Third Time's the Charm

Chapter Twenty-Two~Family

Apparently, James' crazy is really just the three of us sitting on the frigid roof with a bottle of his dad's fire whiskey looking at the stars. Which suits me perfectly well. They're warm next to me and the alcohol keeps us from freezing, so I'm content.

"So, Mane, what is it that you usually do for the holidays?" James asks as he passes me the bottle. I take a swig and shrug.

"Nothing. I stay in my room and stuff blankets around the window to keep out the cold." I tell them and pass the bottle to Sirius.

"That's shit." He says and I grin.

"Yeah, it's shit. But I'm used to it."

"No, not anymore." James grabs my legs and tugs them over his lap, whether to keep him warm or prevent me from running, who knows. He may be a bit drunk. His hazel eyes are molten gold as he looks at me and glint with mischief and moonlight. "Evans and I will have shared custody of you. This year I get you for Christmas, then Lily Easter. Next year it'll be me Easter and Lily Christmas. During the Summer we'll all share. Then once we graduate, we'll all live together in a shit flat." Sirius and I laugh.

"I like your dreams, James." I bid him and his head shakes as he takes a sip.

"Dreams are just realities we get to chose from. With hard work, any dream could be ours." He says and we all look at the stars. For a moment, I imagine each one is a reality I can choose from. Millions of options ripe for the picking.

"Oi." Sirius' soft voice calls me away and he flicks his chin towards James who is now slumped and breathing deeply.

"Bloody hell, how much does he sleep?"

"Eh, he didn't sleep that much last night. Too excited." Sirius breathes and I hum a laugh. It's just us, now then. The last time we were alone outside comes to mind and I look over at him.

"Sirius, do you remember that night by the lake?" I ask as I fondle the dog charm on the bracelet he gave me. He swallows as he nods and looks over at me. His silver eyes are warm too, the silver looking soft like a cloud just waiting to spill out all its rain.

"Course I do."

"Yeah well, we got pretty close."

"I remember."

"Our noses touched."

"Mmhmm."

"And I thought that maybe..."

"Yeah?"

"I thought that maybe you were-"

"going to kiss you? I am." He affirms and we're close again, our noses brush again, and my skin is hot all over again.

"You are or you were?"

"Both. Would you let me?"

"What, kiss me?"

"Yes."

"Try and find out." I dare him and he smiles before his lips meet mine. His lips are soft, so soft, and cold from the night around us. We both taste like fire whiskey and popcorn from earlier, but that's fine. It's perfect because its Sirius and I feel safe when I'm with Sirius. I feel like maybe I found a piece of home, with Sirius. We both jump and look to James when he snores, then laugh quietly before looking back at one another.

"Head in?" He offers and I nod. We move apart and he drops onto the balcony, then holds his arms out. "Just slide him off and I'll catch him." After a deep breath, I set the whiskey down to my right and gingerly slide James down, then shove him off the ledge. Sirius catches him with a grunt and I grab the bottle, then drop onto my feet beside him. Just as I'm about to follow the boys inside, there's a strange light coming from the bushes near the Potter's fence.

"Go on, I'll be there in a minute," I tell Sirius and he hesitates before nodding. Carefully, I leave the whiskey and climb over the balcony. I lower myself to the platform, then drop down onto the balls of my feet and roll. Unscathed, I pop up and head over to the soft glow. It looks sort of green. As I near the bushes they start to wiggle, then just as I'm moving the few branches aside to see what it could possibly be, a hand shoots out and claims my throat.

My eyes widen as my fingers claw at the man's hands around my neck. His skin is just a shade darker than mine, his eyes dark brown, hair nearly black and cut to the quick, but what really catches my eye is the scar across his cheek. It matches Sirius', the one he said was from the cruciatus curse. "Arell Ackley, finally I've got you." I open my mouth to scream as he drags me into the darkness of the bushes, but he clasps his other dirty hand over it while shoving me into the ground and trapping me with his body.

"What a touching moment to witness. Adorable, truly." He sneers and I desperately try to kick or scratch at him, but my whole body's pinned. "Don't struggle, come on now. We're family, after all." My eyes bug out of my head as he trades the hand on my neck for a solid black wand pressed to my jugular. "Thought you were the only magical one in the family, huh? My brother never did like the fact that I was one of them. That's why we two never met." He gestures to himself and I. "Stupid squibs thinking they're better than us, purer because they don't have the pollutant of magic. Fools. Maybe that's also why you and he didn't get along so much." His wand leaves its place so his thumb can graze over the scar peeking out from my sweater.

"Gone now though. I wonder, would you like me more if I told you that I was the one that killed them?" My eyes get even wider. "Ah, yes. Saw you didn't cry at the funeral, naughty girl." I struggle again and he seems to refocus. "I've been looking for you for a very long time. Gone to all your little schools with dementors tracking my every move, wanting to give me a little kiss." He pecks my cheek and I squirm with disgust. "This was the one time that I was ahead of you. Knew you'd go to the school in Scotland rather than the one in Japan. Managed to get a glimpse of you before those damn dementors swooped in and you all ran." He seems preoccupied with his story, so I bite his hand hard and he whips it away while pressing his wand harder against my throat.

"What do you want?" I hiss and he smirks.

"Not enough to have wanted to see my niece?" I glare at him and he sighs. "You've got something that I need, little girl."

"I have nothing." I snap and he slaps me.

"Not a possession, a position. You can get in and out of Hogwarts without anyone batting an eye, you have people's trust, even further, their admiration. You're going to do something for me."

"What's that?" I ground out and now his smile turns dark, more menacing.

"Send a message to Albus Dumbledore. Something is coming. Rising out of the darkness with power, so much power as to render even him useless. Feeble. Into the old man he is. And since you obviously can't be trusted with anything, I'll write it down for you." He puts his knee on my open palm and replaces his wand on my throat with his hand, then begins tracing a pattern over my arm with his wand. The second the white-hot pain hits me I try to scream, but his hand just squeezes harder so I can't breathe. Choking on my own scream, pain consumes me again and again and again until its a constant ache.

Delirious with the pain, my vision fades in and out as the man looms over me once again. "Give Albus my love, little niece." He bids me before disappearing with a snap. I raise my arm and between blurring with blood is a shape, a snake slithering out of a skull. Weakly, I let my arm drop as my blood and tears mingle in the earth below me. Everything soon turns dark.

A/N

I know, I know, I am a cruel, cruel, mistress. There will be a sequel of course, but until then I would enjoy hearing everyone's theories or just thoughts! I really hope you all enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading!