Time Astral | Sirius Black

49||The sweet lie

The next time they were all gathered at the Burrow, Sirius wasn't sick but he was just as gloomy about having his wife focus on everyone but him. 

He'd grown quite fond of her attention and much like last time, he sat with his arms crossed in front of him, glaring at Ron who she had spent the last fifteen minutes talking to. 

"She'll be back in a few, lose the frown." 

Surprised at finding Harry next to him, Sirius reluctantly let down his arms, nestling the bowl of cold coffee Molly had prepared 'Just how you like it,' she'd said.

"What's up with you?"

Harry looked at him and then looked away causing Sirius to put down the cup and turn around so he could fully face his godson. "Tell me, Harry, you know I'm here for you."

"Alasia," He said at last. "She's a good person."

Sirius nodded without a single thought, "The best. She'd die for the ones she loves without hesitation."

"Yeah?" Harry raises a brow causing Sirius to grow unfathomably defensive. 

"What's this about?" He asked, trying his best to keep his voice gentle. 

"She's lying to me," Harry said, not realising the turmoil he was causing inside of Sirius who was on the edge - knowing if Harry said one wrong thing about his wife, he might lose it.

"Is she now?"

Harry nodded solemnly, lowering his voice, "I asked her a few weeks ago about a task given to me by Dumbledore, did she tell you?"

"She tells me everything,"

That seemed to upset Harry even more. "I sneaked out of Hogwarts during the Hogsmeade trip to go to Knockturn Alley."

"Harry - that is very unsafe - "

"Listen," Harry insisted. "I went to Borgin and Burke's. I needed answers, Sirius, don't look at me like that. I'm not a child anymore as you and Alasia so often like to proclaim. I am smart enough to not die through a visit to the Knockturn alley, I took the cloak. Borgin wasn't easy to persuade but with some galleons - he finally succumbed. I asked him about the artefacts - the relics of the founders. And he said he'd had this conversation before," Harry's eyes gleamed as he frowned ferociously, "and when I asked the name, it was her. Alasia, he said. Who else would it be, he said. As if it were obvious - a thing that happened quite often."

Sirius gaped at him for a beat too long before cracking a small smile, "Knockturn was Alasia's escape back when she was younger. She went there far too often. She even had a friend there, many in fact. People knew her there very, very well. And she did not in fact go there for shady reasons. It was just, her. Diagon Alley didn't resonate with Allie as much as Knockturn did. And that's how she got to know Borgin. He was scared of her - most were."

"Knockturn isn't a place to resonate with, if that's the case - I don't know what it says about - "

"Enough." Sirius's voice was so harsh, that Harry flinched. 

"I - "

"It's my wife you're talking about," He said - unaware he'd attracted the attention of more Weasleys than he'd prefer. "Harry, I love you - I care for you and you're family but I will not under any circumstance tolerate disrespect for my woman."

Harry seemed to recoil, hurt by the words - "It wasn't this way between us before she was here, Padfoot."

Sirius grew angry, angrier than before. Perhaps it was the previous fear for Alasia's safety guiding him, or the protectiveness over her that had become so heavy - he was ready to fight James' son - James's son. He repeated it over and over, trying not to loose his cool.