Anna Black, The Girl Who Lived (Book 5)

Chapter 17

The air felt cold and lonely to Sirius as he sat in the drawing room, flipping through photo albums. Although it could be seen as incredibly cheesy, the pictures brought him a bit of warmth and happiness as he dwelled alone in the dreary atmosphere of 12 Grimmauld Place.

It had only been a few days since everyone had left, but loneliness already made his heart heavy.

The only company he had were Kreacher and Buckbeak, only one of which were even remotely friendly but couldn't even talk. Kreacher was so unpleasant that Sirius wanted to avoid speaking to him altogether. It all went back to horrible flashbacks from his childhood. Kreacher had never helped matters back then or now, for that matter.

So alone he sat, smiling especially whenever he would come across a picture of Leah or James, immediately thinking of Anna and Harry. It made him happy to know they could live vicariously through the children.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the closed door to the room that he was currently in.

Sirius stood up so quick he almost lost balance. His heart pounded, threatening to break his ribcage, and he could feel his eyes go wide with fear.

Who could it be? No way in hell was it Kreacher.

So he drew his wand, cautiously walked to the door, and in one swift motion, opened it and yelled, "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

"Protego!" a young girl's voice chirped, quickly blocking the curse.

Sirius looked in astonishment at the intruder but quickly glowered and warned, "Who the hell are you? If you've come to get me I swear I'll-"

"Oh, fellow Black dearest, I have no interest in capturing you," said the girl coolly, lowering her wand.

"Who are you?!"

"Heh...you're joking, right?" When Sirius didn't respond, her gaze turned cold. "I really hope you're joking. Look at me...in the eyes."

And so he did, his own dark eyes widened in response. No...there was no possible way.

Right, he was just going crazy, he had spent so much time in Azkaban after all. "Okay, and? I'll give you two minutes to speak before I hex you into oblivion."

"I don't think you'd speak to Anna that way, why should you treat your other daughter any different?"

"D-daughter?" Sirius stuttered, surprised his suspicion was correct.

Yes, this girl had eyes scarily similar to Leah's and genderbent looks that reflected his younger appearance, but still, he couldn't be more shocked.

"No..." Sirius said, lowly.

"Yes, it's me. Have you missed me? Well, I guess you couldn't, considering the fact that you've never met me...can you even miss someone you never met?" she asked, tapping a finger to her chin, feigning confusion. "Oh, right, let's get back on track. So, how's life been, father?"

"How...? Where...?" Sirius was unable to get a full sentence out.

Hope filled his chest at the prospect of having another price of him and his Leah. Another daughter, and a sister for Anna. But at the same time, something felt off...As he looked at the girl, he could feel a bit of an evil aura radiating off of her.

He got the feeling that she was able to hide it well when she felt like it, but now was obviously not the time. Her vibrant, yet somehow dark, eyes glowed with something...vengeance.

Leah's eyes could never harbor so much hatred, he thought to himself, suddenly agitated that she was his flesh and blood. He refused to unironically call her "daughter". She seemed...no, she was evil.

Hell, she shouldn't even be alive.

"All you need to know is that yes, I am your 'unborn' daughter, but was able to be rescued, so here I am. I haven't inherited the desire to fight against Voldemort...actually, I work for him. His followers have raised me in your absence. Also, I'm very, very close to Anna and Harry, and they're so dumb they don't even know it-"

"Don't even consider touching my children-"

"BUT YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT ME! DON'T I MATTER JUST AS MUCH?!" yelled the girl, her eyes ablaze. "Heck, Harry isn't even yours, so why don't you give a damn about me?!"

"I...I just didn't know-"

"What an excuse. All I hear is 'Anna this, Anna that', she's just so goddamn special, isn't she? But where does her sister come in? Oh, wait, nobody, not even her own father, knew that she was alive! You never even attempted to look for me, after all these years-"

"What're you on about?" asked Sirius bitterly, not even bothering to argue.

This girl was unbelievably childish, regardless of how cold she was. How could he possibly find her when he was stuck in Azkaban all those years? And even if he weren't, where could he have begun and how would he have known? Leah had died that night and his unborn child should have died too. That's what anyone with common sense would assume...right?

"I just want you to know that your daughters are reunited at last," she said with a sweet smile, but her glare remained. "Just not in the way anyone would expect."

"If you even think about hurting her or my godson, I swear I'll-"

"Oh, don't worry...nothing's coming...yet. I just wanted to let you know that I'm alive and well, and the time will come that I need to turn one of you three in. But since you're my dear, sweet, deranged father...I'll let you choose."

"Me, take me. I don't care how bad it is, just take me and be done with it. Don't hurt them," Sirius said, his voice hard, but it had an underlying tone of anxiety.

"You're so predictable...I just knew you'd say that." The girl's tone was so condescending, and it took every ounce of sanity for Sirius to not pummel her. "Now, unlike you, my master and I are unpredictable. So, that means that you will be taken whenever seems fit, and I'm afraid I'm not able to give you an exact date, sorry father. Another thing...if you even mutter a word about this meeting to your daughter or godson, I promise, you'll regret it. I will take them both immediately and they will be tortured to death."

"I'll do whatever you say, just don't hurt them."

"Well, in that case...I want you to tell me that you love me and call me your daughter."

"I love you...daughter." Her father's voice was practically dripping with venom as he gave the strongest glare he was capable of.

She just hummed, nodded, and turned to leave. "Wait."

"Yes, father?"

"What's your alias?" asked Sirius. He could hear her smirk.

"Hmm, I guess since you're forbidden to tell, and you're pretty much useless anyway," Sirius' jaw clenched as she spoke that word, "my name is-"