𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 ; 𝑔.𝑜.𝒻

- epilogue

12 Grimmauld Place

Sirius Black sat in a small garden outside of the Black ancestral home. He held a newspaper in his hand, reading the headline.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC ON THE HUNT FOR LORELEI MALFOY

"This is all too familiar." A female voice said to him.

Sirius looked at the window leading into the home, where a woman stood leaning out of with a cigarette in her hand.

She was small and delicately built, standing no taller than 5 foot 2. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders smoothly, and her eyes were covered by pitch black sunglasses. Her voice did not match her delicateness. It was strong, raspy, and commanding.

"Why don't you come out here so we can finally have a real conversation?" Sirius asked as he plopped the newspaper down on the table.

"I don't like the sun." She replied as she blew out smoke. Sirius sighed and rubbed his chin, his eyes glued to the newspaper.

"We need to find her. I-I can't just..."

"If the Ministry can't find her, what makes you think we can?" She asked him firmly, "It's a lost cause."

"I really don't care for your bitterness right now, Althena." He harshly said, "You can leave if you don't want to be here."

"I'm not bitter, and I do want to be here. I'm only saying that we need to be realistic. You and I both know she won't be found unless she wants to be. We can't draw her out. All we can hope is that she isn't taken and sent straight to Azkaban."

"Her... boyfriend, Cedric Diggory." Sirius trailed off with a sigh, "Merlin, you're right. This really is just–"

"You don't need to say it, Sirius." Althena cut off, "Believe me, I know."

He looked at her sadly, "Do you think about her?"

"How could I not?" Althena asked sadly, "She was my sister, for fucks sake." She snapped.

Sirius looked away from her and back to the newspaper.

"We'll find her."