"Oh Nixie, you look so tired."
Nixie smiled to herself as she came upon the water to see her mother waiting for her as she expected her to be.
"I'm fine, Mum."
"Darling, you are incredibly young and I'm pretty sure I'm seeing bags under your eyes. Are you getting any sleep as of late?" Meri normally wasn't the one to throw questions of concerns around, Nixie couldn't help but think she had channeled some of her father's spirit at the time as she asked all sorts of questions pertaining to her health.
"It's hard to sleep in that place, Mum. With the boggarts, doxies, not to mention that blasted woman screaming at all times in the night whenever she senses movement."
"Why don't you burn the picture?" Meri suggested.
"Don't think we haven't tried. "Nixie mumbled. "That cow of a woman was evil but smart. There's all sorts of magic protecting that blasted painting."
"Well, why don't you come here for the night and get some rest?"
"I can't just leave Sirius-"
"Then the both of you come here and sleep at the house-"
"We can't, Mum." Nixie sighed hearing the slight desperation in her mother's tone. "The Order needs us there, it's headquarters now. We can't just abandon it because we have trouble sleeping at night."
"This is coming from the same woman who put up years of fighting because someone woke her up a couple of minutes before the set time she was supposed to get up."
Nixie chuckled. "Look, I'm alright. Really, don't worry I can take care of myself. If it gets too bad I'll take you up on the offer and come here for the night to rest, alright?"
"You promise me?"
"I do."
"Alright, you know I worry about you Nixie. I thought all this war nonsense was over years ago." Meri splashed at the surface of the water angrily.
"I thought so too. But I think we're much better prepared this time, there are a lot more elements added to the mix."
Meri nodded her head. "Well, alright."
"Can I ask you for a favor while I'm here?" Nixie asked her.
"Of course. Something for the Order?"
"No, not really." Nixie smiled. "Remus' daughter is celebrating her seventeenth birthday and I thought of a nice gift for her."
"What did you have in mind? Some of that popping seaweed you liked when you were younger?" Meri grinned.
"No, Mum," Nixie laughed with an eye roll. "I was thinking those pearls, remember the ones you-"
"Say no more!" Meri said before disappearing beneath the waves.
Nixie sat patiently on the shore, waiting for her mother to return.
"Actually come to think of it, I really do miss that seaweed. Really good stress reliever."
When Nixie returned to the Grimmauld Place after visiting with her mother, the home was quiet with the exception of the flat making some sort of noise, along with Kreacher muttering about. The house-elf despised Nixie, but she couldn't help but pity the creature knowing that the house-elf had been to devoted to Walburga that he took on the same views as the horrid woman over the course of time. He was only repeating what he had been told a million times before.
Sirius couldn't stand the house-elf, attempting to kick it away or blast it away anytime he had the chance out of anger for the things Kreacher would spit at people in passing. It was obvious, Sirius carried a lot of anger with being back in the childhood home, surrounded by the house-elf that reminded him so much of his family that he did not associate with.
Rather than giving any sort of attention to Kreacher, Nixie continued on ignoring any slurs or nasty thing that house-elf had to say before carrying herself up and off to bed. Sirius was already asleep as she entered the room, exhaustion had clearly won the battle between him staying awake and waiting for her.
Lying down next to him, Nixie immediately cuddled into his side as she felt her tired state getting the best of her.
"You're late." Sirius mumbled as he barely opened his eyes to look at her.
"I'm not late." She smiled at him as he turned to face her, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her into him. "I arrived precisely when I meant to."
Sirius let out a small chuckle before the two allowed sleep to completely consume them.
The next morning came all too fast, but the couple was willing to get up to celebrate Eleanor's birthday as the girl became of age in the magical world. Of course, the two were waiting to see Remus' reaction that morning.
Eleanor hadn't been downstairs or awake long as Remus came in greeting her with a tight hug, comparable to one of Molly's.
"Dad, too tight!" Eleanor squeaked.
"Sorry!" he quickly released her and began to straighten his daughter's attire.
"Dad! Relax. It's my birthday, not my funeral." Eleanor teased him while Sirius sat down.
"Don't say such things." The panic was clear across the man's face as his daughter said those words. But he quickly calmed himself down.. "I'm just...you're seventeen, today. That's a lot to take in."
"I think someone's about to get teary eyed." Sirius muttered to himself in amusement.
Nixie walked in after hearing the commotion in the other room and flicked his hair. "Leave him be, he's allowed to get teary eyed." she said before sitting down beside him. "It's not everyday your child becomes of age. Happy Birthday, Eleanor."
"Thank you." Eleanor smiled at her, until Nixie nudged Sirius in the ribs.
"Ah right, happy birthday Ellie!" he said.
"Thanks." she chuckled as Sirius rubbed his side before turning to Nixie.
"That really hurt." he said. "You forget how strong you are sometimes, love."
"Oh I'm well aware of how strong I am." Nixie told him as she leaned back in her chair to grab a small package off the counter behind them. "Here you are Ellie, it's from Siri-"
"Us." Sirius cut her off causing her to glare at the man as she turned to him.
"I was going to say from Sirius and I."
"I was just making sure that we both got equal credit!"
"Equal credit, I'm the one who-"
Suddenly, she found his hand over her mouth before he spoke. "Open it. It was my idea."
Nixie's eyes furrowed as she yelled something that was muffled by his hand.
"Open it quickly!" Sirius instructed Eleanor urgently.
"I am!" Eleanor grabbed the small wrapped package as Sirius struggled to hold back Nixie from attacking him. She opened the box to see a bracelet made of pearls.
The couple could see the girl's eyes widen. "It's beautiful!" she said pulling it out. "But I can only imagine it cost a fortune."
"Ow!" Sirius pulled his hand away as Nixie bit down. He shook his hand while Nixie wiped at her mouth.
"Don't be silly, Ellie, it didn't cost much at all." Nixie reassured her. " I just had to make a trip to see my mother and-'
Remus made a face as Eleanor looked wildly confused.
"You didn't tell her, did you?" Nixie asked Remus, looking to her dear friend.
"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to!" Remus said holding up his hands in defense. "You always said you wanted to be the one to tell new people."
"Well, for Kelpie's sake Remus, you could tell your daughter!"
"Tell me what?" Eleanor glanced back and forth between the adults.
"The reason why it was no trouble to get those pearls is because my mother is a mermaid, Ellie. She comes across these things like seaweed." Nixie explained.
Eleanor just stood there with a blank expression for a moment. "I..I'm sorry, but did you say your mother was a mermaid?"
"Is. She's still alive and-"
"Splashing." Sirius added with a laugh. Nixie glanced over at him.
"Oh come on, that was funny."
Nixie held back her smile as looked back at Eleanor.
"So...that... means you're a mermaid?" Eleanor said.
"Half. Dad was a wizard."
"Wicked." She heard hands clap and saw the twins high fiving each other in the corner of the kitchen.
Eleanor turned to her father. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Remus cleared his throat.
"Well, in all fairness, I did say she went out to sea a lot."