The Punker and the Prisoner

Jackie Moran lowered her hands and stepped back to view the result in the mirror. She smirked to herself. It was just how she had planned. She desperately hoped that her mother wouldn't freak, not that she cared, of course. She typically got along well with her mother, but the newly red streaked hair might push her over the edge. The edge for Lisa Moran was capable of dealing with, and the last time she had really gone over was when Jackie had come home with a pierced eyebrow. Unlike some other parents, Lisa seemed to have no problem accepting that her daughter was a punk. She didn't rock the boat, or instigate scream fests. She often thought it better to just let Jackie have her way to a descent extent.

Jackie cleaned up the dye mess she had made with a quick flick of her wand. Fortunately, she wasn't completely useless. The phone rang suddenly. Jackie rushed downstairs, catching it just in time.

"Hey, how'd it turn out?" asked Liz excitedly. Liz, Jackie's best friend, had been the one to come up with the idea.

"Pretty good, I think," Jackie replied, running her fingers delicately through the red strands mingled with black. She glanced in the hallway mirror. In this light, her hair looked the same color as her red zipper-covered tank, which had been her goal.

"So, you ready to play?" Liz asked.

"You bet. See you in 10."

She ran back to the kitchen, grabbed a box of Ritz S'more crackers, and headed out the door. She walked across the grass to the garage she and her three friends had dedicated to their music. When she got there, Benj was already there, mindlessly strumming his electric guitar.

"Hey," she said. "You're early."

"Yeah," he replied nodding and eyeing the box of Ritz crackers in her hand. She rolled her eyes and tossed it to him. They were for him anyhow. He pointed to her hair. "I like it. Bode."

"Thanks, it took me over an hour."

"Wow! It looks great!" cried Liz, throwing open the door, with Joel trailing behind her. If anything, Liz was the exact opposite of Jackie in appearance. Her bone straight, shoulder length blond, pink-tipped hair, deep aqua eyes, tanned skin and 5 foot 3 inch height intensely contrasted with Jackie's naturally jet-black, mid-back hair, pale blue eyes, light skin and 5 foot 5. The two guys were much the same. They both had spiked blonde hair, tipped different colors each day, brown eyes, and 5 foot 10.

"Thanks," Jackie said, plugging in her amp. She plucked a few notes on her electric blue bass guitar.

"Isn't it great to be out of school?" said Benj lazily, stretching out in one of the lawn chairs. "Forever done with O.W.L.s."

"Yeah, almost makes you feel sorry for the Hogwarts peeps, still in school until July. That's really gotta suck," agreed Liz.

"That's why we go to good old Todt's Academy," said Jackie.

"Right here in the US of A," put in Joel.

That day's play list included a few New Found Glory titles, one Evanescence, two Weird Sisters, three originals, and a sad attempt at Nirvana. Jackie thought they were getting pretty good by now. They had been playing together for nearly six years now, having decided to start a band at the age of ten. They now called themselves Twice Lost Souls. At the end of their 'slam session', as Liz, the rare female drummer, had put it, Jackie trooped back inside to find her mother already home.

"Sounds horrible, dear," she said pleasantly, directing her wand at the fridge and waving out the milk and three eggs. "I like the hair."

Jackie glanced at what her mother was doing.

"What's up with the cake?"

"It's your brother's birthday tomorrow. You didn't forget, did you?" Her mother glanced dubiously up at her.

"Of course not. How could I," Jackie mumbled. Her stepbrother, Josh, had come to live with them following the death of his father, Jackie's stepfather. He was a year younger than Jackie, and despite the fact that they weren't really related, they treated one another as if they were real siblings, bickering included. She had, of course, completely forgotten about his birthday. "Is he going to be home for dinner?"

"Not tonight," Lisa replied, pointing her wand at the bowl and making the contents swirl together. "He's staying at Chad's, which is good, because I need to talk to you."

Jackie groaned. "It this about my hair?"

Lisa shook her head. "Completely off the subject. It's about something important."

Jackie took a deep breath and began to count on her fingers. "I'm not having sex, I don't do drugs, I don't drink, I'm not going to prison, I'm not in federal trouble, -"

"I know, dear. It's nothing like that." Her mother smiled, but then the smile faltered. "It- it's about your father."

Jackie was horrified. Her mother never talked about her father unless something was terribly wrong. Jackie didn't even remember his name, and frankly, she didn't care. Why should she care about some bum who had walked out on her before she was even born?

"What about him?"

"He wants to come back to see you," Lisa said slowly.

"Oh great. He picks now to come and see me for the first time? In the middle of summer when I don't have to go to school or for that matter do anything at all? Suck, why does he want to see me now? Why didn't he just stay here? Then he could have seen me so much that he'd probably get sick of me and then leave. Crap, this really is the circle of life." She flopped into a chair.

Her mother scowled at her. "Don't talk like that, Jackie. You don't know why your father left."

"I know that he walked out before I was born and we never saw him again. That's enough for me."

Lisa put down the spatula she had been using. "He didn't walk out on us, Jackie."

"What? But you said-"

"Forget what I said, okay? Just listen to me. Your father was convicted of a crime he didn't commit and was thrown to the dementors in Azkaban 14 years ago. Before then he had been forced to go into hiding for nearly two years."

"Azkaban? But isn't that in Britain?" Jackie was confused. Why not just throw him in prison here in the USA?

"Yes. Your father was a British citizen, so the Ministry thought it better to put him there."

"So what did he do? Here, wait. How about you just tell me the story, and I'll sit and listen." Jackie propped one foot up on another chair. Her mother sighed.

"Your father was born and raised in Britain, and we met there, at an Auror function. We stayed there for three years after we moved in together, living next door to our good friends, the Potters. This was during the days of You-Know-Who, and the Potters were forced into hiding, with your father as their Secret Keeper. But your father and Peter Pettigrew, another friend of the Potters, secretly switched, hoping that You-Know-Who would come after your father instead of the real Secret Keeper. He ran all around the country, leading the Death Eaters away from Lily and James, but little did we all know, Peter was a traitor. He handed You-Know-Who Lily and James. Now, a few months before you were born, Lily had a son. When You-Know-Who turned his wand on the boy, after killing his parents, the curse was rebounded and You-Know-Who lost his powers. You know that story."

"Everyone knows that story," Jackie said. "So that was Harry Potter."

Lisa nodded and continued. "Anyway, your father confronted Peter in London. Peter blamed him for everything for the entire street to hear. Before your father could curse him, he transfigured into a rat and blew the street apart, killing 12 other people. He escaped through the sewers. The Ministry blamed your father for the explosion and Peter's death and threw him into Azkaban without trial. But he escaped a couple years ago."

"Holy friggen crap! Is my father Sirius Black?" Jackie cried in disbelief. She remembered only a few years ago when he had escaped from Azkaban. Her mother, unlike the rest of the magical community, had seemed very relaxed about this, even relieved. Jackie now understood why.

"Now look here, Jackie," Lisa said seriously. "He left before he knew I was pregnant, so he just found out that he has a daughter last week."

"Surprise," Jackie muttered.

Her mother gave her a stern look.

"So when is he coming?" Jackie asked, twiddling a spoon in her fingers.

Her mother sighed. "I'm not sure. He has some business to take care of in Britain, but he'll be here as soon as he can. He's been doing some work for Dumbledore with Remus and-"

"Remus is in on this too?" Jackie asked in surprise. Remus Lupin was her godfather and the uncle she never had. He came to visit them at least two or three times a year, and he always brought the most extraordinary stuff.

"Well, yes. He and your father were close friends in school and after. He lived with us for a while when we lived in Godric's Hollow. He's been teaching at Hogwarts lately. He and your father have been a little occupied with looking after Harry."

"Why do they have to look after Potter?" Jackie asked. "I mean he's gotta be what, 15 or 16 by now. Crap, he can take care of himself."

"It's more complicated than that, Jackie," Lisa scolded. "I'm afraid that I couldn't explain it all to you."

"Why didn't you tell me all this before?"

Lisa hesitated. "Because we were afraid that the Death Eaters might come after you as a way to get to Sirius."

Jackie nodded slowly. Then a thought occurred. "Why isn't my last name Black, then?"

Her mother sighed again. "Well see, normally when people get sent to Azkaban, they don't come back, and we were never actually married. I guess I just decided to raise you as a Moran."

Jackie chuckled. "Plus I would have been put through a lot of torture for being Jack Black."

*~*~*

"Harry, you need to go to bed. It's nearly two o'clock in the morning!" Hermione's voice came from behind him.

Harry didn't reply. He just sat, staring into the fire, his chin in his hands. Hermione came and sat beside him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be back," she murmured. "Don't worry. He'll be back tomorrow just like he said. It'll be okay."

"He's going to get himself caught," Harry muttered. "They'll chuck him straight back into Azkaban."

"No he won't," Hermione said soothingly.

"What's he doing, anyhow?" Harry asked, almost bitterly. "What's he doing that he can't do from Grimmauld Place?"

"He said something about a telephone," said Hermione. "And we don't have one there."

"But who's he going to contact from a telephone? I mean who do we know who uses telephones? He can't be in touch with muggles, that wouldn't be like him." Harry was almost thinking out loud now.

"Oh, Harry, I don't know. But it's late. And we have O.W.L.s tomorrow..."

He looked exasperatedly at her. "Forget the tests for a minute, will you? This is Sirius we're talking about!"

"I know, but he's an adult, he can take care of himself!" Hermione cried in exasperation. "Go to bed!"

She grabbed his arm and attempted to drag him off of the couch. He gave in reluctantly, and trudged up the boys' staircase.

*~*~*

"So, your dad's an international criminal, huh?"

"Guess so," replied Jackie dully. Her friends seemed surprisingly interested in the fact that she was the daughter of a supposed murderer.

"Sweet."

"But he didn't really do it, right?" said Liz.

"Right, he was framed or something."

"So, do you get to go to England and hang with the Brits?" asked Benj. "That'd be sweet."

"Dude, that'd be totally sweet," agreed Joel, nodding fervently.

"I don't know." Jackie had already thought of this. "It would be cool to go over there."

"Crap, you're not going to have to go live over there are you?" said Liz, eyes widening.

"Hell, no!" said Jackie. "I'm staying right here." This too had already occurred to her. What if she did have to leave her friends? Would her mother make her do that? She hoped not.

"I'm so going to start calling you Jack Black," sniggered Joel.

"You think so?" said Jackie raising her pierced eyebrow. "Try it."

*~*~*

"You have a what?"

"A daughter," Sirius repeated, pacing around the Hogsmead cave. "A fifteen-year-old daughter."

"How is that possible?" Hermione asked confusedly. "You weren't married, were you?"

"No," Sirius replied, still pacing. "No, I wasn't, but I was engaged to Lisa Moran, an American Auror. She and I lived right next door to your parents, Harry, and from what Lisa said, she's only a few months younger that you. She was born after I went into hiding, I guess."

"That's who you were talking to on the phone then, your old fiancée," said Harry, nodding slowly.

Sirius nodded. "A lot of American wizards use telephones."

"So, where is she?" asked Ron.

"They live in a little town in Minnesota. When you lot get out of school and everybody is safe and sound where they should be, I'll go and see her." Sirius stopped pacing and plunked onto the ground. He exhaled heavily. "This is a lot to deal with."

"This daughter of yours, does she have a name?" said Harry.

"Yes, Jacquelyn. Jacquelyn Moran. She currently attends Todt's Academy in Boston."

"I've heard of Todt's," said Hermione. "It's got a very good reputation. One of the top schools in North America."

"It's a damn good school alright," agreed Sirius. "Lisa went there too."

"Are you going to bring her to stay at Grimmauld Place?" asked Harry. "Do we get to meet her?"

"Well, I suppose," Sirius shrugged. "If she wants to come over here she's welcome to it."

"Hey, if her last name was Black, we'd have ourselves a Jack Black," Ron quipped, grinning.