Banish Misfortune

Chapter 14:

Mama raised me on riddles and trances, fatback, channel cat, lily-white lies,
All wrapped up in a gimcrack fancy, I never met Papa; never asked why.
                                                                                      -- Dave Carter, "Crocodile Man"

After hours, the repair shop was a congenial place. Sirius teased the cat with a piece of string; Tamsin made the customary telephone calls to clients whose belongings were repaired. Nigel had taken apart a very old brass clock Maria had found somewhere, applied a Reparo charm to the broken spring, and watched in amusement as Maria offered to sell it to Pete.

"It'll make a wonderful birthday present for your sister-in-law; look at the engraving round the face. The glass cover is original. She'll love it. What about an even hundred pounds?"

Pete waved his arms expansively. "Fine; I'll take a dozen. Maria, love, I don't want to disappoint you, but I can't be buying hundred-pound birthday presents for people. I'm the junior member of this band!"

"Well, you must please yourself, I suppose, but you're seriously undermining my approval of you as a suitor for my daughter.  I mean to see she's well provided for.…" Maria softened this statement with a wink, and laughed as Tamsin's eyes widened in mock alarm over the telephone.

Pete  kissed the top of Tamsin's head, seriously undermining her concentration on the current client. "I was hoping she'd support me, actually. You know the joke: 'What do you call a musician without a girlfriend?'  You may as well know all this before things get any more involved.…"

Tamsin covered the mouthpiece of the telephone.  "'Homeless,'" she told her mother.

The large snowy owl landed on the windowsill and tapped with his beak; Sirius opened the window. "With any luck, this will be from Andie,"  he said, untying the note. "No, it's from Remus, but that's practically the same thing." He began to read aloud.

 

Hello Sirius,

We'll meet you at the Hut at 8:00 o'clock Friday morning, your time, unless we hear otherwise from you. You can guide us to wherever you're staying, or bring him along, whichever seems best to you. Andreas is taking my classes for a couple of days to let us visit. Then, he says, he expects a visit in return from you and your father. I've never seen Andie in such a state—she's even asked me what she should wear! There'll be no dealing with her the rest of the week. We'll bring along some of that Yule ale you were so fond of; anything else you'd like? I'm certainly looking forward to the story of how and where you found him!

Remus

There was a short silence, broken by Pete: "Any place called The Hut sounds too small for a big party; bring them here! They'll need to meet the whole family; there's Maria and Tamsin, who are practically kin, and there's me. They can have the spare room at our place."

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Andie and Remus hurried through the snow to the doorway of the Hut, where Sirius had just arrived. "Didn't he come with you?" Andie's face was pale, her eyes round and solemn.  She gripped Remus's hand tightly, like a child in strange territory, clinging to its mother. "Sirius, do you think he'll like me? How is he? Is he the same as he used to be?"

"He'll love you; he does love you. Losing you was one of the worst things that ever happened to him. He's fine now, though; and yes, he's very much as he used to be. Better. He left his job when I was arrested; that was hard for him too.  He's been living in Edinburgh since then, away from most of the wizarding world. He has a girlfriend; her name's Maria. He helped her bring up her two daughters. They're lovely people; they wanted me to bring you there so you could meet everyone. This morning, though, is just for us. We're going to his shop. Oh, and you'll be staying the next couple of nights with some good friends, the Armstrongs. They've been great."

Remus gave his friend a smile in greeting. "You amaze me," he said. "You've been here just a week and a half, and you've acquired an extended family and a circle of friends. Padfoot charm, nothing like it."

"Padfoot luck, more like. Ever since June, I've been in the lap of the gods." He pulled them close for a moment, his head bowed, resting his cheek briefly against Remus's forehead, then bending lower to kiss Andie's hair. The three of them stood quietly, fitting together like a completed puzzle, surrounded by swirling snow. "Are we ready, or is there anything else you'd like to know first?"

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They Apparated into Sirius's little room behind the shop, where the resident cat roused itself from his pillow, spoke to Sirius with that chirping mew that cats reserve for greeting friends, and strolled forward across the bed to accept pats. Sirius gave it a scratch behind the ears. "Hello there, moggie, has Nigel made it downstairs yet? Run up and tell him we're here, will you?" The cat jumped down purposefully, trotted out the door and up the stairs. They went into the shop, Andie and Remus interestedly taking note of the surrounding jumble of objects.

Andie stopped to examine a Muggle bicycle with a confusing number of gearwheels, its chain looped over a pedal. "I remember Dad fixing things, at home, but I never thought of him doing anything like this! Does he use Muggle tools and all, or does he fix things with Reparo charms?"

"Both, it seems; he's quite good," Sirius answered. "The people who come in here are mostly Muggles, but there are more than a few witches and wizards in as well. His door sign is charmed to mention magic only to certain people, really clever.  He gets a good bit of business breaking curses, but lots more from Muggles who need things repaired, or who've locked their keys in their cars." At Andie's confused look, Sirius began an explanation of how one needs a special key to unlock a car door or to make it move. "It's really clever, the things they come up with. I used to love messing about with motors and locks and things; I must have got that from him."

Footsteps on the stairs made them turn and look as Nigel appeared, the cat draped complacently over his shoulder. He stood uncertainly at the bottom of the stairs, watching them.

Andie spoke first, softly: "You look just the same; you haven't changed at all." She took a step towards her father.

"You've changed immensely: you're a beautiful young woman! Andie, you're just as I hoped you'd be…"  he laughed. "Where are those pigtails I used to pull?"

"I used a Severing charm on 'em the day we left, as short as I could get them. Mother was so furious, I can't tell you.… Dad.…" She impatiently wiped a hand across her eyes. "Damn, I swore I wasn't going to cry."

Nigel took two long, quick steps to her; his arms were around her in a moment, holding her, petting her hair. The cat jumped across to the worktable and industriously began bathing itself.

Sirius smiled at them, and turned to Remus. "There's a good breakfast place a couple of doors down; have you eaten? They'll know where we've gone.…"

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Pete had arrived late in the afternoon after his taping session, joining in the reunion party with a flurry of laughter, introductions, and talk. He sat on the smaller sofa in Maria's flat, surveying the group of people around him. Tamsin, at his side, was carrying on reminiscences of school days with Andie; apparently Andie had worked at her school for a few years. Andie was indeed very pretty, he decided, in a no-nonsense, athletic sort of way. She was obviously very happy, excited at being reunited with her father. She sat close to him, elbows on her knees, leaning forward to talk to Tam. Nigel's shop cat, with an eye to warmth, was squeezed between her and Nigel, purring loudly enough to be heard several feet away.

The other new face in the room would be her lover—the wolf.  Sirius's best friend, Remus. Pete studied him with interest as he sat off to the side in a straight-backed chair beside Maria's overstuffed one, sharing a joke with her. Remus was the smallest man in the room, slight in build; but unlike Sirius, he did not appear too thin for his frame. He was obviously enjoying himself, his remarkable green-gold eyes crinkling with laughter at something Maria had said. He didn't appear to be anyone out of the ordinary, Pete thought, not till you looked into those eyes.

What a week—or nearly a fortnight. It seemed ages ago that he'd tried to rescue the dog who had become Sirius. Too weird to be possible, but he'd given up being surprised. Sirius was the best company he'd ever known. Pete glanced at Sirius, caught his eye, grinned. He was clearly happy, there with his family. Sirius had been through a lot, what with being separated from his sister when he was a kid, then this war they'd been involved in, losing friends, watching people die—and being sent to prison. He seemed OK, though; they all did. Were they?

Pete realised that he'd experienced very few deaths in his family: his grandparents, that was all.  Suppose something happened to Jimmy and Liz, or his dad, or one of his other brothers—what would he do? What would happen to the girls? He imagined himself looking after the girls. Impossible; he couldn't picture life without Jimmy. He put an arm around Tamsin.

Wizards—you couldn't actually tell by looking that the people in this room were any different from anyone else, could you? Emotions: humour, sadness, fear—these were all exactly the same as you'd find in any group of people. The difference was mostly in little things: owls, flying, potions, wands. Things they didn't really understand: electricity, phones, buses. Ordinary city life. He remembered Sirius, just yesterday, spluttering with laughter at a 'Humped Zebra Crossing' sign on the street.

Somehow, being with these people caused him to appreciate not just their world, but his own, much more than he'd ever done. Suppose he and Tamsin stayed together: suppose they had children. She was a witch, very skilful, he understood. What would his life be like? How much could he explain to Jimmy? The only one he felt sure would understand, he thought with a grin, was Vee.

Dinner would be a Black production: Andie, Nigel, and Sirius had been shopping and proposed to make 'the world's best chicken curry.' Remus volunteered to head the tidying-up crew, but declared that if he found evidence of excessive utensil use, the cooks could wash up as well. "Either that," Maria amended, "or it had better be really good."

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That night, the walk back to the Armstrongs' was quiet. Andie stared at the ground as she walked, her hand in Remus's. Pete remembered walking this path with Sirius when they'd first met Nigel; he supposed this was just as complicated an evening for Andie as that night had been for Sirius. Another thought occurred to him. "By the way," he said, "my brother and his family know Sirius as Sam Barnes. He introduced himself to us that way; it was only a day or so later that I found out his real name."

Remus turned to him, smiling. "I'm grateful that he had that much sense. Sirius is supposed to be keeping a low profile; I expect he's told you about his situation?" His eyes grew thoughtful.  "Sirius is one of the cleverest, most powerful wizards I know; he's brilliant at a huge number of things—but he's almost impossible when it comes to thinking of his own safety. I'm afraid Dumbledore takes advantage of that little failing sometimes, sending him out on errands like this one. He knows Sirius will go, you see, and do well…." He shook his head, refusing to pursue that line of thought. "Anyway, yes; we'll remember to call him Sam. Thanks."

There was a light in the kitchen when they arrived at Pete's house. "Come on back; help us finish this wine," came Jimmy's voice, and so they did.

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"You may as well tell us," said Sirius. "We can help. What's the problem? Too much strangeness? I could go back to Pete's, if you like, and let you two stay at Nigel's tonight. Just don't sit there and stew all by yourself."

Andie had said very little since the night before. In the morning, she'd stayed in the spare bedroom, pleading a headache, letting Remus do the socialising with Pete and his family. When Sirius came to take them back to Nigel's, she'd asked to stop for tea before going back. Now, she took the plastic spoon, filled it with sugar and carefully laid it on the surface of her tea, letting the sugar touch the liquid, dissolve slowly and dribble over the side, watching it intently, refusing to look at her Pack. "No, it's too stupid. I'm sorry to be in such a funk. I'll be better when we get back to—Nigel's."

"That won't do; I'm not taking you anywhere in this state. What happened, or didn't happen? Remus? Was everything OK at Pete's?" Remus shrugged, but said nothing.

Andie looked up to face them, her voice just slightly unsteady. "All right, then; you may as well know how silly I am.… There's a question I keep wanting to ask him, but I don't dare, and besides, I would never want to hurt him. I love him; I'm so glad to see him I can't tell you. And I know he loves me. But somewhere in my head is a ten-year-old Andie, and she's trying to make me ask him: 'What did I do wrong? Why did you let her take me?' …there. You see? Stupid, isn't it."

Remus put out his hand; she moved her chair close alongside his, grasped his hand in both of hers and leaned her head against his shoulder. "We all have those questions in us," he said quietly. "They're useless; they're only there to torture us. I imagine Nigel's would be something like 'How could I ever have let her take Andie?'

"You know, I remember when the whole thing happened; Sirius stayed with my mother and me at the end of that summer, while it all played out at the Ministry. Nigel fought for you, but he didn't have a chance. Part-human, dangerous—she said he was dangerous, and that he wouldn't discipline you properly. They wouldn't even allow him visiting rights. But he kept on doing his job, asking for a review after every year, doing what he needed to do." His eyes were sad as he held her hands.

"If we have to be honest about it," put in Sirius, "you should think about why she wanted to leave in the first place. It wasn't so much Dad—she knew who and what he was, when they were married. And it certainly wasn't you. I was the one who scared her. The things I did, the things I got caught doing—I can't remember a time when I wasn't in some trouble or other. She said she couldn't think of enough things to tell me not to do; I'd always come up with something she hadn't thought of. If I'd had the sense to be sort of quieter…." His voice was light, humorous. Only the slight tension around his mouth, and his gaze firmly fixed on the tabletop, hinted at any distress.

Remus looked at him with exasperation. "And the useless question in your head seems to be, 'Why wasn't I perfect?' Honestly, as a reasonably intelligent person, you should know better. Padfoot, my dear old idiot, all kids do things that scare their parents. Granted, you were never what anyone could call quiet. You were wild, OK; full of harebrained ideas; a head like a toy shop, as they say. But you always had more fun than anyone else; you made more fun. When we met, at school, you were the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.  I thought you were brilliant. I still do. I can't imagine why your mother didn't think so." He gave Sirius a lopsided, rueful smile.

"It wasn't your fault they separated; it wasn't Andie's fault. Dammit, kids always think it's their fault when they're abandoned, or abused; I thought you knew that. Other kids did worse things—me, for example. I had to be locked up once a month, for heaven's sake. But my parents stayed together. They kept me, and loved me."

Remus looked from Sirius to Andie, growling affectionately at them: reassuring and steadying his Pack. "We'll go back to Nigel's, and we'll damn well have a good time, and you two will kindly remember that."

He touched his lips gently to Andie's hair, searching for her ear to whisper into.  "And tomorrow, my sweet, you're going to come down for breakfast at Pete's and help me deal with the little girls; I never answered so many questions before, in such a short time." Remus laughed. "All I can say is, Jimmy's the bravest man I ever met; those little witches take no prisoners. The oldest one gave him a very stern lecture this morning, about eating so much fried food. She said she was going to hide his frying pan unless he agreed to have porridge with her. And Lizzie was backing her up!"

They laughed, paid the bill, left the three full cups on the table and continued up the hill. Andie seemed at ease and secure once again; she entered into a lively discussion with Remus over what might be sold in the strange Muggle shops they passed. A crowd of boys in their early teens passed, all wearing identical rugby shirts, not a jacket among them, sharing some raucous joke, yelling with laughter. Sirius watched them for a moment, thinking of Harry: did Harry think it was his fault that Sirius stayed away from him? "Kids always think it's their fault.…" He would write to Harry as soon as Remus and Andie left on Sunday.