Back in Black Rewrite

Chapter 4 : Siriusly Effective

     
     Tessa rubbed her arms slowing down so that she was enveloped by the stag patronus's warmth.  All around her dementors swarmed causing the grass and flowers to wither.  Thankfully Harry and Lupin's patronuses kept the dementors at bay.  Still the sight of the skeletal figures in the ragged black cloaks gave her chills that had nothing to do with the temperature.  Beside her Sirius shook looking at anything but the dark creatures.  He looked up at the moon and started, "Remus!" Tessa looked up to see the full moon coming out behind a cloud.  Before her eyes Remus began to change, morphing into a dire wolf.  She raised her wand ready to defend herself from the man but the wolf bowed his head.

"Did he take wolfsbane?" Hermione asked as Remus ran in the opposite direction.

"Must have," Sirius replied watching his friend leave.  "If he hadn't he would have attacked us.  Ah well then Harry," Sirius started walking again, "It may surprise you but I'm your godfather.  And I was thinking that if you want you could come live with me in my house?" he asked nervously.

Harry's eyes lit up with wonder, "You mean I don't have to go back to the Dursleys anymore?!"  Harry's patronus flared even brighter and the dementors were driven even further away as they walked.

"Not if you don't want to." Sirius said giving Harry a smile that made him look like the boy Tessa grew up with.  Halfway hopeful but afraid. 

"Yeah-Yes!" 

For a moment Tessa wondered what house he meant.  But then she realized he meant her house.  "EXCUSE ME!" she stopped causing Pettigrew's floating body to bump into her.  "Your house?  You left!" Sirius looked back at her frowning.  She if course had left too but that was different. 

"Cassi-"

"Tessa." she snapped angry now.  

"Tessa," he sighed.  "I know you're angry I left but-"

Tessa glared at her brother, "No!  You don't know!  How would you?  As soon as you left you never listened to anything I or Reg said.  Kept saying we wouldn't get it because we were brainwashed!  And now you're trying to move into Grimmauld Place with your new family?" Tessa's chest ached.  As much as she hated her brother she still felt the sting of his abandonment after a decade.  And now find out that he wanted to move into their childhood home with a new family hurt even more.  

"Tessa!" Sirius said raising his voice.  "I was going to ask if you would come too."  Tessa stopped in her tracks.  The idea that Sirius would want her of all people to live with him never occurred to her.  And why would it?  The two had been at odds for nearly two decades.  The bridge between them was long since burnt.  "Do you want to?" he asked not looking at her, he sounded even more nervous now.  "I mean I understand if you don't want to live with me or want me to live in Grimmauld Place but-"

"Okay." Tessa said against her own judgment.  She wanted to tell him to stick his offer up his ass but she knew Reg would have wanted her to try and reconcile with Sirius.  If it were Regulus instead of her Regulus probably would have been the one to propose the living arrangement in the first place.  For Regulus, she thought.  "But before we put the cart before the horse let's get up to the castle."  They all nodded and continued the trek

        As soon as they approached the castle Professor McGonagall spotted them.  Then she spotted Sirius and the floating figure of Pettigrew.  She lifted her wand defensively, "Granger, Weasley, Potter, what is the meaning of this?"

"Hullo again Professor McGonagall." Sirius grinned.  The woman paled at the sight of what she thought to be a mass murderer.  

"Can't you be serious for one time in your life?" Tessa regretted the choice of words as soon as they came out of her mouth as Sirius gave her a sly look.

"I'm always Sirius."

"I actually hate you, you know that right."

McGonagall turned to Tess with a shocked look, "Cassiopeia, I thought you had given up magic and moved to a muggle village?!"

Tessa frowned, "Did everyone know where I went?"  Was she really that bad at hiding herself?  Suddenly the last twelve years of living in hiding felt like a waste.  That was until she realized how much she changed in those twelve years.  She was a different person now, hopefully a better one.

"Professor you've got to believe us!" Hermione pleaded shaking Tessa from her thoughts, "Sirius Black is innocent!  It was Pettigrew who killed the muggles!"

The woman frowned but with the arrival of a man who was supposed to be long dead she had no choice but to listen to them.  "Come in quickly, the minister is in Dumbledore's office." she ushered them into the castle.  "Tell me what happened from the beginning."

Sirius opened his mouth but the woman shook her head, "Not you Mr. Black you have a tendency to embellish." McGonagall turned her sharp eyes to Tessa.

"Well you see it all started when I was..."

   McGonagall looked flabbergasted as Tessa finished the story to where they were now.  "And you just believed him?!"

Tessa sighed, "Well he was pretty convincing and I am sort of obligated to help him."

A suspicious look came upon McGonagall's face as she listened, "What do you mean obligated?" suspicion coloring her voice.  Tessa looked down at the floor, "Ms. Black I would expect this sort if idiocy from your brother but I expected more from you.  An unbreakable vow is serious business, any deviance from the terms of the vow results in death or worse."

"You did what?!" Hermione, Sirius, and Ron all shouted.

"Hold on, what's an unbreakable vow?" Harry asked confused.

"It, Mr. Potter is an oath that cannot be taken lightly.  As I said before if you break the terms you could quite possibly die.  In fact, to most who have broken the vow, death is preferable." McGonagall explained.  The boy paled staring at Tessa with wide green eyes.  Beside him Sirius looked confused and a little angry.  That made sense, he knew Tessa didn't exactly like him so why would she risk her own life for him?  But that being said Tessa knew that it wasn't for him at all.  She did this for Regulus.  Because no matter what Regulus believed in Sirius.  Tessa had no clue as to why, but he did.  And Tessa trusted Reg with her life. 

"Minerva?" Dumbledore called out arriving just in time to save Tessa from answering some hard questions.  Behind him scurried what Tessa assumed was the current minister.  She recognized the man as the former head of, Department of Magical Incidents and Catastrophes, Cornelius Fudge.  The petite man's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he took in the scene before him. 

"It's-It's him.  Sirius Black!" The man appeared to be frozen in fear as he stared at Sirius.  And then he did the last thing Tessa expected.  The man collapsed in a heap on the floor unconscious.

Sirius looked down at the minister, "Well I haven't had that effect on someone in years.  It was mostly girls but it's nice to know that the sight of me still makes people swoon." The man said grinning.  "Ow!" He yelped as Tessa punched him.