The Empath

Chapter 4: She's My Daughter!

Dobby the house elf walked in the room, and Sirius put his anger aside. Harry could see that it was only for Lily's sake though, because once he heard the name Severus, he had that look in his eyes. The same look that he had when he and Snape got into that fight in the kitchen last year. The look like he wanted to kill Snape, but neither of them said anything because they didn't want to upset Lily. Dobby however saw that Lily was awake and ran to her side gleefully.

"Is Miss Lily feeling better?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm feeling much better. Thank you, Dobby," she told him.

"Dobby was worried about Miss Lily. As was Harry Potter and Mr. Black. They slept in here all night Miss. Well, Harry Potter fell asleep, Miss, but Mr. Black was too worried to sleep. He sat next to you and cried all night, not sleeping a wink, Miss Lily," Dobby told her in a squeaky concerned voice.

"Well I'm feeling all right now Dobby," she reassured him.

"Dobby did as you asked, Miss. When you and Harry Potter left, I waited until they came upstairs and asked Dobby where Harry Potter was, Miss. Mr. Lupin asked Dobby where Harry Potter was. Dobby looked up at Mr. Lupin and said, 'Harry Potter went to help Miss Lily'. Miss Tonks asked who Miss Lily was, and Dobby said 'Miss Lily is Mr. Black's daughter.' Mr. Lupin says, 'Sirius Black?' And Dobby says to him, 'Yes sir, Sirius Black'. Mr. Lupin looked angry, yes he did, and he said to Dobby, 'Dobby, Sirius Black doesn't have a daughter.' Dobby says to him, 'Oh yes he does. Miss Lily is Mr. Black and Miss. Hannah's daughter. I helped Quincy deliver her when she was born, and Dobby has visited her ever since.' And - and -" Dobby stopped, his eyes filling up with tears.

"And what Dobby? What happened?" Lily asked him softly, gesturing him to sit on her lap, so he climbed up on the bed, sat on her lap, and finished telling her what had happened.

"And Miss. Tonks fell to the floor crying. There was nothing Dobby could say to make her stop. Mr. Lupin started to cry too. Mr. Lupin helped Miss. Tonks up and held her in his arms, and the more he tried to comfort her, the more he started to cry. Mr. Moody yelled at Dobby and he said, 'What are you going on about elf? Where did they go?' He scared Dobby, Miss, but Dobby looked him right in the eye, and Dobby said, 'They went to save Mr. Back.' And he yelled at Dobby again Miss, he said, 'Sirius Black is dead.' And Dobby says to him, 'No, Miss Lily found him, and she needed Harry Potter's help to get him from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' Dobby shuddered. Mr. Moody says to Dobby, 'Where did they go elf?" And Dobby says, "To a secret place no one knows of.' I told him that Miss Lily used Harry Potter's owl to send a letter to Dumbledore, telling him to meet her at Black Manor at 12 Grimmauld Place. And Dobby says, 'Miss. Lily asked Dobby to bring Harry Potter's things there and wait for them.' Mr. Moody was not happy with Dobby," Dobby shuddered at the thought. "But Dobby did as Miss Lily told him, and when Dobby got to Black Manor he told Dumbledore too," Dobby looked up at her proud of his accomplishment, and Lily smiled down at him.

"Very good Dobby," she told approvingly, and he raised his head proudly.

"Dobby was quite the hero. He came into the cave and helped me get you and Sirius out. I couldn't have done it without him," Harry informed her.

"Is that so Dobby?" Lily said smiling at the small house elf.

"Dobby was worried Miss, so he went looking for Miss Lily to see if he could help. Miss Lily isn't mad at Dobby, is she?" Dobby asked hesitantly.

"Of course not, why would I be? You did everything I asked of you, and you saved my life. I'm very, very pleased with you Dobby," she told him, and Dobby flapped his ears in delight.

"Miss Lily must eat. Mrs. Weasley is making Miss Lily some food. Miss Lily must eat so that she can regain her strength," Dobby told her as Mrs. Weasley walked in the room with a food tray.

"Good morning dear, I do hope I'm not disturbing anything," Mrs. Weasley said looking at Sirius.

"No Molly, you're not disturbing anything. I already talked to Lily about her mother," Sirius assured her knowingly.

"Yes, your mother was a wonderful woman who loved your father very much," she told Lily as she set the tray on Lily's bed. "When we all saw Sirius after he escaped Azkaban, he had this look in his eyes, an empty incomplete look. My husband told me that Azkaban did it to him, and I told him no, that he had that look after he lost his Hannah," she stopped herself. "I'm sorry Sirius," she told him sympathetically as he put his hand up.

"It's all right Molly."

"Well, anyway, it's good to know that look's gone. I think you're just what your father needed Lily. You look so much like your mother." She hugged Lily and turned to Sirius, "It's good to have you back Sirius."

"Thank you Molly."

"Sirius, when you're ready, I will make your breakfast. Well, I must be off. Dobby make sure she eats that, will you?" Mrs. Weasley asked Dobby.

"Yes Ma'am every bite," Dobby reassured her, and Mrs. Weasley left the room.

After Lily was done eating, Sirius turned to her. "Lily, you need to get some rest. Will you be all right without me?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," she told him.

"Dobby will you stay here with Lily and make sure she rests?" Sirius asked Dobby and he nodded as Sirius turned to Harry. "Why don't you come with me and get something to eat?"

"Okay, I hope you feel better, Lily," Harry told her and walked out of the room following Sirius.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" Sirius asked Harry as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah," Harry said with a grin on his face, forgetting that he was talking to Lily's father and not just his own godfather.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you for looking. Her mother was just as breathtaking. Harry?" Sirius paused. "I know there must be a million things running through your mind right now, but lets just eat and we can talk later all right?"

"All right," Harry said as they started to walk again.

He was glad to have his Godfather back. He always seemed to know what he was thinking and feeling. They walked down most of the stairs when Sirius paused and started to listen. Harry looked at him questionably.

"Sirius, what is it?"

"Harry, do you have your wand with you?" Sirius asked urgently.

"Yes, of course. Why?" he questioned him.

"Let me see it," he commanded.

Harry didn't question his godfather; he just gave him his wand. Sirius went down the rest of the stairs and down to the kitchen with Harry trailing him.

Sirius opened the kitchen door furiously; everyone was in there, but Sirius didn't pay any attention. With Harry's wand ready, he yelled "Flistagnous", and Snape, who had been standing at the table talking to Dumbledore, was slammed into to wall and stuck a few feet above the grown, unable to move.

"YOU!" Sirius yelled.

"Sirius, I can explain," Snape yelled hanging from the wall in pain.

"Explain what? Explain how while I was in Azkaban, you were raising my daughter? Why were you in such a hurry for the Dementor's to kill me? Was it really about a schoolboy grudge? Explain to me, when I escaped Azkaban and the Order came here to Black Manor, why you still didn't tell me that my daughter was alive? You evil, conniving bustard, YOU CAME INTO MY HOUSE AND LIED TO MY FACE!" Sirius was getting louder, and the louder he got, the more tears ran down his face.

He lowered Harry's wand and let Snape down. "You knew that I was still looking for Hannah and our child. That's why Remus was gone so much and didn't just stay here like the Weasley's. He was out looking for her because I couldn't. And you - you knew and said nothing. You came into my house, helped the Order, and taunted me because I couldn't leave the manor, and then you went home and raised MY DAUGHTER!" Sirius yelled. "Dumbledore's trust in you is the only thing that has kept me from killing you so far, but if you don't start TALKING RIGHT NOW - AND TELL ME EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED, I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!" Sirius stopped yelling to let Snape talk.

Snape looked him in the eye and began to tell him what had happened.

"Devin did kidnap her. I didn't find out until after Voldemort had killed Lily and James. You weren't the only one looking for her! After Voldemort lost power, Devin came to me in fear that everyone would find out that he was a Death Eater, and he would be sent to Azkaban. He told me about Lily. Crabbe and Goyle suspected that if he was caught, he would talk, and possibly tell the Ministry everything, so they killed him. When I found out, I went to his house before the Ministry and found Lily. Knowing you were in Azkaban, I took her and brought her here to your mother. When your mother died, I raised her in France. I didn't want her to have to grow up here; with everyone knowing her father and that he was in Azkaban. Even you can understand that," he spat at Sirius.

"Well than I must thank you, mustn't I?" Sirius told Snape, his voice suddenly softening as if he was coming to his senses. "Everything you've done for me, but you still haven't answered one of my questions, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT HER?" Sirius yelled, making everyone in the room jump at his sudden change in tone.

"She found out that you were alive, but I didn't want you to hurt her, so I kept her away from you and didn't tell you about her."

"HURT HER? Why the hell would I hurt my own daughter? No, that's not the real reason and we both know it!" He paused and took a deep breath, his body raging in anger. "I'll tell you why you didn't tell me about her, because you loved Hannah. You loved Hannah when we went to Hogwarts, but she didn't love you, she LOVED ME!! She was still nice to you, she was the only one who was, but we never did see the day when Hannah was ever mean to anyone. She stood up for Voldemort for crying out loud, 'But Sirius it's not his fault. His mother died when he was born, if his father wouldn't have sent him to that muggle orphanage, he would have had a proper upbringing and would have been fine.' Hannah was the most wonderful person in the world. She was nice to everyone. She didn't love you, but you could never accept that. When you found Lily, you wanted her for yourself. You wanted to raise her as if she was your daughter."

"That's not true!" Snape shot at Sirius.

"IT IS TRUE!!! It is. If it wasn't why didn't you tell anyone that you found her?" Sirius questioned him.

"Because I brought her straight here. Your mother wanted to raise her, but she had disowned you as her son and didn't want anyone to know that you had a daughter. When she died, there was too much that had gone untold, it was to late to tell everyone, and I didn't want her to have to go through that. But you're right I did love Hannah, which is why I wanted to protect her daughter."

"What about Hannah?" Sirius asked.

"I still haven't found her," Snape told him. At this Sirius fell to his knees and put his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect Hannah, but that's why I was so insistent to protect Lily," Snape told Sirius who looked up at him.

"They're not for you to protect, Hannah was never yours to protect. I surrendered my life to protect her. It was my job to protect her!! I'm the one who failed. You have nothing to do with any of it," Sirius said breathlessly, overcome with grief. "I'm the one who let her down. I'm the one who let Devin take her. If she's dead, it's my fault. I promised her that I would protect her, forever, and I - I failed her," Sirius put his face back in his hands and started to weep uncontrollably.

Snape walked passed him to leave. Just as he got to the door, he stopped, and without turning around, he said, "Tell Lily that I'll be back later to see her. I trust she'll want to stay here with you, and that's all right with me, but please let me visit her, I did raise her for the last TEN YEARS. And she needs to work out her schooling. Beauxbatons starts earlier than Hogwarts, and you'll need to contact them soon should you want to transfer her. I'll bring her things here when I come to see her," and at that he continued to walk out the door and leave the house.

Sirius was still weeping as Remus came and knelt down with him, putting his arm around his friend. He cried with him. "I have to find her, Remus. I have to know if she alive," Sirius cried.

Harry didn't know what to do. Should he go over to his godfather and kneel down next to him like Lupin? Is this a thing of the past that he should stay out of? He just stood there vulnerably staring at his godfather. Almost everyone in the room was in tears; the ones who weren't were Fred, George, and Ron. Everyone felt just as vulnerable as Harry was feeling.

Tonks was crying just as bad as Sirius was, with Hermione and Ginny in her arms crying and trying to console her.

Bill and Charley were sitting next to each other tearfully; concentrating on a spot on the table so hard Harry thought they were trying to burn a hole through it.

Mr. Weasley was holding Mrs. Weasley, both were crying.

Even Dumbledore had tears in his eyes as he motioned to Mrs. Weasley. She understood what he wanted without him having to say a word. She got up and went over to Sirius and Remus who hadn't stopped crying.

"Remus, Sirius can go and sleep in the boy's room. Why don't you bring him up there so that he can rest?"

Remus nodded and started to get up.

"Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley called. Mr. Weasley jumped up and walked over to them to help Remus get Sirius upstairs.

"I know it's difficult, but do try to finish your breakfast children. Come on Harry," Mrs. Weasley motioned for Harry to sit. Harry shook his head and started to turn around.

"Harry dear, you need to eat! Sirius is going to need you soon. The full moon is in a few days. Remus is going to have to leave, and Sirius is going to need you to be there for him."

Harry nodded and took his seat next to Ron.

"You missed your birthday party mate; I guess getting Sirius back was better though," said Ron in attempt to lighten the mood. Harry looked at him questioningly.

"What birthday party?"

"Your birthday party," answered George.

"Who's did you think?" said Fred with a grin on his face.

"We were going to throw you a surprise birthday party. That's why Lupin went and got you early," Hermione informed him while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I had no idea," Harry told her.

"That's why it was a surprise party," Ron said sarcastically. "It was Lupin's idea."

"Well, we can still have the party once everything settles down a bit," Mrs. Weasley told them as she sat down next to Ginny. "It might just be the thing we need to cheer everyone up."

"Only this time it won't be a surprise," Ginny added.

They all finished their breakfast as Lupin came in.

"I trust they spoiled the surprise did they?" he asked Harry, who nodded. "Well I talked to Lily, and we think that she can get Sirius ready for a party tonight,"

"Lupin really, that's all right. I don't need a birthday party. I've never had one, and I've been just fine," Harry said trying to dismiss the idea.

"So Hermione and Ron tell me. Well Harry, I think that your father would be ashamed of me, if I, being one of his best friends, didn't make sure that you, his son, had a sixteenth birthday party," Lupin replied stubbornly.

"Well I think that's just what we need at a time like this. I'll start getting everything ready," Mrs. Weasley said as she hurried into the other room.

~ ~ ~

Lily lightly knocked on the door. "Come in," she heard Sirius say. She walked in, closed the door, and went up to his bed where he was lying, deep in thought.

"I thought that I could - maybe - talk to you? If that is all right. If it's not, than I can leave - " Sirius put up his hand to stop her.

"It's quite all right," he gestured for her to sit down.

She sat down on the bed next to him, looked up at him, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Come here," Sirius said softly opening his arms to her.

She hugged him and pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I was wondering if I could um - well, live here with you?"

A smile came across his face.

"Of course you can live here with me. I wouldn't have it any other way. We have a lot to catch up on," he told her.

"There is one thing though," she said wearily.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Uncle Severus, I mean, I've always gotten the impression that the two of you didn't get along, but he raised me, and I love him dearly. I talked with Remus, and he told me everything. What Uncle Severus did was wrong, but I can't be mad at him for it."

"You really are your mother's daughter," Sirius laughed. "She couldn't be mad at anyone either, though she did do pretty well with me when the time called for it. I was the only one who could get her all worked up. I only did it for fun, and if I recall correctly, she only got worked up for fun. She enjoyed yelling at me, maybe a little too much. You look a lot like her. You really do."

"So everyone keeps telling me," she said.

"You also look like me you know," he said proudly. "You have my hair."

Lily took her hand and swept it through his greasy, dirty, matted hair. "I hope not," she told him, and they both laughed. "I have another question."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Is it all right if I call you Dad?" Tears weld up in Sirius' eyes as she asked this; his face gleamed with joy.

"Yes, you can call me Dad, and whatever else you like," he told her.

She smiled at him. "Now," Sirius said urgently. "Severus and I will have to put our differences aside. This is the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, so I'm sure you'll see him often, but what we must talk about now is your schooling,"

"I've already thought about that," she informed him.

"Really, have you?" he asked afraid that he already knew what was coming.

"Yes, I've already taken my O. W. L.'s, so there's no need for me to go back," she told him.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"You have two more years of school left you have to finish!" he told her.

She frowned stubbornly as Lupin walked into the room.

"I don't need anymore schooling, my O. W. L.'s are enough," she told him.

"Well Sirius, I would have to say that she not only has your hair, but your strong will," Lupin told Sirius, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. Lily turned back to Sirius.

"Dad, I've just met you, I don't want to leave you now," she said wearily.

"We will get to know each other in time, but you also have to go to school. You're mother would kill me if I didn't do what was best for you," he told her as she sighed and looked down at the ground. "I only want the best for you; you can understand that. Can't you? Just because you go to school doesn't mean your any less my daughter."

"All right," she looked up at him and smiled.

"I understand you went to Beauxbatons?" She nodded. "Now, do you want to continue to go there or transfer to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked her.

"I would like to go to Hogwarts. It would be nice to not feel like I'm being hidden anymore, and to go to the school you and mother went to," she told him excitedly. Then she looked back down at the floor, "But my O. W. L.'s really are enough."

He looked at her and smiled.

"You're worried about the money aren't you?" he asked her.

"Well, Uncle Severus always paid for my school things, and since I'd be living here with you than, it wouldn't be right asking him," she told him still looking down at the floor.

"Remus, has anything change since I've been gone? Do I still own the manor and all of my other assets?" he asked Lupin.

"No one knew where you were, let alone if you were alive or not, so, yes to answer your question," Lupin said with a smile.

"Well than, Lily you have nothing to worry about. My family-" he paused and cleared his throat, "Excuse me, our family, was quite wealthy and powerful at one time. Though the power is gone, the wealth is not. If everything's the same as when I left, then I should have plenty of money to send you to school with the finest things," he told her.

"Well, I don't need the finest things, but I will go to school," she said beaming up at him.

"Well now than that's settled. Did you tell him, Lily?" Lupin asked her.

"No, I haven't gotten to it yet. Do you want to tell him?" she asked Lupin.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell him?" he asked.

"I'm sure," she answered.

"One of you better tell me what's going on," Sirius said slightly annoyed.

"All right I'll tell you," Lupin said turning to him. "We were picking Harry up to bring him here for his sixteenth birthday party when Lily got there and took him with her. We were thinking that if you were up to it, we could celebrate tonight. You'd have to get cleaned up of course," Lupin said looking at how filthy Sirius was because he had still not bathed, shaved, or cut his hair since he'd been back.

"I think you're right," Sirius said as they all started to laugh. "I'll need a present for Harry as well."

"I'm sure he'll understand if you don't get him anything," Lupin told him.

"Yes, but even though it's the spur of the moment, I think I have just the thing," he said getting lost deep in thought.

"Well, we'll leave you to it then. I'll see you at the partym, Dad," Lily smiled at him, and he smiled back at her.

She got up, gave him a hug, and her and Lupin walked out of the room.