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

Returning to the roots

The following month was hard for the trio. Especially Hermione was suffering after Ron just up and left that night. Still, the three of them had travelled around, searching for horcruxes and especially hiding from Voldemort and his Snatchers. In spite of Harry’s disapproval, Hermione left pieces of her clothing behind for Ron to find, mostly scarfs. Harry didn’t approve of this because he was convinced that the snatchers would be able to track them down, if only they knew how to.
They had been camping in a forest were Hermione had often gone with her parents, when she was young, for a week, when Harry suggested: ,,I want to go to godrics hollow. Its the perfect place for him to hide a Horcrux.” Hermione looked up from her tea, shocked. ,,What, no Harry we can’t. That’s the place he’s expecting you to be. He’s for sure set up a trap there”, she tried to convince him. Jean had looked up too, but not in shook, but in agreement. ,,You know, I think we should really go there. He’s scared of godrics hollow. He was destroyed there, and maybe he’s scared that he will be again. Besides it’s a big humiliation to him, that a baby had defeated him, all those years ago”, she mumbled, looking at Hermione. Harry nodded. Hermione looked at both her friends and caved. ,,Fine, but we can’t go as ourselves. We need to disguise ourselves”, she explained. Harry nodded and suggested: ,,One of us can use the cloak, and the other two will have to use polyjuice potion.” Jean looked at him sceptically, before she answered: ,,And how exactly are we supposed to get the ingredients for polyjuice potion? We used our stock for the infiltration of the ministry, remember? Besides, it’ll take a month to brew.” Hermione cleared her throat and mentioned: ,,I have two little vials full of it as an emergency stock. It’s not much so it won’t last long, but it should last for about half an hour.” Harry beamed. ,,Hermione, you’re brilliant. Then we just need to see, who we’ll become?”, he smiled, running his hand though his hair. Jean looked at each of them, before she suggested: ,,There’s a muggle town down the road. We could get some hair from an old couple or something, I don’t know.” Harry now looked at her and his eyes flickered with fierceness. ,,Brilliant, let’s do it then. Jean, you’ll fit under the cloak best, since you’ve barely grown since first year. ‘Mione, you and I will need to collect some muggle hair”, he assigned. Jean frowned as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. ,,I’ve grown over a foot, git”, she replied, mildly insulted. Even Hermione had to laugh now. ,,C’mon, you haven’t grown that much. You were 4’7 and now you’re what 5’4? Jean you’ve barely grown, your feet won’t show underneath the cloak”, Harry explained, throwing the cloak onto her. Jean seemed to vanish into thin air, but Harry and Hermione could still hear her swearing: ,,I’ll bat-bogey hex you, Harry. Ginny showed me how to before we left.” She struggled to get the cloak off of her. Harry just grinned and Hermione raised an eyebrow. ,,C’mon, we need to get a move on, I s’pose you don’t want to be seen, so we’ll have to apparate at dawn”, she explained, clapping her hands impatiently. Harry nodded, before he concluded: ,,Hermione, you’re right. We need muggle hair. Jean, you’ll stay here while ‘mione and I get the hair? Well be back in about an hour I reckon.” Jean, although frowning, agreed. Hermione got up quickly, already making her way towards the exit. Harry followed, almost running.
Jean sighed, as her two friends vanished from earshot. Every time that she was alone she began overthinking. What if they got caught? What if someone they knew was dead? What if Ron wouldn’t return? Every time she caught herself drowning in her thoughts, she focused on positive things. Most of the time, she turned on the radio, where a secret show was being played. It required a secret password, that they’d announce at the end of every episode and they were always on a different sequence. Ron was the one that introduced her to the show. That was why he always listened to the radio. The show was run by none others than the members of former DA. Mostly Seamus, Dean, Ginny and Jacob were talking, each of them about different things. Jacob always had the part where he told everyone listening what it was like at Hogwarts at the time. Jean usually listened to it, but because she needed to hear Jacobs voice daily to reassure herself that he was still alive. And so she did today. She managed to tune in at precisely the right time. Jacobs voice came out of the radio, a bit distorted: ,,Hello, I hope everyone is still alive. Us at Hogwarts are currently in hiding from the carrow siblings. I won’t say where but, just know, if you require a place to stay, that’s where we are...” Jean almost burst out crying, hearing her loves voice. Hugging her knees, she cried silently. She missed him so much, and she hoped that soon, this war would be over. Wiping her tears with her arm, she turned her wand in her hands. The 13¼ inch long wand made out of spruce wood and phoenix feather core looked very worn. She had to fight a lot with it, since they had been on the run. Suddenly, she had an idea. What if she tried casting a patronus? Would it strengthen the connection between her and Jacob? Jean took a deep breath, before she closed her eyes. ,,Expecto patronum”, she mumbled, whilst thinking about her happiest memory. Simultaneously, she made the wand movement and when she opened her eyes, she saw her patronus. The little niffler looked around confused for her partner. Up until now, Jean and Jacob always cast their patroni together. Neither of the two nifflers had ever been conjured alone. Jean just looked at her little niffler patronus, struggling to stay focused on the memory. Sighing, she unfocused and the niffler vanished. Now it was just her again, no one else there. Exhausted, she leaned against a post looking at nothing.
Christmas eve
Hermione was preparing for their departure, hanging up her scarf for Ron outside. Jean and Harry were busy undoing their tent. Suddenly, Harry turned to Jean: ,,You alright? I mean, it’s the first time you’ll be in godrics hollow since... you know.” She nodded, feeling a burning sensation in her throat from her held back tears. ,,Yea, I’ll-I’ll be fine. What about you though? Its your first time being back as well... d’you think it’ll be hard to see... ugh you know”, Jean asked, trying to navigate the attention towards Harry. He just swallowed, before he nodded. ,,Look, seems like ‘mione’s done. You’ve got the cloak?”, he changed the topic, looking at Jean urgently. Hermione came back towards them, her eyes a bit red. Jean pulled out the invisibility cloak from underneath her shirt, whilst Harry handed Hermione a small vial with polyjuice potion. After Jean had vanished under the cloak up to her neck, Harry and Hermione chugged the potion. A few minutes later, they had transformed into a ginger haired woman in her mid forties and a blonde man, looking a few years older than the woman, that Hermione had just transformed into. Then, Harry and Jean held on to Hermione and the three of them diaspparated.
In godrics hollow
With a crack, the trio appeared in the shadows. Jean pulled up the hood of the cloak, making her completely invisible. Harry held out his arm for Hermione, to give their muggle couple impersonation the finishing touch.
,,D’you think they’d be here today?”, Jean breathed, as they passed a church, hearing the choir sing. Harry nodded very slightly, not wanting to blow their cover. ,,Look, there’s a graveyard, d’you reckon we should...”, Harry couldn’t finish his sentence. Hermione nodded though, motioning to Jean to follow. She clutched Harry by the hand, turning to the entry of the graveyard.
Whilst Harry and Hermione just went looking around, Jean immediately spotted something in the back. Determined, she walked towards one specific tombstone. Once she stood in front of it, she let go of the cloak, causing it to fall to the ground. Her throat felt like it been sown shut, forbidding her to speak. Instead, she just knelt down, looking at it. Here lies Marlene McKinnon, a beloved Daughter, Sister, Friend, Girlfriend and Mother. Gone but never forgotten; it read. Jean took out her wand with trembling hands, wiped her tears with her shirt and conjured a little flower arrangement. Once she had put away her wand, she got up again, hugging herself. It was hard to suppress her tears by now, but she tried her best to wipe the tears quickly enough. ,,Miss you Mum”, she muttered, her voice very hoarse. A breeze of soft wind blew in her face, almost as if it was her mother, answering.
,,Jean”, she heard Hermione’s voice from a few graves over. She and Harry stood as if they were scared to move. Jean walked over to them briskly, seizing the cloak off the ground as she did. ,,What?”, she answered, when she was next to them. ,,I think we’re being watched”, Hermione breathed. At this point the Polyjuice potion had worn off, and Harry and Hermione had returned to themselves.