𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍 (2) || 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘴 𝘓𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘯

𝐗𝐈𝐈. 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬

"I know. And I'm really proud of you, Remus."

"Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate you saying that. Truly. I... I feel as if I've been given a second chance in life. Being here with you, Dumbledore and Minerva granting me a place here again, Murphy living a life of their own design like they so deserve, Sirius finally experiencing a somewhat limited, but still liberating freedom... I think it's finally looking up for us all."

Edith fought to not let her smile waver at his words. The endless loop of 'he doesn't know' still sung in the back of her mind, hidden behind every happy or calm thought like a bottomless shadow.

Somehow, she succeeded in keeping a light expression, pushing the harrowing words further back into her head.

Again.

Where they'd stay, with any luck.

"Did you need any help with moving your belongings back into Hogwarts?" Edith asked instead, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the desk behind her.

If Remus noticed the change of subject, he didn't show it, instead he shook his head.

"Everything's already been moved. One word to the house-elves and they were popping trunks into my quarters with a click of their fingers. I've yet to properly lock up my cottage though, that's still on the to-do list. I suppose now it'll be a home for the summer. Although, I could always give it to Padfoot for the time being. I think he's yet to decide where he'll stay once the Ministry loosens their grip on him a bit."

"Last year he said he had somewhere to go, in time. I tried to offer him the key to my place, the one on Orcas' Island, I mean. But he seemed pretty set on somewhere else."

"Ah, I suspect that would be Grimmauld Place then, in London. I believe it belonged to his mother and father before they passed. With Sirius' brother Regulus, dead, Sirius was the sole heir of the property, even despite being incarcerated. I can only assume the Ministry left it in his name so that when the day came that Sirius passed away in Azkaban, the house would automatically become the Ministry's property. Removing it from his ownership while he's still alive would be... difficult, for lack of a better term."

"Even though he was locked up?"

"Oh yes. Pureblood's have a certain way of conducting those affairs. Technically speaking regardless of Sirius' actions -- or his alleged actions -- by right of blood, whether he liked it or not, the property was his by law. But I can only assume that his mother simply never got around to properly removing him from the contractual agreements they had with the Ministry. Or another family member could've changed it themselves. I recall there was an uncle on Sirius' mother's side that was quite fond of him, even after Sirius left home."

"Could it have been Regulus who made sure Sirius was still on the inheritance?" Edith asked, raising her brows.

Remus settled onto the desk behind him, mirroring her posture. He crossed his ankles, letting his joined hands fall between his legs.

He sighed before replying.

"Maybe," Remus hummed, shrugging. "I couldn't say for certian. Regulus and Sirius had a... delicate relationship. There was love, and a deep sense of betrayal too. On both sides. Sirius had to choose between who he was by choice, and who he was by blood. His mother and father were easy to rebel against, he hated them. But I know Sirius cared for his brother. He was -quite possibly excluding the uncle I mentioned- the only Black that Sirius could never bring himself to fully hate."

"What happend to him? Regulus, I mean. Did you know him?"

Remus let out another struggling sigh, caught somewhere between knowing he should stop talking and wanting Edith to know the full story. If there even was one to tell.