Chapter Text
A knock on the door stopped Karina Black dead in her tracks. She glanced at the broom she'd bought in Diagon Alley at the end of her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and put it in the broom closet. Her adoptive parents had no problem with her being a witch, but she didn't fancy having to explain to whatever Muggle was on the other side of that door why she was lugging around a very fancy broomstick.
She opened the door, blinked, then shut it again. Kari heard a small chuckle on the other side and then another knock. Glancing behind her to make sure her parents weren't coming to answer it, she swung the door open and frowned. “Should I even bother asking what's wrong? Is it Harry? Is he okay?”
Albus Dumbledore smiled at her, blue eyes twinkling as he intertwined his hands. “Always the noble friend. Have no fear, Kari. Harry is fine.”
She leaned into her hip and smiled slightly. “And yet somehow, I have a hard time believing the Headmaster would come to another country just to check on one of his students. No matter how troublesome she is.”
Dumbledore laughed softly. “I did not think the news I bring would be best delivered by owl.”
Her stomach lurched and she led him away from the house, away from the one place she felt like her old self. A girl with no cares in the world. “Forgive me, Professor, but after the last two years I have very little patience for suspense.”
“Have you been getting the wizarding news, Kari?”
It was not the question she was expecting. Frowning, she shook her head. Her dark brown hair flew around her softly. “The Weasleys are in Egypt, visiting Bill. Ron sent me a clipping about the prize his family won. Oh. No. No. Are they-”
“Fine, Kari. They are all well and safe.”
Impatient, she stopped in her tracks and faced him, her eyes blazing. “Then what-”
“It's your father.” When Kari flinched and looked past him, at the house they had just left, Dumbledore sighed heavily. “Your biological father. Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban.”
The little noises of the field around her suddenly seemed too loud, too much. The silence stretched, endless. Finally, her voice hoarse, she muttered, “Azkaban is inescapable.”
He shook his head, his eyes never leaving her face. “And so everyone thought. It is the strongest security, for the worst of the worst. He is the first escapee.”
Her eyes drifted shut, the image of Sirius Black burned into her mind. Recoiling, she shuddered. “What is he after?” Kari thought of the family not even a hundred feet away, oblivious and safe. Of all the horrible things that could happen to them if a Dark Wizard got to them. “If I'm putting my family in danger-”
“No one is sure.” Dumbledore placed a hand on her shoulder as she swayed unevenly. “All he knows is that you were sent away to protect you from the dangers of our world. He does not know who you were placed with, or where.”
“Does anyone else know?” She demanded as she regained her balance, unable to keep the anguish from her face. She fought the urge to run back to the house, grab her things and flee.
“Two others. I trust them both with my life.”
She was not not entirely convinced she could trust them with hers and that of her family’s life but she had no option except to trust Dumbledore. “If it ever comes to them being in danger because of me-”
“You will be the first to know,” he vowed as he inclined his head. “There is one more thing.”
Kari looked up at him, eyes narrowing. “You have no idea how much I'm wishing I would've kept that door shut in your face.”
He smiled kindly. “I understand. And what I am about to tell you next will only reinforce that feeling. However, I feel it's best for you to be prepared with as much information, should there ever be a need to have it. Sirius. I had the pleasure of teaching him, of knowing him. He truly was a doting father, Kari.”
She rolled her eyes darkly. “I somehow find that very hard to believe, considering he butchered a ton of people. Any sane father would've thought of his daughter. Of his family.”
“The Potter’s had to go into hiding for some time. From Voldemort. I suggested a Fidelus Charm, a very powerful-”
“I know what the Fidelus Charm is,” she snapped impatiently, her hands clammy.
He smiled again, not the least bit bothered by the interruption. “Harry’s parents made James’ best friend their Secret Keeper.”
The air rushed out of her lungs. She knew who James Potter’s best friend had been, had endless pictures in her box of their friendship. Of her life before it was all destroyed by Dark Magic. “He told Voldemort. He sold the Potter’s out.”
“I do not understand it,” he admitted as he looked up at the sky. “It has been twelve years and I still cannot phantom what could have possibly caused Sirius to betray the Potters. And then, to hunt down another of their friends, a young man named Peter Pettigrew… I pride myself in being a very bright wizard, Kari. And yet, I cannot understand why he would have done any of it. As I said, I knew him. Or thought I did. He killed Peter and several Muggles before he was captured.”
She wanted to rage, to hurt, to crawl into bed and wake up to find this was all a bad dream. “It's my father’s fault that Harry has no family. That he grew up not knowing them.”
“It is no one's fault but Sirius,” he told her firmly as he placed both hands on her shoulders. “And Lord Voldemort. They made their choices-”
Kari shrugged him off. “Don't you understand? I've told him I am an orphan, just like him. And instead, not only have I lied to him, but it turns out my father is the reason his parents got murdered. And to add salt to the wound, I ended up with the most loving family someone without parents could ask for when Harry got the Dursleys. If it was me, I wouldn't trust me ever again, let alone forgive me.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
She laughed bitterly. “Except lie to him for over two years.”
Dumbledore held out his hands as he turned those endless eyes in her. “Then perhaps this is a barrier that only needs to be crossed should the occasion arises. Perhaps, once Sirius is safely back in prison, you can explain why you didn't tell him.” He watched as Kari considered this before jerking her head slightly. “Wonderful. Now… Perhaps I should speak to your parents? They are safe, but I will sleep much better knowing you are back in our world where we can protect you.”
“You couldn't protect the Potters,” she spit out before blushing. “I- forgive me. That was-”
“True. However, back in the Wizarding World you will have constant protection.”
Kari bristled. “Be a prisoner, you mean. Forever have people watching over me.”
Dumbledore looked at her with humour in his eyes. She knew if it had been Snape, he would be telling her to stop being a spiteful brat and accept the offer. “I only meant we will have more eyes and wands at the ready. Not on only you, but the whole student body. I am not foolish enough to ignore the fact that you are more than capable at protecting yourself. Your teachers tell me you are doing spells that most Fourth Years are only just now learning.”
She had the grace to blush. “I like knowing things to protect my friends. It's served me well.”
“I am not about to argue with that.”
Kari let her eyes drift shut. The annual trip to Diagon Alley with her father was coming up, and now he would not be there. It's better this way , she thought with a heavy heart. If she could lead Sirius away from them, then she would. “Let's go tell my parents.”
They walked back to the house in silence. Kari took a moment when they reached the house, took a deep breath and then ushered him into the living room. The family cat spotted Dumbledore and rushed over, already purring. Leaving them to bond, Kari moved the house in a daze looking for her parents. She found Keith Moore in his office, working at the computer to make a picture he'd taken into a masterpiece. “Dad?”
He looked up, the concentration on his face disappearing as soon as he spotted her face. He pushed away from the desk, rushing to her. She crumpled in his arms, sobs wracking her body. “Kari. Mouse. Kari. What-”
“Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban,” she whimpered as she dug her head into his chest. He went absolutely still, his heart skipped a beat before beating uncontrollably. “Professor Dumbledore -the Headmaster- he's downstairs. He needs to talk to you and Mom.”
Keith hugged her hard before pulling away. “I'll get her. Your brother is down for a nap. Go, get some coffee started. I'll get your mother.”
She looked up at him, taking a small comfort in how strong he looked. Saying nothing, she hurried back downstairs to get the coffee and after an afterthought, tea for Dumbledore. Without thinking about it, she levitated the tray and walked into the living room. She dared Dumbledore to remind her about not using magic outside of school but he merely smiled and thanked her for the tea and biscuits.
Not much later, her parents came downstairs. She stared at the woman who had become her mother, with her golden hair up in a messy bun. Deidre Moore looked nothing like Kari, with her slender body and wispy face. But in that second, with the look of protection and stubbornness on her face, it reminded Kari of herself. “He's escaped ?” She demanded as she sat opposite of Dumbledore, Kari wedged in between her and Keith. “How is that possible?”
“We don't know,” Dumbledore admitted as he bit into a biscuit. “There is an inquiry at the Ministry. It would not do well for this to become a recurrence. I do not believe that will be the case. Sirius was always incredibly smart, and applied himself when he wanted to. Azkaban is a place where many lose their minds, for him to have broken free… his will is remarkably strong. Always has been.”
“Is she safe?” Keith asked as he held her hand.
Dumbledore smiled kindly. “You all are. I was aware of the danger he posed, even back then. Your location is unknown. The number of people who know Kari’s true parentage is few. Again, for her safety. That being said, I do believe she will be most safe back at Hogwarts. Since the term is still several weeks away, I have arranged for her to have a suite at the Leaky Cauldron. There will be an around clock Auror.”
“Back to being watched,” Kari muttered darkly.
“They are there as an added protective feature,” he told her. “For you and everyone else. Who's to say that the first thing Sirius craves will be the soup? It is rather delicious.”
A small laugh escaped her. Deidre, however, found none of this amusing. “You think the best thing for her is to go back ? You said so yourself - no one knows where here is.”
Kari sat up with a start. “Mom. I have to go back to Hogwarts.”
“You don't have to do anything,” she snapped back angrily. “Kari, this man is a convicted murderer. Your father he may be, but that will not shield you should he be out for blood.”
Her eyes drifted shut, imagining all the Muggles laying lifeless in that street. “I'm going back.”
“Keith, say something.” Deidre turned to her husband, waving her hand about the room. “She's safest here.”
“Until Black decides to pay her a visit and there's nothing we can do to stop him,” he said at last as he looked at Dumbledore. “No one can guarantee her safety, Dee. But she needs to go back, to learn how to protect herself. We can't do that here. What do we have? A gun and some bullets. Wizards can make those evaporate as soon as they're shot. With magic, she's safer. I don't like it anymore than you do. If I could, I'd keep her here where we know exactly where she is. But good will that do if he comes here and she can't stop him?”
“Who's to say she'll be able to stop him there?” Deidre countered. “She's only thirteen, for goodness sake. She's a child.”
“And yet, I've helped stop a Dark Wizard two years in a row,” Kari reminded her softly. “I may not have had the killing blow, but I am capable of protecting myself. Mostly. Rocks are apparently a different story.”
Dumbledore watched them quietly, thankful for the strong bond they had built. She thought of Kari’s words earlier, of Harry with the Dursleys. They would be helping him pack his trunk, ready to shut the door behind him. “She is one of the brightest witches of her age.” The Moores jumped, as if they'd forgotten he was there. The cat in his lap looked up and meowed, as if to reinforce his statement. “Perhaps the brightest, if she would apply herself as hard as Ms. Granger does. Were it any other student, I would be inclined to agree and urge you to keep her here. Alas, I have no doubt that one way or another she will be safe. The fear she has for Sirius will allow nothing else but the safety of not only her, but that of her friends.”
Harry. “I won't let anything happen to them.”
Deidre huffed angrily. “Are we now encouraging her to play the hero?”
“Dee,” Keith said reproachfully. “That's not-”
“You're telling me to be okay with my child going into the unknown with her killer father on the loose. How can I be alright with that?”
“You can't,” Kari told her as she turned to her mother. “But you have to trust me, and Dumbledore. I'll be alright. I promise.”
Keith brushed his hand through her hair. “Your mother is right, Mouse. This is dangerous, any way you slice it.”
“So let's go with the way that keeps you and the baby safe.” Kari looked at Dumbledore, whose eyes were watching with interest. “I would hate to have the guilt of seeing you dead because of me. ”
Deidre winced. “I… Kari. That's not… You're thirteen. That's not something you should worry about.”
“And yet, I am.” Kari sighed heavily. “And I have for awhile. Before all of this. It's always a possibility. And if there's a chance I can learn more to protect you, I'm going to take it.”
Dumbledore cleared his throat. “As I said, these are all extreme measures. No one knows for sure what Sirius is after. He is being hunted. Perhaps by the start of school, he will be safely back in Azkaban.”
Deidre didn't look convinced but nodded stiffly. “When will she leave?”
“Today, if it's alright with you. The sooner we get back to London…”
“The safer she'll be,” Keith finished duly. “I'll help you pack, Mouse."
They stood, father and daughter, and walked out of the room. They said little besides ‘do you need this?’ and ‘no Dad, the other scarf’. Kari wondered if he was avoiding this conversation as much as she was for fear of breaking down. Hermes flew into her room, hooting in surprise when he spotted her things packed away. “We're leaving early,” she told him as she grabbed the letter and ushered him into his cage.
She ripped open the envelope.
Kari,
We’re heading back to London early. Mom and Dad saw that Sirius Black escaped, and immediately started making plans to get you. We’ll be at the Leaky Cauldron. Any chance your parents will let you come early? Dad reckons you'll be safer here.
Ron
Kari grunted, showing the letter to her father. He brightened. Keith had met the Weasleys the year before, and liked them immensely. “That makes me feel better,” he said softly. “I was worried about you being alone.”
“I'll be fine, Daddy.” She forced a smile, and hugged him. Fear danced in her belly as she thought of all the ways this could end terribly. Sirius Black was already causing havoc in her life.
*
Sneaking out of his room in the dead of the night was an easy feat for Ron Weasley. They used to do it all the time back at school. If the clock struck midnight, and sleep eluded each other, they’d find themselves in the Common Room and chatted until one of them dozed off.
The fact that she did not disappoint was one of the many reasons that he valued the friendship of Karina Black. Harry Potter would have not understood the need to sometimes be awake when the rest of the world slept. Hermione Granger would have been against it, nagging him at every moment that sneaking out was against the rules. The first night he sneaked out, he found Kari with her nose in her book in one of the oversized couches. She looked up easily at the sound of his noisy feet and instead of lecturing him about late night adventures, Kari smiled at him and nodded at one of the couches.
As always, she had picked the sofa nearest to the fire. Instead of a book, she merely stared into the flames and rested her head on her drawn up knees. The fires of the Leaky Cauldron were not as comforting as the ones of Hogwarts. As if she was reading his mind, she stood as he approached her and smiled. “Let’s take it to my room, shall we?”
He froze. His eyes locked with Kari’s and the heat rose to his face. He waited, held his breath until he saw the twitch of a smile on Kari’s face. Her quiet giggles made Ron grin foolishly, rubbing his head embarrassedly. “Shall I rephrase?”
“Shove off,” he replied with a grin of his own.
“I would hate to make you uncomfortable,” she grinned at him as she led him to her room.
Ron chuckled again, following her up the stairs. Countless escapades with her taught him that in order to be able to sneak out at night, you had to be silent.
He could only imagine what his mother and father would say if they found him in Kari’s room. His worries about his parents evaporated as he walked into her room. Kari walked in with ease while he froze and then looked at her. He couldn’t understand how she could walk into such luxury and not stare in awe. Kari was always so comfortable with wherever she was that she might as well have been in the Gryffindor Common Rooms for all she cared.
“Did you enjoy your trip to Egypt?” she asked as she climbed onto one of the chairs by her fire.
He shrugged as he grabbed a poker and began to move the wood around. “It was alright. We only just got in a couple hours ago, I wasn't sure you'd be awake. Fred and George kept making asses on me, Ginny kept making an ass of me, Percy kept making an ass of me…”
“I see a pattern going on,” a grin flashed on her face but the way she said it had him looking at her more closely. The worry was hidden behind the charisma of her face. Her voice was still Kari but it was a tad monotone and already, it worried him.
“What’s wrong?” Her eyes flashed to him. He could feel her thinking, knowing that she knew that he was her only ally in the war that raged within her. For two years, she had managed to keep the secret of her father’s identity a false illusion for Harry. If the purebloods knew of her heritage –of the truth behind her last name –, they kept it a well-kept secret from Kari.
But now…
“He broke out of Azkaban, Ron. Unless he has some magical way of reviving Voldemort, he only has one reason to break free. He’s going after Harry. To finish what his Master started.”
Ron rolled his warm chocolate eyes. “First of all, you don’t even know your father. Your Mum obviously fell for him and I doubt it was because he was a Dark Wizard. For all you know, he could be going after you.”
Kari considered the notion, bobbing her head up and down slowly. “That would be better. It’d keep him away from Harry and I can take care of myself.”
“I highly doubt you’d be able to defeat a Dark Wizard as powerful as him, not even adding on that he's your father,” he snapped angrily then let out a breath. “I’m not saying you can’t protect yourself, stop looking at me like that!”
“All I’m saying is at least Harry would have a fighting chance,” muttered Kari dully as she pulled out Sirius Black’s wanted poster from underneath her sofa cushion.
Ron wrinkled his nose at her. “That’s a tad morbid, isn’t it?”
“There’s also one of these underneath my pillow,” she stated matter-of-factly as she peered down at the lunatic in the picture. “I had to take most of them down before Harry gets here.”
“He doesn’t even have the foggiest, Kari. And knowing Harry it’ll take him awhile to figure out.”
Kari nodded slowly, “which means that when he does figure it out, he’ll be pissed. I don’t want to lose him, Ron.”
“He’d be thick to be mad at you for a stupid reason like that.” A yawn escaped him, making Kari grin.
“Go to bed, Ron. Thanks for the pillow talk.”
Ron grinned as he stood, “it’s not as if I have anything better to do… Kari?”
Only 13 and the weight of the world on her shoulders, he heard his mother say earlier about Kari. He could finally see what she meant. Her world was – more or less- collapsing around her. The emotional scars were leaving its mark on Kari.
“Don’t stay up all night obsessing about him, alright?”
A small smile appeared on her face. “I make no promises. I grabbed a couple of books that have written about him, to see if there’s any way –“
“Kari,” his voice was sharp, meaner than he meant it. But he could see the descent into madness, the desperate attempts she was making at trying to understand something she had no memories of. “Don’t.”
She held his stare, not giving him a victory. Knowing it was fruitless to fight it, he sighed and closed the door behind him, hoping it was the right thing to do to leave Kari alone with her father crowding into her sanity.