Chapter 12: Buried TreasuresChapter Text
Skyla sat alone within the girls' dormitory while the rest of Gryffindor House was enjoying their dinner, having separated from Hermione and Neville with the age-old excuse of not feeling hungry. She knew she needed some time to think and she was lost in her thoughts as she sat on the edge of her bed and stared intently at the floor, as if the answers to her questions would suddenly appear as words upon the old and faded carpet.
What could Bleeding Eyes want? How was she going to get back there to find out?
She knew that Bleeding Eyes wouldn't use the phrase 'life and death' lightly (no goblin joked about such things), so she knew that whatever the issue was, had to be time critical. As she pondered however, she couldn't see an easy solution that would allow her to get back to the bank quickly and quietly. She had her teleport of course, or 'apparation' as she had since found out it was called, yet she was rather reluctant to try it again after she had done some reading in the library about the subject. It had quickly become apparent to Skyla that she had been doing something rather risky the entire time that she had been using it, and she had been rather lucky to not have had an accident so far; it was possible for one to 'splinch' themselves and end up missing a leg, an arm, or even killing themselves if the apparation went poorly. She hadn't had any issues with her attempts so far, but they had all been short-ranged jumps and she had a suspicion that attempting to travel the kind of distance that she would need to without proper technique and training could result in disaster if she were to try it. If she managed to splinch herself with no-one around, that could be the end of her since she had no idea how one would even going about fixing a missing arm or leg. Was it even possible? She imagined that it would be with magic, but she wouldn't have the faintest clue about where to start with something like that.
"Skyla? Can I come in?"
Skyla's thoughts were interrupted as Hermione's voice called out from the other side of the door.
"Of course, it's your room too," Skyla said noncommittally with a shrug, even though Hermione couldn't see, "I thought you were down at dinner?"
"I wanted to check on you," Hermione admitted as she stepped inside and moved over towards Skyla's bed, sitting down beside her, "I know that something is bothering you. It has been all day."
"Am I that obvious?" Skyla asked.
"Well…"
"I can't really talk about it," Skyla sighed, "besides even if I told you, I bet you'd probably tell me not to do it anyway."
"If you think I would tell you not to do it, then maybe you shouldn't do it?"
Skyla laughed at that, "probably."
"But… it sounds like you've already decided to do whatever you're thinking of, so at least let me help."
Skyla bit her lip hesitantly. Bleeding Eyes had specifically told her to come alone, yet at this point she didn't even know how she was going to get back to the bank. She would probably need help to make it happen, or at least advice. She weighed up her options for a moment, before deciding that the urgency of the letter likely outweighed the need to keep the information private.
"Well… I need to return to London. Immediately."
Hermione looked at her suspiciously.
"Is this about Sirius Black?"
Skyla shook her head, "no, actually it's to do with the bank. I have to go in for something important, but I don't know what. I just know that it's urgent; 'life or death' urgent, apparently."
"Life or death?" Hermione asked, "that's… strange, isn't it? Oddly intense wording for a bank."
"This wasn't exactly an official summoning," Skyla said hesitantly, "my account manager contacted me in secret. I guess he wanted to keep this off-record for some reason."
"Odd. So you need to come up with a way to get to the bank?"
"Yeah, without telling anyone where I am going or why."
"I don't know if that is even possible," Hermione mused, "you'd have to at least tell a teacher, other-wise they'd probably notice you are missing. Maybe you could say it was an emergency thing?"
"What kind of emergency would allow me to leave school right now?" Skyla asked skeptically.
"Well, people often leave for family emergencies."
"That doesn't exactly help me."
"... right."
Hermione furrowed her brow as she thought.
"Some kind of… theft or something with your accounts?" Hermione suggested, "that's pretty important."
"I mean, I'm kind of worried that's what it might actually be," Skyla said, "but I don't think Bleeding Eyes would have contacted me the way that he did for that. I don't think I should mention the bank; if he wanted them involved he could have sent an official summons, right?"
"Bleeding… Eyes…?"
"Yeah, that's his name," Skyla said offhandedly.
"That's… morbid. I thought goblins had names like arghak and krahg and such," Hermione said with a wrinkled nose.
"That's what they call 'face names', for business with humans. Their actual names are earned through deeds; it's quite interesting, honestly. I'd love to learn more about it at some point."
"I've never heard of anything like that," Hermione admitted, "and I've read our history book twice."
"I don't think it's very public knowledge," Skyla said, "or maybe witches or wizards just don't want to know about it. But anyway, discussing goblin culture isn't going to get me any closer to the bank."
"Right. What if…"
Skyla raised an eyebrow towards Hermione, who hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"What if you got Professor Lupin to cover for you? Just explain that it's not about Black. He certainly likes you."
Skyla laughed, "and you think he'll believe that I want to go back to London for any other reason than to find Sirius? He won't buy it. I don't think any teacher will cover for me with something like this; there's no teacher that would be gullible enough to buy some made up excuse as to why I need to leave the castl-what? What is it?
Hermione was staring thoughtfully at Skyla.
"You're right about that, no 'teacher' will…"
"What are you thinking?" Skyla asked, but Hermione just smiled at her mischievously in response.
***************
"Girls'… menstrual potions?" Hagrid asked in confusion, "from Diagon Alley?"
"Yes, there's a shop there that carries a range of extremely high quality potions specifically for women," Hermione explained, while she patted Skyla on the back gently in support the following morning. Skyla was sitting on Hagrid's lounge, looking rather awkward and uncomfortable.
"But, isn't that what Madam Pomfrey-"
"We've spoken to her already," Hermione lied, far more convincingly than Skyla would have expected from her, "she can brew some but they won't be the best and they wouldn't last as long, not like these ones, and given Skyla's… history of poor health, she needs the higher doses. I think she deserves the best healthcare she can get, don't you?"
"Well… I-of course she does, she deserves the best of everything," Hagrid fumbled awkwardly, "but why come to me? Isn't this kind of thing best taken up with Professor McGonagall…? Or even Professor Dumbledore? I don't… I don't really know much about… that sort of thing…"
"I trust you more than them," Skyla said quietly, "I don't… I don't want everyone to know what's going on… it's a bit embarrassing, you know?"
It wasn't exactly a lie; she did trust Hagrid more than Dumbledore or the other staff and it was admittedly embarrassing to discuss with him; she herself had to have everything explained to her by Hermione the previous night in preparation, who had already had 'the talk' from her own parents.
That had certainly been an evening of conversation that Skyla would rather forget ever happened, despite how insightful Hermione had been in preparing her for what her body was likely to undergo very soon.
"Well I'd have to get permission from Professor Dumbledore before taking you anywhere," Hagrid said with a frown, "I don't think he'd like you goin' off on your own like tha-"
"We can't tell Professor Dumbledore," Skyla said with a shake of her head, "I don't want him to know about all of this. Besides, I won't be on my own," she pointed out, "I'll have you there. If anyone is going to keep me safe it's you, right?"
"Take a killin' curse for you I would," Hagrid said proudly.
"Yeah well, I hope no-one will have to do that again," Skyla said a little bitterly at the thought, causing Hagrid's face to fall.
"Oh, I'm sorry Skyla, I didn't mean to-"
She shook her head, giving him a small, sad smile of reassurance.
"You've already done so much for me Hagrid," Skyla said quietly, "I'm forever grateful and I hate to ask for anything more, but I don't have anyone else to turn to for this."
Hagrid stared at her for a moment with reluctance, before eventually letting out a sigh of defeat.
"... alright. We'll go on the weekend, then."
Skyla shook her head once again, "we'll have to go sooner than that. Today."
"What about your classes?"
"Hermione will cover for me," Skyla explained, "she'll explain to the professors that I had… personal problems, you know. She can catch me up and we're pretty well ahead on things at the moment anyway."
"I still don't know about this Skyla," Hagrid said in a worried voice.
"You have your bike, don't you?" Skyla prompted, "it might even be a nice ride."
"Aye I do have the bike," Hagrid nodded, "but Skyla-"
Skyla simply looked at him with her sad, pleading eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, Hagrid was rolling down past the gates of Hogwarts with Skyla crouched down in the side car of the motorcycle, hidden from view.
"Alright if we wanna get this done on time," Hagrid called out as they bumped up and down along the dirt road that was only ever used by the horseless carriages, "we're gonna have to use a few… tricks."
"Tricks?" Skyla called back.
"A few… ah, adjustments on the bike. Just promise me you won't freak out!" Hagrid yelled over the intensifying wind as he pulled his brown goggles down over his eyes, and indicated for Skyla to do the same. She put the far-too large helmet on her head and lowered the attached goggles with curiosity.
She gasped in shock a moment later when Hagrid shifted his weight and tilted the motorcycle backwards, causing them to start to rise up into the air and take flight, as if they were an aeroplane taking off on a runway. It wasn't that she was particularly shocked at the flight itself; there was clearly advanced magic at work in the motorcycle and she had been on a broom before (even if at much lower heights) so she was already somewhat acquainted with the idea of flying around. What she hadn't expected was for Hagrid to press a button and to turn the entire motorcycle, sidecar and all, almost entirely invisible; along with both riders. Skyla looked down with fascination as she stared directly through the floor of the sidecar, down at the treetops of the forest that they were now flying directly over. She had a sudden sense of vertigo, yet surprisingly she didn't feel fear at the sight; she felt her heart begin race in excitement instead. It was like a wild rush that caused her to suddenly feel more alive than she had felt in years, and despite the harshness of the blasting wind there was something refreshing about being up in the air above it all. It was as though all of her worries had been left behind on the ground and up in the air she was free, like a bird soaring though the sky.
She raised her own hand up to her face with curiosity and found it rather strange that she could see the shimmering outline of her body, yet the middle was completely see-through. She chuckled slightly as she wondered how Hermione would have reacted to this; she couldn't imagine Hermione ever getting onto something that flew this high, let alone something she couldn't even see, and then flying through the sky all the way from Hogwarts to London. An absurd thought.
"You doin' alright there, Skyla?" Hagrid called out, "not freakin' out are ya?"
"This is incredible!" She replied with excitement.
He gave a great booming laugh at that and twisted the throttle eagerly, sending them both soaring off at an incredible speed through the sky.
The only thought that Skyla had as they flew above the unsuspecting landscape was that she wistfully wished she could have done this on a broom. She wondered to herself what that experience might have felt like.
***************
"You look comfortable."
"Go on, laugh it up. I'll take a few nights like this over a few dozen years in Azkaban."
Sirius stretched and stood up from the cold stone floor of the almost entirely empty vault he had spent the night in. Bleeding Eyes had told him that he had secured a 'private room' for Sirius to sleep in while they waited for Skyla to arrive; he neglected to mention however that the 'room' was nothing more than an empty vault with a toilet added in.
"If you're going to keep me prisoner like this though you could have at least added a bed," Sirius complained as he stretched his slightly sore back.
"You aren't a prisoner," Bleeding Eyes said with an evil looking grin, "you can leave the vault anytime you like."
Sirius scoffed, "and get stabbed or cut up by the first goblin who sees me wandering around the bank, right?"
"I never said you'd make it to the door," Bleeding Eyes shrugged, "but you can leave the vault whenever you'd like."
Sirius snorted, "I see why they didn't call you Bleeding Heart."
"And what was it they called you again…? 'Traitor', 'Mass Murderer', 'Worst Criminal In Magical History Since-"
"Alright, alright, you made your point," Sirius waved him off with a sigh.
"You haven't spoken to any of the board yet, have you?" he asked with apprehension.
"No…" Bleeding Eyes admitted slowly, "no I think we should find out what Miss Potter would like to do before rushing into any sort of action. I merely informed the other staff that it turns out you were a very distant relative and that I am keeping you here to investigate your claim further. Or torture you. Either way is above suspicion."
"You goblins…" Sirius said with a shake of his head. Bleeding Eyes simply bared his fangs with a grin.
"I am the Potter account manager and it is part of my position to consider all the angles for both the bank, and for the account," Bleeding Eyes said intently, "if Miss Potter wishes to side with you, it is my job to ensure that things work out for the benefit of everyone. If she doesn't…"
"... you'll claim the price on my head?"
"Depends which vault you die in," Bleeding Eyes grinned, "but this one just happens to be one of mine, as it were. Funny that."
Sirius laughed, "you've got it all planned out, don't you?"
"Well they don't call me Bleeding Brain either. Here; food. Water. Hygiene. Something to do."
Bleeding Eyes handed Sirius a few essentials, along with some newspapers and magazines.
"Surprisingly generous of you. Thought I was going to have to eat the walls."
"I don't want you to die," Bleeding Eyes shrugged, "not yet, anyway."
Sirius laughed, "kindest thing I've ever heard you say."
"Miss Potter has received her letter," Bleeding Eyes continued, "she will no doubt arrive as soon as she is able to, although…"
"Although?"
"She is in the middle of term," he shrugged, "and she is underage by your human standards. So, you may be here for awhile."
The goblin chuckled as he left, swinging the vault door closed behind him. Thankfully there was still some light in the vault from the magically burning torches on the walls and, despite the obviously sadistic nature of the goblin, Bleeding Eyes had actually given him what he needed to get by for awhile and hadn't harmed him at all. It wasn't exactly homely and felt no better than prison would, but, at least he was safe for the moment and Bleeding Eyes clearly didn't intend to turn him in. Yet. Besides, he had slept in far worse conditions over the years and if it got too uncomfortable he could always transform into his animagus form to relax for awhile, since it was physically a little easier on the spine.
Several idle hours passed by and Sirius was slightly surprised when once again, Bleeding Eyes came down to visit and opened the vault up.
"What? Want your newspaper back?" Sirius joked as the large vault doors swung open, "did my subscription run out? I want a refund if that's the case-"
He stopped talking as he realised that it wasn't Bleeding Eyes who was stepping into the vault. The young girl who entered was a little taller, far more nervous and much more beautiful to his weary eyes.
"Hello. Bleeding Eyes tells me that you're… Sirius Black?" the girl asked hesitantly as she stepped inside, while Bleeding Eyes smirked at Sirius from the doorway.
"I'm Skyla. Skyla Potter."
***************
Sirius gaped in shock; right before his very eyes was the spitting image of Lily Potter. She was naturally shorter due to her younger age, and slightly thinner than Lily had been, yet her face held the same stunning beauty that Lily's had and her deep, emerald green eyes pierced straight through Sirius' soul just as her mother's used to. She had soft, gentle features and a slightly confused, yet determined, expression on her face while she flicked her long, wild black hair back behind her head. Sirius noted with amusement that she had clearly inherited some of James' traits too, since her hair was rather messy and unwieldy, despite the girl's best attempts to gather all of the combative strands into a long ponytail, which was held back behind her head with a red hair-tie. She looked to be doing quite well for herself and was apparently putting her parents' money to good use based on the sleek, black, tailored school robes and black dragonhide boots that she was wearing. Not that he thought her parents would have minded; he had no doubt that James especially would have spoiled the girl rotten himself, given the chance. Sirius thought that James would have been exceptionally proud of his daughter and the way she carried herself; she was clearly wealthy and affluent, yet she looked rather roguish with her slightly skewed collar, her top button undone and an apparent lack of care regarding whether her robes were aligned evenly or not. It suited her and she looked as though she represented both of her parents; the sweetness and beauty of Lily combined with the dashing and wild nature of the scoundrel that was James.
Sirius could do little more than stare at the girl.
"Skyla…?"
Sirius had actually spent some of his free time attempting to prepare himself for the eventual meeting, but he hadn't expected to meet her quite so soon and he certainly hadn't expected her to be such an effective, heartbreaking reminder of her parents. She looked quite nervous and shy, yet she seemed to be doing her best to put on an outward appearance of confidence which was rather adorable to Sirius; she truly was Lily and James wrapped up in one beautiful child, right down to the way she seemed to behave. Unfortunately, it meant that Sirius just stood there gaping like a fish for several seconds, letting any of his preformed plans fly straight out the vault door and into the chasms below.
"I, uh, I have a few questions for you," Skyla said slowly, when Sirius said nothing further.
Her words were like a trigger to him and he suddenly realised where he was, feeling very self-conscious for the first time in a long time. He realised that his long, shaggy black hair was matted and unclean, his clothes were utterly filthy and he was sitting slumped against the wall with a newspaper still in hand. Realising his situation, he sprang to his feet and began to brush himself off in a pointless attempt to fix his appearance.
Skyla simply watched on with what appeared to be slight amusement on her face.
"I don't care what you look like, don't worry," she said with a shake of her head, "I bet I looked a thousand times worse when Hagrid found me."
"Sorry," Sirius said a little awkwardly, "I didn't realise you would be coming so soon…"
"I didn't expect to be meeting you so soon either," Skyla admitted, "but Bleeding Eyes sent me a letter telling me that it was a matter of life and death, so I convinced Hagrid to bring me. Well, it was Hermione's idea actually - that's my friend -; Hagrid is at the pub and thinks I'm buying a heap of potions and girls' hygiene stuff. Bleeding Eyes sent a goblin to go and buy that stuff for me, so it doesn't look suspicious if I don't have them. He explained to me already that you were down here. Knowing what Hagrid is like at the pub, we'll have a little time to ourselves, but we shouldn't push it. I already feel bad for dragging him out here with a lie. Although, not really a lie since that stuff will actually be useful later and if I had of known I would have gotten it earlier, but I suppose it came in handy in the end 'cause, otherwise, well-"
She stopped talking and turned slightly red as she realised that she was starting to nervously ramble.
"Look at you," Sirius said in awe, "you were just a baby when I saw you last. Now here you are. You look just like Lily…"
She met his eyes with curiosity and he found that her gaze was quite difficult to hold; she had the same penetrating look that Lily had. Lily had always been able to make Sirius feel guilty about anything and it seemed that unique skill had been passed down to her daughter.
"So you were my dad's best friend…"
Sirius gulped and felt for a moment as though he were being put on trial (which, he supposed he was, since his life did depend on the outcome of this unexpected meeting).
"I never betrayed your parents," Sirius said quickly, wanting to immediately address the most important topic to him, "no matter what they say about me, no matter what crimes I may have committed over the years, I never betrayed them. Ever."
Skyla considered him for a moment before replying.
"I know," she admitted eventually.
"Really?"
"Well, Remus told me about the whole 'Secret Keeper' thing with Peter. I don't really think you killed those muggles either, did you?"
"No I didn't," Sirius let out with a rush of relief at her words, "I've never harmed a muggle in my life."
"I suspected as much," Skyla nodded, "it just didn't make sense, from everything that I had heard. No-one ever said you seemed like a bad person and everyone seemed to like you, so it was weird that apparently you of all people went on a mass-murdering spree. They said your family hated muggles 'cause you were from a fancy magical family, but then you rebelled against them, but then you went and killed more muggles than they ever did? It didn't make any sense."
"You don't know how glad I am to hear that Skyla," Sirius let out in a choked up voice, "I don't care what anyone else thinks of me honestly, but this whole time I thought you must think I am a traitor and a murderer. I should have known you would be smarter than that! You're the daughter of two of the most brilliant people to ever come through Hogwarts, after all. You are clearly destined to be just as great, if not greater."
Skyla smiled slightly at the praise.
"You said Remus told you about the Secret Keeper," Sirius added thoughtfully, "so I take it you two are close? How is Remus?"
Skyla shook her head, "not really. I wouldn't say I really know him, he's a teacher at Hogwarts and… well, we had a… intense conversation. But that's all."
Sirius ogled her for a moment.
"Remus is teaching?"
"Yeah he's our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
"Huh. I tried to contact him over the years but I never had any success. I figured he must think I'm guilty."
"I… wouldn't be so sure about that," Sykla said hesitantly, "he's a bit… confusing. I don't think he knows what he thinks. We were actually going to come find you over the winter break, but I guess you found me first. Saves me a lot of trouble," Skyla added with a slightly nervous laugh.
"Wait, so you only know Remus from school?" Sirius queried, "I thought he would have been around when you were growing up. 'Uncle Remus' or something."
"No, he wasn't," Skyla said with a frown, "but… that's a complicated story there."
"I'd love to hear it," Sirius said eagerly, but Skyla held up her hand.
"Wait," she said cautiously, "I wanna know what your story is first. There's a lot that I don't understand."
He sighed, "that's fair. I bet this is all strange and confusing to you."
"Look, I don't know how much you know about what happened," he began, "but I guess I'll start from back then; that… night."
"Yes please," Skyla said as she sat down on the floor across from Sirius. He smiled slightly at her as he retook his spot on the ground against the wall. Skyla was surprisingly well spoken and she seemed incredibly bright; though he shouldn't have been surprised given that her parents were two of the highest achievers to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts. Given more time, they would have no doubt achieved countless magical breakthroughs were they not cut short by the notorious madman who had ruined everything.
"You no doubt know that your parents were Voldemort's biggest opposition back in the war," he began while Skyla nodded along, "and he certainly had his reasons to want to kill them. What most people don't know however is that he didn't target your family home to kill your parents, he targeted your family home to kill you."
"Me?" Skyla asked in surprise, "wasn't I just a baby?"
"Yes, but the reason he wanted you dead was because of a prophecy. There's only a handful of people who know what it says and I was not one of them, but I do know that a prophecy was made about you being the downfall of Voldemort, which was why he became so obsessively determined to find and kill you."
"So… they're dead because of me?" Skyla asked.
"No, they're dead because they died fighting a great evil," Sirius corrected, "they died because they loved you and fought to the very end. There's a big difference, Skyla."
She nodded slightly, though she still seemed a little solemn after that.
"He would have gone after your parents regardless," Sirius continued, "they were major obstacles to him, prophecy or not. I was there that night; I found your parents and his body. After Peter betrayed us and Voldemort entered your family home, the additional wards were triggered; Dumbledore had set up a few additional wards that would alert us if anyone with a dark mark entered the premises, so that we knew the location had been compromised and everyone had time to run for it."
"And did you run away?" Skyla asked.
"Fuck no," Sirius said heatedly, before backtracking quickly, "uh. Sorry."
Skyla just waved him off with a smile.
"No, as soon as I knew what was going on I apparated immediately to their house to help in the fight, but I was too late. Your parents were already gone and him along with them. If only the wards were larger, or triggered faster, I might have had more time…"
Sirius trailed off in anger and frustration at the thought, until Skyla had to prompt him to continue.
"What happened then?"
"When I got there, James and Lily were both- well. I found you upstairs and I took you out of the house, but Hagrid showed up. He was on Dumbledore's orders to take you to a safe place, and I let him take you. I knew you would be better off with him, since I didn't know shi-uh, the first thing about looking after a child."
"Why didn't Dumbledore himself come get me?" Skyla interrupted to ask.
"I've often wondered that myself," Sirius mused, "I suppose he had his reasons but, surely if the wards had been triggered on the Potter Cottage he himself would be rushing to their aid? He alone was the only one who could have ever directly fought Voldemort. I can only assume that he knew it was already too late to do anything, and he sent Hagrid instead because he was busy setting up the new safe house for you."
Skyla openly laughed at that, which caused Sirius to pause for a moment but she motioned for him to continue.
"Well, after you were safe with Hagrid, I left to find Peter."
His face darkened at the memory. He contemplated simply showing her the memory of the confrontation and the ensuing fight, but he knew that would be far too much for a child to witness. He wasn't even sure where the pensieve had gotten to; he hoped that Bleeding Eyes didn't plan on selling it or something. He might like the goblin, but he still wouldn't put it past him.
"I found Pete and confronted him that evening, yet he showed no remorse and had already taken the Dark Mark - Voldemort's mark - and joined his side. It was devastating to hear that all along, our friend had always harboured resentment to muggles and supported Voldemort's view of superiority. I suppose in many ways that was our own fault; we loved Pete but we did constantly make fun of him and we probably didn't listen to him as much as we should have. Not that it excuses his actions at all," Sirius finished with a savage expression on his face, "but… perhaps we would have seen the warning signs earlier if we had of paid more attention to him."
"So then you killed him," Skyla said, but Sirius shook his head.
"No. I wanted to; I tried to. But he had backup and I was almost captured. Death Eaters were waiting for me; I thought that they would have scattered when news of Voldemort's death reached them, but I was surprised to see no less than six of them waiting to ambush me. I was forced to run. I guess their loyalty ran deeper than I thought."
"I don't understand," Skyla said with a frown, "I thought you-"
"Blew up thirteen muggles in broad daylight, along with Peter?" Sirius said knowingly, while Skyla nodded.
"That was the public story, thanks to one of the Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy-"
"Malfoy?" Skyla interjected questioningly, "I go to school with a Draco Malfoy."
"His off-spring, no doubt," Sirius scoffed, "Lucius Malfoy was, and still is, highly influential within the Ministry due to his wealth and clever use of blackmail. He pulled all the strings that he could after they failed to capture me to get me put up on posters and hounded by the Daily Prophet as a mass murderer. I never even had a chance to defend myself; once it was decided by public opinion that I was guilty, and even the Auror's Office came out with some rubbish supporting it, the Ministry was more than happy to hand out a 'kill on sight' order. There's still a tidy amount of gold waiting for whoever brings them my head," he finished with a dry laugh, "probably increasing with time."
"So then you spent the last ten years on the run?"
"Indeed. I tried to contact Dumbledore for aid but I don't know if any of my attempts reached, since I never heard back. I tried to contact Remus as I mentioned but again, all efforts there failed. I tried to contact you after a few years had gone by and I thought you might be old enough to understand, but I had no luck there; you had disappeared from the earth."
"You were closer than you think," Skyla said with a smile, "we actually met. I'm pretty sure anyway."
"We did?"
"You might remember a bakery," Skyla said with fond memories, "a muggle bakery where a girl was also breaking in at the same time. You were in your dog form and she passed you some bread and had a chat? Do you remember?"
Sirius paused and dug deep into his memories. His memories were slightly hazy from when he was in his animagus form and he didn't have quite as good a recollection as his human form, but he did remember something there; he had gone back to that bakery several times to, pointlessly, look for clues as to where Peter may have gone from there…
"... I think I do remember that," he eventually said with dawning realisation, "that was you!?"
"Yeah," Skyla laughed, "that was me."
"What were you doing breaking into a muggle bakery?" Sirius asked with surprise, "and THAT bakery, of all places? I would never have guessed you were still in the country, let alone right under my nose the entire time…"
"I'll explain in a moment," Skyla said, "but one more thing… you were on the run for years. Why are you here now? What made you come here? Why did you go to Bleeding Eyes? Why not go sooner?"
"That's more than one thing," Sirius pointed out with a smile, while Skyla let out a 'tut' of impatience.
"I had thought about seeking refuge with the bank in the past," Sirius admitted, "but I knew that they would turn me over to the Ministry in a heartbeat. I needed to have something to offer them; goblins don't do things for free or out of the kindness of their bleeding hearts."
He gave Bleeding Eyes, who was hovering in the background, a pointed look and got a toothy, evil-looking grin in return.
"And you found something to give them?"
"In a manner of speaking. I knew that it would be your eleventh birthday this year," Sirius explained, "and I knew that there was no way Dumbledore would have you go to a school other than Hogwarts, even if you were living overseas. He's too proud of his school. It was the one time that I knew you would be in Britain for sure, so I gathered what I needed to brew some Polyjuice potion - that's a potion that changes your image to look like another person - stole a pensieve and brought in two very useful memories to show Bleeding Eyes. It wasn't easy getting what I needed, that's for sure."
"Pensieve?"
"It's a bowl or basin that is enchanted by runic magic to be able to witness memories," Sirius explained, "that way you can re-watch events and sometimes you see something you missed at the time, or you can share your experiences with others."
"That's… that's pretty amazing. Who did you steal it off?"
"Well… you, actually," Sirius said sheepishly. Skyla raised both her eyebrows in response.
"Your parents had a pensieve," Sirius explained, "and it was still at the ruins of the Pottage Cottage, buried under some old furniture. It wasn't easy to get back there undetected, let me tell you. Place was covered in wards and traps specifically meant to catch me if I ever returned. I wasn't even sure if it would still be there but only those who know what to look for would ever find it; it looks like a completely ordinary bowl otherwise, I imagine that's why it was left alone. I hope you aren't angry about me taking it-"
Skyla shook her head.
"I didn't even know the house would still be there," she admitted, "I haven't really thought about that. I kind of just assumed it would have been sold or cleared away or something."
"Well you own it," Sirius pointed out, "you must do. Although from the look of things they've turned it into some kind of tourist spot now. There's signs and memorials and all sorts out the front, and there was even people selling 'merchandise', though I don't know what the fu-heck they would even be selling."
Skyla frowned; she didn't really know what to make of that.
"Anyway," Sirius continued, "I came in here under disguise and demanded to see Bleeding Eyes, who kept me locked in here until you arrived."
"He kept you prisoner?" Skyla asked in surprise, looking around at the goblin who showed absolutely no remorse in the slightest as he looked back blankly.
"He is neither friend nor foe at this point," Bleeding Eyes pointed out, "not until you deem otherwise. And besides, I didn't 'lock' him in. He could leave at anytime."
Sirius laughed, "true enough, I suppose. Still, this has been about the nicest treatment any wanted criminal has ever received from a goblin; I even still have my head."
"For the moment," Bleeding Eyes added with a humourous glint in his eye.
"So, that's about the gist of it," Sirius finished, "I'm here to hopefully redeem myself, but we'll get to that in a minute. Your turn now, what's your story? Where have you been?"
"Not much to tell, honestly. I used to live in a muggle orphanage in London," Skyla explained nonchalantly, "where I probably would have starved to death but I accidentally 'apparated', as it turns out, to the bakery to steal food. Had a few… incidents with the other children taking my food but the matron didn't care. She thought I was evil. After an incident with a boy there I was moved away from the others and spent most of the following years living in a cellar underground. Fought with mice over scraps of food. Washed myself in a sink. Peed in a drain. Got busted out by Hagrid. Told me I was a witch. Stayed at The Leaky Cauldron for awhile. Went to school. Here I am."
Skyla finished with a shrug, and waited for Sirius to reply, who seemed to be lost in thought at her words.
"So… you weren't-"
"With Dumbledore?" Skyla interrupted with a roll of her eyes, "no. Never met him before I got to school, despite what everyone seems to think."
"So let me get this straight," Sirius began thoughtfully, "after I handed you over to Hagrid, who I imagine would have taken you straight to Dumbledore, being as loyal as he was, Dumbledore then dumped you at a muggle orphanage? Which also sounds like it was hell to live at?"
"Well… Sarah was nice while she was there," Skyla offered, "so there was that. And I didn't die, so… there's also that…"
"But you said you almost starved; you had to steal food and that you were being bullied there?"
"Well… yes."
"And you were kept in a cellar? Like… an actual cellar? Underground?"
"Bars and all."
"And you didn't know you were a witch?"
"Well I knew I could make strange things happen, but I didn't know that there were other people like me, no."
"So that means you didn't have access to your money, or anything that your parents left you?"
Skyla laughed, "I once found a fifty pence coin and I didn't know what to do with it for weeks."
"But you must have known about your parents surely," Sirius said, confused, "so how did you not know you were a witch?"
"I didn't even know my own name for many years," Skyla admitted, "it wasn't until I got my Hogwarts letter that I found out I even had one, let alone what my parents' names were. Everyone just kind of called me 'the girl' or… well, a few other things that weren't as nice."
"I… I see…"
Skyla looked curiously at Sirius, who was staring at the wall in deep thought.
"Are you… okay?" she asked hesitantly.
"You know," he replied slowly, "I might just end up turning into that mass murderer everyone thinks I am."
"Huh?"
"Where THE FUCK has anyone been!?" he exploded suddenly, causing Skyla to recoil back slightly.
"I don't know," Skyla said hesitantly.
"What was Dumbledore doing this whole time!? Where the fuck was Remus!? Even the Ministry; where was anyone during all of this!? Voldemort was DEAD! You're being hailed as the saviour of the magical world, people are selling god-knows what with your name on it at the place Lily and James died, and no-one actually gave enough of a fuck to go find out if you were even alive?"
Sirius jumped to his feet and began to pace in frustration.
"This whole time I thought you must have been living the high life with Dumbledore!" he exclaimed in anger, "living in a nice penthouse somewhere perhaps, a few house elves, Remus and Hagrid popping by every other weekend to play… if I had known this shit was happening, I would have-"
"I don't think anyone knew," Skyla said quietly, "Remus thought the same as you, he thought Dumbledore had me and was hiding me away somewhere. Dumbledore told him not to seek me out; better for me, he said."
"And Remus just listened and obeyed!?" Sirius scoffed, "calls himself a marauder… what kind of marauder happily sits on the sidelines and does what he is told? I mean, I was a wanted criminal with a kill-on-sight on me, what's his excuse?"
"I don't think Remus is… doing very well," Skyla admitted, "I might have been a little harsh on him when I spoke to him…"
"Remus is tougher than he might seem," Sirius said, "don't let his outer frailness fool you, he just looks like that because of his condition."
"He did mention that he had a condition," Skyla said, "but I don't know what it is."
"Oh? He hasn't told you about…? Well then it's not my place to," Sirius said with a sigh and a shake of his head, "but he better not think that is a good enough excuse for not having even looked in on you… he better watch out, when I see that man…"
"How, exactly, are you going to see him?" Skyla pointed out, "aren't you a wanted criminal with a price on your head?"
"Ah, well about that…"
Sirius sighed and sat down again, staring intently at Skyla.
"I need your help."
"... okay."
Sirius laughed, "wait, let me tell you what this is about first-"
Skyla just shrugged, "I think I've heard what I needed to hear. You didn't betray my parents, you aren't a mass murderer and you were really my dad's best friend, right?"
"He was my brother," Sirius said solemnly, "in all but name."
"Then I'll help you with whatever you need," Skyla said simply.
Sirius suspected from her open eagerness to aid him and her willingness to believe what he had said that she was perhaps thinking with her emotions a little bit, although he couldn't exactly blame her for that. If she had grown up without any family around, then it made sense that the poor girl might be rather eager to jump on board with anyone who had known her parents. He supposed that really, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't any different; he knew within his heart that he felt such a strong connection with her already simply because she looked like Lily and James. Yet, perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing; they were both rather desperate for someone to call home.
"I think my parents would have wanted me to help you," Skyla said quietly, "they trusted you."
"Well, I don't know if they trusted me in the same sense that you are thinking of," Sirius laughed, "Lily was terrified whenever I held you that I would drop you and if I ever showed up on my flying motorbike she refused to even let you come down from upstairs. The 'death-trap' as she called it."
"You had a flying motorbike too?" Skyla asked curiously, "Hagrid has one. Are they common?"
"Well I'll be..." Sirius laughed, "he's still got it? They're definitely not common; my one was the only one of its kind as far as I know; a unique creation of your mother's."
"My mother made it?" She asked in surprise.
"Yeah but she never intended anyone to actually use it," Sirius laughed, "I loved that thing though and they let me have it as long as I never took you on it. The look on my father's face when I rode it down the alley that one time… Ha!"
"You rode it down the alley?" Skyla asked excitedly, "Hagrid just parks it out the front on the muggle side."
"Well, it was just the once," Sirius admitted, "and it was purely to spite my father, he was a... anyway. The look on their faces when I flew past them; wind knocked my mother over and blew her fancy robes up. That was a sight that NO-ONE needed to see."
Skyla laughed as she formed the mental image of a rebellious teenage Sirius roaring down Diagon Alley on a flying muggle motorcycle, poking his tongue out at his family as he flew around in the sky to the shocked outrage of the nearby witches and wizards who wagged a finger at him disapprovingly.
Her mental image wasn't too far off what had actually happened; except that Sirius hadn't been poking his tongue out at them and had shown a far ruder gesture as he had flown past.
They both paused for a moment as they were each lost in their own thoughts and memories, until eventually, Skyla pulled out a piece of parchment from inside her robes, causing Sirius to look over with curiosity.
"I think you should read this," she said quietly, as she hesitantly held out the letter towards him.
Sirius reached out to take it, yet he paused when his fingers closed around the parchment and Skyla didn't release it, hesitance plastered all over her face.
"I'll give it straight back, undamaged, unaltered," Sirius said quietly, "you have my word. If there's one thing I do, it's keep a promise."
She slowly let her fingers loosen and Sirius took the letter, reading it intently. He smiled at a few of the lines and he frowned at a few others, but he eventually finished with rather watery eyes and handed the letter back to Skyla, as promised.
"Did… did you know that I'm your godfather?" he asked Skyla in a quiet voice.
"No… what does that mean?"
"It means that I'm responsible for you," Sirius explained, "not due to blood or parenting, but by bond; by oath. A godfather, or godparent, is someone that two parents agree to give responsibility to if the worst should happen to them. It has a lot of meaning within magical society as we cherish our bloodlines and our families, and to become a godparent is to become family. To be trusted as a godparent is a great honour; one that I foolishly threw away by handing you over to Dumbledore. I was blinded by my grief, my anger, my pain…"
He looked at Skyla sadly.
"... can you forgive me?"
Skyla stared back with teary eyes that damn near broke his heart and she didn't reply to his question, but instead asked one of her own.
"So that means… that we're family?"
"We… could be," Sirius said slowly, "if… if that's what you want."
"If that's what I want?" Skyla asked incredulously.
Skyla seemed to battle with herself internally for a moment before she suddenly sprang to her feet and ran over to him, almost knocking him over backwards as she threw herself around him in a tight hug.
Bleeding Eyes watched the scene with a slight smirk on his face, and met Sirius' eye over Skyla's shoulder with a knowing look.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Sirius whispered quietly to Skyla with deep regret as he hugged her tightly and she cried softly into his shoulder.
"I don't care," she said honestly through her gentle sobs, "you're here now."
"That I am," he said softly as he patted her on the back, "and I'm not going anywhere."
"Except for maybe prison," she pointed out with a mumble his shoulder, causing him to laugh.
"We'll see about that," he said, "I've got a few ideas…"
"And maybe a shower," she added quietly, getting another laugh out of him.
"If you so wish, we can discuss our options as to where to go from here," Bleeding Eyes said to the two, "now that, I assume, you don't wish to add his head to the pikes below?"
"No, I'd rather not," Skyla laughed with a sniffle as she broke away from Sirius.
"Glad to hear it," Sirius chuckled, his own eyes still watering slightly.
"Are there many heads down below?" Skyla couldn't help but ask.
"Only a few generations worth," Bleeding Eyes shrugged, "but there's always room for more."
"Goblins," Sirius laughed, "you'd be mad to go to war with them."
"Some of your kind still wish to," Bleeding Eyes pointed out.
"Some of our kind are idiots," Sirius shrugged.
"A godfather…" Skyla mused quietly to herself, causing Sirius to smile at her.
"Your godfather," he corrected, "and I think it's about damn time I reminded a few people of that."
"What are you going to do?" Skyla asked.
"There's a lot to be done," Sirius admitted, "but before we do anything else, we need to clear my name."
"I have come up with a plan with Mr Black," Bleeding Eyes began to Skyla, "and using your resources we may just be able to pull it off. There is an inherent risk however and much will be left to chance, I hate to admit. In addition, we will have to take great care with what we say and do until the time is right. We will be walking a knife's edge with this one; all of us."
"If this doesn't work," Sirius said quietly, "all hell could break loose."
"I don't care," Skyla said simply, surprising them both, "if all hell breaks loose, well… they always did call me 'The Devil'. Maybe it's time I proved them right."
Sirius barked with laughter, putting his arm around Skyla's shoulder.
"A true marauder already," he said fondly, wiping a tear from his eye while Skyla smiled at the praise.
"In that case, I'll begin the preparations. We'll have a lot to discuss going forward. Keep an eye on your bag," he added to Skyla, "I'll contact you through that."
"I may not be able to get back here for awhile," Skyla pointed out sadly, "I don't think Hagrid will do it again and honestly, I'd feel bad making him."
"Don't fret, I won't be far away," Sirius said to her, "when we have everything worked out here, which could admittedly take awhile, I'll meet you at the school somewhere. I have… a few ways I can get in, don't worry about that. Tricks of the trade."
He gave her a knowing wink.
"We best go," Bleeding Eyes said with a nod towards Skyla, "I imagine Mr Hagrid is getting suspicious at this point."
"Alright."
She paused for a moment, before turning around and running back to Sirius once again, giving him one final hug while he chuckled.
"Go on kiddo," he said fondly, "I'll see you real soon."
She turned to run off, however she paused at the door and looked back questioningly.
"Can I ask… before I go…"
"What is it?"
"Can you… can you do the thing?" she asked hesitantly.
"The thing?"
"You know… the dog thing," she said.
Sirius laughed, before jumping forward and morphing into the form of the large dog that she had seen all those years ago.
"Woah…" she looked down at him in awe as he approached and gently nuzzled her hand with his snout.
"You should tell him he's a good boy," Bleeding Eyes smirked, "I hear he likes that."
"Woof."
Sirius barked at him with a disapproving tone, which caused Skyla to laugh.
"But, he is a good boy," Skyla said with a slightly mischievous smile as she patted him on the head, "isn't he? Who's a good boy? Is it you?"
With nothing else to do, he simply stood there and whined slightly with his paw over his face, while Skyla laughed and patted him on the head with amusement.
"That's really cool," Skyla said happily, while Sirius changed back into his human form, "I wonder if I could do something like that?"
"It's incredibly difficult," Sirius pointed out, "and first you have to think about what animal you would be. Not what you would like to be; but what you think best represents you. Your personality. Your values. Your traits. You don't choose your animagus form, really, it chooses you."
"... I… I don't know," she replied with surprise.
"Well, have a think about it," he said with a nod, "and who knows, maybe with some time and training… some things do run in the family, after all. If anyone could pull it off, it would be you."
He was almost blinded by the purity of the light that came beaming from Skyla's ecstatic expression as she smiled at him, until Bleeding Eyes gently nudged her away by the shoulder and back out into the cart, leaving Sirius alone with his thoughts.