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

Back where it began

Jean was panting. The four had just taken a fifty feet jump off the back of a dragon. She looked around for Harry, Ron and Hermione, still panting and trying to stay afloat. Harry appeared next to her, taking a big gulp of air. ,,You alright?”, was the first thing he asked, now breathing heavily. Jean just nodded, unable to talk. The heads of Hermione and Ron appeared on the surface as well, both panting. ,,Bloody hell, that water’s cold”, Ron gasped, looking at the three of his friends. ,,The riverbank’s that way”, Harry nodded his head towards land. ,,Let’s get out of here then”, Jean suggested, before starting to swim. The other three followed.
After they climbed up onto land, Harry seemed very keen on telling them something. Hermione handed out dry clothes from her beaded bag. ,,There’s a horcrux at Hogwarts”, Harry announced as he pulled his wet shirt off. ,,What do you mean, at Hogwarts? D’you really think he hid one there?”, Jean asked, pulling a pair of trousers on. Harry nodded fiercely, elaborating: ,,Yea, it was his first real home. Look, he hid his horcruxes in the places he’s most trusted with. Hogwarts is one of those places.” Hermione sighed, in a rush to get out of her wet clothes: ,,We need a plan then.” Ron nodded, zipping up his jacket. ,,Hermione, you gave me your shirt, here”, Jean butted in, throwing the shirt at Hermione. ,,It’s fine, just wear it”, she said throwing it back. ,,Fine then. Harry, Hermione’s right, we do need a plan. I’m pretty sure Snape has secured the whole castle, so getting in won’t be like a nice walk”, Jean directed the conversation back to the original topic. ,,Let’s be real, when has any of our plans really ever worked. We just show up somewhere and all hell breaks loose. Listen, we’ll stay here for the night and tomorrow we’re going to get that bloody horcrux, alright” ,Harry declared, now fully dressed. ,,Fine, girls you in?”, Ron agreed. Jean and Hermione nodded, before Hermione began rummaging in her beaded purse again.
In the tent, later
Ron and Hermione had gone outside to do god knows what, but Jean sat inside, listening to the secret radio again. She enjoyed hearing Jacobs voice, knowing that he was safe at Hogwarts. Harry came in, rather worried looking. Jean looked up. ,,What’s the matter?”, she asked softly. Harry sighed, sitting down next to her. ,,Do you still miss him?”, he asked, completely out of the blue. Jean frowned, before asking: ,,What do you mean?” Again, Harry sighed. ,,Jacob, I mean, you seemed so happy with him”, he explained. Jean nodded, while answering: ,,Every day. I listen to the radio because of him. Because I enjoy hearing his voice, knowing that he’s fine and not... you know.” She hugged her knees, resting her head on them. Harry looked at her in great compassion, while laying his arm around her. ,,You’ll see him soon”, he tried to cheer her up. Jean just sniffled, not in the mood to chat. Sighing, Harry got up again, walking out of the tent.
Suddenly, Jean got an idea. She had her pensieve and vials with her. Why not look at one last memory, before she possibly wouldn’t ever have the chance to ever again. She nodded at her own idea, before turning off the radio and seizing her backpack. Breathing heavier, she opened it with trembling hands. Jean pulled out the box, being very careful, before seizing the pensieve. She set both the things up in front of herself, taking a deep breath. While rummaging through the box of memories, she noticed that she’d seen nearly all of them, all except for one. Holding her breath, she looked at the labelling. As she saw the date, she almost fainted. Jean had read the diary entry of that day. It was the last one, before her mum stopped writing.
Making sure nobody was around, Jean opened up the vial. Her hands were trembling and she was a little dizzy. Was she about to find out what happened, the night her mum disappeared? Before she poured the content of her vial, she hesitated. Did she really want to see? Jean’s mind was racing, but before her overthinking mind could take over, the curiosity got the better of her. She poured the memory into the pensieve, taking one deep breath after another.
After turning her head one last time to make sure nobody was there to watch, she lowered her head towards the surface of the pensieve. As her face touched the liquid she closed her eyes and held her breath, until she felt the familiar falling sensation.
Before Jean even got the chance to open her eyes, she noticed one thing; it was quiet. Too quiet. Scared to open her eyes, she sat on what felt like wooden floor. ,,Don’t be a wimp now, Jean. This is what you’ve been dying to know”, she thought to herself, before finally opening her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the scarlett red Gryffindor scarf hanging over a chair. Second thing she noticed was a female voice, humming a lullaby. Confused, Jean turned her head into the direction of the humming. Up until now, she had always thought that her mum had given her to Remus and Elaine to Lily the day that she was abducted. What she saw, made her heart painfully pull itself together.
Her mother, completely oblivious on what was about to happen, sat on the king-sized bed, rocking and humming to Jean’s one-year-old self. All of that looked so peaceful, making Jean want to stay there forever. The blissful moment was cut short by the sound of glass shattering. Both Marlene and the 17 year old Jean winced, Marlene protectively putting her arm around the one year old version of Jean. She knew what was about to happen, and even though her mum couldn’t hear her, Jean cried: ,,GET OUT OF HERE MUM, PLEASE, YOU NEED TO LEAVE!” At this point, Marlene had already picked up on what was going on, frantically walking around the room, the one year old Jean still in her arms. Present day Jean observed her mother whispering soothing words to her younger self. She was wishing she could just save her mother. ,,Shit, shit, shit”, Marlene was swearing under her breath, apparently trying desperately to find a hiding place for her daughter. It was killing Jean to just stand and watch, knowing what was about to happen.
Marlene had now hidden Jean in her closet, closing the door almost completely. ,,Don’t worry my love, Mummy’s gonna be alright, just stay here. Daddy’s gonna get you later, alright. I love you tons, my sweet girl”, she cooed, calming the small baby girl down. Jean watched, as her mother sat on the bed as if nothing was wrong. Her eyes were glossy. She knew her fate, she knew she wasn’t gonna see either of her daughters again. The door burst open, both the real Jean and Marlene winced once more. Peter Pettigrew entered the room, unable to look Marlene in the eye. ,,Peter?! What are you doing here?”, she asked, a look of great confusion on her face. Peter sniffled, before pointing his wand at her. Jean watched as the look on her mothers face changed into disappointment. She realised that Peter was a death eater, she knew that they were betrayed. Marlene’s expression changed once again, this time sadness characterised her face. ,,Peter please tell me you didn’t tell him where Lily and James are hiding?”, she begged, tears shimmering in her eyes. When Peter didn’t answer, she screamed: ,,Peter, ANSWER ME! You didn’t, did you?” All while still being unable to look at her, he shook his head. Marlene had her hands over her mouth. ,,THEY ARE YOUR FRIENDS. JAMES IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. Why?!”, she yelled. Jean saw that anger was taking over her mother. Peter looked back at her, a twisted expression characterising his face. ,,I’m sorry”, he muttered, as he shot a body binding spell at Marlene.
Jean’s eyes widened, as her mother fell back into the pillows of her bed. The memory got blurry, before Jean felt herself being pulled upwards.
Panting, she found herself back in the tent. Next to her, Harry sat. ,,You alright?”, he asked, making Jean jump. ,,Blimey Harry, don’t just creep up on me like that”, she scolded, still panting. He grinned, before answering: ,,Sorry, couldn’t help it. So, what memory was that?” Jean ran her hand through her hair. She had to process what just happened. ,,Last memory of my mum before she, you know disappeared”, she answered to Harry’s question. ,,Wanna talk about it?”, he asked, as he saw the traumatised look on Jean’s face. She shook her head. ,,No, I’d rather think about it first”, she explained, running her hand over her face. Harry nodded compassionately.