The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

72. Longing

"I don't know, Hermione," Althea sighed, sitting beside her in the grass-covered yard beside the large tree in the Weasley's backyard. Tearing up grass, she admitted, "It's stupid, I know it is, but for some reason, the first thing my mind jumped to was that they were together or getting married. It's stupid, I know. They've only been reunited, what? A year, if even? And they didn't see each other or communicate at all for the last fourteen years? It's stupid."

"Well maybe-" Hermione began.

"I mean, it's not like I want them to get together," Althea interrupted suddenly, tearing up the grass with more ferocity. "If they were getting married, it would just mean there was...no possible...way my dad could be gone...again...But I don't want that for them," she added quickly. "Mum has always said she doesn't want to get married...but then again, that could have been because she was still in love with Remus...and if he's still in love with her...it could be...What if they're together and just haven't told me because they don't want to freak me out or get me excited before they know they're serious about it?"

Althea paused a moment, frowning.

Smiling slightly, Hermione remarked, "I've never seen you this stressed about anything in my life."

"Well, can you blame me?" Althea asked excitedly, letting out a long breath. "I always thought Mum was enough for me and I would never want anyone but her, but now...I mean I just get so excited at the idea of a letter from Sirius and Amara, not to mention little things like making breakfast with my dad, but I still get equally excited to do stuff with Mum, the same things we've always done. I've gone from one amazing parent to four, Hermione."

Hermione was smiling, giving her a look that told her she was rambling.

"Sorry," Althea said quickly, leaning back against the tree. "So, what's been going on with you?"

"Nothing much," she admitted with a small shrug. "I really am happy for you, Thea. I can't believe your mum just offered for Professor Lupin to live with you guys."

"I know," Althea said, smiling widely again. "It's crazy, isn't it? I mean, I have both my parents all the time now. I keep just keep waiting to wake up or for something terrible to happen. The world feels out of balance."

"I'm sure everything is going to be fine, Thea," Hermione assured with a smile.

"Hermione! Thea!" Ron shouted, rushing into the yard. "Bill and Charlie are here!"

Giving each other amused looks at Ron's excitement, Hermione and Althea got up and followed him inside to find two redheads inside as well as a third man they did not know. The first had long red hair that came almost to his shoulders and a fang earring. There was something adventurous in his air. The other, however, looked much more like the twins than Ron and appeared to have some pretty severe burns on his shoulders and hands.

The third, however, could not have looked more different than the two Weasleys. He was tall and thinner than average with thick curls of a warm brown that fell elegantly onto his forehead on one side. There was something in his eyes, a glint that seems to suggest he was ready at a moments notice to laugh, tease, or joke as the circumstances demanded. He had the same air of adventure and excitement as the first.

"Thea, Hermione, these are my brothers, Bill and Charlie," Ron introduced, pointing to the two redheads.

Although Althea had spent a lot of time with the Weasleys, it had always been after she had started at Hogwarts, when the eldest Weasleys were already gone from home. This being the case, she had never actually met either of them, even though she had heard much.

"How's it going?" the first asked in greeting, shaking hands with both Hermione and Althea. "Bill."

"And I'm Charlie," the second introduced, also shaking hands.

"Pleasure to meet you both," Althea said kindly.

"And this is my friend Ellis," Bill added. "He's a curse-breaker with me in Egypt."

A playful smile crossing his lips, Charlie asked, "Sorry, did you just call yourself a curse-breaker? I thought your chief's last assessment was a curse-provoker."

"Ellis is the chief," Bill retorted, ignoring his brother's laugher.

"Then Chief's word stands," Ellis replied, tossing a curl out of his eyes with a kind of lazy charm as he smiled in amusement.

Ellis was incredibly young for such a position, Althea realized. Although he was undoubtedly past graduation, there were no real signs of aging on his narrow face. He couldn't be any older than Bill.

"Harry should be arriving soon," Ron said when the laughter had resided, "everyone else just left to go get him. I'm about to go through."

"Have fun with the Dursleys," Althea said with an amused look.

Ignoring her, Ron turned to the fire and took a handful of flu powder.

.

Amara emerged from the warm water, drawing in a deep breath as she brushed her hair back out of her face. Clearing the water from her eyes, she looked around, treading water. It was beautiful. She wasn't sure she had ever seen such a beautiful place in her life. She and Sirius had steadily been making their way first down to France and then even further away. They were now in Greece, enjoying the privacy of one of the remote islands that lay almost entirely forgotten about.

Climbing out of the crystal-clear water, Amara grabbed her wand from the beach and quickly dried and cleaned herself off as she walked up the beach and approached the small shack they were hiding in. Sirius was sitting at the desk, frowning slightly, his chin resting on his hand as he read a letter.

"What's going on?" she asked, resting her hands on his shoulders.

Glancing quickly at her, he explained, "It's Harry, just another update. Apparently telling his aunt and uncle that his godparents are wanted by the Ministry has been proving very useful."

Amara let out a small laugh, smiling as she briefly pressed her lips to his cheek.

As she pulled away to begin getting dressed, Sirius got up and asked, "How was the water?"

"Wonderful," she replied with a smile. "Screw England, we should have vowed to live here forever."

Sirius smiled.

"I'm going to go feed Buckbeak," he said. "I'll see you later."