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fizzing-imagines · 4 years

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A Choice With No Regrets; Act 1

A/N: First of all, I want to thank @darlingreich so much for helping me get ideas, inspiration and helping me design this version of Delphini! To make it short, I read the Cursed Child and liked Delphini Riddle. What I didn’t like was her whole story arc. So, I went and made my own story of her, to give her what she deserves! Please leave feedback if you like it!

Words: 5,190

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Being nervous was an understatement. My hands were shaking and my throat felt incredibly dry, and adding to my dry throat, every breath I tried to take came out insanely shaky and stung in my nose. Every time I took a step further my feet felt like they were floating. The only reason why I knew that they were, in fact, still on the ground was that I heard my black heels hit the ground with every step.

It was a cold and windy night. The wind blew in my face, and hit my legs. Small shivers made their way up my body from time to time. A dress wasn‘t the best choice for this night. Before entering the grounds of the mansion, I stopped and looked around for any source of life in the windows of the house. There was a little light coming from one of the upstair windows. I pulled the hood of my black cape further in my face and continued my way.

After a while I realised that wearing high heels while waking to the Riddles mansion wasnt the best idea. It recently rained and the ground was mudy. A cleaning spell will definetly be needed before I dare to face him. Before approaching the large front door of the old mansion, I looked around for any mudbloods. None there. ‘‘Alohomora‘‘, I whispered and the door unlocked. I silently snuck in and closed the door behind me. After it closed I pulled off my hood and opened my cape. I let it slowly slide down my shoulders and hung it up on a dusty coathanger a few feet away from the door.

‘‘Welcome home, mistress.‘‘, I heard an oddly familiar voice say in parsel. ‘‘Nagini‘‘, I answered in the same language. ‘‘So you‘re my fathers new pet‘‘. Before going here, I have recieved a message from Peter Pettigrew that I might be greeted by a large boa constrictor. Nagini started sliding up my left leg and slowly wrapped around my waist. She smelled me for a while before I continued talking. ‘‘Where is my father?‘‘, I whispered in english. Nagini let go of me and slid back on the ground before moving to a staircase. ‘‘Go upstairs‘‘, Nagini told me. ‘‘He‘s in the room at the end of the right corridor.‘‘. Nagini turned and slithered away, probably to explore the mansion. I slowly and carefully walked up the stairs and looked to my right as soon as I took the last step up. Faint, male voices were heard from down the corridor, so I followed the direction of them.

The wooden floor was creaking underneat my 5 inch black heels. My fathers followers must bestupid, or else they would have alredy heard me. Before taking any further step, I straightened my hair and made sure my dress didn‘t go over my knees. After all, I needed to look presentable. ‘‘My Lord?‘‘, I called out while taking some further steps. ‘‘Father?‘‘ The door to the dimly lit room swung open and a familar face met my eyes. ‘‘Pettigrew.‘‘, I said in a monotone voice upon seeing his face and stared walking up to the door. I ignored the rat-looking man, I couldn‘t stand him just from hearing about him. He‘s nothing more than a coward who hides behind the next most powerful person. He isn‘t loyal and never will be.

There was an armchairs back facing me, with Barty Crouch Jr. squating next to it. ‘‘Mistress.‘‘ Crouch Junior said, a little gibberish. ‘‘I wasn‘t hoping to see my bosses son today, but it‘s always a nice suprise.‘‘ I walked a few steps up to him. ‘‘Where is father?‘‘

‘‘Delphini.‘‘ a high-pitched, yet cold voice coming from the armchair said. ‘‘My child, come here.‘‘ I walked around the armchair and was met by my father. But he didn‘t look like my father. He honestly looked like the miscarriage I had 2 years ago. ‘‘Father. It‘s so nice to see you again.‘‘, I said again and squated next to the left armrest. The fetus-looking creature that was currently my father moved his head in my direction.

‘‘Move further into the light, I want to see my heiress.‘‘, he demanded. I did as he said and moved further into the light given by the fireplace. It was silent for a few seconds before my father broke that. ‘‘Such beauty, is she not Crouch?‘‘ my father said and his fetus-face had a smirk eched uppon it. ‘‘Not a single drop of muggle blood, that‘s the secret ingredient.‘‘

He‘s been claiming of me being a pureblood all my life, however, I‘ve always known the truth. I just never dared to correct him. ‘‘Just like you, father.‘‘, I answered to his compliment, which he seemed pleased with.

‘‘Take a seat.‘‘, he ordered me. Pettigrew dragged a chair across the room so I could sit down next to my father. ‘‘Now my dear,‘‘, he continued. ‘‘what about your position as a teacher?‘‘. A smirk ran across my lips as he asked.

‘‘All is going according to plan. I recieved a letter from Dumbledore two days ago that I was accepted as the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.‘‘, I proudly told him. ‘‘At least one of the Riddles will finally take on the position.‘‘

‘‘A good girl like you‘ve ever been, that‘s just what I‘ve expected of you.‘‘, he said with a miscevious smirk on his face. I replied with just a smile.

‘‘I‘m really sorry my husband and I can‘t take you in father.‘‘, I said to him and took his fetus-hand. ‘‘But with both of us working a ministry job and me working under the man ho trialed my mother it‘ just too dangerous.‘‘ I kissed the back of his hand once, as a sign of submission.

‘‘It‘s alright, Delphini. I have quite the comfortable place to stay here.‘‘, he replied, and I nodded to show that I‘ve understood.

‘‘My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?‘‘ , Pettigrew interrupted our conversation.

‘‘A week,‘‘ said my fathers cold voice. ‘‘Perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over.‘‘

"The - the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?" said Peter. "Forgive me, but - I do not understand - why should we wait until the World Cup is over?" "Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, checking and double-checking identities. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we wait. "

I nodded in agreement. Working in the department of international magical cooperation I‘ve noticed that all too well. I‘ve had much more work than before, so much that I now also have to work at home.

"Your Lordship is still determined, then?" Wormtail said quietly. "Certainly I am determined, Wormtail. " There was a note of menace in my fathers cold voice now. A slight pause followed - and Peter spoke, the words tumbling from him in a rush, as though he was forcing himself to say this before he lost his nerve. "It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord. ". I looked at Pettigrew with slight shock. How could he say something like this? "Without Harry Potter?" breathed my fathers voice softly. "I see. . . " "My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!" said Pettigrew, his voice rising squeakily. "The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard - any wizard - the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while - you know that I can disguise myself most effectively - I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person -" "I could use another wizard," said our Lords cold voice softly, "that is true. . . " "My Lord, it makes sense," said Peter, sounding thoroughly relieved now. "Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected -" "And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder. . . perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you, Wormtail? Could this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?" as he said that, I couldn‘t help but smirk. "My Lord! I - I have no wish to leave you, none at all -" "Do not lie to me!" hissed my father. "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me. . . " "No! My devotion to Your Lordship -" "Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?" "But you seem so much stronger, My Lord -" "Liar," breathed my fathers voice. "I am no stronger, and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care. Silence!"

Peter, who had been sputtering incoherently, fell silent at once.

After a few seconds I cleared my throat and asked ‘‘May I speak, my lord?‘‘. He wasn‘t to mess with at this point. I learned that the hard way as a child.

‘‘You may‘‘, he allowed me, and I once more cleared my throat.

‘‘It will not be a problem to get to Harry Potter once I am at Hogwarts. Wormtails concerns about the boy are for nothing.‘‘, I assured everyone in the room. The two men and the form my father currently posessed looked at me, and no one dared to correct me. ‘‘I will keep contact with my husband while at Hogwarts. He‘s the heir of the Jugons family, who were loyal to you. Everything regarding the boy will be brought to you.‘‘ I continued talking. ‘‘If you‘d want me to keep contact with someone else though I will gladly do so.‘‘

‘‘The Jugsons will do, Delphini.‘‘, my father assured me. I nodded too show that I understood.

‘‘You have work tomorrow, don‘t you?‘‘ I nodded once more.

‘‘Use your words.‘‘, he told me. So I said ‘‘Yes, I do.‘‘

‘‘You may proceed to go then.‘‘, my fathers cold voice spoke. ‘‘We wouldn‘t want you tired and worn-out at work. You still need to get us information after all.‘‘

I slid off the chair Peter has given me earlier and bowed down in front of the arm chair my father rested in.

I took his hand again and said ‘‘Thank you for your generosity, my Lord‘‘ before kissing his hand once more.

Peter tried to help me to get up afterwards, but I slapped his hands away. I don‘t want those touching me.

‘‘Bring her to the door, Crouch.‘‘ my father ordered the Junior. He did as comanded and walked behind me while I walked thowards the door. However, when I opened it I saw an old man, a mudblood standing in the door.

‘‘Father, we had someone listening.‘‘, I said while looking the old man in the eyes.

"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?" my father said. ‘‘You may go, Delphini.‘‘

The old man was led inside while I left the room with Crouch Junior.

While walking downstairs, Nagini passed us. Poor old man.

We proceeded towalk downstairs and when we arrived at the front door, Crouch Junior took my coat and went to help me put it on. I didn‘t say anything and just let him do it. I didn‘t have a problem with him so there‘s no reason to not let him do it. However, I did close it myself.

‘‘We‘ll surely see each other again.‘‘, I said to Junior and put my hand on the doorknob.

‘‘Until then, Mistress.‘‘, he said. I turned the doorknob and opened the door. I first thought if I should say something about me seeing his father at work, but I just let it be. I had no good reason to tease him.

It started raining again while I was with my father, so I pulled the hood of my cape further into my face once again and stepped outside. I heard the door close behind me and I took a few steps further away from the mansion before apparating home.

***

I was pleasantly suprised that it was only 1:30am. In all honesty, I thought it would take longer. Not wanting to accidentally wake up my husband, Amancio, upstairs, I took off my heels and got readynfor bed in the guest bathroom downstairs. I took off my makeup and dress with the stockings. The dress and stockings I brought into the laundry room and put on one of my husbands shirts for sleeping. Finally, I tiptoed upstairs into our bathroom. Soft snores came from Amancio, which confirmed to me that he was asleep already. I carefully slipped underneath the sheets and cuddled up to my husband before noticing that something fluffy was laying next to Amancios head, right over mine. ‘‘Looks like you tried to replace me, Misty.‘‘,I whispered to my husbands cat before cuddling into his chest and falling asleep.

***

Our enchanted clock woke me up from my sleep. I‘m glad Amancio enchanted it to birds chirping. Misty woke up from the chirping as well and jumped out of bed. I turned off the clock and went to get up. My husband wrapped his arms tightly around me while I was sleeping, so I had to wiggle myself out of his arms. Amancio murmured in his sleep but eventually turned over and continued sleeping. I smiled to myself and then stepped out of bed. I went to our closet and got my work clothes out before walking into te bathroom to get dressed and do my makeup and hair for the day.

I did my makeup first, some eyeliner and mascara on my upturned eyes, blush to define my high cheek bones and I coloured in my thin and arched eyebrows. Then I put some almost white powder under my eyebrows, the inner corner of my eye and the back of my nose. Lipstick I was gonna apply after breakfast.

I continued putting on my dress, a black, short-sleeved dress that went down to my knees with a white collar. The dress was tight around my waist to show off my figure. That is a standart woman of my class. I put on skin-coloured tights and checked once more if everything was in place.

My hair was next, but it wasn‘t anything special. I just brushed my hair and left it like that. It was naturally straight and I never had to do anything special to it for the office.

I proceeded with my accessories. My engagement and wedding rings were always around my finger, but I still had to put the Lestrange family ring away. So I did. My earrings were adorned by small pearl earrings. Fitting to my red nailpolish, I put a small, red ribbon around the collar of my dress. Now I was ready for the day.

I went downstairs to enchant our kitchen supplies to make breakfast: Pancakes with bacon and butter. As the supplies started doing their thing, I started making coffee and feeding our cat.

While Misty was eating and the coffe brew, I went upstairs to wake up my husband. Lucky him, he didn‘t need as long as I do in the morning. Upon entering our bedroom, I sat down on the edge of his side of the bed and brushed my left hand through his dark brown hair. ‘‘Amancio‘‘, I said with a smile on my face. He grumbled a little, but didn‘t do anything further. ‘‘Il mio amore.‘‘, I said and placed a few kisses across his nose. He scrunched his nose and thick, dark eyebrows and rolled his face into the pillow. ‘‘5 more minutes.‘‘, he grumbled into the pillow.

‘‘You slept enough, bello.‘‘, I said and then proceeded to plaster kisses on the back of his neck. ‘‘I‘ll blow raspberries if you don‘t get up by yourself.‘‘

Amancio chuckled and turned back around onto his back. His emerald green eyes gazed into mine and I couldn‘t help but grin at the sight of it. Due to his tanned skintone they looked so much more intense. He sat up straight and pressed a short kiss on my lips. ‘‘Good morning principessa‘‘, he said and grinned at me.

‘‘No need to call me princess, I‘m not 15 anymore.‘‘ I said with a small giggle. ‘‘You woke me up so I can call you a princess at least.‘‘, he defended himself. I laughed a little and got up from the edge of the bed. I went over to our closet and pulled his work clothes from his side of the closet. ‘‘Breakfast is done any minute, hurry up.‘‘, I told him and handed him his clothes. Amancio got up and took the clothes from me. ‘‘Also,‘‘, I started ‘‘we need to talk about our Lord.‘‘. Amancios face became serious and he nodded. He proceeded to leave the room while I walked downstairs into the kitchen. Our kitchen equipment was already cleaning itself, so I took the two plates with our breakfast and put them on our breakfast table. The coffee and mugs followed and I also put a bowl of blueberries on the table. I already poured some coffee into Amancios mug and added some milk, just how he likes it. My mug was filled with plain, black coffee. That‘s how I like it. Shortly after I sat down, Amancio came in the kitchen and sat down on the seat in front of me. His face was still serious and I could notice that he was thinking while getting ready since his tie wasn‘t like he normally does it. Before even grabbing his mug, he asked ‘‘What did he say?‘‘. I could her the anxiety in his voice, something really rare for him.

‘‘It‘s my duty to get him the boy. Pettigrew can‘t even nourish him.‘‘ I took a sip of my coffee. ‘‘I made the decision to build up his trust while at Hogwarts. It‘s easier to get him to my father that way. Until then, I will regularly send letters to you and your parents so you can update our Lord. It shouldn‘t be to hard to get in contact with Peter and Barty Junior for any of you.‘‘

You could see the relief in my husbands face.

‘‘We can definetly do that.‘‘, he said with a small smirk.

Amancio wasn‘t a death eater yet. He didn‘t posess the dark mark, and so did I. We were very young when my father fell from power. But his parents were loyal followers, and so was my mother before she was send to Azkaban.

‘‘This is the first time I‘m properly serving him, so I shouldn‘t mess this up.‘‘, he added and started drinking his coffee.

I chuckled a little at what he said. ‘‘Considering the fact that my father doesn‘t know you and my mother probably doesn‘t even know that I‘m married you should really try your best.‘‘

A short laugh came from my husband before we both started eating breakfast.

Amancio and I knew each other since I was ten. After my mother was imprissoned I went to live with my aunt Narcissa and uncle Lucius with my cousin Draco, and Amancios mother was a good friend of Narcissa. Our wedding was set up by my uncle and his father when we were 13. At first, we were against it but ended up deciding that we should make the best out of it and become friends at least. Turns out we‘re really compatible, so we started dating at 14. All went well and we got married three years ago, just a week after Amancio graduated from Hogwarts. We‘ve never regretted it.

Breakfast went along in a comfortable silence. While Amancio put away the dishes , a post owl arrived at our kitchen window and I let her in. As always, she gave us the Daily Prophet and two letters. One was for Amancio and me from his older sister Amara and the other one was from Dumbledore for me.

I already expected what was written in Dumbledores letter, I recieved a 5-page letter about what will be taught in which grade regarding Defense Against the Dark Arts. I also got a small instruction on the grading system. Internally, I thanked him for the grading chart. I never went to Hogwarts, so I don‘t know how the grades work.

Amancio opened the letter from Amara in that time and it was a letter from her and her husband, a picture drawn by our niece Selene and a picture of Selene with the plushed Kneazle we got her for her birthday. She turned 3 last weekend and was very excited about the plushed animal, which currently was her favourite creature of all time.

I looked at the picture of our niece in adoration, yet there was a weird feeling in my stomach. It might be because I already had two miscarriages. I was still happy for my sister-in-law, it‘s just that I miss both of my angel babies.

While I looked at the moving picture of Selene, Amancio got both of our briefcases from our workroom and put them on the table. He proceeded to pack lunch in two lunchboxes for us. Amancio packed them with leftovers from yesterday, rice and steak, even though he packed more in his than in mine. Not because he didn‘t want me to eat, but because I don‘t eat a lot. I have a certain body type and weight to maintain. He never failed to sneak a small candy heart, carefully wrapped in golden paper, in there though. I watched him doing that with a smild etched upon my face. He packed each lunchbag in the right briefcase and walked over to me.

‘‘Phini, we should get going.‘‘, he said and placed a kiss on my temple. I nodded and both of us grabbed our briefcases. We walked into the hallway and put on our shoes. It wasn‘t until now that I saw all the mud on my heels from yesterday. I put on my black, 5 inch work heels and took my red lipstick and hand mirror out of my briefcase to put it on.

‘‘One last kiss.‘‘, Amancio said before kissing me on my lips. He always kissed me before i applied my lipstick since he knew that it would smear all over his face. I gave into the kiss, and it lasted for a few seconds before we let go of each other. Amancio grinned while I put the lipstick on my lips and put everything I used for the application back into my briefcase. One last glance at the clock told me it was already 7:40am. We‘ll have to start work at 8.

Good thing the fireplace in our workroom was connected to the floo powder network. I removed the large fireplace fence and stepped into the fireplace first. Amancio handed me the bowl of floo powder and I grabbed a handful of it. ‘‘Ministry of Magic!‘‘, I shouted and threw the powder on the ground. I was surrounded by green flames for a while and I felt my body float before landing on my feet again and stepping out of one of the ministry fireplaces. There was a little bit of dust left on my clothes, so i took a few steps further away from the fireplace and dusted those off with my hands. My hsuband followed shortly after me and after he dusted his clothes off as well. We smiled at each other before we started walking to the elevators. I had to get into the fifth level while Amancio had to get to the second, the Department of Magical Law Enforcment. To be more specific, he worked in the department of improper use of magic and was responsible for the wizards who want to homeschool their children. We tuffed us in the already packed elevator and lucky for us, both of the buttons for our level were already pressed. Amancio was the first one to get off, and he smiled at me once more before disappearing in the crowd of people. My journey to my office continued and it got more empty with each level. There was only a handful of wizards and witches left when I got off to my department.

I walked straight into my office, where three of my colleagues were already getting ready for work for the day. ‘‘Good morning‘‘, I greeted them and sat down in my workspace. There were multiple letters on my desk, all of which were written in a foreign language. I had a folder with already answered letters, all sorted after months of this year. There were many more folders like thi in the bookshelf standing on one of the walls of the office.

Our small office was one of the most important ones in this whole department. Our office had the witches and wizards in that spoke the mot languages, ones that most employees don‘t speak. If we have exchanges with wizards that didn‘t speak english, it was send to us. Most of the letters I recieved from foreign countries were in greek and italian. The co-worker, Aluro was his name, sitting on the desk in front of mine spoke turkish and finnish. Hera who just came through the door, spoke the most languages out of the five of us in this office. She spoke a total of eight languages fluently, four of which were some of the hardest to learn.

My other three coworkers were Asteria, who spoke turkish and russian, Endymion, who was fluent in hebrew, romanian and dutch, and Serena, who spoke norwegian, serbian and hindi.

Due to being homeschooled I learned many more langauges, five in total. English is my native language, and spanish and french was spoken by many people in this department. Latin wasn‘t used for communication anymore, so only my fluent greek and italian is what saved me a spot in this certain office.

I put my parchment and quill on my desk and started working. First, I took onto the greek letters. It took me quite some time to first, write a translation for my boss, second, write a reply and third, then write a translation of my reply for my boss. I was down on two letters when our boss, Barty Crouch Senior, and his minon Percy Weasley came in the office. They did that every day, and he tended to stay in our office rather long.

‘‘Good morning.‘‘, he cheerfully greeted us. Most of us replied with the same, but Asteria and Endymion were so deep into translating that Asteria greeted him in russian and Endymion in dutch. That caused a small chuckle from most of us before we continued working.

I hated when he came over, but he did every morning. He had one of those creepy old man crushes on me. Barty probably thought I wouldn‘t notice, but it‘s blatantly obvious. One thing I‘ve inherited from my father were his looks, back when he still looked human. Combining that with the facade of a young, sophisticated, innocent and loving woman I am the perfect bait. As long as his weird crush is helping out my fathers causes, I won‘t exactly reject him. Good thing he thought that my husband and I aren‘t actually in love, but just set up to marry.

Talking about him, he walked over to my desk and looked me over the shoulder. ‘‘Good morning, Mr. Crouch.‘‘, I greeted him and turned my head to face him. It wasn‘t until then that I noticed that Percy was standing right behind him. ‘‘Mr. Weasley.‘‘, I said and smiled at him.

‘‘How is the work going?‘‘, Crouch asked me. The letter I was currently writing was in greek, so he couldn‘t read anything. ‘‘I already replied to the letter about alligning cauldron thickness with the greek ministry. Another one from greek was about the trade of muggle guards. I‘ve made some notes for the right department so they‘ll know what they need to do.‘‘ I took the translated letter with the notes and handed it to my boss for him to read. ‘‘I can‘t reply to it until the right department took care of it, and considering that I‘ll be gone by the end of this week this would need to happen fast.‘‘ It was Tuesday, and my last work day will be on Saturday. I‘ll have a free month to prepare classes before then going to Hogwarts. ‘‘I think we can prioritise that trade.‘‘, Crouch said and handed the letter and note to Percy.

‘‘I hope you‘ll find someone who speaks greek. Italian might be easier to find, but good luck with the greeks.‘‘, I jokingly said, just to keep my facade. Barty laughed about that, and his laugh was so utterly disgusting to me. Seeing the man who imprissoned my mother, one of the few people to not treat me as just an heir to my fathers legacy, displaying any form of happiness made me sick to my stomach. Yet I kept up my facade, his trust will give me the best information I could recieve.

‘‘It‘ll be hard to find someone to replace you, that‘s for sure.‘‘ he grinned at me, with a look no young woman would like to see from an old man.

‘‘I‘ll miss this office as well. Adapting somewhere else will be hard. But change is good for me, I believe that.‘‘ Everything that just came out of my mouth was an absolute lie, but I really didn‘t care.

‘‘I hope you really thought about becoming a teacher in that position. Defense Against the Dark Arts professors don‘t last longer than a year.‘‘ Good, I didn‘t intend to be there for longer than a year.

‘‘I‘m a skilled witch, nothing bad is going to happen to me.‘‘, I reassured himwith a small smile. He looked satisfied with what I said.

‘‘You surely are, Delphini.‘‘, he answered to that, still with his awfully happy smile on his face. ‘‘I should get going now.‘‘, he then said. I nodded and smiled at him. ‘‘Just put a note about the outcome on my desk with the letter, so I can answer them.‘‘, I said to Barty and his minion. Percy nodded, and Barty did the same (still with his horrible smile) before they turned and left our office. Crouch took one last look at me before closing the door.

Old creep.

#harry potter fanfiction #delphini riddle #delphini diggory #harry potter

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raywritesthings · 4 years

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Dog’s Best Friend 4/6

My Writing Fandom: Harry Potter Characters: Sirius Black, Rubeus Hagrid, Cornelius Fudge, Albus Dumbledore Summary: When Rubeus Hagrid is placed in the cell next to notorious murderer Sirius Black, truths are revealed and events are changed. *Can be read on my AO3 or FFN, links are in bio*

It felt strange walking up to the gates of Hogwarts in his Animagus form in broad daylight. Stranger still to see his own face staring down at him from the wanted posters pinned up everywhere; he didn’t even remember that photo being taken. He’d stayed at Hagrid’s side all through Hogsmeade village, and not one person had given them a second glance. Hagrid was known to keep pets, after all.

They veered left once on the grounds instead of continuing up the path to the castle. Hagrid led them up to his front door, getting out his keys as he did so. Before he could place it in the lock, there came a loud thud and a booming bark.

“Get back, Fang, let us through! He misses me is all,” Hagrid added over his shoulder to Sirius, who waited with some apprehension for the door to open and this Fang to be revealed. Things would be much more difficult if he found he wasn’t welcome in Hagrid’s home.

“Hullo, Fang!” Hagrid greeted as the door swung wide.

Fang was huge and black much like Sirius’ own form when in better health — but he slobbered all over Hagrid with a joyful yowl. Hagrid chuckled and scratched him on the head.

“Yeh bin good while I was away? Look who I’ve brought with me. Fang, this is Grimm.”

They’d realized just before breaking camp that morning that Hagrid would need to give him a name. Sirius had decided against the old nickname he’d used with his friends — too risky that Peter might catch wind, or that one of the other professors might remember. They hadn’t exactly been discrete about calling each other the names, at any rate.

Hagrid had decided on Grimm as his own little joke. “People think Grims are terrible things, but they’re not at all — just like you!”

In the moment, Fang clambered down the steps towards him, an intense look of concentration on his face. Sirius knew that other animals could sometimes tell there was more to him than met the eye, even if they didn’t know exactly what.

So he dropped and rolled onto his side to show he didn’t want a fight or to displace Fang; he was a guest here for at least the time it would take to capture Peter, not a usurper. Fang came up and sniffed him, then slowly lowered to the floor as well, his tail wagging. Were he younger, Sirius suspected that the boarhound would wish to play.

“See? Knew yeh’d both get on just fine. Alright, let’s have a cuppa.”

Sirius jumped up and followed behind Hagrid and Fang into the little one-room cabin. Hagrid pulled down a couple mugs and set about preparing a fresh pot.

Hagrid’s Hut had a couple high-set windows with curtains drawn partially across them. He clearly thought that meant Sirius was safe to transform, and Sirius felt inclined to agree. Now that he was free of the Dementor’s ever-looming presence, he wanted to experience some of his life as a human rather than just a dog — Yet a knock sounded on the front door, and he shrunk back on all fours while Fang rushed forward.

Hagrid cast a nervous glance in his direction before striding over. “Back, Fang. Oh! Professor Dumbledore!”

Sirius, if anything, tried to make himself even smaller. He hadn’t wanted to attract the Headmaster’s attention so soon. Did he perhaps already know? Of course he knew, and now Sirius was going straight back to Azkaban where he’d receive the Dementor’s Kiss, and Pettigrew would be free to do whatever he liked to Harry—

“Hagrid, welcome back,” Dumbledore greeted warmly. “I trust you had a relaxing time on your holiday?”

“Er, yeah. Very good time. All set ter be back ter work.” Hagrid was practically exuding nerves as he allowed Dumbledore past him. This was not going to go well at all.

“I see you’re expecting company,” Dumbledore said, gesturing to the two mugs sitting out. Sirius did his best not to wince.

“Oh, that!” Hagrid hurried to pick one of the mugs up. “Thought one of ‘em might’a bin chipped. But they’re fine. Er, would yeh like some tea, Professor Dumbledore?”

“Why, thank you, Hagrid.” Dumbledore sat at the table, scratching the top of Fang’s head when the dog sat beside him. His eyes cast about the room and landed on Sirius, widening in surprise for a moment.

“Made a new friend, have you, Hagrid?”

“What?” Hagrid nearly dropped the teapot. “Oh. That, er, that’s Grimm. Got him off a friend who found him. He thought I might like looking after him. He’d bin abused, yeh know?”

Dumbledore nodded. “He does seem quite thin for his size.”

“That he is. So don’ take no offense if he doesn’ come up to greet yeh. Nothin’ personal in it.”

“Of course.” The Headmaster’s curious gaze left Sirius at last, and he turned to the half-giant with a smile. “Hagrid, your capacity for seeing the good in all things is a gift I admire.” He quite happily accepted the mug of tea set before him, and Hagrid sat in his own chair as well. “As I recall, you have accepted the position of Care of Magical Creatures Professor for this upcoming term. I am happy to say that we have also secured a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.”

“Yeh did? Figured it’d be slim pickin’s after Lockhart.”

“Yes, well it did take some convincing, but after the recent news I had thought it best to reach out, and we naturally came around to the subject. Our latest addition to staff is none other than Remus Lupin.”

It took everything in Sirius not to yelp in astonishment, and he sank down low to the floor. Remus was coming here? Of all the rotten luck.

“He’ll be a good one. Remus really knew his stuff in school.”

“Yes, I’m very happy with his acceptance. And with the latest advancements in potion making, there will be no need to use the Willow. Severus has agreed to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for Remus.”

Severus? Surely not the same one — yet it had to be, for what were the chances two parents would inflict that name on someone let alone one? But if it was the same, Sirius didn’t see how Snape could be at Hogwarts, let alone in a position to agree to brew something for Remus’ benefit. He’d be more likely to poison him instead!

“He’ll sleep locked in his quarters during the full moons and likely require a substitute if it should fall on nights before classes, but — I say, Hagrid, is Grimm quite well?”

Sirius only realized then that he had started growling.

Hagrid gave a much louder laugh than necessary. “Jus’ hungry is all! I better get him somethin’. Let me just—” Rather than finish, he simply turned around and started searching about his cabinets.

“Well, I believe I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll leave you to settle in.” Dumbledore sipped once more at the mug — he couldn’t have gotten through half of it, but it was giant-portioned after all — and rose from the table. “Thank you very much, Hagrid.”

“An’ thank you, Professor. I’ll come up fer dinner one of these nights and bring some lesson plans, eh?”

“That would be lovely.” Dumbledore smiled down at Fang, who had walked over to see him out, and glanced once more at Sirius before departing.

Hagrid abandoned his search for food to watch out the window, relaxing after a few minutes with a sigh. “It’s all fine.”

Sirius transformed back. “That was too close.”

“Nah, it wasn’t. Course, didn’ help none when yeh got yer hackles raised abou’ Snape,” Hagrid said, frowning down at him in disapproval.

“What’s he doing here?” Sirius demanded. As if he didn’t already have Peter to worry about.

“He’s a teacher, that’s what.”

Sirius snorted. “As if. Snape couldn’t stand watching his own peers make the slightest mistake. It offended his sense that he could and should be the one doing it better. No way he’d sign up to preside over a bunch of children struggling to learn.”

“He didn’ have much choice after the war. Professor Dumbledore vouched for him turning spy fer our side, an’ folks wanted Dumbledore to keep an eye on him.”

“So they wanted him put in charge of their kids?” Even growing up in this world, Sirius often wondered where other wizards and witches kept their brains. “I shudder to think what a beast he’s been.”

“Never mind him,” Hagrid told him. “What abou’ Remus? He knows yeh can transform, don’ he?”

Sirius sank down into Dumbledore’s vacated chair. “He does. I’ll have to leave before he gets here.”

“I can’ lose me dog jus’ after I got him,” Hagrid argued.

“But he’ll tell Dumbledore! Or he has, or — but then Dumbledore would’ve known it was me,” he reasoned. And Dumbledore would have acted, not just left him with Hagrid.

So Remus hadn’t said. Not even now, when Sirius had escaped. He had to know his Animagus form was at least part of how he was staying hidden. Was it possible he thought Sirius might be innocent, that he still cared about their friendship?

But no. Sirius realized it in the next instance. Revealing what he knew about Sirius meant revealing James and Peter’s own crimes in becoming illegal Animagi. He was protecting their memories — never mind Peter was alive — and possibly his own freedom. His condition could in all likelihood come out, too. It was good, still, that Remus hadn’t said in that case. Sirius would hate to be the cause of more suffering to him.

“Alright, I’ll stay. But we’ll have to be careful Remus doesn’t see me. Don’t invite him round, don’t talk to him about your new pet. Don’t give him any reason to suspect something.” As soon as Remus came across evidence he couldn’t in good conscious ignore, he would feel forced to act. So long as it never came to that, they wouldn’t have to worry.

“The professors don’ tend to come round here fer much. Think it’ll be alrigh’. Besides, we’ll be catchin’ that rat before Remus can catch wind o’ yeh,” Hagrid assured him with a smile.

Sirius sighed wearily. “I wish I could share your confidence.”

Perhaps it was the effect of Azkaban on him after so long, but Sirius couldn’t bring himself to hope. If they didn’t catch Pettigrew when they had the chance, Sirius would be caught and Harry would be vulnerable. He’d already failed once. Was history only destined to repeat itself?

---

It was a bit strange cohabitating in his Hut with another person, even if that person was a dog most of the time. But he and Sirius were fairly used to each other after their time in Azkaban.

Sirius slept on the floor still. There wasn’t much room to put in a second bed, and after the near-slip with Professor Dumbledore and the extra mug, Sirius refused to risk leaving any evidence of a second human’s presence in the place. He ate out of a bowl like Fang and slept curled up near the fire with him, too.

It didn’t feel right in a way, or perhaps undignified. The way Fang lived was perfectly fine for him, of course, but Sirius wasn’t fully a dog, and in some ways Rubeus wondered if he was just keeping him in a slightly nicer prison. At the least, his frame was filling back out, and he looked far more healthy for a dog his size.

The rest of summer seemed to fly by. He filled the time with writing out his plans and arranging for some of the creatures he wanted to show the students. Rubeus also picked out the textbook he wanted them to use.

“It’s funny, isn’ it?” He asked his guest. “All it takes is just a stroke down the side, then it’s calm as can be.”

“You might want to include that in the directions,” Sirius suggested, never taking his eyes off the wildly snapping book. “It can be lesson number one.”

“Yeh think so?” Rubeus shrugged and added a postscript to the letter he was composing to Harry for his birthday. He stroked the book’s spine and wrapped it in some packaging. It likely wouldn’t wake again till it was opened.

“Want ter send somethin’ yerself?”

“Send something?”

“To Harry. His birthday’s next week, yeh know?”

“I do. But I haven’t got anything. Anyway, he wouldn’t understand.” Sirius turned and slunk off in his Animagus form before Rubeus could reply. He tended to do that when he wasn’t in a mood to talk.

It was strange. Sirius seemed to care about Harry, but there was a distance to it. Maybe because he’d only known the boy from a distance. Or maybe he thought that, even if they succeeded in catching Pettigrew and clearing his name, Harry wouldn’t want much to do with him. He’d grown very quiet the one time Rubeus had mentioned Harry was living with his relatives during the summer. But Harry hardly liked them, and for good reason! And he was the welcoming sort; he’d be happy to know Sirius.

So Rubeus took to spending the last few weeks of summer loudly recollecting all his favorite stories and memories about Harry, whether Sirius was in his Animagus form or not. He could tell they were heard; Sirius’ ears always perked up at the first mention of Harry’s name.

During the last week of summer, all the staff present was called to a meeting. Not among them was Remus: the full moon had been the previous night, so he was no doubt recovering before making the journey to Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore looked uncharacteristically grave as they all sat down. “I’ve just had word from the Minister. I’d been hoping this precaution could be avoided, but as Sirius Black has yet to be caught, he is adamant about increasing Hogwarts’ security. Despite my advisement to the contrary, Dementors will be placed around the school as guards.

Several gasps went around the room.

“No!” Rubeus stood, knocking into the table roughly. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey both looked at him with sympathy. Slowly, he retook his seat.

“Cornelius has assured me they will not come into the grounds. They are to stay outside of the gates to ensure that Black does not slip through Hogwarts’ defenses.”

“How can we be sure the students will be safe, Albus?” Professor McGonagall asked.

“I will be keeping a close watch on the situation, Minerva. Unfortunately, that is the best we can do with the Minister so determined.”

Rubeus hardly paid attention to anything else spoken about at the meeting, which he knew wasn’t the right thing to do as a new teacher, but he found he could focus on little else but the fear. The Dementors were coming here to where Sirius was. What if they sensed him? What if they came to his home? He couldn’t imagine feeling the way he had on the island again, the complete lack of anything but loneliness and despair, only abated by Sirius’ company.

As soon as Professor Dumbledore adjourned the meeting, Rubeus headed back home, panting by the time he climbed the steps and slammed the door behind him.

“The Minister’s sendin’ Dementors ter Hogwarts!”

Sirius leapt up, changing form. “They’re coming for me?”

He shook his head. “Just want ter protect the students. Can they sense yeh from the gates?”

“No. Not so long as I stay in my Animagus form.” Sirius’ shoulders sagged a little in relief. “This will mean that the plan is entirely up to you. My life in your hands, Hagrid.”

He gulped.

Sirius gave a bracing smile, one that Rubeus wasn’t sure either of them believed. “Good luck.”

Dog replaced man, and Rubeus found himself shakily pulling the kettle out for another pot of tea. So much was counting on him: a man’s innocence; a criminal’s capture; a boy’s happiness. He couldn’t let them all down. He just couldn’t.

#sirius black #rubeus hagrid #albus dumbledore #minerva mcgonagall #hp #my writing

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