ღ chapter six
( property of padfoot )
THERE WERE NO eyes kinder than the hazel of Professor Lupin's irises, and they immediately flicked towards her, concerned, as she finally raised her head from her hands, the memories of the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson flashing in her mind. Her cheeks burned pink with embarrassment as she righted herself, sitting up and running a hand through her messy dark locks.
"Juliet, would you follow me to my office for a moment?" he asked, shooting a look at the four students gathered in the doorway. "You four, head to class."
The small room he called his office was a tiny thing, steps leading up to his quarters in one corner, and books stacked on the shelves and tables that filled the office. "Tea, Juliet?"
Juliet nodded. "Just sugar for me," she replied, her voice soft, as he directed the teapot to pour tea into two cups, the spoon lifting itself from the jar to drop a heaping teaspoon of sugar into the fragrant liquid.
Lupin looked up, startled. His goddaughter seemed to be more and more like her father as each day passed, already a spitting image of the man pre-Azkaban, when he had been a handsome young man, charming, and charismatic. The sharp, angular features, the shape of her eyes, and messy, yet effortlessly stunning dark hair, everything looked exactly like Sirius, besides her eyes. Juliet had Cordelia's seafoam eyes, green intertwined with blue, sad, and innocent. Lupin gave a small smile, handing her a porcelain cup. "You gave everyone quite the scare in there Miss Valentine."
"I didn't mean for that to happen, sir," she responded. "My mother is terribly afraid of Sirius Black, just seeing his picture sends her into a fit, I guess she has rubbed off on me."
Lupin sipped from his tea, his curiosity about his goddaughter growing. He stood up, rifling through the books stacked on his shelves, before he extracted a worn looking Astronomy book. "Professor Flitwick tells me that you have a talent for Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. This belonged to a dear friend of mine, I'm sure he'd like a talented student like yourself to have it."
"Sir, who is Padfoot?" she asked, tracing a finger over the messy writing that covered the first page. It was a recurring name, that continuously popped up in notes written between that person, and someone named Moony.
His eyes twinkled mischievously. "Someone who knew your mother and I."
Juliet's eyes widened at the realization as to why Professor Lupin had looked so familiar to her. There were a couple of pictures of him in her home, usually with her mother, or in various groups of people that Juliet knew were members of the Order of the Phoenix. Her father was somewhere in the group, and Cordelia had erased pictures of just the two of them from the house, claiming that even looking at his face brought painful memories. "You were friends with my mum at Hogwarts?"
Lupin nodded, chuckling. "Cordelia, does she still write?"
"Oh dear god yes," Juliet answered, shaking her head and laughing. "She prefers the muggle typewriter to a quill, and that thing was creating such a racket the entire summer," she wistfully added, thinking about how she used to sit and keep her mother company, cups of tea long gone cold, homework forgotten, as she sat mesmerized by her mother's stories. "The sound is rather soothing."
Cordelia was an author, her mind working in mysterious ways as she wove together honeyed words that seemed to shine on the pages. She didn't really need to work, the Valentine fortune being enough to support the family of two.
"Do you like to read? Delia never was without a book. Your godmother used to tease her about that."
"Marlene Mckinnon? What was she like?" Juliet asked, intrigued, as she sipped at her tea. "Mum refuses to talk about her much. Died when I was really little."
"Very brave," Lupin said, sounding choked. "And so loving. She had the biggest heart, she really loved you, and your mum, who was her best friend."
"What house was she in?" Juliet curiously added.
"Gryffindor. We all were, besides your mum, of course. Though by seventh year, she was already spending half her nights in Gryffindor tower, even if she was a prefect, never one for many rules," he informed.
"Mum doesn't like talking about anything to do with school, or my father," Juliet said.
"We all lost so very much in the war, and your mother lost nearly her entire world. Everything will make sense soon. Delia has her reasons for it all, she is, after all, a very smart woman."
"Thank you for the tea, Professor," she said, rather abruptly, sensing that she had hit a nerve. "I promised my friends I would meet them, so I must be going."
"Of course," he smiled. "My office is always open for you, okay?"
She nodded, turning on her heel and rushing from the room with pink tinging her cheeks, and the book tucked under her arm. She needed to write to her mother.
NOVEMBER FIRST, 1981
"You do understand, don't you?"
Cordelia nearly burst into tears at his words. "Albus, he's innocent, I swear, I can testify! In the trial!" she sobbed, clutching Juliet tightly in her arms. "Albus, please," she pleaded. "Jules can't grow up without a father, Sirius and I promised that to her the day she was born."
"I'm afraid that there will not be a trial," Albus said, rather flatly, causing the tears pooling in Cordelia's eyes to spill. "The Ministry has decided he is guilty. He'll be sent to Azkaban."
"Azkaban?" Cordelia exclaimed. "Albus, he didn't even have the Dark Mark. He would never betray the Potters, just like he would never have betrayed the Mckinnon's. Marlene was Jules' godmother, why would he do that? And James and Lily were our best friends. Bloody hell Albus, why would he betray them? Why would he leave Harry an orphan when he has a daughter the same age?"
A look of pity passed over Dumbledore's face. "Harry, he's my godson too," Cordelia added. "I have custody of him, I do have custody of him don't I?" she asked. "So where the hell is he?"
"With his aunt," Dumbledore replied coolly. "It's safer for him to grow up with muggles."
"Petunia and Vernon? Albus, they're the horrible sort of muggles, I don't want him to grow up with them," she argued. "Is there any way I can see Sirius? He won't want this, we legally have custody."
Albus nodded. "If that's what you would like, but it would have to be right now. He'll be sent to Azkaban tomorrow, he's currently in a Ministry holding cell. And about Harry, Cordelia, I'm sorry, there isn't much I can do. You can reconnect with him, perhaps when he starts at Hogwarts."
Cordelia bit back her bitter words, and closed her eyes for a second, dizzy at the thought of having to raise her daughter alone. She and Sirius had just finished building a beautiful mansion in the countryside, and had planned to move there soon. She regretted fighting with him over the floor-plan and stalling the process, because now, he would never get to live there.
Her clothes were wrinked, and eyes bloodshot. She looked like a mess. She felt like a mess. And walking through the Ministry, she felt like a disgraced widow, her daughter nestled in her arms, fast asleep. The room had barred windows enchanted with spells preventing Sirius from using magic.
Sirius. He looked as if he had been crying, and he was in a terrible state. There was a bruise blooming over one of his eyes, and he'd been shackled to prevent him escaping. "Delia," he exclaimed softly. "Delia, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
"I know," she replied quietly, taking her seat, Juliet still fast asleep in her arms. "I know you're innocent. You don't deserve this, my love."
"I wish I could hold you two, once last time," Sirius mumbled. "Most either go mad in Azkaban or die, so I'm afraid this is goodbye."
"Sirius-" she paused, her voice cracking. "I don't understand how."
"You'll know soon. It was not me," he replied, his usually cheerful eyes melancholic. "Just, keep my things for Jules, okay? Moony has a couple of my things from our school days, so contact him if you ever need anything. And make sure he takes care of himself."
"Remus took off," Cordelia muttered. "His cottage was packed up and empty."
Sirius cursed loudly, causing Cordelia to wince and cover Juliet's ears. "How did this happen?" she asked. "How did we lose everything?"
And in that moment, Cordelia didn't have a response. They were no longer the idyllic children that had graduated Hogwarts with dreams. At 21, Cordelia's life was practically over. "Change her name," Sirius mumbled. "Juliet Valentine. I want to save her from the taunts, and the bullying."
Cordelia nodded, eyes brimming with tears once again. "I love you-"
"To the moon, stars, and back," Sirius finished.
( AUTHOR NOTE )
i hope you enjoyed chapter
six !! ty for reading , love you all <3
additionally, my marlene mckinnon
fanfic is sort of a prequel to this book,
and even though sirius and cordelia are
minor characters, it sort of tells their
story if you would like to read it :))
i added some more of their backstory
into this chapter, just to clear
some things up.