Briar watched him with curiosity as he shuffled closer. He stumbled when he neared her but managed to steady himself before he fell. He slightly blushed and stuck out his hand with the dandelion in it. He murmured, "For you."
She felt something odd...
Briar took a deep breath as she met up with Potter, Granger, and the Weasleys after the train ride to London for Christmas break. Briar had very vaguely and forcefully explained to Professor McGonagall that she needed to go with Potter for Christmas, and that it must not get back to her father if McGonagall wanted to keep Briar safe.
McGonagall had been flabbergasted by these comments and tried to ask Briar questions, but Briar refused to answer them and made McGonagall promise these things. McGonagall did, and then Briar left. Her bags were already packed for her trip to the order, and her father was none the wiser, just believing that his daughter was spending Christmas at school again to delve deeper into her studies.
When Briar stepped up to their group outside the train station, she noticed the way Potter had been shushing the others as she approached. They must have been talking about her.
She stepped up to them and gave them a tight-lipped smile and questioned, "Uh, are we all here?"
Ron Weasley slowly turned to give Potter an incredulous look, but Ginny Weasley shot Ron an expression that told him to buzz off. Briar decided that she would like Ginny after that.
Potter finally nodded in response to Briar's question, and they all made their way to 12 Grimmauld Place. Briar blinked in surprise and jolted when the building began to move apart and revealed another apartment hidden between.
As the building moved apart, she noticed the way the Weasley twins glanced at each other with mischief dancing in the eyes of one and a hint of concern flashing in the eyes of the other. Briar turned a stony gaze towards the two of them. She had heard of the older boys' pranks and mischief, and she wanted no part of that during her stay here.
The twin who had seemed slightly concerned earlier widened his eyes at her expression and looked to the other with an expression that seemed to say, "See?"
The other twin looked at her then with narrowed, speculative eyes as if he was trying to decide what would happen to them if they did prank her.
She hoped that they had heard of her reputation as well, so that they knew that their behavior wouldn't be brushed off by the raven-haired Slytherin.
The second twin finally looked at the other while tugging his bottom lip in between his teeth. It was a sign of defeat if Briar had ever seen one.
A small smile tugged on the corners of her lips as she sauntered past the concerned twins and towards the open door of the apartment. She examined the dirty exterior of the building as she climbed the steps that led up to the door. She knew that her father would throw a fit if he had to live in a place like this, and she silently wondered if her mother had ever been here.
As soon as Briar stepped inside the apartment, she felt an odd calm wash over her. She felt her stiff shoulders unravel slightly as she was washed in the pleasant warmth of the home's heating. The home was certainly creepy and slightly grotesque in its décor, yet Briar felt oddly comfortable and safe within its walls.
The group all hurried upstairs to their bedrooms presumably, but Briar tiptoed into a room on the side. It was an oddly large room for such a seemingly small home, but Briar's eyes were instantly drawn to the grand piano sitting in the middle of the room.
She gently plopped her solitary suitcase on the dusty floor just inside the door frame, and she made several cautious steps towards the piano. She grinned when she saw that the piano bench didn't look dusty. It must have been used recently.
Briar took a seat and flipped up the fallboard to look at the shiny white keys. She lightly stroked them with a proud look in her eyes. Someone was taking good care of the piano, and this brought a smile onto her face.
She slowly surveyed the empty room to ensure that she was truly alone before she positioned her hands on the keys and took a deep breath, her fingers finding their rhythm to play her favorite song.
Her mother loved to play the piano, something her parents had forced her to learn as a girl, and so she taught Briar to play the piano for the creation of beauty and art rather than as a requirement. Playing the piano always made Briar feel deeply connected to her mother, and Briar felt more at ease as her hands glided over the piano to play the song her mother made for her. It was their private joy to play the song with one another when Briar's father was out during the day, and Briar felt her eyes flutter closed at the soothing memories.
She felt as though she were sitting next to her mother now. Briar would admire her mother's long, shiny blonde hair that fell over her shoulder, and her gaze would follow her mother's graceful fingers as she created music that livened up their grim house that often felt dreary and cold. Briar wished she looked more like her mother with her beautiful blonde hair, but Briar had her mother's eyes, and none of her father's cruel features, and for that, she was grateful.
She wanted to look nothing like her father, and as far as she could tell, she didn't look like him one bit.
Briar was sighing as she reached the beautiful reprise at the end of the song when she heard footsteps approaching and a voice calling, "Thorn? Thorn! Where are you?"
Her fingers came to a sudden stop, hovering above the keys as she glanced to the side to see an unfamiliar man skidding to a halt in the doorway. Briar rose unsteadily and folded her hands in front of her as she murmured, "My apologies, I didn't mean to disturb anyone. I just wanted to play the piano."
The man was staring at her with a gaping mouth and a faraway look in his eyes. He had long, black hair and a stony expression in his eyes that Briar recognized all too well. She knew that this man had seen truly horrible things in his life. Then, she recognized him.
Sirius Black. He was the prisoner who escaped Azkaban during her third year at Hogwarts. He was believed to be a dangerous criminal, but Potter helped him escape at the end of the year.
Looking into his sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, Briar understood why. A man as shattered as him couldn't have done the things they had accused him of. She was certain of it.
His left eye blinked a few times before he shakily breathed out and scanned her face.
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, feeling like this was a big moment but not sure why. She hesitantly questioned, "Did you call me a thorn?"
Sirius opened his mouth to explain right as Professor Lupin's tall frame popped up behind him. He sighed, "Sirius, let's wait to have this conversation until after dinner. We can't spoil the food Molly has been preparing all day, can we?"
Briar and Sirius just stared at one another, realization settling on both of their faces as they scanned one another's features.
Sirius breathed, "You're Thorn's daughter," at the same time that Briar gasped, "You were her soulmate."
They wore matching expressions of shock as they took one another in, their worlds colliding for the first time in a horrible bit of irony.
The person they both wanted back so desperately was gone, and all they were left with was each other.
———
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