The Daughter of Sirius Black

Chapter 86

Despite her now having dozens, if not hundreds of letters from her father across the three years that he'd been freed from Azkaban, the very first letter he left for her for when she received her letter still sat inside the locket around her neck.

And she pulled it out.

My dearest Rose,

There is so much I wish to put into this letter, but I fear I don't have the time nor the parchment to do so.

The first thing I need to you know is that I love you. Your mother loves you and that we could not be more proud of you.

We never wanted to give you up, Rose. Never. I would love nothing more than to keep you with me forever, but your mother and I made a grave mistake and giving you up was part of the price.

You might not understand this now but, we made Peter Pettigrew Harry Potter's secret keeper at the last moment. And it was the wrong choice. He worked for the Dark Lord and sold out Lily and James.

I fear my dearest friend may already be dead as I write this letter, but this needs to be done. You need an answer, an explanation.

I do not know what will happen tonight, but your mother and I are going to do everything we can to stop Peter, even if it means our deaths.

If I am dead by the time you read this, then know that I love you. That I am so proud of you, and I know that you are going to be an amazing Gryffindor, because you're my girl and you take after me. You're too much of a wildfire to be put in Ravenclaw like your mother.

Know that I haven't even given you up yet and I miss you terribly.

Know that your mother has not written a letter goodbye to you because she believes in love to the point where she believes all will be ok by sunrise.

Though I would like to share her belief, I still believe it necessary to leave you with a goodbye.

Or what may hopefully be a see you soon.

I know Molly has taken good care of you, and I could not be more grateful for that.

Rose, enjoy Hogwarts.

They were the best years of my life.

I met your mother, I had my band of friends, your band of uncles. I was Quidditch Keeper, no doubt I'm sure you'll make a fine player, it's in your blood as it is Harry's. Your mother was an astounding chaser. She was the only one who could ever get the Quaffle by me.

And like me, you'll have the Black family vault at your disposal. Just present your wand to the goblins at Gringotts bank. You, your children and your grandchildren would never have to work a day in your lives if you so choose.

I wish you the world, my daughter.

And I wish more than anything that I could be there to show it to you, but I take solace in the fact that Molly can.

I love you, Rosalee Leona Black. More than anything.

And I await the day we are reunited.

All my love,

Your father.

Though most of the letter stayed the same, the last six lines meant something entirely new.

Namely, the one that said, 'And I await the day we are reunited.'

There was only one way for them to be reunited now.

And even though she had contemplated it, she never did it.

Leona wasn't done with this world yet.

She still had a joke store to open.

She had a boyfriend she wanted to marry.

She had a family she cherished.

But most of all, she had a dark lord to help vanquish.

And it was as she was sitting on her bed, rereading her father's letter that someone knocked on her bedroom door.

"Room for one more?" Remus asked as he gave her a small smile, leaning on the door frame, the scars on his face almost healed, but the moon was approaching so it was likely that that would change.

"For you? Always," she replied as she stood to hug him.

"How are you, my dear?"

"I'm dealing," she answered as she pulled away. "It still hurts like mad, like I'd rather have my heart carved out with a butter knife," she laughed humourlessly. "But I'm a lot better than I was a month ago."

Remus nodded as they both sat on the edge of her bed.

"How are you, Uncle Remus? You lost your best friend too."

His smile was saddened.

"Your father was a bright spirit, even after Azkaban. Even after giving you up and losing your mother, he never dimmed. I think it was seeing you again that gave him hope."

Leona clutched her locket, the letter now folded up and back inside.

"What was she like? My mother," Leona asked and Remus' smile was warm.

"She was smart, a brilliant strategist. The only one who ever managed to get the Quaffle past your father without cheating. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, to put anyone in their place. Naturally, it was the fact that she didn't want him that attracted your father to her."

Leona chuckled lightly. That definitely sounded like him.

"But she made him work for it. I'd never seen him work so hard to prove to her that his feelings were genuine and not a prank."

"What did he have to do?" Leona asked, a smirk on her lips and her uncle chuckled.

"The whole nine yards. Flowers, chocolates, little letters he left everywhere. It started in the beginning of our fourth year, but I believe she only gave him a chance almost a full year later in our fifth."

"He must have really loved her," Leona mumbled and Remus' expression softened.

"He did. And when he lost her, he lost a big part of himself as well."

Remus then lifted her chin up to look at him.

"They would both be so very proud of you Lena. As proud, if not prouder than I am. I know that no words will ever make it ok, or will lessen the pain, but as your father once said, the people who love us never really leave us."

Leona swallowed thickly, trying to fight back the tears that lined her grey eyes.

"They are both still with you. They both still watch over you. And you have so much to live for before you see them again. I know that you still have offers from most European teams to play Quidditch professionally. Not to mention your joke store that you've always talked about with the twins."

"It's being painted right now," she said as Remus dropped his hand.

"That's my point. And you can bet that I, along with the Weasley's and Harry and Hermione, will be there for the grand opening."

"Dad should've been here for it. He should've been here to see me graduate."

Remus hugged her, the comfort all he could offer.

"I know, my dear. I know."