of her with Fred because she knew how that night had ended in a screaming match between the two of them and she now had Jacob whom she loved very much.
And then there was a picture which had been taken only a few months ago. It was her and Jacob in their secret hiding spot, laughing at the camera, looking at each other very much in love. Jean smiled sadly and kissed the picture gently.
She found some more pictures, with them a family photo with her and Remus and Tonks from sixth year. After thinking for a moment, she took it out and stuffed it into the pocket of her zip up jacket which was closest to her heart. She also took out the photo of her and her parents when she was a baby, stuffing it into that pocket as well.
Then she looked up at the sky once again. The brightest star was still sparkling at her but she noticed the sky getting brighter and she concluded that the sun must be rising soon. Jean sighed and got up to get inside the tent to ask which of the two would take the next shift, since she desperately needed sleep.
,,Hey, can one of you take the next shift? I’m obnoxiously tired”, Jean asked while walking towards the table which Harry sat on. Hermione, who sat on the floor next to the radio nodded and went outside. Once she had gone, Harry said: ,,D’you reckon he’ll come back? You know, Ron, I mean...” ,,I hope so...”, Jean just mumbled, thinking about her dad and Remus and Tonks and Jacob and everyone that she loved. Harry saw the worried expression on her face and turned up the radio, where a song was playing. He got up from the table and took off the Horcrux that Jean had taken when Ron left. Harry held out his hand. Jean took it with a puzzled expression. He pulled her with him and they started dancing to the song. It was a spontaneous idea and neither of them could dance that well, but it reminded Jean of the yule ball, where she and him had danced to this exact song. ,,D’you remember this song?”, she mumbled and Harry laughed. ,,Of course I remember it. It reminds me of the more peaceful times that we had. Kind of nostalgic isn’t it. Dancing to this exact same song two years later, don’t you think”, he muttered back. They swayed back and forth to the music, just forgetting all the troubles around them. It made both of them feel comfort and at ease, because after all they just had each other left.