Chapter Text
Remus arrived at Crowberry Lodge with a deafening pop. His simmering anger came out in his purposeful steps across the gravel and stone as he approached and knocked on the door with a more heft to his fist than he would have otherwise. He realized arriving and demanding Arcturus’s presence without notice was likely incredibly rude, but this was urgent.
If they knew Sirius was quite literally incapable of siring a child thanks to his sterilization, this meant they manipulated not only him but his father as well.
Was there another Black family member that was her father? Is that why Arcturus was okay with claiming Sirius was her father? Was the fact she was born out of wedlock why Arcturus claimed Sirius was his child? Or perhaps she was the product of coercion? Perhaps Arcturus himself was her father and needed someone to look after her?
On the other hand if they didn’t know Sirius was sterilized…Remus froze…would they disown Penny? Would Penny’s real father come and take her away?
NO.
Remus’s teeth grit, a growl worked its way through his chest and out his throat. No. He wouldn’t let anyone take her.
And it didn’t matter. It never mattered, not really. Penny was his now. Legally and in every way that did matter. She was his daughter. The fact she wasn’t Sirius’s…made his heart ache, because she really didn’t have anyone other than him and Lyall.
Remus’s agitation grew just in time for the Lodge’s door to swing open. There to greet him was not the valet, Baitewyrth, but rather a steely amber-eyed Yzis Scevar. The former wasn’t unexpected, but the color?
His nostrils flared and he stumbled back at the smell of a therian, a werewolf specifically. He’s never heard of a goblin werewolf, much less seen one. Moreover the odor, it was like she’d just transformed back with how thick the scent was. Which was impossible, the full moon wasn’t for another twenty four hours.
Yzis’s smile went wide, toothy in that forced politeness. “Mister Lupin, your call on Lord Black is most sudden-” Yzis’s gaze flicked to the bundle of folders and papers he held to his side and then back to him. “But not unexpected, if those are Mister Sirius Black’s medical records?”
“You knew?” Remus’s anger made his eyes flash, the amber color brightening.
“Come in, this conversation is not for the front stoop.” Yzis didn’t wait, merely turned with the expectation he would follow.
He closed the door behind him. It magically locked as Yzis led the way. The vestibule was silent and the inner hall eerily so as well. Yzis’s steps drew him to the drawing room. She flicked her finger at a thin line of metal worked into the walls. It sparked with goblin magic, shifting a faint intricate series of patterns through the wallpaper lining the room. As they twisted and curled, they lit up the lanterns and fireplace, filling the room in a warm glow.
“Sit, I shall fetch us some tea.”
The room felt quieter with her exit, empty and hollow. Nay it wasn’t just the room, it was the whole estate.
“Where is the valet?” Remus asked when Yzis returned with a cart of tea and biscuits.
“Lord Black does not permit the staff to work the days leading up to the full moon. While they pose no danger to each other, their more sensitive temperaments…” Yzis looked back at Remus pointedly, “…can cause issues between them.”
Lord Black employed werewolves?! And gave them the full moon off? More questions to Remus’s mounting list. “Yet you’re in attendance.”
“I do not have the same limitations as those of you afflicted with the curse’s bite.”
Was lycanthropy different for goblins? No, this isn’t why he was here. He set the questions aside.
“Did you know Sirius is not Penny’s father?” Remus pushed the papers forward, ignoring the biscuits and tea. He wanted to get right to it, but Yzis would not have it. She served him tea at a leisurely pace, unbothered by his impatience.
When Yzis set his cup down, she glanced at the folders with a lift to the corner of her mouth. “I was under the impression Sirius signed the papers you took to Azkaban, or was I mistaken?”
“He did, but these prove it is impossible for him to be biologically her father.” Remus challenged, pushing the folders toward her Remus didn’t much feel like tea, but it’d be rude to not at least feign drinking it.
She sighed and flipped through them quickly, her eyes seeming to flick rapidly, pupils wide before she set it down. She was an exceptionally fast reader. Most Goblins at Gringotts were as they created extensive and specific contracts. She slid the papers back to him.
“Consanguinity no longer matters. The papers you had him sign were his acknowledgment that she is his child.
Remus’s eyes widened. It didn’t matter if Sirius wasn’t actually Penny’s father, not with those papers. He groaned.
“I really must thank you for getting his signature, it has settled a number of legal issues.” Yzis smiled.
“Why involve me? Why couldn’t you get him to sign them yourself?” He set his cup down, loudly.
“Of your memory of him during your school days, would he have ever agreed to anything his family wanted?”
“No.” Remus’s brows rose in realization.
“We could never hope to achieve his cooperation on our own, thus it was determined we must involve someone outside the family.” Yzis explained. “Your presence, Mister Lupin, beyond being Penny’s guardian, accomplishes many things. You were required not just as his power of attorney, but as his friend…former or otherwise. You were able to accomplish something not even his mother could. Producing an heir to the Black Family.”
On one hand, Remus was offended to have been used in such a way. But on the other hand, Sirius was a murderer…a betrayer, what better way to get back at him then for the one thing he never wanted to give his mother to come to reality. He was torn.
“Will her real father come looking?”
“Are you not her father?” Yzis smirked.
“You know what I meant.” Remus hissed.
Yzis was silent for a moment, clearly weighing on how to answer him. “Ideally, Lord Arcturus wishes he wouldn’t.”
“But?”
“We expect he will.” Yzis frowned. “It is why you are her guardian. You will guard her. And if you fail, others will take up the mantle for you.”
Others? What did she mean by others? If something were to happen to him, legally speaking she’d go to…Lyall.
“Dad…” Remus whispered. He’d been manipulated, him and his father. And Penny, poor Penny, she knew none of this. “Why do I need to guard her from her real father?” It was the first time Remus saw a goblin look conflicted. Her lips opened and then pursed closed. Her gaze flicked away from him; almost like she wanted to tell him, but couldn’t. “He must be dangerous. If I’m protecting her from him…wait.” Remus froze. “Did he kill her mother? Did he kill Daya?”
“We don’t know for sure, but Lord Arcturus and Sir Cygnus have their suspicions.”
“Have you spoken to the Aurors?”
Yzis’s lips tightened.
That was a ‘No’.
“You should tell them! At least it would let them know who to look for. The suspicions must be damning if you did all this just to ensure she had a guard.” Remus argued, standing in outrage. This could be something Kingsley was looking for.
Yzis remained silent, her lips tightened even more, thinning into a line of barely perceivable pink.
“Why aren’t you answering me?”
“Because I have forbidden it.” An aged voice answered.
Remus spun to see Lord Arcturus Black at the drawing room door, looking far healthier than he had the last time. His skin was no longer green and while he walked with a cane that he leaned against, he was upright and moving into the room.
“Ease up, Yzis. And you…mutt,” Arcturus’s voice turned firm as he stared at Remus, “Sit down.” Arcturus snapped.
It was a command, one Remus had no intention of following. Yet his body seized and…he sat as though scolded. He hadn’t heard an Imperius go off. What was this?
“Sir.” Yzis protested. Arcturus ignored her.
“Make no mistake, mongrel. You were Sirius’s friend first. Now you are his daughter’s guardian. You will protect her whether you want to or not. Though it is preferable and more effective if it is voluntary.” Arcturus sneered.
What did Arcturus mean by ‘effective’? And voluntary?
Arcturus sat with a deep sigh. “Under normal circumstances a guard wouldn’t be assigned until the heir is of age. But the decay of this House has expedited our traditions.”
“Traditions?” Remus asked through clenched teeth. Try as he might, Remus couldn’t stand.
Arcturus smirked, watching Remus struggle against the compulsion. “Yes.”
“You won’t tell me.”
“Not yet.” Arcturus smiled then. “Once Penny is the age of majority, it will be up to her to reveal it to you - should she choose to keep you.”
“At least tell me her father’s name. So I can tell the Aurors, they’ll listen to me.” Remus made his plea.
“You already know her father’s name.” Arcturus smiled. “Last name, Black. First name-”
“Her real-“
“Phineas. Phineas Sirius Black.”
Time in Azkaban was kept by the long stretches of space between assigned duties, meals, sleep and the ebb and flow of Dementors. There was a pattern to it, one Sirius had long since memorized and worked into his very being. He shut his eyes as Padfoot as the Dementor guard approached in the night, and woke as Sirius. The Hollow guard would arrive and walk down the block of cells, giving each inmate their work assignment before letting them out to have a meager breakfast and then to their jobs for a few hours, then right back to their cells.
Everyday it was like this, for ten years.
This year however, he had two marked differences. One, Remus came to visit and for the first time since he was thrown in Azkaban, he’d seen the visitor’s room.
The second, the inmate in his neighboring cell died and was replaced.
“Black. Sifters. Line 5.”
Sirius rose and gripped the face scarf he’d need to withstand six hours of sifting various powders for his work assignment. He lined up by the door to his cell, listening to the other inmates in his block becoming similarly prepared. Once all assignments were read, the cell door swung open at the pull of a lever at the end of the block.
No magic locks here and no locks that could easily be picked. Not that there was any chance of escape, what with Azkaban being located in the middle of the ocean in an anti-apparition zone.
He walked, following the body ahead of him down toward the central staircase, where they descended.
They were supposed to remain quiet here, and not speak to each other. But there were pockets where the Hollow could not hear them or see their hands.
“Sirius.” The body before him whispered, a tiny square of parchment held behind his back.
“Finn?” Sirius questioned barely above a whisper.
Finn was his new neighbor. They were roughly the same age, though Finn was slightly older by a few years - yet looked remarkable young for his age.
“You wanted to send an owl?” Finn queried.
Sirius squinted, hesitant. Its true he had wanted to send an owl. It’d been weeks since Remus had visited and there had been no word. Not even a solicitor visit to discuss a potential trial. He wondered if he’d been too hasty in signing those documents, but if it meant Remus could help Harry - even at the expense of whoever this mystery child that claims to be his daughter, he’ll take it. He didn’t doubt her presence was orchestrated by someone in the Black Family, but that wasn’t important. No, he needed to contact Remus, or at least get his attention and draw him back here. Anything to get things moving.
So yes, he did need to send an Owl. But that was an expensive purchase for most inmates, especially so if you didn’t have family filling your commissary. Even if you purchased the privilege, it was a tiny piece of parchment that scarcely fit twenty-five words. Whatever message you needed to send, had to be short and succinct. Sirius had been saving up for this.
“Don’t you need this?” Sirius asked. He didn’t quite trust Finn. No one here was truly not guilty. Not even him, even if he was here for under wrongful accusations. It wasn’t like he was innocent. But Finn was likely actually a murderer. What would the likelihood be of two people wrongfully accused of murder to be cellblock neighbors? Slim.
“I don’t have anyone to message. And you were muttering about sending one.”
“I was?”
“In your sleep.”
Sirius frowned. There were moments when he drifted back to sleep after transforming from his animagus form. But sleep talking? His cellblock neighbor before Finn had never said anything. Then again, his cellblock neighbor had been an older wizard by the name of Sebastian Sallow who finally succumbed to death. He wasn’t exactly a reliable source as he’d spent his entire life in Azkaban since he was fifteen, prolonged exposure to the Dementors had a…detrimental effect to one’s memory.
“What do you want in exchange?”
“Nothing.”
No one in Azkaban was nice for nothing. Reciprocity and reputation were the currencies, so for Finn to ask for nothing in exchange was foolish at best, suspicious at worst.
“I don’t like an empty IOU. Give me a price?”
Finn huffed but thought on it for a moment, “your bread.”
Sirius’s eyebrows scrunched. The bread they ate with their meals was the only thing that made the slop palatable. Sure it was little better than flat stale bread, it was a solid bargaining chip.
“Fine.” Sirius agreed and grabbed the parchment, tucking it into his pocket.
He hunkered down as he got to his work assignment, sifting powdered Runespoor fangs. It was a component for homemade floo powder, but it was also used in actual floo powder, just not on its own. Not that he or anyone outside Floo-Pow knew the correct amount to use or the amounts for the other ingredients. Azkaban Prisoners were employed through the Ministry’s contract with Floo-Pow to grind their ingredients, in exchange the price of Floo Powder remained low. The prisoners were paid a knut a day, dispensed into their commissary. From there they could use it to buy a piece of parchment to send as an owl. How many words on it depended on how much you spent. The cheapest was 25 words for a price of 50 knuts.
At their only break, Sirius slurped up his slop and wrote in tiny but legible script with the shared cellblock pencil onto the parchment.
“Not Mine:
May have fortune. Be wary of Lord.
Harm not the wolf or I hunt.
Avoid mother and uncle.
Send aid.
-SB”
Sirius stared at the letter. Twenty-three words. That should do.
His logic was that if he sent it to the kid, it’d make Remus show up again. Remus had always been the protective one and if he was taking care of a kid, he was likely incredibly parental.
On the way back to his cell for the night, he shoved the parchment into Finn’s hand.
“Addressed to who?” Finn asked in the pockets of privacy they had. He’d need the name to give to the commissary guard to send it.
“Penelope Black.” Sirius muttered.
Now, all he had to do was wait.
Penny didn’t often look in the mirror since finding herself in this world - other than to brush her teeth, wash her face, and do her hair. She tended to avoid reflections as it made her feel dysphoric, seeing a younger face when she was so used to seeing a much older one. But she couldn’t deny it anymore. Not with the slip ups she’s made.
Were they slip ups? She didn’t know. But humming Menudo from memory? When she never listened to Menudo in her entire childhood and adult life according to her memory from the Before? in the other world. It came up in conversation a lot with her extended latino family and friends. And suddenly she had memories of not only the lyrics but singing Menudo enough with her mother.
No.
She shook her head, staring at her reflection. Those…those weren’t her memories. Those were someone else’s. Just like the dream of seeing her mother magically silenced and tied to a bed, and seeing some monster with no-face, and like the memory Dumbledore pulled from her when investigating the troll attack — the one where she was being dragged to the ministry entrance, and just like the familiarity and memory of cutting chicken heads off when dissecting flobberworms earlier in the year.
“Who…am I?” She whispered into the mirror. She had someone else’s memories. Or they were her memories but the adult ones were the invading ones?
She’d never believed in reincarnation, even if she did — this didn’t feel like that. Some memories were getting…mixed up?
She stared at her reflection longer, and remembered what she used to look like as a kid from the adult memories. Is this what she looked like or was it…the body’s memories. She tried hard to remember. Older memories tended to fade, condense with time and lack of use or recall. Did she actually have curly hair like this? Were her eyes actually brown or grey? She couldn’t tell.
Penny squinted at the reflection of her eyes, only to yelped and throw herself back. She landed in the tub, away from the mirror’s reflecting ability. Her eyes actually changed colors.
Her breath came out fast, chest heaving. Panic…panic attack? She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears, shutting out the noise and light, hearing only her own blood pumping.
A few minutes of that, her breath returned to normal, and she didn’t feel like tearing the eyeballs that weren’t hers out. Still, she tentatively climbed out of the tub and peered over the edge of the sink to the mirror. Her eyes…
…they were brown again.
Relieved, Penny splashed her face and didn’t take a second look. She told herself she didn’t need to. Really she didn’t, despite the fear they could have change again. Flushing the toilet, she exited and headed downstairs, the smell of coffee chased away some of her unease, putting a pep in her step.
“Good morning.” She greeted, forcing a grin. If she smiled, she could forget the uncertainty. Put it out of her mind…for now.
“Sleep well, Penny?” Lyall asked from the table. He had a copy of the Daily Prophet and a mug of tea.
Penny quietly took her coffee.
“Have you gotten all your friends a Christmas present?” Lyall asked, peering over the paper.
“Mhmm.” Penny answered while sipping but froze and placed the cup down. “Wait no…theres one more…though I don’t know if I should…”
“Is this person your friend?”
“They’re a new friend… so I didn’t have the time to make them something like I did with the others.” Penny frowned. Blaise was a new addition to the friend group who now trailed after Daphne and Wyatt whenever Daphne came to sit with her, Neville, and Parvati. She figured it helped Parvati was there, which sometimes drew Padma.
“Do you want to give them something like your other friends or something smaller?” Lyall asked.
“Hmm something smaller. Oh! I know…can we go to the hobby store?”
“Sure, we can go once Remus comes back.” Lyall smiled.
“Where is he?”
“He had an errand to run, but he should be back before dinner. What is it do you have in mind?”
“I made everyone wand charms that can double as bracelets. But I haven’t known my new friend as long as the others… plus I need to ask him what his favorite colors are, for the beads I used. Maybe I’ll give that to him for his birthday when I find out. But for Christmas I was thinking of embroidering a handkerchief with his name.”
“Thats a very thoughtful gift.” Lyall set the paper down and thought. “Hmm come with me.”
“Eh?”
“My Hope had a hobby room that I’ve kept unused, perhaps there might be things there you can use.”
“Is that…okay?” Penny hesitated. “Remus won’t mind?”
“I’m sure of it. Come on…”
By the time Remus returned from his errand and visit to Crowberry, Penny and Lyall were operating Hope’s old pedal powered sewing machine to sew a serpentine stitch hem onto a square of qiana fabric that was phthalo green with gold leaf patterns.
Remus stopped at the door to his mother’s hobby room. Lyall and Penny hadn’t heard him arrive over the whir of the sewing machine, so he lingered — watching as they did one line of stitching after another. Lyall was very patient, doting, and pleased to be sharing the room and Hope’s hobby with Penny.
Remus pulled away, leaving them to it. He climbed the stairs and sat in his old bedroom - now outfitted with more adult furnishings. He sagged into the chair by the desk and dropped the files from Sirius’s flat. The business Sirius and James were running, he had to do further looking into. But the medical files about Sirius’s sterilization surgery…he had to hide them. He shoved Sirius’s medical files into the very back of his filing cabinet — hidden away, just like how Sirius had. The second medical file, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was for a surgery performed on Regulus Black, Sirius’s brother. Though why Sirius had the file with his own, and why both his and his brother’s magical surgeries had taken place on the exact same date; he wasn’t sure.
For now, Remus joined Penny and Lyall for the day, helping Penny with gift wrapping her presents for her friends and packaging them up to deliver to the owl post via Athena, which would then forward each package to the appropriate house in time for Christmas.
They had leftovers for lunch, and then Remus helped her with her winter holiday homework — though he seldom had to help as she completed most on her own with little effort. She only needed assistance when she was practicing the spells. Though she wasn’t supposed to do spellwork outside of Hogwarts, he supervised.
He spent every moment with her the next day as well, until it was time for him to apparate back to the cottage for the full moon. Snape hadn’t delivered wolfsbane potions since Penny had started Hogwarts, so he hadn’t expected it for the winter break. So he was surprised to see Severus waiting for him at the cottage. He merely handed the potion to him and swept away.
Remus drank every last drop, rinsing the potion bottle and setting it aside.
Despite the painful transformation, Remus spent the full moon curled up in his bed. It did mean his blanket was covered with wolf hair the next day — but he woke up far more rested and refreshed then if he spent the full moon wandering as a beast.
The next few days, he taught Penny a few charms to assist with decorating the Christmas tree and living room. A sustained Lumos charm, lighting the tree in an array of colors with each spell modifier, and an indoor snowfall charm, that would shower the air in flurries of snowflakes, yet none of it would accumulate. Lyall put the star topper on and they made hot chocolate as it lit up, singing and dancing a medley of Christmas music.
On Christmas eve, Remus and Lyall waited until Penny was asleep before they brought out their presents, as well as those they received early and placed them under the tree. Then they left one window open for any last minute Owl deliveries along with a plate of owl treats and water.
Remus awoke surprised to find Penny next to him. Even more surprising was she was asleep with a present in her lap. It was addressed to him from her. It reminded him of his birthday, only this time she managed to sneak in without waking him, even if she decided to let him sleep.
She clutched his night shirt, her curls a messy mop that struck him with the urge to ruffle them. He didn’t, afraid he’d wake her.
The last time she was here after the body identification…he recalled the fear in her eyes, the way her body stiffened as though anticipating something. He’d assumed this meant she was being targeted by her dormmates, but he’d had a chat with McGonagall about it.
“I assure you, Remus. Penny has had no issues with any of the Gryffindor girls.”
Thats what McGonagall had said. Remus frowned, combing Penny’s curls softly. If she had no issues with the Gryffindor girls…
Remus’s frown deepened.
Not the girls.
It was the boys. The Gryffindor boys.
Remus groaned, curling around Penny.
Name calling, stinging hexes, potion pranks? Remus groaned longer. No…no no no no. It was too early for that. Boys being interested in his Penny?! Then again, James had started with Lily in their first year. But these were older boys! Second years? No older than third years, he hoped.
“No. Absolutely not.” Remus grumbled, and clutched Penny closer - tighter. Well if they were teasing her to the point she flinches in her sleep, then it didn’t matter if they did like her, they were going too far. He’d have a word with whoever their parents are.
Now he just had to get Penny to name names. He eyed her sleeping form, or not so sleeping form. She was rousing from his tight hug. Who was he kidding, if she didn’t tell him right away back then she surely wouldn’t now.
But there was someone he could ask…Harry.