Pawns & Players - Sirius Black

-44-

Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words  - Rumi

"What do we have here" She wiped the dust off of the book's cover as she jumped to get down from the high shelf to the ground, walking up to the wooden table in front of her.

"Rook to e4" And the piece walked up to the square under the boy's nose, hunched on the board, holding his head with a bothered expression, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

"Rook to a8" She didn't even turn around to face him as she opened the book she was holding, noticing the photo that fell out of it.

Evan's eyes were locked on the piece as he let out with a steady yet hesitant voice "Bishop to e5"

"Rook to h5" The girl answered swiftly, focusing on the old photo she held, cleaning in lightly and lifting it to see it under the light. "Who do you think they are ?"

"Wait a second I can get out of this" He narrowed his eyes nervously, still sitting before the board while she was a few steps away from him, near the tall bookshelves.

"You can't, that's mate in three no matter what" Moving towards the boy and moving the next pieces in his place to prove a point she lifted her head to look at him. "So, the photo ?"

The boy lifted himself off the table, chuckling at her while shaking the girl standing a proud grin's hand in defeat. "Photo please ?"

She handed him the black and white picture that surprisingly didn't move at all and the faces behind the blurry paper were nearly unidentifiable. 

"I know this place" The dark blonde boy pointed at a sign behind the posing group. "This is the muggle restaurant at Risinghill" Smiling enthusiastically, he was still trying to recognize more on the picture.

"Is that my mother, smiling in a-" She lifted her face with an unbelieving laugh to lock hers with the green eyes facing her.

"Muggle restaurant" He completed her recognizing what she was pointing at. Her mother, with a dark-skinned boy holding her between his arms. Just next to them on the booth was another couple, looking slightly older than the other people around, mostly their age, some older and some younger, smiling brightly at the camera. The details were hard to see as even the colours were hardly distinguishable but she knew exactly who that couple was.

"I went there before, the pizzas are exceptional. If you want we can go ?"

"Now you've got my attention Rosier. How are we getting out of this hell hole ?"

"Well, if we don't use magic at all and be back before-" He hummed, checking his watch before continuing. "-an hour or so, we actually can go"

"What are we waiting for then ? Come on"

-

"This is it. I recognize that door" The girl lifted her head, facing the diner surrounded by glass with various record players and muggle car pieces around the red counter.

Just as Evan started walking towards the entrance, she spotted the booth. The same booth her mother was smiling on all those years ago. Mr and Mrs Potter filling the same places they did all those years ago, yet the two people replacing her mum and the unknown guy were both hunched over their pizzas, laughing loudly.

"Is that James and Sirius ?" The boy remarked while being pulled behind the wall while she was placing a finger on his lips to ask him to lower his voice so they wouldn't be seen.

"Yes" Her short dark hair fell to her eyes, not able to cover the idiotic smile spread around her face at the image in front of her. He was safe, and happy. For a second that was all that mattered.

"Are you going to go up to them or ?" He questioned, looking genuinely happy, seeing how brightly she was smiling.

"Not with you, they will think we-" Her eyes were still locked on the booth the four were laughing on, as if she couldn't take her eyes off of it. So much so that even observing from afar brought her more happiness than anything she had done with him.

"Yeah of course I get it" Cracking a smile, he waited for her to pull her eyes away from them, checking the photo she held a few times. "Do you know who the other ones are there, or that one next to yours ?" His finger pointed at the dark-skinned boy, sitting next to her mother smiling with all his teeth.

"I have absolutely no idea" She smiled, "but I know exactly who the other two are". Looking up, pointing to the couple sitting in the red booth with her eyes.

"Don't want to crash any of your theories but they look much older than your mum" 

"Mine was born during the early 20s, so they both are definitely older than her but she also simply used more anti-ageing potion than them" She chuckled, swallowing a larger truth.

"But why did they have you so late then. I always thought purebloods would get married and have children early, like before even turning twenty to purify the bloodline" He whispered back, still hiding behind the thin wall.

"They did get married early. Really early at that, which makes it harder to place the date of this photo. But it's also really rare that purebloods have only children, and I'm simply here because my parents didn't want children, or even a child. They were asked for a heir and they gave them that, not a daughter. And since they couldn't get rid of the fact they would have me eventually, they just pushed the date they would have to shag their cousin" She explained quickly, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't think that, I'm sure they love you-" He furrowed his brows sympathetically, trying to comfort her while she was laughing hysterically.

"Oh I'm not thinking anything, that was my favourite family story as a child that mother dearest would tell me at dinner" She ended with a smirk, pulling Evan's arm discreetly to get behind the diner's walls. "Besides she proved that when she disappeared for nearly a year when I was just a fucking baby" She thought out loud with a casual voice. So casual that he wouldn't notice he was the only person she had ever told that. So much so that she wouldn't question why he was the only person she had ever told that. "Come on we can make pizza at home"