Misery [T. Higgs] ✔

prices to pay

With Sirius dressed Helena walks inside and starts cutting his messy hair and brushing it until it looks no longer matted but silky as it should be. With a flick of her wand she cleans him up and then hands him a mirror. He stares at his reflection. When did he become an old, broken man? Embracing her he places a kiss on her forehead. Helena smiles. "Come on. The minister should be here already. I'm guessing we should go to Dumbledores office. Sirius nods, taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze. Holding Helena's hand gave him courage. The three walk to Dumbledores office and enter, after Remus says the password 'Sherbet Lemon'.

And Helena was right. Standing opposite of her are the minister, the prime minister and.. Harry, who stares at Sirius. "Harry..", Sirius says, before walking over. "You look so much like your father.. Just your...." Harry cracks smile. "Eyes. I know. My moms eyes." Soon the boy is embraced tightly and he hugs his godfather back. It felt so familiar to be embraced by him. Like family.

"Mr. Black. I will never be able to make up for what we, the justice system did to you. I can only apologize for nobody really looking into your case. It all appeared so clear to us. But Miss Lupin.. Or shall I say Potter came to us and gave us her memories of the fateful night she had lost her parents so that we know you couldn't have done it. And she also showed us proof of Peter Pettigrew being a rat animagus. But.. I need to ask this. How did you escape? After all. If real criminals copy you, we may have a horrible problem at hand." Sirius glances at Helena, who nods and winks. He morphs into a black dog and the back. "Back then we all became animagi to help out a friend of ours. It was James' idea. A very, very terrible process and hard. Especially since we had to hide it from every teacher and other student. But we made it. As a black dog the dementors wouldn't pay any attention to me. So I could simply leave my cell and I swam my way to the shore." The minister stares and then nods. "Being an unregistered animagi is a crime. But I do believe you have paid more than enough for anything you may have done. I will accept this as a registered animagus, but I won't put it down in any book. Its an unsafe time, Mr. Black. Still.. Welcome back." Sirius shakes his hand. "Excuse me, Minister. But may I quickly take this chance to speak to Mr. Black and Miss Lupin as well?" "Terence!" Helena's face lights up and she jumps at her well dressed fiance who catches her with a laugh. Both older men look at them with amused smiles on their faces. "I didn't see you back there! How dare you not talk to me first?!", Helena says, playfully slapping his arm. "I can't just talk over the minister, love.", he chuckles and she simply shrugs. "Eh." They share a laugh and then a kiss before they embrace each other tightly. "I'll see you these holidays, right?" Helena nods. "Sure. But I need to study. You know that, right?" "Eh." He shrugs, making both of them and the adults around them witnessing their exchange laugh. "Well.. Now I should take the chance to actually say hello.. Nice to meet you, Mr. Black. I am Terence Higgs. Helena's fiance." Sirius shakes Terence's hand and nods. "I was told a lot of good things about you already. Both from Remus and Helena." "I am glad." They share a smile, while Helena leans into Terence, her head on his shoulder and her arms around his torso while his free arm is draped around her hips. He leans down and pecks her forehead, making her smile brightly. "I'll have to go in a moment. But I'll see you in two weeks on kings cross." "Okay.. I love you." "I love you too." And after one last kiss shared he says goodbye to Remus, Sirius and Dumbledore and then leaves with his superiors. "Seems like he really is a good match for you..", Sirius says. "Of course he is. I introduced them to each other myself in her first year." Sirius stares at Severus Snape and is about to say something, when Helena quickly walks over to the man he hated most of his life and he gently pats her hair, while she smiles. "See. I'm all in one piece. I told you I'd be fine." Severus Snape sighs in relief. "I am glad." "Are the lessons over for today already? I told Draco we'd meet in the library to study." "Indeed they are. I'd hurry. Malfoy is not a particularly patient person." Helena scrambles, pecks her fathers cheek, hugs Sirius and sends Snape a meaningful smile. "I'll see you later. Be nice.", she yells, then simply lifts off and levitates away through the air. "I hate it when she does that.", Remus grumbles. "One day she'll crash into a wall." "Helena is careful enough not to do that. You can be proud. In all those years she has been here she has not once made any sort of mistake, Lupin. And the last two years I was informed about her whereabouts before she went to defend her ever so troublesome younger brother, Mr. Potter. Be worried about him. Not her." He nods over towards Harry who is almost sinking into the ground, then leaves. "Helena gets along with Snievelus?" "Her favorite Professor, actually. And she spends most of her free time here talking about potions with him and experimenting. It is very much impressive. She is a lot like Lily." "Professor Snape prefers her over Slytherins. I've heard him give a girl detention over calling Helena names. Most people here know that and wouldn't dare say anything to her in his presence. And the twins told me when she is troubled by anything she usually goes to Professor Snape.", Harry says. "I guess Helena has a thing for Slytherins..."