OUTCAST | SIRIUS BLACK

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED-THIRTY-TWO

"I don't want judgement, I want support," Seraphina glared at the blonde.

"Then you should find somebody else that stands to be your presence," Lyra retorted, dragging her nails against the bannister, scratching the paint.

"Why do you stand my presence?" Seraphina asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

"You're less stuck up than my brother and Cissy," Lyra shrugged. "Somehow you are the best choice-"

"Sera?"

Seraphina stopped upon hearing her name, immediately recognising the voice. At the bottom of the stairs, Avery was staring up at her with wide eyes. Of all the people he expected to see in the home of Lucius Malfoy, Sera didn't exactly make the top one hundred. Especially after not hearing from her for almost a year.

"Avery," Seraphina said, her shocked expression matching his. Avery was knocked out of her trance before her and ran up the stairs two steps at a time. Seraphina met him at the top, arms wrapping around his waist to hug him closely. "Merlin, it's been so long!"

The last time she saw him was the night he saved Nicholas from his fellow Death Eaters. "What are you doing here, Sera?" Avery inquired, casting a suspicious glance at Lyra.

The blonde woman rolled her eyes, "She is a guest here, Alec," Lyra said snidely. "The more important question is — why are you here?"

Judging by the few interactions Seraphina had witnessed between Lyra and all her brother's acquaintances, the blonde seemed to despise all of them. To be fair, Sera had yet to see Lyra get along with anyone other than maybe Regulus; the main reason being that Reggie was too composed to even respond to her comments.

"You know why I'm here," Avery retorted snidely. "Sera?"

"It's kind of a very long story," Seraphina smiled sheepishly. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell the actual story, thus began the lying again.

. • ⚯͛ • .

The first three months of Rhea's life passed by far too quickly for Sera's liking. Her nephews had been born during her school years, which meant that she missed a lot of their first weeks, but with her daughter Sera witnessed every step of development and cherished every step of it.

After the first month, Rhea started to recognise her mother's voice. During her second month the baby started making sounds other than crying, such as cooing and gurgling, and now at three months old Rhea started smiling and grasping everything she could reach.

However, deep down Seraphina knew that she couldn't go on pretending any of this was normal. That watching her baby grow while Death Eater meetings were being held downstairs was a long term solution. Her surprise pregnancy forced her into a side-track, but if she wanted her daughter to be safe, Seraphina needed to get back to her mission. Only now she had to complete it while simultaneously making sure Rhea didn't get caught in the crossfire.

Rhea tugging on her uncle's signet ring brought Sera out of her thoughts. "No, we don't do that," Seraphina scolded, carefully prying the ring from her tiny little fingers. To make sure her baby didn't take it again, Sera hid the necklace inside her sweater.

When Rhea let out a displeased cry, Seraphina gently rocked the baby in her arms. "Already a drama queen," she chuckled. With a deep sigh she added, "Just like your father."

It pained Sera that Sirius missed out on all of this. He couldn't witness their daughter's growth because he was oblivious to the fact that he even had a daughter. She didn't even want to imagine how he'd react when he found out the truth.