Rough Waters |Sirius Black

Chapter Three

Slumping against a wall in Diagon Alley, Nixie banged her head lightly against the brick wall as she sat down on the ground. Hours and hours she had spent trying to gather information on Sirius' whereabouts, but she had to be careful about how she did it. She couldn't bring attention for herself, especially if someone associated her with trying to help Sirius rather than help the Ministry bring him in.  However, she was coming up empty with answers, the last information she had managed to get in one of the pubs, led her to learn that Sirius for some reason left to Hogwarts.

She couldn't understand why he would be spotted near Hogwarts, until her thoughts went to young Harry. Guilt weighed heavy on Nixie as she thought of her godson, she hadn't seen him since he was barely a year old and now he was a teenager, finishing his third year of Hogwarts. Her thoughts went to Lily and James, and how she and Sirius had promised the couple to look over their son no matter what. She had failed to do that, making her the worst godmother in existence.

"Ugh, what am I doing?" she sighed tucked in the alley way between two buildings.

She closed her eyes and let out a frustrated growl before pushing herself up quickly.

"Sitting here isn't going to help, Nixie, get it together." she told herself. "But I can't go to Hogwarts..."

She frowned remembering the last thing she had said to Dumbledore and Remus face to face before she left to the water.

If she went to Hogwarts, she was sure she would find herself on the radar of the Ministry. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose before stomping her foot and clutching her wand in her other hand, incredibly thankful that no one decided to look in the alley way or they would have believed she had gone mad.

But perhaps over the years she had gone slightly mad herself.

Meri tapped her fingers against the counter in the kitchen looking out the back window at Henry's old garden that had perished in their absence.

"Oh Henry..it's time like this that Nixie and I need you more than ever. With this mess ...even I don't know what to believe anymore. I like to believe that Sirius is as innocent as Nixie believes, but with Peter's death and all the evidence pointing in his direction at the time...I don't find myself holding the same faith as Nixie does. But then again, as much as the boy reminded me of you, I certainly couldn't imagine you doing something like  that...so how could I picture him doing something like that? Ugh, I'm so lost and all....all I want is to hear your voice or at least your laugh."

She dropped her face into her hands for a moment until she heard the front door open. Immediately, the woman spun around to see Nixie walking in, a look of defeat clear on her face.

"Nixie...you're back..." Meri glanced around to see if Sirius was behind her but Nixie was alone.

"I didn't find him." Nixie told her, walking over and flopping down on the couch. "I..ugh...last someone heard, Sirius was at the Hogwarts..."

"Then why not go there?" Meri asked.

"I can't, Mum. You know, that would just raise suspicions, and it's not like I can blend in or hide in the lake. I'm all legs right now."

"My darling daughter, despite the fact that you are still beautiful, you don't look exactly the same as you did nearly thirteen years ago. You've grown and you may not be so recognizable at first...for a short time you could use that to your advantage."

Nixie shook her head. "Even so, once they figure it out..everyone's going to think that I'm aiding him and..."

"Well, isn't that true?" Meri questioned with a small smirk.

"Yes, but that's just going to bring trouble to us, and I don't want you getting into trouble, Mum."

"Oh don't you worry about me, I like to see some of those gits from the Ministry try to take me on. I may not have a wand, but the thing is, I don't need one to strike fear in the hearts of men." Meri said leaning over the back of the sofa.

A small grin spread across the younger woman's face as she leaned her head back and looked at her mother. But a few moments later, the smile faded.

"Wh..what if he doesn't want to see me, Mum?" Nixie asked her.

"What? Why in the world would you think that, Nixie?"

"I dunno, it just popped into my head. I mean, I didn't do much to help him all those years he was in Azkaban..."

"What could you have done, sweetheart? Azkaban in not a crib that a child can easily break out of...it's a maximum security prison for witches and wizards. And I can't believe you're sitting here before me and say you didn't do much to help him. You were the only one besides myself that defended his name  and I know you are willing to defend his name to the death. You tried to swim against the most dangerous of currents to get to him...don't sit here and downplay your efforts, Nixie. I'm sure wherever Sirius is right now, he's thinking of you...but for all we know, he could have already been here and seen that no one was home."

"I heard people say he's had multiple sightings at Hogwarts since his escape." Nixie said staring at the door. "Many believe he was probably going after Harry...goodness I can't even imagine what the boy looks like now, yet I'm supposed to sit here and believe that Sirius is going after him...to kill him. To finish what he started all those years ago...unbelievable."

"Wouldn't the Hogwarts school year be ending here shortly if it's not over yet?" Meri pointed out. " I've lost track of time but it's June and-"

A knock on the door brought the conversation between came to an end as they both stared at each other and then back to the door.

"Who do you reckon it is?" Meri whispered to Nixie.

Nixie held her wand up as she neared the door. 

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" 

Meri walked over and placed her hand over the knob of the door to pull it open while Nixie kept her wand raised and ready to strike.

She gave her mother a nod before Meri swung it open. Nixie's arm suddenly dropped as she saw the man on the other side of the door.

"Nixie?"